Freedom's Choice Read online

  Freedom's Choice

  Catteni [2]

  Anne McCaffrey

  Ace (1997)

  * * *

  Rating: ★★★★☆

  Tags: Fiction, Action Adventure, Science Fiction

  Fictionttt Action Adventurettt Science Fictionttt

  Abducted by the alien Catteni, Kristin Bjornsen was one of many humans brought to the planet Botany as part of an experiment to see if it could support life. Enslaved and forced to colonize a world not their own, the settlers have accepted Botany as their home—a home worth fighting for…

  Kristin’s people have learned that the aliens responsible for their imprisonment are merely mercenaries, subjugated by the parasitic Eosi Race, and that Botany is being farmed remotely by some unknown species—a species that may be sympathetic to the colonists’ struggle for freedom.

  The “Farmers” refuse to join the humans in their rebellion against the Catteni, but they agree to use their technological skills to shield Botany and hide it from its enemies—buying Kristin and the settlers time to build up their forces and liberate their world…

  From School Library Journal

  YA?In what may be her best series since the early "Pern" novels, McCaffrey has created yet another winner. While conquering and colonizing the universe, the alien Catteni take the misfits and troublemakers they encounter and dump them on empty planets. If they survive, then the Catteni move in. Freedom's Landing (Putnam, 1995) introduced a human/alien group struggling just to stay alive. In this second book, these Botany Bay-like survivors have overcome hardships to establish a society of sorts. Zainal, a renegade Catteni, and his fellow dumpees have begun to strike back at their oppressors. They are also trying to uncover the identity of the original residents of the planet and enlist their support. McCaffrey has developed another exotic world peopled with interesting, well-developed characters. This book stands alone but works better with the first novel.

  Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

  From Library Journal

  Continuing the storyline from Freedom's Landing (LJ 4/15/95), this second book in the series finds the human and aliens on the penal planet Botany planning a rebellion against their slavemasters. After the Catteni subdue and transport to penal colony planets people from Earth and other civilizations for their Eosi masters, one Catteni, Zainal, chooses to remain on Botany. His plan? To join his fellow slaves in convincing the absentee owners of the planet to turn against the Eosi and free the colonists. McCaffrey is at her best with interspecies interactions and uniting for a goal against a common enemy. Highly recommended for sf collections.

  Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

  “Readers will savor [McCaffrey’s] works

  for generations to come.”

  —Starlog

  PRAISE FOR ANNE McCAFFREY’S FREEDOM SERIES

  FREEDOM’S LANDING

  “McCaffrey has created another set of winning protagonists and a carefully detailed, exotic background.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “There are enough problems and mysteries involved in establishing a colony to keep things interesting and to promise intriguing developments to come.”

  —Locus

  “Not for nothing do her fans call the author ‘the Dragonlady’…Along the way she crafts a sci-fi adventure that will please followers of the genre and of the author.”

  —Dayton Daily News

  “Exciting and totally convincing…There can be only more action in the sequels McCaffrey presumably plans.”

  —Booklist

  “The narrative hits an admirable groove.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  FREEDOM’S CHALLENGE

  “Another rousing episode…The action is fast-paced and riveting, and the characters—human and of other species—are well limned and exhibit great individuality. McCaffrey continues to amaze with her ability to create disparate, well-realized worlds and to portray believable humans, convincing aliens of varied sorts, and credible interactions between them all. A very satisfying tale.”

  —Booklist

  “A saga of desperate courage and the desire for freedom.”

  —Library Journal

  Ace Books by Anne McCaffrey

  The Tower and Hive Series

  THE ROWAN

  DAMIA

  DAMIA’S CHILDREN

  LYON’S PRIDE

  THE TOWER AND THE HIVE

  The Freedom Series

  FREEDOM’S LANDING

  FREEDOM’S CHOICE

  FREEDOM’S CHALLENGE

  FREEDOM’S RANSOM

  FREEDOM’S

  CHOICE

  ANNE McCAFFREY

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.

  FREEDOM’S CHOICE

  An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author

  Copyright © 1997 by Anne McCaffrey.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

  ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-14382-1

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Ace/Putnam hardcover edition / 1997

  Ace mass-market edition / June 1998

  Cover art by Shane Rebedschied / Shannon Associates.

  Cover design by Leslie Worrell.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is affectionately

  dedicated to Jan Regan,

  who is more like Lessa than Lessa was.

  Exercising racehorses is the nearest

  thing to riding Dragons

  on this good earth.

