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The Stars at War
David Weber & Steve White
 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.

Crusade copyright © 1992 by David Weber & Steve White; In Death Ground
copyright © 1997 by David Weber & Steve White

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: 0-7434-8841-5

Cover art by David Mattingly

First Megabook printing, August 2004

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

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Typeset by Bell Road Press, Sherwood, OR
Printed in the United States of America




CHAPTER ONE

Exiles' Return
"Is the zeget to your liking?"
Twenty-Sixth Least Claw of the Khan Khardanish'zarthan, Lord Talphon, combed his claws suavely
through his luxuriant whiskers, and his slit-pupilled eyes glinted across the table at his liaison officer.
"Yes, thank you, Captain. And it's quite well cooked, too."
Khardanish noted Lieutenant Johansen's teeth-hidden smile with approval, for Humans often forgot
that bared teeth were a challenge among his people. He knew Johansen had studied the
Zheeerlikou'valkhannaieee carefully in preparation for this assignment, yet it was still gratifying to see
such awareness of proper behavior. Not that he was quite prepared to stop teasing his guest just yet.
"I am glad," he said, "and I apologize for how long the cooks took to grasp that you would truly
prefer it cooked."
"Not necessary, Captain. I console myself with the thought that a TFN chef would find it just as hard
to believe you would truly prefer it raw."