Freedom's Challenge

Book 3: A Freedom Novel

by Anne McCaffrey

Genres: Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Alien Contact; Space Opera

Synopsis

Kris Bjornsen has come a long way since alien slave ships scooped her up in Denver with thousands of others. Dropped off on an apparently uninhabited world with the rest, she has fallen in love with Zainal, a renegade Catteni, and made a comfortable life for herself and her new family. But she feels a soldier's duty to escape Botany and rejoin the struggle for freedom.

As the Eosi overlords continue to drop captives on Botany, the colonists learn that there are freedom fighters on every captured world, and Earth is full of pockets of resistance. There are even rebels among the warlike Catteni. Now the colonists have the technology they need to go back to war with the deadly Eosi-with a surprise strike at the enslaved planet Earth itself!

Release date: September 24, 2013

Publisher: Ace

Print pages: 320

Sample

“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’…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 Choice

“A fun adventure…Delightfully audacious.”

—Locus

“This episode of the Freedom saga is as exciting and convincing as the first.”

—Booklist

“The setting is crisp and expertly detailed, and the plot spins out smoothly…Readers will be eager for the next installment in the series.”

—Publishers Weekly

Freedom’s Challenge

“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

“Rip-roaring adventure no science fiction fan could possibly resist.”

—RT Book Reviews

Freedom’s Ransom

“Touching and humorous.”

—Publishers Weekly

“McCaffrey is masterly at creating universes and characters so memorable that readers can slip comfortably back into [her] world…Full of humorous events as well as excitement, the fourth entry in McCaffrey’s Freedom series will be relished by fans.”

—Booklist

Praise for the bestselling novels of
Anne McCaffrey’s Tower and Hive series

The Rowan

“A reason for rejoicing.”

—The Washington Times

“One of the best McCaffrey novels.”

—Locus

“The Rowan introduces readers to the Gwyn-Raven dynasty…complete with an interstellar love affair steamy enough to attract those not usually interested in science fiction.”

—Calgary Herald

“A well-told tale…McCaffrey’s popularity is immense and justified.”

—Booklist

Damia

“Dynamic.”

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Holds the reader spellbound [with an] artful weave of romance and humor that infuses her characters.”

—Calgary Herald

“McCaffrey interweaves an engrossing romance with a coming-of-age story as she examines the issue of responsibility in a society where survival depends on the abilities of a gifted few.”

—Publishers Weekly

Damia’s Children

“Winning, carefully developed young characters, an attractive alien society, and an enemy drawn with more than a touch of mystery.”

—Publishers Weekly

“McCaffrey’s fans won’t be disappointed…Fascinating in its exploration of the brain’s potential and untapped powers.”

—The Calgary Sun

“McCaffrey skillfully combines elements of family, adventure, action, and the intriguing possibilities of psychic phenomena.”

—The Toledo Blade

Lyon’s Pride

“McCaffrey’s protagonists remain as warm and appealing as ever.”

—Publishers Weekly

“McCaffrey continues to spin a good tale…All in all, a rich, compelling novel.”

—Booklist

“Another exciting episode in the thrilling epic of the Rowan…Read and enjoy!”

—RT Book Reviews

The Tower and the Hive

“Readers looking for intelligent, heroic adventure will find it here, and Rowan fans will be especially pleased at this felicitous closing of a popular SF series.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Fans of the series will plunge right in.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The fifth installment in the author’s Rowan series brings to a satisfying culmination the tale of three generations of a uniquely gifted family while leaving room for future novels. McCaffrey’s skillful storytelling and fluid writing…make this a necessary purchase.”

—Library Journal

“McCaffrey maintains the high quality of characterization of humans and aliens alike, and, once again, she skillfully interweaves the plot threads, making it easy to follow the action on all fronts.”

—Booklist

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
CHALLENGE

ANNE MCCAFFREY

Table of Contents

Don’t look back in anger, I hear you say.

Acknowledgments

I HAVE, AS USUAL, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO make for some of the material used in Freedom’s Challenge.

Especially helpful was Dr. Susan Edwards, Ph.D., social cognitive psychologist, author of Men Who Believe in Love, who helped me with the social and trauma techniques, which have been used so successfully to help the victims of catastrophes, both personal and public (such as hostage situations), in recovering their personalities and self-confidence.

Margaret Ball, bless her heart, had all the Swahili and hunted down information about the customs and traditions of the Maasai tribes of East Africa. Fortunately, she also speaks Swahili, though I didn’t have to use that much, since so many of the tribal chiefs are fluent enough in English.