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  PREFACE

  When the Catteni, mercenaries for a race called Eosi, invaded Earth, they used their standard tactic of domination by landing in fifty cities across the planet and removing entire urban populations. These were distributed throughout the Catteni worlds and sold as slaves along with other conquered species.

  Since slavery did not sit well with many of the first-world countries, the conquerors met with considerably more resistance than had been anticipated. The size and general brutality of the Catteni soldier had inculcated sufficient fear a
nd obedience to inhibit active resistance on many of their previous invasions. However, since many M-type planets had been discovered by the Eosi, the Catteni were advised to round up dissidents and felons alike, deposit them on whatever M-type planet was currently available for occupation, and let them fend for themselves.

  Not all M-type worlds are suitable for colonization but, since the Catteni had quantities of expendable personnel, they could use an empirical method of discovering which were fertile and friendly, and which contained dangers making them inimical. A check was kept on the survival rate of the inadvertent settlers. If few remained alive, the world was abandoned. If the survival rate was high, more deliveries were made. When the imposed population had made the world tenable, the Catteni would install an overlord and exact a percentage of the gross planetary product. Any dissenters to this procedure were then rounded up and deposited on yet another potential colonial world.

  Botany was one such colonial world on which the Catteni, emptying holdings cells on Barevi and Earth, dropped several species to see how they survived—each other as well as the native, but as yet unidentified, denizens. Humans, Deski, and Rugarians were the “colonists” in the first drop.

  The Catteni outfitted each of the unsuspecting colonists with durable clothing, a blanket, and a packet of dry rations. The “shipment” spent the voyage in a form of suspended animation and were deposited on the planet along with knives, hatchets, and rudimentary medical kits.

  On Botany, however, a former staff sergeant took charge of those dropped with him, and, warned by one of the nonhuman species, they managed to avoid the local avian predators.

  Zainal, the one Catteni who had been shanghaied in that shipment, vaguely remembered other problems on this planet from a cursory reading of the original exploration report. Although some of the stranded people wanted to revenge themselves by taking the Catteni’s life, Kris Bjornsen forestalled the attempt, suggesting that he knew more than anyone else did about the planet and they’d better keep him alive for a while. Sergeant Chuck Mitford saw the wisdom in that, and also took the Catteni’s advice to seek higher, stonier ground if they wished to survive. In a forced march to the safety of the nearby hills, Mitford realized that Zainal could be useful for quite a few reasons.

  Establishing a base camp, hunting for edible life-forms and foods, occupied every one of the survivors under Mitford’s command. The settlers discovered that this planet was not as unoccupied as the Catteni report suggested. In fact, it seemed to be a planet extensively farmed by mechanized, highly sophisticated machinery, operating without any “live” supervision. On a scouting mission, Kris Bjornsen and Zainal encountered more humans as well as representatives of the four other races dumped on Botany.

  In order to save those of the Deski species from dying of malnutrition, since Botany did not produce one of their basic dietary requirements, Zainal forced a confrontation with the Catteni captain of a second transport dumping a new load of settlers. He also sent back the message that this planet was obviously an agricultural subsidiary of a heretofore undiscovered race.

  Then he was summoned to a covert meeting with another Emassi—a high ranking Catteni official—with an offer to be returned to his rank and duties: an offer he summarily rejected.

  By then, there were sufficient technicians and engineers available to redesign some of the available equipment into useful appliances and machines, supplying communications and other assistance to the settlers.

  Using the aerial maps reluctantly supplied him, Zainal led a group to what might be a command center on the planet. However, it had obviously not been occupied for a very long time, though a garage held several aerial devices and smaller missiles of a homing device design. One of these was deliberately launched by Dick Aarens, in the hope that the actual “owners” of Botany might return and help the colonists against the Catteni.

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  The satellite logged the departure of a missile from the surface of the planet under observation. It analyzed the components, attempted to correlate the information within its memory banks, and found no match. The unusual speed and approximate direction of the device was also noted as it headed north and east toward the farther edge of the Milky Way. Just as the missile reached the heliopause of the system, it disappeared. A scan produced no debris; no ion or any other trace of what had powered its drive could be detected. The missile had vanished: a fact that was unacceptable to the monitoring program and caused a functional error which required internal investigation and repair. Although its earlier tracking was recorded, the satellite did not, due to the anomalies, immediately forward the data to its servor.

  Consequently, without a requisite emergency code, the information went through several processings before the anomalies were noticed. It was then immediately reported to the proper authority. A team was dispatched to correct the malfunction. None was found even after a complete overhaul and maintenance check of the satellite. The data was therefore suspect as a malfunction in itself, rather than the recording of an event. The planet was, after all, a penal colony; the exiles were equipped with the barest essentials for survival and no technological equipment whatever. It was only by chance that the report was ever seen by persons with the essential information to realize the significance of the sighting, and the mysterious disappearance of the homing device.

