**Here is a small extract from the prologue of the science fiction piece Sihmarán I've spent the last few years working on. I hope you enjoy it!** The vessel—shaped like a gaunt faced grinning tadpole—bucked and turned on its side as tendrils of fire uncurled themselves and reached out towards it. Scorched cries of frustration vibrated out amongst the stars as the battered ship evaded one searing grasp after another, pushing itself to its straining point, it’s hull rattling as it raced for freedom. She gritted her teeth, her bruised forearm shaking under the fierce grip she had on the side-stick control column as the vessel bucked and rolled again from the gravitational pull of the consuming planet below. The warning klaxons echoed around her as the ship’s systems struggled to hold up under the weight of the fight. But she held on, her eyes focused on the perimeter of space just beyond the planet’s threshold. They were almost there and she refused to fall a...