....a book (or may have been a short series?) I must have read it in the mid '80s.
I can't remember much but here goes....
The main protagonist is early teens (initially) and he was essentially homeless, or at least alienated or removed from his family; he then finds his way to a space academy type institution (think 'boot camp') where he learns several valuable life lessons. I seem to recall he has his first sexual encounter with a female instructor-type. He then progresses to actual work on intergalactic vessels where the structure is a hierarchical Captain, 1st level, 2nd level, 3rd level, etc, setup which involved a relative share in profits from the shipping. He works his way up and eventually gets his own ship, then ships.
I think his motivation around this is the assembling of some type of 'network' of like-minded/trustworthy colleagues in other ships that he could/would call on when necessary (can't remember if it was a revenge issue or something else). I'm fairly certain he set a few of these people up in ships that he had obtained by various means. I think he also set up a relatively secluded/camouflaged base on a semi-remote planet as part of this as well.
There was also a reasonable amount of explanation throughout regarding the relative ages of people drifting apart as a result of time spent at the speed of light.
That's about all I can recall - it's been at least 25 years since I read it, maybe 30, hopefully someone knows it!
Thanks in advance
I can't remember much but here goes....
The main protagonist is early teens (initially) and he was essentially homeless, or at least alienated or removed from his family; he then finds his way to a space academy type institution (think 'boot camp') where he learns several valuable life lessons. I seem to recall he has his first sexual encounter with a female instructor-type. He then progresses to actual work on intergalactic vessels where the structure is a hierarchical Captain, 1st level, 2nd level, 3rd level, etc, setup which involved a relative share in profits from the shipping. He works his way up and eventually gets his own ship, then ships.
I think his motivation around this is the assembling of some type of 'network' of like-minded/trustworthy colleagues in other ships that he could/would call on when necessary (can't remember if it was a revenge issue or something else). I'm fairly certain he set a few of these people up in ships that he had obtained by various means. I think he also set up a relatively secluded/camouflaged base on a semi-remote planet as part of this as well.
There was also a reasonable amount of explanation throughout regarding the relative ages of people drifting apart as a result of time spent at the speed of light.
That's about all I can recall - it's been at least 25 years since I read it, maybe 30, hopefully someone knows it!
Thanks in advance
