Paying the Piper

by David Drake

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 © 2002 by David Drake. "Choosing Sides" previously appeared in The Warmasters, edited by Bill Fawcett.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original

Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com

ISBN: 0-7434-3547-8

Cover art by Larry Elmore

First printing, July 2002

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Drake, David.

Paying the piper / by David Drake.
p. cm.
"A Baen Books original"—T.p. verso.
ISBN 0-7434-3547-8
1. Life on other planets—Fiction. 2. Space warfare—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3554.RI96 P39 2002
813'.54—dc21
2002018522

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Printed in the United States of America

DEDICATION

To Larry Barnthouse, who long ago as another 96C2L94 was missed by all the same bullets that missed me.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book involved computer adventures unusual even for me, The Man Who Kills Computers. (Three dead within two weeks.) My son Jonathan, Mark Van Name, Karen Zimmerman, Allyn Vogel, and my wife Jo, were of particular importance in making it possible for me to continue working.

This book required a lot of attention by Dan Breen, my first reader. I'm very fortunate to have him.