Freehold

Sergeant Kendra Pacelli is innocent, but that doesn't matter to the repressive government pursuing her. Mistakes might be made, but they are never acknowledged, especially when billions of embezzled dollars earned from illegal weapons sales are at stake. But where does one run when all Earth and most settled planets are under the aegis of one government? Answer: The Freehold of Grainne.

Kenneth Chinran was a disaffected youth who joined the military and was recruited for an elite deep cover unit, completing training and exercises so tough that several of the recruits did not survive. At the peak of his career, he was sent by his star nation to infiltrate a fascistic, militaristic planet: Earth.

Celadon, a poor nation on a poor planet, engaged in civil war and a haven for every type of villainy in space, is ripe for cleanup. The military could pacify it handily, but it would take a statesman to fix it. But statesmen have ethics, which politicians and megacorps find inconvenient. Celadon's President Bishwanath compounded the sin by being astute, ambitious and capable. Something had to be done, because a working nation isn't much use for pork and graft.

The Galactic Rumble Is On! First contact with an alien species - and, surprise, the human race is far from united. The Freeholders want trade. The U.N. wants to manage. The eco-warriors want "purity" at all costs. Humans - you gotta love 'em! Once again, a historic meeting between potential friends is about to turn into a free-fire zone!

The Prescot family were miners. At one time, they were contracted to develop technology for a mineral-rich but uninhabitable system. Gradually, all the investors shied away. Then the Prescots broke through with the technology needed to exploit entire planets, and incidentally develop domed playgrounds for the perversely rich, including indoor ski slopes and cable cars over megavolcanos, casinos and rides.

Kenneth Chinran commanded the elite unit assigned to take out an entire planet in a terrible war. Millions died; billions more perished in the aftermath. One doesn't send a sociopath on such a mission. A sociopath might not stop. Chinran did stop, but in the process nearly lost his sanity and his soul. But one of Chinran's men was a sociopath going in. Now he's a trained sociopath with the knowledge and firepower to take out entire tactical teams, evaporate through security cordons and change identity at will.

Alex Marlow and Ripple Creek Security's best personal security detail return to action. This time, they really don't like their principal, World Bureau of State Minister Joy Herman Highland–a highly-placed bureaucrat with aspirations to elected office. Even worse, Highland’s assistant wants to publicize every movement and action for her boss’s pending campaign, which is anathema to good security. With a person of this status, it's not a case of someone wanting her dead. The only question is how many people want her dead, and what are they bringing to the fight?

Angie Kaneshiro never planned to be a spy. She was a veteran of the Freehold Forces of Grainne and was now a tramp freighter crew-woman who hadn't set foot on the dirt of a world in 10 years. Angie was free, and that was the way she liked it. Then the war with Earth started. One thing Angie knew was human space. She knew where the UN troops garrisoned, the methods they used to scan and chip their own to control them.

When the UN invaded the Freehold of Grainne, the intent was simple: Force a noncompliant star nation back into the collective. What the politicians hadn't accounted for was that the Freehold had spent 200 years as the haven for every independent, rebellious, self-reliant adventurer in human space. Its military are scattered remnants, its bases smoking ruins, its cities occupied. But Grainne and its space habitats have resources beyond measure.