Federation and Empire. The Holy Terran Empire, #3

Gaelic of Arkum is dying. The only thing the ne'er do well smuggler and ex-junkie wants to do with the little time left him, is drop off his last load, get paid and hole up in his favorite cathouse for a week before shoving off back into space for a final flight into oblivion. Unfortunately for Gaelic, his long buried past comes a calling, gumming up his plans and luring him back to the source of all his miseries, the only woman he has ever loved; the only woman he hates. Along the harrowing way, Gaelic must contend with genocidal AIs of the mysterious Psion Collective, troops of the Federation Forces who would see him hung for treason and Knights of the Holy Terran Empire whose religious zeal threatens to get him killed in the first fires of a galactic war. It's all enough to make Gaelic wonder who he has to kill to be able to die in peace?