r had no illusions about the spot his father had got the
family corporation into. And the younger man was right, of course.

But the Baron wasn't blind to reality any more than he was a coward. He
dismissed Balt Haer's defeatism from his mind and came back to Joe
Mauser. "As I say, you're the only officer recruit today. Why?"

Joe said evenly, "I wouldn't know, sir. Perhaps freelance Category
Military men are occupied elsewhere. There's always a shortage of
trained officers."

Baron Haer was waggling a finger negatively. "That's not what I mean,
captain. You are an old hand. This is your category and you must know it
well. Then why are _you_ signing up with Vacuum Tube Transport rather
than Hovercraft?"

Joe Mauser looked at him for a moment without speaking.

"Come, come, captain. I am an old hand too, in my category, and not a
fool. I realize there is scarcely a soul in the West-world that expects
anything but disaster for my colors. Pay rates have been widely posted.
I can offer only five common shares of Vacuum Tube for a Rank Captain,
win or lose. Hovercraft is doubling that, and can pick and choose among
the best officers in the hemisphere."

Joe said softly, "I have all the shares I need."

Balt Haer had been looking back and forth between his father and the
newcomer and becoming obviously more puzzled. He put in, "Well, what in
Zen motivates you if it isn't the stock we offer?"

Joe glanced at the younger Haer to acknowledge the question but he spoke
to the Baron. "Sir, like you said, you're no fool. However, you've been
sucked in, this time. When you took on Hovercraft, you were thinking in
terms of a regional dispute. You wanted to run one of your vacuum tube
deals up to Fairbanks from Edmonton. You were expecting a minor fracas,
involving possibly five thousand men. You never expected Hovercraft to
parlay it up, through their connections in the Category Military
Department, to a divisional magnitude fracas which you simply aren't
large enough to afford. But Hovercraft was getting sick of your
corporation. You've been nicking away at them too long. So they decided
to do you in. They've hired Marshal Cogswell and the best combat
officers in North America, and they're hiring the most competent
veterans they can find. Every fracas buff who watches Telly, figures
you've had it. They've been watching you come up the aggressive way, the
hard way, for a long time, but now they're all going to be sitting on
t