Table of Contents
EDITORIAL NOTE
APOLITICALGLOSSARY DRAMATIS PERSONAE
PROLOGUE
PART ONE CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
PART TWO CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
PART THREE CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
PART FOUR CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAMELUKES
BY
JERRY POURNELLE
with contributions by
David Weber & Phillip Pournelle
Mamelukes
Jerry Pournelle, David Weber, Phillip Pournelle
THE FINAL NOVEL BY LEGENDARY AUTHOR JERRY POURNELLE, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR DAVID WEBER AND AUTHOR'S SON PHILLIP POURNELLE
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Rick Galloway's still not sure what inspired him to volunteer to fight Cubans in Angola, and he certainly never expected to end his African adventure shanghaied by a flying saucer when his CIA superiors cut him and his men adrift as the Cubans overran their final position.
He didn't expect to end up on the planet Tran, God only knew how many light-years from Earth, raising drugs for an alien cartel under the auspices—more or less—of a galactic civilization administered and run by a slave class of humans for their alien masters, either.
But he did. And since then, he's survived mutinies, civil wars, battles against Byzantine "Romans," medieval knights, and Mongol raiders on a world where catastrophic "climate change" races unchecked through a 600-year cycle. Along the way he's found love, lost it, found it again, and become a great noble . . . all the while knowing his alien "employers" will probably nuke his people back into the Stone Age when they're done.
He's managed his impossible balancing act for 13 years. He's lost people he cared about, been forced to do things he's hated, and tried along the way to make life better for the people trapped on Tran with him, and he's tired. So tired.
But now, everything has changed . . . again. New Starmen have arrived on Tran, with dangerous gifts and star weapons of their own. Everything Rick Galloway thought he knew about his mission on Tran is about to be turned on its head.
And everyone expects him to fix it.
BAEN BOOKS BY JERRY POURNELLE
The Best of Jerry Pournelle (edited by John F. Carr)
Birth of Fire • Fires of Freedom • Mutual Assured Survival (with Dean Ing) • Adventures in Microland
Janissaries Series
Janissaries • Tran • Lord of Janissaries (with Roland J. Green)
Mamelukes
THE CODOMINIUM UNIVERSE
King David’s Spaceship
Falkenberg’s Legion Series
West of Honor • The Mercenary • Prince of Mercenaries
Falkenberg’s Legion
Falkenburg’s Legion with S.M. Stirling
Go Tell the Spartans • A Prince of Sparta
The Children’s Hour • The Prince (omnibus)
Laurie Jo Hansen Series
High Justice • Exiles to Glory • Exile—and Glory (omnibus)
The War World Series
The Burning Eye • Death’s Head Rebellion
Sauron Dominion • Invasion • CoDominium: Revolt on War World
BAEN BOOKS BY LARRY NIVEN,
JERRY POURNELLE, AND STEVEN BARNES
The Heorot Series
The Legacy of Heorot • Beowulf’s Children • Starborn and Godsons
BAEN BOOKS BY LARRY NIVEN AND JERRY POURNELLE
Oath of Fealty • Fallen Angels (with Michael Flynn)
MAMELUKES
BY
JERRY POURNELLE
with contributions by
David Weber & Phillip Pournelle
Mamelukes
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.
Copyright © April 2020 by the Estate of Jerry Pournelle, Phillip Pournelle, and Words of Weber, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Book
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com
ISBN: 978-1-9821-2462-5
eISBN: 978-1-62579-769-8
Cover art by Dominic Harman
First printing, June 2020
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pournelle, Jerry, 1933-2017, author. | Weber, David, 1952-
contributor. | Pournelle, Phillip, contributor.
Title: Mamelukes / by Jerry Pournelle ; with contributions from David Weber
and Phillip Pournelle.
