Mageworlds #2: Starpilot’s Grave by Debra Doyle

A broken and drifting ship, its long-dead captain still strapped in the command seal: that’s what free-spacers call a starpilot’s grave. When one of these derelict craft appears in the Net, the artificial barrier zone separating the Republic from the Mageworlds, the discovery is no accident. It’s a sign, a warning that the Mageworlds have not forgotten the Republic – and the Magelords make long plans.