I also wish to thank Georgeanne Kennedy for her careful copyediting and invaluable suggestions of what she wanted to know “more about” in this story. What errors a spell-check, even the most advanced ones, do not catch, the sharp eye of the intelligent reader does. And I give my spell-check a lot of hard names to cope with. Thank goodness it can’t complain…ALOUD!

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 they distributed through the Catteni worlds and sold them as slaves along with other conquered species.

A group rounded up from Barevi, the hub of the slave trade, were dumped on an M-type planet of unknown quality, given rations and tools and allowed to survive or not. A former marine sergeant, Chuck Mitford, took charge of the mixed group, which included sullen Turs, spider-like Deski, hairy Rugarians, vague Ilginish, gaunt Morphins, with humans in the majority. There was also one Catteni who had been shanghaied onto the prison ship. Though there were those who wanted to kill him immediately, Kris Bjornsen, lately of Denver, suggested that he might know enough about the planet to help them.

He remembered sufficient from a casual glance at the initial exploration report to suggest they move under cover, and preferably rock, to prevent being eaten by night crawlers, which oozed from the ground to ingest anything edible.

Installed in a rocky site, with cliffs and caves to give them some protection, Mitford quickly organized a camp, utilizing the specific qualities of the aliens and assigning tasks to every one in this unusual community. However, the planet was soon discovered to be inhabited—by machines, which automatically tended the crops and the six-legged bovine types. After being caught by the Mechs, Zainal, the Catteni, with his scout party, not only escape but rescue other humans trapped by the Mechs in what proves to be an abattoir.

However, human ingenuity being rampant among the mixed group, they soon learned how to dismantle the machines and design useful equipment.

Zainal, in a conversation with one of the Drassi drop captains, gets not only a supply of the drug which will keep the Deski contingent from dying of malnutrition, but also aerial maps of the planet. And discovers a command post, presumably built by the real owners of the planet. While it has obviously not been used, a mechanically inclined member of their scouting party launches a homing device.

Both the Eosi overlords looking for Zainal and the genuine owners of the planet note the release of the homing device.

The search to bring Zainal back to face the consequences of his delinquency continues. But Zainal manages to lure the searchers into the maws of the night crawlers and acquires their scout vehicle.

Meanwhile, six more drops of dissidents from Earth and a few other aliens have swelled the population of Botany, as the planet is now called, to nearly ten thousand folk: some of them with skills that benefit the colony and improve conditions. Zainal, now with a constant companion in Kris Bjornsen, and others explore this new world.

What Kris slowly discovers from her “buddy” is that Zainal wants to implement a three-phase plan: one that will end the domination of his people by the Eosi and, incidentally, bring about the liberation of Earth.

Following this agenda, Zainal explains to Mitford and other ex-naval, air force, and army personnel how he means to proceed: by capturing the next ship which drops more slaves on Botany. This plan necessitates some alteration when the next ship turns up in such poor condition that only quick action saves it from blowing up. But the captain has sent out an emergency message and looks forward to being rescued from the planet. By a clever plot, the rescue ship, which is a new one, is captured by Zainal and “other Catteni” staff, thus giving them two operational ships, plus the bridge equipment of the one they have now cannibalized for parts.

Because Zainal was dropped on Botany, his brother Lenvec has had to take his place, becoming subsumed as a host for an Eosi. The Eosi is somewhat amused by his host body’s violent hatred of his brother. And soon becomes obsessed with finding the runaway.

An immense ship does a flypast of Botany and replaces the machines, which the colonists have salvaged to provide themselves with useful vehicles and equipment. At this reminder that they live on Botany on sufferance, the entire colony decides that they should show goodwill to their unknown landlords by leaving the farmed continent on which they were dropped and moving to a smaller, unused continent across a small strait. They are in the process of moving when the Mentat Ix, hosted in Lenvec’s body, does a search of the planet to find the missing Catteni. Without success.

No sooner does this inspection tour end than the real owners of the planet, who accept the appellation of Farmers, arrive in unusual form. They seem able to give personal messages to all they meet: the important news is permission for the colony to remain. They also protect it with a most incredible device, a Bubble, which surrounds the entire planet while still permitting the sun’s rays to filter through even as it impedes the exit of the Eosi ship. Once free of the obstacle, the Mentat orders its ship to fire on the Bubble, which has no effect on it. The impenetrable protection of this planet infuriates the Mentat who decides that the shield must be broken and the recalcitrant colony disciplined. To this end, the Mentat retires to its home world to accumulate an armada. And also to probe the minds of human specialists to see what knowledge they must possess.

