The Shiva Option

DEFEAT WAS NOT AN OPTION

The war wasn't going well.

The mind-numbingly alien Arachnids were an enemy whose like no civilized race had ever confronted. Like some carnivorous cancer, the "Bugs" had overrun planet after planet . . . and they regarded any competing sentient species as only one more protein source. They couldn't be reasoned with, or even talked to, because no one had the least idea of how to communicate with a telepathic species with no recognizable language . . . and whose response to any communication attempt was a missile salvo. No one knew how large their civilizationif it could be called a "civilization"actually was, or how it was organized, but the huge fleets they threw against their opponents suggested that it was enormous.

The Grand Alliance of Humans, Orions, Ophiuchi, and Gorm, united in desperate self-defense, have been driven to the wall. Billions of their civilians have been slaughtered. Their most powerful offensive operation has ended in shattering defeat and the deaths of their most experienced and revered military commanders. The edge in technology with which they began the war is eroding out from under them and whatever they do, the Bugs just keep coming.

But the warriors of the Grand Alliance know what stands behind them and they will surrender no more civilians to the oncoming juggernaut. They will die first . . . and they will also reactivate General Directive 18, however horrible it may be. Because when the only possible outcomes are victory or racial extermination, only one option is acceptable.

The Shiva Option

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

David Weber is the science fiction phenomenon of the decade. His Honor Harrington novels (The New York Times bestseller Ashes of Victory being the ninth and latest) can't come out fast enough for his devoted readers. He and Steve White co-authored a top-selling series of space adventures set in the Starfire game universe: Insurrection, Crusade, In Death Ground, and now, The Shiva Option. Weber's other science fiction novels, all for Baen, include Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, Heirs of Empire, and Path of the Fury. He has also begun an epic fantasy series with Oath of Swords and its sequel, The War God's Own. He is married and lives in South Carolina.

Steve White was an officer in the Navy, and completed a tour of duty in Vietnam. In addition to the Starfire series with David Weber, he has written several popular science fiction adventure novels for Baen. These include the trilogy comprising The Disinherited, Legacy, and Debt of Ages, which combines fast-paced space opera with Arthurian mythology. He has also written the galaxy-spanning adventure Prince of Sunset, and its sequel Emperor of Dawn. His latest is Eagle Against the Stars. He currently works for a law firm outside Washington, D.C. specializing in constitutional law. He is married and has a daughter.

Illustration by David Mattingly
Interior Maps by Hunter Peddicord
Cover design by Carol Russo Design

Hardcover
Paperback

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, February 2002

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

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-671-31848-9

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

The authors would like to extend their sincere thanks to Fred Burton,
war gamer and friend, who personally designed the entire
Star Union of Crucis and not only made it live, but also gave
us permission to steal . . . er, borrow it for our story.

Thanks, Fred.

Also in this series:
Insurrection
Crusade
In Death Ground

Baen Books 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

Edited by David Weber:
More than Honor
Words of Honor
Changer of Worlds

Mutineers' Moon
The Armageddon Inheritance
Heirs of Empire

Path of the Fury

The Apocalypse Troll

The Excalibur Alternative

Oath of Swords
The War God's Own

With John Ringo:
March Upcountry
March to the Sea

Baen Books by Steve White

Eagle Against the Stars
Emperor of Dawn
Prince of Sunset