ine. "I'll hand over my sidearm to you just before
your men come through the air lock."

General Tallis sat down in the other small chair, his eyes still on the
Earthman. "I can't help but feel that this is some sort of trick, but
if it is, I can't see through it. Why are you doing this, Sepastian?"

"You may not understand this, Tallis," MacMaine said evenly, "but I am
fighting for freedom. The freedom to think."

_The Traitor_

Convincing the Kerothi that he was in earnest was more difficult than
MacMaine had at first supposed. He had done his best, and now, after
nearly a year of captivity, Tallis had come to tell him that his offer
had been accepted.

General Tallis sat across from Colonel MacMaine, smoking his cigarette
absently.

"Just why are they accepting my proposition?" MacMaine asked bluntly.

"Because they can afford to," Tallis said with a smile. "You will be
watched, my sibling-by-choice. Watched every moment, for any sign of
treason. Your flagship will be a small ten-man blaster-boat--one of our
own. You gave us one; we'll give you one. At the worst, we will come
out even. At the best, your admittedly brilliant grasp of tactics and
strategy will enable us to save thousands of Kerothi lives, to say
nothing of the immense savings in time and money."

"All I ask is a chance to prove my ability and my loyalty."

"You've already proven your ability. All of the strategy problems that
you have been given over the past year were actual battles that had
already been fought. In eighty-seven per cent of the cases, your
strategy proved to be superior to our own. In most of the others, it
was just as good. In only three cases was the estimate of your losses
higher than the actual losses. Actually, we'd be fools to turn you
down. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose."

"I felt the same way a year ago," said MacMaine. "Even being watched
all the time will allow me more freedom than I had on Earth--if the
Board of Strategy is willing to meet my terms."

Tallis chuckled. "They are. You'll be the best-paid officer in the
entire fleet; none of the rest of us gets a tenth of what you'll be
getting, as far as personal value is concerned. And yet, it costs us
practically nothing. You drive an attractive bargain, Sepastian."

"Is that the kind of pay you'd like to get, Tallis?" MacMaine asked
with a smile.

"Why not? You'll get your terms: full pay as a Kerothi general, with
retirement on full