The two ships owned by the colony are able to leave the protection of the Bubble, while the two Eosi satellites are on the other side of the world, and succeed in raiding Barevi for much needed fuel, supplies, and more plursaw for the Deski’s diet. Kris, who had already learned enough Barevi to deal with merchants, and others accompany Zainal. While there, they learn of the plight of Humans whose minds have been wiped by the Eosian device with which they had enhanced the basic intelligence of the Catteni race. From Barevi, Zainal makes contact with dissident Emassi who are also pledged to end Eosi domination. Having found slave pens full of the mind-wiped Victims of the Eosi, the Botanists are unable to leave their compatriots to sure death in slave camps. So they contrive to take over yet another ship. Between the two, they are able to rescue several thousand Victims, irrespective of the problems this might cause the colony.

Zainal’s first two phases have been successful: the planet is safe and they have ships with which to seize additional supplies. But will he be able to talk the colony into supporting his third-phase plans? And liberate not only Earth but also the Catteni from Eosi domination?

Chapter One

WHEN ZAINAL HAD ORGANIZED THE DATA he wanted to send to the Farmers via the homing capsule, he let Boris Slavinkovin and Dick Aarens fly it down to the Command Post for dispatch.

“You have a nasty sense of humor, Zainal,” Kris said when the hatch of the scout vessel Baby closed behind the messengers. She had been surprised by his choice of Aarens, considering the man’s behavior on their first visit to the Command Post.

“Well,” and Zainal gave a shrug of one shoulder and an unrepentant grin, “Aarens has had experience sending one off. Let him do it official this time. As a reward for his improvement.”

“What improvement?” Kris still had little time for the self-styled mechanical genius who had deliberately launched a homing capsule without authorization on their first trip to the Command Post.

They both stepped back from the takeoff area, as much to avoid the fumes as the wind, although Boris lifted the little craft slowly and cautiously. They watched as it made an almost soundless vertical ascent before it slanted forward and sped off, disappearing quickly in the dusk of what had been a very long and momentous day.

The wide landing field that stretched out level with the immense, Farmer-constructed hangar could accommodate a half dozen of the K-class ships that had arrived today. They now were out of sight, within the vast hangar. At the far end of the landing area grew small copses of the lodge-pole trees: young ones in terms of the age of the mature groves above and beyond the hangar. In the nearest of those groves the cabins of the colonists were being constructed, out of brick or wood, in separate clearings to allow the privacy that everyone preferred. Farther up the slope were the infirmary, which today was crowded, and the huge mess hall, which served food all day long and well into the long Botany night. The largest building that faced Retreat Bay was the administration, where Judge Iri Bempechat held court when necessary, with the stocks just outside as a reminder that offenses against the community would be publicly punished. The building also held the living quarters for the judge and other members of the body known as the Council, which included those with experience in management and administration to run the affairs of the colony. In the earliest days, when Master Sergeant Charles Mitford had taken charge of the dazed and frightened First Drop colonists, he’d kept records on pieces of slate with chalk. Now the admin building posted weekly work rosters and the community services that all were required to perform. (It still shocked Kris to see Judge Iri washing dishes, and he did it more cheerfully than many.)

Ex-Admiral Ray Scott had elected to live in a small room behind his office in the hangar complex. It was he, disguised as a Catteni Drassi, who had insisted that the Victims be rescued from the fate to which the Eosi had condemned them: working until they died as mindless slaves in the appalling conditions that existed in the mines, quarries, and fields. There had been no way that those of his crew who had been among the first dropped on Botany would have allowed those battered people to be transported to their deaths.

Considering the excitements of the day, the unloading of the victims of the Eosian mind-wipe experiment, which had occupied a good third of Botany’s settlers, the field was now abnormally quiet, peaceful. Kris sighed and Zainal gave her a fond look.

“ZAINAL? KRIS?” Chuck Mitford’s parade ground voice reached their ears over the muted sounds that Baby was making. They looked back to the hangar and saw Chuck urgently waving to them. He was talking to someone who had just pulled up in a runabout.

“Oh, now what?” The testy demand left Kris’ mouth before she could suppress it. She was tired and she earnestly desired a shower and a long sleep. She’d even arranged with the crèche to keep Zane overnight since she knew herself to be stretched to the limit after the tense voyage home and the stress of landing all the pitiful mind-wiped people.

