Sargasso of Lost Starships by Poul Anderson

Basil Donovan is a disgraced Ansan noble, war veteran, and former raider whose pride has survived conquest even as his world has not. In a ruined tavern on occupied Ansa, a song of rebellion flares into open violence when a Terran sergeant arrives with orders for his arrest, and the brawl that follows sends Donovan in irons aboard an Imperial cruiser. There, Commander Helena Jansky offers him an uneasy bargain: help investigate the Black Nebula, and he may earn pardon. Donovan accepts, but only outwardly, planning to use the voyage to return to the source of his deepest fear and unfinished business. Aboard the starship Ganymede, he argues with crewmen, drinks against his dread, and watches the Nebula's darkness seep into the minds of the ship's company through whispering voices and mounting paranoia. Jansky presses him for the truth, and Donovan finally admits they have entered a lawless, nightmarish realm shaped by alien powers able to reach across space and warp matter. As the crew begins to unravel, his wary alliance with Helena grows more intimate under pressure. But the arrival of Valduma, a beautiful and dangerous alien, and Morzach of Arzun, who wants the ship crippled before it reaches his world, forces Donovan into a brutal choice between loyalty, survival, and the obsession that may destroy him. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.