Eric
Flint and
Dave Freer
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 © 2004 by Eric Flint & Dave Freer
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: 0-7434-8846-6
Cover art by Bob Eggleton
First printing, September 2004
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flint, Eric.The rats, the bats & the ugly / Eric Flint, Dave Freer.
p. cm.
"A Baen Books original"—T.p. verso.
ISBN 0-7434-8846-6
1. Human-animal relationships—Fiction. 2. Space colonies—Fiction. I. Title: Rats, the bats, and the ugly. II. Freer, Dave. III. Title.
PS3556.L548R38 2004
813'.54—dc22
2004014347Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH (www.windhaven.com)
Printed in the United States of America
BAEN BOOKS by Eric Flint & Dave Freer
Rats, Bats, and
Vats
The Rats, the Vats, & the
Ugly
Pyramid Scheme
The Shadow of the Lion (with Mercedes
Lackey)
This Rough Magic (with Mercedes
Lackey)
The Wizard of Karres (with Mercedes
Lackey)
Baen Books by Eric Flint
Ring of Fire series:
1632 by Eric
Flint
1633 by Eric Flint & David
Weber
Ring of Fire edited by Eric Flint
1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint
& Andrew Dennis
Joe's World series:
The Philosophical
Strangler
Forward the Mage (with Richard
Roach)
Mother of Demons
Crown of Slaves (with David
Weber)
The Course of Empire (with K.D.
Wentworth)
The Warmasters (with David Weber &
David Drake)
The Bellisarius series, with David Drake:
An Oblique
Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory
The General series, with David Drake:
The Tyrant
BAEN BOOKS by DAVE FREER
The Forlorn