“We’d better see,” Zainal said, taking her hand in his big one and pressing it encouragingly.

“Don’t you ever get tired and just…have too much, Zainal?” This was one of those moments when his equanimity bordered on the unforgivable.

“Yes, but it passes,” he said, leading her to where Chuck Mitford waited for them with the passenger of the runabout.

It wasn’t a long walk but long enough for Kris to get her irritation and impatience under control. If Zainal could hack it, so could she. But when would she get a shower? She stank! Well, maybe her body odor would encourage whoever this was to shorten their errand.

“What’s up, sarge?” she asked, noticing that he was talking to a woman she vaguely recognized from the Fourth Drop: as much because she managed to look elegant in the basic Catteni coverall. Kris wondered if she’d taken it in at crucial spots to make it look so fashionable. She was fleetingly envious of such expertise.

“Dorothy Dwardie who’s heading the psychology team needs some of your time, and right now,” Chuck said and had the grace to add, “though I’d guess another meeting’s the last thing you two need right now.”

“It is,” Kris said without thinking but she smiled at the psychologist to take the sting out of her candor.

“It is important?” And Zainal’s question was more statement than query.

“Yes, it is, quite urgent,” Dorothy said with an apologetic smile. “We need to know more about that mind-probe before we can proceed with any sort of effective or therapeutic treatment.”

“Why’n’t you use the small office?” Chuck said, gesturing to that end of the immense hangar.

Zainal squeezed Kris’ hand and murmured: “This won’t take long. I know very little about the probe.”

“I was hoping you’d know something, if only the history of its use among your people,” Dorothy said ruefully and then looked about for a place to park the runabout.

“I’ll take care of it for you,” Chuck said so helpfully that Kris smothered a grin.

Dorothy Dwardie gave him a warm smile for his offer.

“We’ve had a bit of outrageous luck,” she said as they walked to the right-hand side of the enormous hangar where other small offices had been constructed.

“We could use some,” Kris agreed, struggling for amiability.

“Indeed we could, though I must say that hijacking all those poor people out from under Eosi domination is certainly their good luck. And you deserve a lot of credit for that act of kindness.”

What she didn’t say rang loud and clear to Kris. There were some who weren’t sure she and Zainal deserved any credit? As well for them that Ray Scott had loudly declared that he took full responsibility for the decision to save the damaged Humans so no one could blame that on Zainal or her. Actually the guilty were the Eosi but too many people failed to make a distinction between overlord and underling. Kris’ mood swung back to negative again.

“But until we…” and Dorothy’s hand on her chest meant all the psychologists and psychiatrists on Botany who would now take charge of the mind-wiped, “understand as much as possible about the mechanism…ah, here we are…” and she opened the door to the small office and automatically fumbled for a light switch on the wall.

Kris had seen the cord and pulled it.

“Oh…I suppose I’ll get used to it in time,” Dorothy said with an apologetic grin.

“You’re Fourth Drop, aren’t you?” Kris replied as neutrally as possible while Zainal closed the door behind them. There were several desks against the long stone wall but a table and chairs made an appropriate conference spot by the wide window. There was nothing but darkness outside, since the hangar faced south and there were no habitations yet beyond the field. “You said you had a bit of outrageous luck….?” Kris asked when they were seated.

“Yes, not everyone in the group you brought had been mind-wiped.”

“Certainly the Deskis, Rugs, and Turs weren’t,” Kris said.

“Nor all the Humans,” Dorothy said, smiling over such a minor triumph.

“They weren’t?” Kris asked, exchanging surprised glances with Zainal.

“Yes, some faked the vacuity of the mindless…”

“Faked it?”

Dorothy smiled more brightly. “Clever of them, actually, and they got away with it because those in charge weren’t keeping track of who had been…done.”

Kris let out a long whistle. “All us Human look alike to Eosi? Proves, though, doesn’t it, that the Eosi aren’t all that smart after all. Clever of us Humans to run the scam.”

“They’re also able to give us names for many of the people who no longer remember who they are.” Dorothy gave a little shudder. “I’ve dealt with amnesia patients before, of course, and accident shock trauma, but this is on so much larger a scale…and complicated by not only emotional but also physical shock and injury. We have established—thanks to Leon Dane’s work with injured Catteni—that there are more points of similarity than differences between our two species since both are bipedal, pentadactyl, and share many of the same external features, like eyes, ears, noses. We can’t of course cross-fertilize,” and to Kris’ surprise, Dorothy ducked her head to hide a flush.

