The Weapon (novel)

The Weapon is a science fiction novel written by Michael Z. Williamson, published in 2005 by Baen Books. The Weapon continues the Freehold series. It begins prior to Freehold and ends approximately two years afterwards and follows the story of Kenneth Chinran.

Plot

Kenneth Chinran is a citizen of the Freehold of Grainne and chooses to join the military as a means to get away from the monotony of life. Due to his incredibly high test scores a recruiter offers him a spot in Special Warfare, the Freehold military’s special forces unit.

En route to training Chinran meets a fellow recruit Denise “Deni” Harlett, who comes from a Wiccan community. The two form a friendship and eventually become lovers.

Chinran eventually completes basic training (despite mouthing off to the drill instructors) and begins Special Warfare training, an equivalent of BUD/S training. The recruits are put through grueling exercises that expose them to the elements, including the vacuum of space. Many recruits die but in the end Chinran and Deni complete their training and gain the title of Operative.

Chinran spends the first part of his Special Warfare career on security missions and training exercises. His first casualty comes when a teammate is killed during a space combat exercise when he suffers a suit malfunction and dies of CO2 poisoning. This takes a toll of Chinran, whose holds himself responsible for the death and is reminded of his own mortality. Despite this he continues to grow as a soldier and quickly advances to the rank of Senior Sergeant.

Eventually Chinran receives his first combat mission, in which he is to find and make an example of a terrorist by the name of Ali Muhammed Ghassan whose recent terror attack on a space cruiser led to the death of Freehold citizens. Chinran and his team track the terrorist to a remote planet and take him into custody. Given strict orders not to kill Ghassan, Chinran resorts to extreme torture and castration. This act further breaks Chinran’s psyche and continue to weigh down his soul.

Shortly after the Freehold enters a coalition along the United Nations of Earth to fight in a war against the multiple ethnic tribes of the planet Mtali, a direct parallel to the war in the Middle East. Chinran is promoted to Warrant Leader (the equivalent of a Warrant Officer) and given command of a platoon of Operatives. The combined armies of the Freehold and the UN attempt to maintain peace and order on the planet, however progress is halted by tensions between the tribes and the bureaucracy and effectiveness of the UN forces.

Already fed up with botched intel and bureaucratic interference by the UN, Chinran finally snaps when the Freehold forces discover a mass grave in a village, left behind after the invasion of a rival tribe, including women and young children. Chinran requests his unit be given jurisdiction over the whole area and be under the direct control of Chinran, without interference from the UN. Chinran’s commanding officer, Commander Alan Nauman, readily agrees.

Chinran and his team spend the next few months going from village to village, forcing cooperation with one another using fear as a motivator. The team’s training, choice of dark attire, and use of a hormone fueled microchip that gives their physical abilities a “Boost”, the team earns the nickname The “Black Ghosts”. However, Chinran’s tactic backfires when a single rebellious villager incites a group of extremis against Chinran and his men during one of the team’s raids. Chinran is forced to kill the extremis and in order to maintain the Black Ghosts credibility, executes everyone else in the village, including women and children.

This event, as well as the later death of one of the unit’s members during a combat rescue, leads to further psychological damage amongst the team and causes Chinran to have a further disdain for the United Nations. After UN forces pull out Nauman forces cooperation amongst the tribes for at least a short time. However, after the Freehold forces pull out conflict of Mtali returns within weeks.

Chinran is promoted to Lieutenant before being recruited by Nauman for a secret mission to plant Freehold sleeper agents on Earth as a precautionary step towards war between the planets. Chinran is furthered promoted to Captain and is tasked with assembling a unit of 200 sleeper agents from across both Special Warfare but also the regular forces of the Freehold.

The recruits, including Deni and many of Chinran’s former unit, conducts 10 days worth of training in intelligence gathering, parachuting, tactical insertion, and deep cover identities. Eventually Chinran and his unit deploy for Earth.

After a length insertion process that included the loss of 13 agents, Chinran and his unit are finally situated in cities and towns on every continent of the Earth and begin to blend into life under the bureaucratic, overbearing, and corrupt United Nations.

Eventually a small UN force invades the Freehold in an unsuccessful attempt the take the capital city, prompting Nauman to order Chinran and his team to attack the UN Defense Forces headquarters in Langley, Virginia. They successfully complete the raid but only manage to incite the further wrath of the UN, who invade the Freehold with extensive military might and weaponry.

Nauman orders the Operatives to lay low until orders are given and it is during this time that Deni becomes pregnant as a result of a sexual encounter between her and Chinran. She eventually gives birth to a baby girl while still in deep cover and names her Chelsea, though Chinran is initially reluctant to take on a roll as a father.

The Operatives are finally activated by Nauman and proceed to commence massive attacks against cities all over Earth using explosives and nerve agents to knock out water supplies, transportation, and cause terror. The attacks cause massive panic and severely weaken the UN government, around the world billions of lives are lost as a result of Chinran and his teams.

After the attacks Chinran and company return to their warehouse/safehouse and watch the terror unfold on the news. In distress over the lives he has taken Chinran left for a walk but returned to find the UN had raided the warehouse, killing Deni and the other Operatives.

Chinran escapes to a secondary safehouse where he spends three days in an alcohol induced depression as a result of the death he has cause. The situation is further worsened as Nauman orders the dropping of nuclear warheads and high energy weapons on majors cities across Earth. Chinran finally returns to the warehouse in an effort to find Chelsea. Chinran locates and rescues his daughter before fleeing.

Chinran and Chelsea spend the next two years travelling around Earth in an attempt to find their way home. Chinran continues to alter his appearance through use of cosmetic techniques and keeps a hefty stash of ID’s on hand. Eventually he and Chelsea make their way to Washington DC and manage to board a Freehold humanitarian vessel. Chinran explains that he remained emotionally unattached from the child due to his fear that he would have to kill it in order to complete the mission. He mourns the loss of both UN citizens and Freehold Operatives alike and claims that despite his wrongdoings he will do whatever he can to take care of his daughter.

External links

• Michael Z. 'Mad Mike' Williamson's Homepage
• Review from The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf
• Review from Bewildering Stories