The Far Side of The Stars

While the Republic of Cinnabar is at peace with the Alliance, warriors like Lt. Daniel Leary and Signals Officer Adele Mundy must find other work—like escorting a pair of wealthy nobles on an expedition to the back of beyond! The Princess Cecile, the corvette in which they carved their reputations in letters of fire, has been sold as a private yacht, but she still has her guns, her missiles, and her veteran crew. Daniel and Adele will need all of those things as they face winged dragons, an Alliance auxiliary cruiser, jealous lovers, and a mysterious oracle which really does foresee the future. That won't be enough, though, when they penetrate a secret Alliance base and find a hostile fleet ready for a war that will sweep Cinnabar out of a strategically crucial arm of the galaxy. Preventing that will involve skill, courage, and more luck than a sane man could even pray for; and it will require a space battle on a scale that a tiny corvette like the Princess Cecile has no business being involved in. But she'll be in the middle of it anyway, because Daniel, Adele, and their Cinnabar crew would never turn their backs on a fight!

Praise for the Lt. Leary Series:

"Please more Lt. Leary soon!" —Andre Norton

"Updating dashing Horatio Hornblower tactics and vintage John Wayne heroics with . . . formidably battle-hardened female NCOs, Drake gives . . . a full measure of appealing derring-do." —Publishers Weekly

"Drake's [With the Lightnings] once again demonstrates the author's talent for arcane politics and vivid battle scenes . . . a pair of clever and resourceful protagonists . . . action-packed space opera. . . ." —Library Journal

"Drake . . . creates two strong protagonists . . . [With the Lightnings] is an intelligent page-turner . . . the launching of a new futuristic space-navy saga." —Booklist

". . . vintage Drake, fast paced, heroic, and ending in a rousing climax. Drake remains one of the best of the military SF writers." —Science Fiction Chronicle

"[With the Lightnings is] his best and most fun novel . . . I'd love to see a sequel." —Philadelphia Weekly Press

"[Drake] couldn't write a bad action scene at gunpoint, and his sense of humor infuses the characters here [in Lt. Leary, Commanding] with agreeable qualities. . . . Grand fun for lovers of action in high space. —Roland Green

Cover art by Stephen Hickman

Hardcover

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.

First printing, October 2003

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

Typeset by Bell Road Press, Sherwood, OR
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-7434-7158-X

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

Baen Books by David Drake

The RCN Series

With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding
The Far Side of the Stars

The General Series

Warlord with S.M. Stirling (omnibus)
Conqueror with S.M.Stirling (omnibus)
The Chosen with S.M. Stirling
The Reformer with S.M. Stirling
The Tyrant with Eric Flint

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher's Bill
The Sharp End
Paying the Piper

The Belisarius Series
with Eric Flint

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory

Independent Novels and Collections

Seas of Venus
Foriegn Legions, edited by David Drake
Ranks of Bronze
Cross the Stars
The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner
All the Way to the Gallows
Grimmer Than Hell
The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Armageddon
(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)

Killer
(with Karl Edward Wagner)