Description: Riverdale, NY : Baen Books, 2020. | Series: Janissaries
Identifiers: LCCN 2020008743 | ISBN 9781982124625 (hardcover)
Subjects: GSAFD: Fantasy fiction. | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3566.O815 M36 2020 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008743
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Electronic Version by Baen Books
www.baen.com
Dedicated to the fans, who Dad loved.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Many years ago, Jerry Pournelle wrote the novel Janissaries. I was a graduate student at the time, working in military and diplomatic history, and an avid science fiction reader, so Janissaries was right in my wheelhouse. I loved the original book and both of the sequels—Clan and Crown and Storms of Victory—and one of my deep regrets was that the series hadn’t been continued. One thing that I did not know at the time, and learned only recently from Phillip Pournelle, was that Jim Baen had been instrumental in creating the series by challenging Jerry to write a book explaining why aliens might be visiting Earth covertly, rather than announcing their presence. Knowing Jim the way that I did, I can just hear the conversation, and I found it very . . . satisfying to discover that he’d had a hand in creating a novel and a series I liked so much long before he and I had ever met.
Fast-forward twenty-one years, and I’m sitting in the Baen Books office in North Carolina reminiscing with Toni Weisskopf about my favorite, unfinished series, and Janissaries came up.
That was when I found out that Jerry had been working on the first new Janissaries book in twenty years when we lost him, that the manuscript was mostly completed, that he had left detailed notes about how he had intended to finish it, and that his son Phillip had undertaken to complete his
dad’s final book. And, by the way, would I be interested in lending a hand?
The answer is the book you hold in your hands. Phil and I have tried very hard to maintain his father’s voice in what both of us regard as a labor of love. We aren’t Jerry. We are simply his son and a writer who loved his books, and we hope we have done right by him in completing the task he left unfinished.
—David Weber
A
POLITICAL
GLOSSARY
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
The Galactic Confederation is a loose federation of nonhuman races, governing Earth’s region of the spiral arm of our Galaxy. Its member races include the Shalnuksis, the Ader’at’eel, the Fusttael, and the Finsit’tuvii. The Council is the supreme governing body of the Confederation; the High Commission is a subordinate body, in charge of relations with nonmember races, particularly humans.
TRAN
The Five Kingdoms is a confederation of northern kingdoms (including Ta-Boreas [Kingdom containing the seat of the High Rexja], Ta-Meltemos, Ta-Lataos, Ta-Kartos, and Ta-Merga) under a High Rexja.
Drantos is an independent kingdom under its own Wanax, although it has been claimed by both Rome and the Five Kingdoms. Chelm is part of Drantos.
Rome is a (self-proclaimed) empire, descended from Romans of the time of Septimius Severus (c. AD 200) brought to Tran by the Shalnuksis.
The City-States are an array of independent cities lying south of Drantos and southwest of Rome. Their most prominent members are Vis and Rustengo.
The Sunlands is the general term for everything south of the City-States.
The Westmen are nomadic horse barbarians from beyond the High Plains, ultimately descended from Scythians.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE GALACTICS
Gregeral—One of Inspector Agzaral's trusted aides.
Inspector Agzaral—Confederation High Commission law enforcement officer.
Jehna Sae Leern—Courier for the Ader’at’eel.
Karreeel—Shalnuksi merchant, in the Tran trade.
Les—Human pilot in Shalnuksi service; Gwen Tremaine’s husband.
Wilno—Retired Confederate naval officer; classmate of Agzaral.
THE STAR MEN
Private Jack Beazeley—Mason’s right-hand man.
Sergeant Harold Bisso—Elliot’s right-hand man.
Private Alexander Boyd—Gengrich’s chief of staff.
Sergeant William Campbell—Professor of Engineering at the University.
Sergeant Lance Clavell—Rick Galloway’s ambassador to Nikeis.
Sergeant Major Rafael Elliot—Topkick of the mercs; Provost of the University.
Rick Galloway—Captain, U.S.A.; Colonel of Mercenaries, Eqeta of Chelm, Captain General of Drantos, War Leader of Tamaerthan.
Corporal Arnold Gengrich—Formerly leader of mutinous mercs and Lord of Zyphron. Now stationed in southern Chelm to protect the border.
Private Clarence “Jimmy” Harrison—Clavell’s right hand man.
