The Prince

THE LAST, BEST HOPE OF MANKIND

In the 21st century, the Soviet-American CoDominium had kept the peace, both on Earth and among the far-flung star colonies. But now the CoDominium is dying, and its death-throes will be terrible; already the nations arm for their final bat-de. The Earth seems doomed, and mankind's sole hope for a future worth having rests on a planet called Sparta, a planet where American idealists have raised once more the banner of a liberty that has been forgotten amid the corruptions and tyrannies of Earth.

The Spartans have hired John Christian Falkenberg, born leader and military genius, and his mercenary legion to train them. If Falkenberg succeeds, the tattered remnants of civilization may still be welded into a single galaxy-spanning free society. But Grand Senator Bronson, de facto ruler of the nation that once was the USA, is determined that Falkenberg and Prince Lysander of Sparta will fail, and Spartan independence will be crushed forever....

Jerry Pournelle is a reigning master of military science fiction, author of the series of novels about John Christian Falkenberg and his legion of interstellar mercenaries, and many other works, such as Janissaries, Exiles to Glory, High Justice, King David's Spaceship, Starswarm, and others. With Larry Niven he has collaborated on a string of bestselling novels, including Lucifer's Hammer, The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, and many more. He holds advanced degrees in psychology, statistics, engineering, and political science, and has been involved professionally in all these fields. He and his wife live in Los Angeles.

S.M. Stirling is the author of the Draka trilogy. Set in a parallel universe, a nation founded on slavery and the United States battle for domination of the world. The trilogy was recently republished in one huge volume as The Domination. Stirling has also written Drakon, a novel of a Draka warrior hurled into our world, and edited a companion volume, Drakas! Among his collaborations are the popular General series with David Drake, the novel, The Children's Hour, with Jerry Pournelle, and the national bestseller, The City Who Fought, with Anne McCaffrey. He and his wife live in Santa Fe, NM.

Cover art by Patrick Turner

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, September 2002

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

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-7434-3556-7

Copyright 2002 by Jerry Pournelle & S. M. Stirling

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
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Production by Windhaven Press
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Electronic version by WebWrights
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TO: Sergeant Herman Leich, Regular Army, U.S.A.;
and Second Lieutenant Zeneke Asfaw,
Kagnew Battalion, Imperial Guard of Ethiopia.

To junior officers
everywhere

Author's Note

This novel is part of the series of "future histories" in which The Mote in God's Eye takes place, and it gives the early history of the events in that novel.

The battle in Part II, Chapter XIX is based in large part on the actual experience of Lieutenant Zeneke Asfaw, Ethiopian Imperial Guard, during the Korean War.

Baen Books by Jerry Pournelle

The Prince
With S.M. Stirling

Blood Feuds
Blood Vengeance

BAEN BOOKS by S.M. STIRLING

The Draka series:
The Stone Dogs
The Domination (omnibus)
Drakon
Drakas! (edited by S.M. Stirling)

The Flight Engineer series:
(with James Doohan)
The Rising
The Privateer
The Independent Command

The General series:
(with David Drake)
The Forge
The Chosen
The Reformer

The Cage (with Shirley Meier)
Saber and Shadow (with Shirley Meier)
Snowbrother

The City Who Fought (with Anne McCaffrey)
The Ship Avenged