ities. He zeroed in on Joe now,
making flicks of his hand to direct the cameras. Joe, of course, was
fully aware of the value of Telly and was glad to co-operate.

"Captain! Captain Mauser, isn't it? Joe Mauser who held out for four
days in the swamps of Louisiana with a single company while his ranking
officers reformed behind him."

That was one way of putting it, but both Joe and the newscaster who had
covered the debacle knew the reality of the situation. When the front
had collapsed, his commanders--of Upper caste, of course--had hauled
out, leaving him to fight a delaying action while they mended their
fences with the enemy, coming to the best terms possible. Yes, that had
been the United Oil versus Allied Petroleum fracas, and Joe had emerged
with little either in glory or pelf.

The average fracas fan wasn't on an intellectual level to appreciate
anything other than victory. The good guys win, the bad guys
lose--that's obvious, isn't it? Not one out of ten Telly followers of
the fracases was interested in a well-conducted retreat or holding
action. They wanted blood, lots of it, and they identified with the
winning side.

Joe Mauser wasn't particularly bitter about this aspect. It was part of
his way of life. In fact, his pet peeve was the _real_ buff. The type,
man or woman, who could remember every fracas you'd ever been in, every
time you'd copped one, and how long you'd been in the hospital. Fans who
could remember, even better than you could, every time the situation had
pickled on you and you'd had to fight your way out as best you could.
They'd tell you about it, their eyes gleaming, sometimes a slightest
trickle of spittle at the sides of their mouths. They usually wanted an
autograph, or a souvenir such as a uniform button.

Now Joe said to the Telly reporter, "That's right, Captain Mauser.
Acting major, in this fracas, ah--"

"Freddy. Freddy Soligen. You remember me, captain--"

"Of course I do, Freddy. We've been in the dill, side by side, more than
once, and even when I was too scared to use my side arm, you'd be
scanning away with your camera."

"Ha ha, listen to the captain, folks. I hope my boss is tuned in. But
seriously, Captain Mauser, what do you think the chances of Vacuum Tube
Transport are in this fracas?"

Joe looked into the camera lens, earnestly. "The best, of course, or I
wouldn't have signed up with Baron Haer, Freddy. Justice triumphs, and
anybody who is familiar with the