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Profiteer
[Hostile Takeover 01]
By S. Andrew Swann
Scanned & Proofed By MadMaxAU
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
CONFEDERACY
Pearce Adams—Confederacy representative for Archeron. Delegate to the TEC from the Alpha
Centauri Alliance.
Ambrose—Dimitri Olmanov’s bodyguard.
Kalin Green—Confederacy representative for Cynos. Delegate to the TEC from the Sirius-Eridani
Economic Community.
Francesca Hernandez—Confederacy representative for Grimalkin. Delegate to the TEC from the
Seven Worlds. Nonhuman descendant of genetically engineered animals.
Robert Kaunda—Confederacy representative for Mazimba. Delegate to the TEC from the
Trianguli Austrailis Union of Independent Worlds.
Dimitri Olmanov—Head of the Terran Executive Command. The most powerful person in the
Confederacy.
Sim Vashniya—Confederacy representative for Shiva. Delegate to the TEC from the People’s
Protectorate of Epsilon Indi.
OPERATION RASPUTIN
Klaus Dacham—Colonel, TEC. In command of the Blood-Tide and Operation Rasputin.
Mary Hougland—Corporal, Occisis marines. Attached to the Blood-Tide.
Eric Murphy—Second Lieutenant, Occisis marines. Attached to the Blood-Tide.
Kathy Shane—Captain, Occisis marines. Attached to the Blood-Tide.
Webster—Alias used by informant for Col. Dacham.
BAKUNIN
Flower—A birdlike alien. Expert on the Confederacy Military.
Cy Helmsman—VP in charge of operations for Godwin Arms and Armaments.
Ivor Jorgenson—Pilot and smuggler.
Johann Levy—Demolition expert and proprietor of Bolshevik Books.
Tjaele Mosasa—Electronics expert and proprietor of Mosasa Salvage.
Dominic Magnus—Ex-Colonel, TEC. Ex gunrunner. CEO of Godwin Arms and Armaments.
Kari Tetsami—Freelance hacker and data thief.
Random Walk—An artificial intelligence device. Mosasa’s “partner.”
Mariah Zanzibar—Chief of security for Godwin Arms and Armaments.
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CONTENTS
3: The Military-Industrial Complex
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PROLOGUE
Politics as Usual
“In politics, as in high finance, duplicity is regarded as a virtue.”
—Mikhail A. Bakunin
(1814-1876)
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CHAPTER ONE
Secret Agenda
“Foreign policy is dictated by powerful men’s prejudices.”
—The Cynic’s Book of Wisdom
“Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.”
—Thomas Hobbes
(1588-1679)
For a hundred million years the two-kilometer-long Face had stared impassively up at the Martian sky. Dimitri Olmanov had only been visiting it regularly for the past century.
The first time he had seen it, Dimitri had needed a pressure suit and the sky had burned a hostile red. Today he survived wearing only a heavy parka. Today his breath fogged beneath an infinity of crystal blue that was only slightly tinted by clouds of engineered microorganisms.
His doctor would curse him for not using a respirator. Dimitri, he’d say, your new heart has quite enough trouble with the stress of your job. Don’t burden it with a too-thin atmosphere.
His general staff would object to him being out in the open like this—even with the omnipresent Ambrose. Too much risk in his job without inviting assassins.