John Ringo - The Legacy of the Aldenata 6 - Cally's War.pdf - John Ringo - margozap

CALLY'S WAR

JOHN RINGO

JULIE COCHRANE

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this

book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is

purely coincidental.

thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original

Baen Publishing Enterprises

P.O. Box 1403

Riverdale, NY 10471

www.baen.com

ISBN: 0-7434-8845-8

Cover art by Clyde Caldwell

First printing, October 2004

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ringo, John, 1963-

Cally's war / John Ringo & Julie Cochrane.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-7434-8845-8

1. Women murderers--Fiction. 2. Assassins--Fiction. I. Cochrane,

Julie. II. Title.

PS3568.I577C35 2004

813'.6--dc22

2004014348

Distributed by Simon & Schuster

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH (www.windhaven.com)

Printed in the United States of America

DEDICATION

To my husband, James, for feedback and help above and beyond the

call of duty, and to Katie for her

patience in sharing her Mom.

BAEN BOOKS by JOHN RINGO

A Hymn Before Battle

Gust Front

When the Devil Dances

Hell's Faire

The Hero (with Michael Z. Williamson)

Cally's War (with Julie Cochrane)

There Will Be Dragons

Emerald Sea

Through the Looking Glass (forthcoming)

The Road to Damascus (with Linda Evans)

with David Weber:

March Upcountry

March to the Sea

March to the Stars

Prologue

"So, how go your plans for the humans, Tir?"

The Darhel Ghin sat in a pose copied from the humans, legs bent and spread flat, one

foot crossed onto the opposite knee. His face was impassive, ears still, and it was

impossible to tell from his expression what might be meant by the curious choice of

position. His hair had the metallic sheen of antique silver, with glints of black threaded

through. The slit-pupilled eyes were a deep emerald green with a light tracery of violet

blood vessels around the whites, impassive in the narrow, fox-like face. The face would

have looked elfin except for the sheer, solid realness of it. The rows of pointed, razor-

sharp teeth were concealed, for now, between his still, closed lips. In short, he was

average for a Darhel, in virtually every way. That very attribute had led more than one

unwary rival to grievously underestimate him. In his youth, at any rate.

"Well, Your Ghin." He stared directly into the wall-sized view screen. His superior's

Indowy body attendants could be seen working unobtrusively in the background. A

human might have compared them to small, green teddy-bears. The Tir barely thought of

them at all, their omnipresent service being an unremarkable, comfortable fact of life.

"Planetary reclamation of our Posleen-occupied interests with greatest profit potential is

on schedule. Hazard loss of human colonists is within ten percent of optimum. Loss of

human colony ships is optimum, plus or minus two percent. The loss concealment

program is operating as designed. Monthly profit margins are running at seven percent,

plus or minus one point five percent, at the ninety-five percent confidence level," he

recited. His ears were perked through the metallic gold hair, uncommon but acceptable in

their race, his posture erect in a position of strong confidence. The old fool must surely be

becoming aware by now that he was slipping.

"The humans, they are rather more . . . numerous, and less grateful, than your

projections when you initiated the program during the Posleen war."

"All plans require adjustment as part of the process. We have discussed the purpose

of the job of management before, Your Ghin." How did he always do that? The obsolete

fossil had the annoying habit of posing just the question that prodded the most

inconvenient aspect of any operational plan. But the Tir's control over his own body

language had improved over the years, and he cocked one ear slightly in a gesture that

coasted just between polite condescension and careful attentiveness.

"With respect, Your Ghin, profits are up and contingency plans to manage the

humans are functioning well within acceptable parameters." He had an itch on the left

John Ringo - The Legacy of the Aldenata 6 - Cally's War.pdf

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