  PART TWO

  “You say that he refused to answer the summons?” The speaker scowled at the Emassi captain.

  As they were also father and son, the son was accustomed to his sire’s scowls: he almost enjoyed the reaction, knowing that Zainal’s refusal to return and accept the duty imposed on his rank and family would further blacken his brother’s previously spotless reputation in their father’s estimation.

  “He was chosen,” Perizec continued, bashing one huge fist onto the pervalloy worktop. “He cannot refuse the summons.”

  “He did,” Lenvec said with an imperturbable shrug of one shoulder. “‘I’m dropped, I stay.’ You know the convention.”

  Perizec crashed both fists onto the worktop, bouncing everything on it, scattering the files from the desk rack. “An Eosi matter has precedence over any Catteni convention! You know that!” The scowl deepened, pulling down the heavy mouth and jaw, darkening the gray-toned skin. “He has known of this duty since he was presented to the Eosi. Dropped or not, he is to return to accept that duty.” The fists banged emphatically again. Then Perizec’s eyes narrowed to slits through which his yellow pupils flashed with anger. “How did he come to be dropped on that felon planet?”

  Lenvec shrugged. He knew that his father was well aware of the whole circumstance but he repeated the report.

  “Zainal engaged in a fatal brawl with a minor transport officer. The crew sought vengeance and Zainal escaped in a flitter. It was hit and crashed in the western hunting grounds. No trace was found of him then. He seems to have been picked up along with dissidents who were gassed during a riot, and so was included in the slave shipment. He made his presence known to a second drop crew. Your office was alerted and I made the run to retrieve him. He refused…”

  “I know, I know,” and Perizec flicked thick fingers to end the recital. “He must return. The duty is required of him. We cannot avoid the choosing.” Perizec frowned, deep in thought. “See to it that the crew who arranged his deportation are sent to the same destination. They will ensure that he is ready to be collected when next you land there.”

  “A thought, sir,” Lenvec began. “Catteni would not be popular on the planet and may even be prevented from finding Zainal.”

  Perizec regarded him with anger. “Zainal survived. You said yourself that he was a member of some sort of team.”

  Lenvec shrugged. “Zainal is, after all, Emassi, sir, and as clever a man as you yourself…”

  Perizec grunted at the filial compliment. “He is also Catteni and would resist attempts to eliminate members of his own race.”

  “He might not be
in a position to do so. He may also wish to eliminate the crew for having put him on that plane in the first instance.”

  “They will have to be ‘rewarded,’” and Perizec’s smile was unpleasant, “for their part in his exile. See to that. And let us find among the Emassi two or three of Zainal’s hunting friends. Them he would certainly protect, would he not?” Lenvec nodded. “They will see to it that he is willing to leave when next you land.”

  “Am I to transport them there?”

  “By no means. That would put Zainal on his guard. When is the next mass transportation scheduled?”

  Lenvec consulted his wrist unit. “In twenty-two days.”

  “Choose the men…”

  “A female, too, sir, if I may suggest it. He’s been a long time without…companionship.”

  “An excellent notion,” and Perizec grinned back at his son. “You have someone in mind?” Lenvec nodded. “They will all be rewarded.” He reached to the files and methodically began stacking them in order as he continued speaking. “This must be completed as expeditiously as possible. I have told the Eosi that Zainal was sent on a special assignment and is unaware of their need of him. We have been granted a respite, but their anger will fall on us all if we do not present Zainal within a reasonable period of time.”

  Lenvec nodded. Since Zainal had been acceptable to the Eosi, there had been no need for Lenvec to be presented. Nor would he wish to be accorded such an Eosi “honor,” since he knew exactly what it entailed. However, he might yet find himself the substitute, if Zainal did not present himself. The honor of the family was at stake. Failure to comply with an Eosi demand brought disaster and disgrace to every blood relation.

  “Keep me informed, Lenvec,” Perizec told his son by way of dismissal.

  As Lenvec saluted formally, pivoted smartly, and left the office, Perizec began to consider how to punish the stupidity of a mere freighter crew who had presumed to place an Emassi among transported dissidents. He enjoyed deciding on the exact and perfect punishment for their presumption and shortly was able to issue the necessary orders. Once the rumor was circulated, few Tudo or Drassi would dare to repeat such treatment, no matter what the cause. That this abrogated one of the main tenets of Catteni discipline did not bother Perizec. His rank had privileges, and he exercised all frequently.