“As well,” Kris said dryly.

Dorothy flashed her an apology and continued. “Internally, though the Catteni have larger hearts, lungs, and intestinal arrangements, Leon says that the main difference is the density of the brain matter. It’s also larger though similarly organized as ours are, as far as the position of the four major lobes is concerned. Leon was amazed at what damage a Catteni skull could take without permanent injury. I think,” and she paused, frowning slightly at what she did not voice, “that the initial injuries to the prisoners were attempts to recalibrate the instrument to human brains.”

“Initial injuries?” Kris asked.

“Yes,” and Dorothy seemed to wish to get over this topic very quickly, “though they would have been dead before their nervous systems could register much.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, and leave it at that, Kris,” Dorothy went on briskly. “Will Seissmann should not dwell on the details although he seems to want to…a part of his trauma.”

“Will Seissmann?” Kris asked.

“Yes, he and Dr. Ansible…”

“Dr. Ansible?” Kris shot bolt upright. “But he’s—was, rather—at the observatory. Only I think he was away on some sort of a conference when the Catteni took Denver.”

“Yes, he was and took refuge at Stamford,” Dorothy replied, nodding. “He tried to argue others he knew to follow Will’s example. I don’t know whether or not the dogmatic scientist has an innate martyr complex but only a few would resort to the trick to save themselves.” She broke off with a sigh. “At any rate, we are able to put names to most of the Victims. But I need to know whatever details you may have, Zainal. They will be so helpful in correcting the trauma…if, indeed, we can.”

Zainal shook his head. “I know little about such Eosi devices.” Then his expression changed into what Kris privately termed his “Catteni look,” cold, impassive, shuttered. “I do know—it is part of the Catteni history—that they have a device that increases and measures intelligence.”

“Oh?” Dorothy leaned forward across the table in her eagerness. “Then it could possibly extract information, too?”

Zainal blinked and his expression altered to a less forbidding one. He gave a slight smile. “It would seem likely since I only know of the one device. The Eosi used it on the primitive Catteni to make them useful as hosts.”

“Really?” Dorothy’s expression was intensely eager as she leaned forward, encouraging Zainal to elaborate.

“Yes, really. Roughly two thousand years ago, the Eosi discovered Catten and its inhabitants. We were little more than animals, a fact the Eosi never let us forget. About a thousand years ago, my family started keeping its records for our ancestor was one of the first hundred to have…his brains stimulated by the device. Each family keeps its own records—how many males it has delivered to the Eosi as hosts and details of children and matings.”

“A thousand, two thousand years to develop into a space-going race? That’s impressive,” Dorothy said.

“Humans did it without such assistance and that impresses me,” Zainal said with an odd laugh. “But that’s how the Emassi were developed. To serve the Eosi.”

“They didn’t use the mind thingummy on the Drassi?” Kris asked.

“To a lesser degree,” Zainal replied and turned to Dorothy. “There are three levels of Catteni now…Emassi,” and he touched his chest, “Drassi who are good at following orders but have little initiative or ambition: some were rejected for the Emassi ranks, but are able to be more than Drassi—ship captains and troop leaders. Then there’re the Rassi, who were left as they are.”

“Rassi?” Kris echoed in surprise. “Never heard of them.”

“They do not leave Catten and are as we all were when the Eosi found us.”

“So you, as a species, did not evolve by yourselves? But had your intelligence stimulated?” Dorothy asked. She turned to Kris. “The Eosi evidently never heard of the Prime Directive.”

Kris giggled. A psychologist who was a Trekkie?

“The Prime Directive means an advanced culture is not supposed to interfere with the natural evolution of another species or culture,” Kris explained to Zainal.

“The anthropologists will have a field day with this,” Dorothy added, jotting down another note. “Was one…application sufficient to sustain the higher level of intelligence?” she asked Zainal.

He shrugged. “I do not know that.” Abruptly his expression again changed to his “Catteni look,” impassive, expressionless, shuttered. “When I had my full growth, I had to be presented to the Eosi, to see if I was acceptable as a host. And what training I should be given.”

“And?” Dorothy prompted him when he paused.

“I was passed, and I was to be trained to pilot spaceships.” Then his grin became devilish and his “Catteni look” completely disappeared. “My father and uncles had worried that Eosi would find me too curious and unacceptable.&#