Corporal Alan MacAllister—Expert sniper.
Sergeant John McCleve—Medic; Professor of Medicine at the University.
Major Art Mason—Rick’s right-hand man; Marshal of the Captain General’s Household.
Sergeant Ben Murphy—Bheroman of Westrook.
Private First Class Arkos Passavopolous—“The Great Ark”; machine-gunner.
Technical Sergeant Harvey Rand—Former scout/assassin for Gengrich, now prison trustee foreman at madweed farm.
Private Lafferty Reznick—Murphy’s partner. Killed in battle with Westmen.
Corporal Mortimer Schultz—Formerly Master of Foot in Rustengo, now publisher at the University of Tran.
Gwen Tremaine—Rector of the University.
Corporal Jerzy Walinski—Balloon crewman. Blinded in one eye from an arrow wound.
Warrant Officer Larry Warner—Chancellor of the University.
THE ALLIANCE
Ajacias—Former Bheroman of Drantos, in the Sutmarg. Betrayed Drantos to the Five Kingdoms and is now deposed.
Apelles—Son of Lykon; Priest of Yatar.
Balquhain—Drumold’s son and heir.
Camithon—Deceased Lord Protector to Ganton until the young Wanax reached age of majority. Killed in battle against the Westmen. Ganton’s battle-axe was Camithon’s.
Corgarff—Subchief to Dughuilas.
Caradoc—A lord of Clan Tamaerthan; rescuer of Tylara from Sarakos in Janissaries. Deceased husband of Gwen. Assassinated on orders of Tylara.
Drumold—Mac Clallan Muir; Tylara’s father.
Dughuilas—Chief of Clan Calder.
Enipses—Bheroman of Drantos.
Ganton—Son of Loron; Wanax of Drantos.
Hilaskos—Bheroman of Drantos.
Mad Bear—Chief of the exiled Silver Wolves clan of the Westmen (the Horse People).
Maev—Merchant’s daughter; handfasted to Apelles.
Monira—Leader of the war-trained Children of Vothan.
Morrone—Son of Morron; companion to the Wanax Ganton.
Pinir—Son of the smith; Master Gunner in the Royal Artillery of Drantos.
Rudhrig—Eqeta of Harms.
Lady Siobhan—Art Mason’s fiancée and Gwen Tremaine’s office manager.
Teuthras—Colonel of First Tamaerthan Hussars.
Traskon—Son of Trakon; Bheroman of Drantos.
Tylara do Tamaerthan—Rick Galloway’s wife; Eqetassa of Chelm and Justiciar of Drantos.
Yanulf—Highpriest of Yatar and Chancellor of Drantos.
THE ROMANS
Flaminius Caesar—Former Emperor of Rome, deposed.
Titus Frugi—Commander of Flaminius’ legions against the rebellion.
Titus Licinius Frugi—Legate, commanding the Fourth Legion.
Lucius—Freedman and confidant to Marselius.
Gaius Marius Marselius—Former Prefect of the Western Marches; now Emperor of Rome.
Octavia Marselia—Publius’ daughter and now wife of Ganton.
Archbishop Polycarp—Founder of the movement for the united worship of Yatar and Christ.
Publius—Marselius’ son and heir.
Marcus Julius Vinicianus—Exiled Roman nobleman and former chief spy for Gengrich.
THE ENEMIES
Ailas—General in service to Issardos, currently in command of a Five Kingdoms army occupying part of Chelm.
Prince Akkilas—High Rexja Toris’ sole surviving legitimate son.
Issardos—High Chancellor of the Five Kingdoms.
Laërtes—Wanax of Ta-Kartos.
Neleus—Wanax of Ta-Merga.
Matthias—Highpriest of Vothan.
Phrados the Prophet—Religious fanatic opposed to the united worship of Yatar and Christ, assumed deceased at the Battle of Vis.
Crown Prince Strymon—Heir to Ta-Meltemos.
Prince Teodoros—Strymon’s younger brother.
Toris—High Rexja of the Five Kingdoms.
Volauf—Captain General to Matthias.
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