The Tide of Victory

Eric Flint and David Drake

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 © 2001 by Eric Flint and David Drake

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: 0-671-31996-5

Cover art by Gary Ruddell

First printing, July 2001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flint, Eric.

The tide of victory / by Eric Flint & David Drake.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-671-31996-6
1. Belisarius, 505 (ca.)–565—Fiction. 2. Generals—Fiction. I. Drake,
David. II. Title

PS3556.L548 T54 2001
813'.54—dc21 2001025729

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

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Printed in the United States of America

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As this series has progressed, a number of people have provided us with assistance in one manner or another. It's time to thank them:

Conrad Chu
Judith Lasker
Joe Nefflen
Pam "Pogo" Poggiani
Richard Roach
Mike Spehar

Ralph and Marilyn Tacoma
Detlef Zander

. . . and probably several others I've forgotten to mention, for which my apologies in advance.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank Janet Dailey for the many ways in which she's helped me out over the past year or so. I can't remember if that assistance involved my work on the Belisarius series, but it probably did—and even if it didn't, she's way overdue for my public appreciation anyway.

Eric Flint
January, 2001

To Dick and Dolores

The Belisarius Series

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory
The Dance of Time (upcoming)

BAEN BOOKS by ERIC FLINT

Mother of Demons
1632
Rats, Bats, and Vats (with Dave Freer)
The Philosophical Strangler
Pyramid Scheme (with Dave Freer—upcoming)

BAEN BOOKS by DAVID DRAKE

RCN series
With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher's Bill
The Sharp End
Cross the Stars

Independent Novels and Collections

The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner
All the Way to the Gallows
Foreign Legions (created by David Drake)

The General series

(With S.M. Stirling)

The Forge
The Chosen
The Reformer

The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)
Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)
Enemy of My Enemy: Terra Nova
(with Ben Ohlander)
Armageddon
(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)