Pyramid Scheme

An alien pyramid has appeared on Earth, squatting in the middle of Chicago. It is growing, destroying the city as it does — and nothing seems able to stop it, not even the might of the US military. Somehow, the alien device is snatching people and — for unknown reasons — transporting them into worlds of mythology. Dr Lukacs is one of the victims. Granted, he's an expert on mythology. But myths are not something he'd thought to encounter personally. Or wanted to! Sure, he has a couple of tough paratroopers along with him, as well as a blonde Amazon biologist and a very capable maintenance mechanic. Unfortunately, modern weapons don't work, and the Greek gods are out to kill the heroes.

Well, yes, they've got Medea and Arachne and the Sphinx on their side (both Sphinxes, actually — the Greek version as well as the Egyptian). And at least some of the Egyptian gods seem friendly.

But that can be a very mixed blessing, to say the least. Oh, and whatever you do—don't mention dwarf-tossing.

Enthusiastic Praise for the Authors’ Hit Novel, Rats, Bats & Vats:

“Space opera grows fur and wings in this jape by two accomplished writers. . . . Politically correct? C’mon! Great fun? Ah, yes.”—Booklist

“. . . the military SF plot is peppered with its share of Dirty Dozen–esque cliffhangers . . . the sharpest moments in this giddy entertainment are those where the rodents blithely skewer human mores.” —Publishers Weekly

“Noirish comedy alien shoot-‘em-up. . . . Inventive and often smile-worthy. . . .” —Kirkus Reviews

“. . . thoroughly enlivened with tweaked and twisted cliches, explosive military action, and plenty of interspecies banter to keep things fun.”—Locus

“This is a lot of fun!”—Philadelphia Weekly Press

Cover art by Bob Eggleton
Interior maps by Randy Asplund

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, October 2001

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

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Freer, Dave.

Pyramid scheme / by Dave Freer & Eric Flint.
p. cm.
"A Baen Books original—T.p. verso.
ISBN 0-671-31839-X
1. Human–alien encounters—Fiction. 2. Chicago (Ill.)—Fiction.
3. Mythology—Fiction. 4. Pyramids—Fiction. I. Flint, Eric. II. Title.

PS3556.R3935 P9 2001
813'.54—dc21 2001035798

ISBN: 0-671-31839-X

Copyright © 2001 by Dave Freer & Eric Flint
 

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
http://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

To L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt,
who are gone;

And to Zachary, who just arrived.

When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he thought he might require,
'E went an' took—

Rudyard Kipling,
Introduction to the Barrack-Room Ballads
in "The Seven Seas"

Baen Books by DAVE FREER & Eric Flint

Rats, Bats & Vats
Pyramid Scheme

BAEN BOOKS by ERIC FLINT

Mother of Demons
1632

The Philosophical Strangler

The Belisarius series, with David Drake:

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory

The Federation of the Hub series,
by James H. Schmitz, edited by Eric Flint:

Telzey Amberdon
T'nT: Telzey & Trigger
Trigger & Friends
The Hub: Dangerous Territory
Agent of Vega & Other Stories

BAEN BOOKS by DAVE FREER

The Forlorn