Table of Contents PROLOGUE BOOK ONE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX BOOK TWO CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN EPILOGUE A CALL TO INSURRECTION BOOK IV OF Manticore Ascendant DAVID WEBER & TIMOTHY ZAHN with THOMAS POPE A Novel of the Honorverse A Call to Insurrection David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope Book four in the nationally best-selling Manticore Ascendant series, set in the world of David Weber’s multiple New York Times best-selling Honorverse series. Yesterday, the Star Kingdom of Manticore was a small, unimportant interstellar backwater. A quiet little star nation, only recently recovered from the devastating blow of the Plague Years. More affluent than some, perhaps, but with little to attract trade or interstellar commerce, it had little need for a navy . . . and even less interest in paying for one. But Manticore has now become a target. The Star Kingdom isn't certain who is attacking it, or why, or what its mysterious foe can possibly want, but Queen Elizabeth I knows she has to find out. And she knows that whatever some of her subjects think, Manticore does need a navy. And it needs allies, friends like the dynamic Republic of Haven and the Andermani Empire. It needs their trade . . . and to learn from their more experienced and powerful navies. It is the job of officers like Travis Long and his wife, Lisa, to acquire that experience. Of utterly inexperienced diplomats like Travis's brother Gavin, Earl Winterfall, to build those alliances. They have been sent to the powerful Andermani Empire to do just that, for the Imperial Navy is one of the most potent and experienced fleets in the galaxy. But the Andermani have problems of their own. Their Emperor's death is the trigger for insurrection, and now that powerful and experienced navy is locked in civil war. The Manticoran visitors find themselves squarely in the path of the storm, and before Travis, Lisa, and Gavin can accomplish anything else, they first have to survive. The MANTICORE ASCENDANT Series A Call to Duty by David Weber & Timothy Zahn A Call to Arms by David Weber & Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope A Call to Vengeance by David Weber & Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope A Call to Insurrection by David Weber & Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope Also in the HONORVERSE by DAVID WEBER HONOR HARRINGTON On Basilisk Station • The Honor of the Queen The Short Victorious War • Field of Dishonor • Flag in Exile Honor Among Enemies • In Enemy Hands • Echoes of Honor Ashes of Victory • War of Honor • Crown of Slaves (with Eric Flint) The Shadow of Saganami • At All Costs • Storm from the Shadows Torch of Freedom (with Eric Flint) • Mission of Honor • A Rising Thunder Shadow of Freedom • Cauldron of Ghosts (with Eric Flint) Shadow of Victory • Uncompromising Honor • To End in Fire (with Eric Flint) EDITED BY DAVID WEBER: More than Honor • Worlds of Honor • Changer of Worlds The Service of the Sword • In Fire Forged • Beginnings THE STAR KINGDOM A Beautiful Friendship • Fire Season (with Jane Lindskold) Treecat Wars (with Jane Lindskold) House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion (with BuNine) BAEN BOOKS by TIMOTHY ZAHN Battle Luna (with Travis S. Taylor, Michael Z. Williamson, Kacey Ezell & Josh Hayes) Blackcollar: The Judas Solution Blackcollar (contains The Blackcollar and Blackcollar: The Backlash Mission) The Cobra Trilogy (contains: Cobra, Cobra Strike, and Cobra Bargain) COBRA WAR Cobra Alliance • Cobra Guardian • Cobra Gamble COBRA REBELLION Cobra Slave • Cobra Outlaw • Cobra Traitor A C��� �� I�����������: B��� IV �� M�������� A�������� 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 © 2022 by Words of Weber, Inc., Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope 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: 978-1-9821-2589-9 eISBN: 978-1-62579-852-7 Cover art by Dave Seeley First printing, February 2022 Distributed by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Weber, David, 1952– author. | Zahn, Timothy, author. | Pope, Thomas, 1972– author. Title: A call to insurrection : a novel of the Honorverse / David Weber & Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope. Description: Riverdale, NY : Baen, 2022. | Series: Manticore ascendant ; book 4 Identifiers: LCCN 2021050936 | ISBN 9781982125899 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781625798527 (ebook) Subjects: LCGFT: Science fiction. | Novels. Classification: LCC PS3573.E217 C355 2022 | DDC 813/.54—dc23/eng/20211015 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021050936 Pages by Joy Freeman (www.pagesbyjoy.com) Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Electronic Version by Baen Books www.baen.com PROLOGUE 1542 PD Hereditary President Trudy McIntyre had never been what Lucretia Tomlinson would have called a handsome woman. But there were pictures from two decades earlier that had captured a smoldering fire, a defiance, and a sense of righteousness that had more than made up for the lack of physical beauty. Now, sixteen T-years since McIntyre’s world and people had been ruthlessly torn away from her, much of that fire had faded. Much, but not all. And if the fire hadn’t aged well, the moral righteousness certainly had. “…I know you must be getting tired of hearing from me,” the image on the display said, “as I’m sure your father did before you, as well as all the other directors that have graced the PFT boardroom. But it’s important to me—and to many others—that the crimes of Gustav Anderman aren’t forgotten. For sixteen T-years the people of the Tomlinson System have been crushed under his heel, denied their God-given rights to liberty and free expression. “I know that after all this time our small and distant problems probably don’t even register on PFT’s agenda. That’s why I’ve sent this message directly to you, Director Tomlinson. To remind you of what was once yours, and to plead with you to do whatever you can to make right what Gustav Anderman once made wrong. “I hope to hear from you at your earliest opportunity. I hope even more that you’ll do whatever you can to persuade the Solarian League to take action on behalf of your people, your colonists, and your world. “Thank you for your attention and consideration. I know that if we work together we can return the Tomlinson System to the freedom and shining glory that your grandfather first envisioned for us. “With respect, Hereditary President-in-Exile Trudy McIntyre.” The final image froze, a final mute plea in those aging but still fiery eyes. With a sigh, Tomlinson blanked the screen. She’d been Chief Director of the Board for the transstellar corporation Preston, Fagnelli, and Tomlinson for the past four years. In that time she’d received no fewer than six other messages from McIntyre, all of them pleading with her to take some kind of action against Anderman and his so-called Andermani Empire. The hell of it was that Tomlinson had tried. She’d sent a dozen formal protests of her own to the Solarian League, both to official agencies and to Anderman’s former employers and fellow mercenary chiefs. She’d sent notes to some of the other transstellar corporations, suggesting the possibility of bringing sanctions or other economic levers to bear on the Andermani. She’d even sent messages to Gustav Anderman himself, appealing to his better nature or at least to his current reputation and his future legacy. The League bureaucrats unanimously declared the situation Not Their Problem. None of Anderman’s old friends—or enemies—were interested in stepping up to the challenge, at least not for the funding PFT’s Board was willing to offer. The transstellars were likewise uninterested in rocking any boats. Many of the latter group, in fact, hinted broadly that PFT’s concerns were well beneath their interest level, as was PFT itself. As for Gustav, the old man had started speaking exclusively German nine years ago. That said a lot right there about his perception of either reputation or legacy. Or, for that matter, reality. Part of the problem was the distance. The Tomlinson System was a long way from the League, and despite the old saying, absence usually made the heart simply wander off. Probably one reason the rest of the transstellars had never taken PFT seriously, as well. Owning an entire star system—Preston—sitting on the edge of the Core worlds carried a certain amount of prestige, but the fact that their only other system had been at the back edge of nowhere hadn’t added a lot to that status. And of course, since Anderman moved in PFT didn’t even have that much.