The Blackcollar Series
Page 66
From seekers of usable goods to combat resource. And as the main source of that resource, Plinry had been given a new foothold on its tenuous existence.
Provided, of course, that Galway did his job properly. “I will be honored to assist you,” he told the Ryqril. “And I know just the right man to go after first.”
“Lath’?” Taakh asked.
“Yes,” Galway said.
“Not exactly the result we’d all hoped for,” Lathe said, his eyes drifting to the starscape painting adorning the Novak’s lounge wall. “But certainly nothing to be ashamed of, either.”
Caine nodded silently. Thus endeth my first command, he thought…and while it too was nothing to be ashamed about, it was hardly bragworthy, either, with all the small failures and half-failures along the way. He winced as the memories went drifting by.
Beside Lathe, General Lepkowski cleared his throat. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Caine,” he said. “You kept your team alive. All in all, that’s a pretty good scoresheet for a newcomer to the game.”
Caine managed a rueful smile. “Perhaps.”
“If that’s not good enough,” Lathe suggested, “try remembering that if you hadn’t come up with this mission in the first place Torch’s supply of Whiplash would probably never have left Aegis Mountain.”
“Yeah. Well, I suppose being the inspiration to others’ greatness is better than nothing.” Caine straightened up in his seat, shaking the memories firmly from his mind. “So. Have you two figured out yet how we’re going to use this stuff to throw out the Ryqril?”
“Oh, we’ve got a few ideas,” Lathe said offhandedly. “Create havoc in key areas, pick up some new allies—that son of thing.”
“Allies?” Caine snorted gently. “If you’re looking for names, I can give you one right now.”
“Oh, he’s already at the top of our list,” the comsquare told him. “After all, we’ll want to start out right away with the brightest and best the opposition has to offer.”
“Galway?” Caine asked.
“Yes,” Lathe said.
A Biography of Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning science-fiction author of more than forty novels, as well as dozens of novellas and short stories. He is best known for his Star Wars novels, which have been widely credited with rejuvenating the Star Wars book franchise. Zahn is known for his engaging writing style, pithy dialogue, compelling plot lines, intricately detailed alien cultures, inventive alien technology, and the complex morality of his characters.
Born in 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, Zahn holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois. It was while working toward his PhD in the late 1970s that Zahn began focusing on writing science fiction. He sold his first story in 1978 and, two years later, began to write fulltime.
In 1984, Zahn won a Hugo Award for his short story “Cascade Point.”. That same year he also published Blackcollar, the first installment of his Blackcollar series. He launched the Cobra series two years later with Cobra (1985), and published the celebrated Thrawn trilogy, which gave the Star Wars narrative new life, throughout the 1990s. His YA Dragonback series, of which Dragon and Thief (2003) was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, includes six books published between 2003 and 2008.
Zahn is especially beloved among the Star Wars fan community for his contributions to the Star Wars books. His best-known Star Wars titles, the Thrawn trilogy, were voted onto NPR’s list of the top 100 science-fiction and fantasy books of all time.
Zahn lives in Oregon with his family.
Zahn’s school portrait from 1957, when he was six years old.
A yearbook photo of Zahn playing the cello in his high school orchestra in 1969.
Zahn’s high school senior class picture from 1969.
Zahn and his wife, Anna, on their wedding day in August 1979.
Zahn poses with his wife, Anna, and their son Corwin,1983.
Zahn takes the podium at the Hugo Award ceremonies, September 1984.
Zahn with his agent Russell Galen, September 1984.
Zahn with fellow authors David B. Coe and Jim Frenkel, March 2002.
Zahn with Dr. Les Johnson at the NASA Advanced Propulsion Group, July 2003.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Blackcollar copyright © 1983 by Timothy Zahn
The Backlash Mission copyright © 1986 by Timothy Zahn
Cover design by Amanda Shaffer
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4969-6
This edition published in 2017 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
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THE BLACKCOLLAR SERIES
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