Short Fiction by Mack Reynolds (ready to read books .TXT) π

Description
Dallas McCord βMackβ Reynolds was an American science fiction writer who authored almost two hundred short stories and novellas, was a staple in all the major science fiction and fantasy magazines and published dozens of science fiction novels. He began his writing career in the late 1940s. His fiction focused on exploring and challenging both the socioeconomic themes of the day and the implications of the Cold War that raged throughout his career. A thoughtful writer of speculative fiction, many of Mack Reynoldsβ predictions have come to pass, including the credit-card economy, remote warfare and a worldwide computer network. His thoughts about the outcomes of both the Soviet and western political and economic systems are still highly relevant.
This collection gathers stories that were published in Analog, Astounding Science Fiction, Amazing Stories and others. Ordered by date of first publication, they range from spy adventures to the ultimate expression of corporate warfare and from a very short 1000-word story to full-blown novellas.
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- Author: Mack Reynolds
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Don Mathers laughed. βHow would you?β he said.
Demming scowled. βI am not jesting, Lieutenant Mathers. I never jest. Obviously, I am not of the military. It would be quite impossible for me to gain such an award. But you are the pilot of a Scout.β
βAnd Iβve got just about as much chance of winning the Medal of Honor as I have of giving birth to triplets.β
The transportation magnate wiggled a disgustingly fat finger at him, βIβll arrange for that part of it.β
Don Mathers goggled him. He blurted finally, βLike hell you will. Thereβs not enough money in the system to fiddle with the awarding of the Medal of Honor. There comes a point, Demming, where even your dough canβt carry the load.β
Demming settled back in his chair, closed his eyes and grunted, βTell him.β
Max Rostoff took up the ball. βA few days ago, Mr. Demming and I flew in from Io on one of the Interplanetary Lines freighters. As you probably know, they are completely automated. We were alone in the craft.β
βSo?β Without invitation, Don Mathers leaned forward and dialed himself another tequila. He made it a double this time. A feeling of excitement was growing within him, and the drinks heβd had earlier had worn away. Something very big, very, very big, was developing. He hadnβt the vaguest idea what.
βLieutenant, how would you like to capture a Kraden light cruiser? If Iβm not incorrect, probably Miro class.β
Don laughed nervously, not knowing what the other was at but still feeling the growing excitement. He said, βIn all the history of the war between our species, weβve never captured a Kraden ship intact. Itβd help a lot if we could.β
βThis one isnβt exactly intact, but nearly so.β
Don looked from Rostoff to Demming, and then back. βWhat in the hell are you talking about?β
βIn your sector,β Rostoff said, βwe ran into a derelict Miro class cruiser. The crewβ βrepulsive creaturesβ βwere all dead. Some thirty of them. Mr. Demming and I assumed that the craft had been hit during one of the actions between our fleet and theirs and that somehow both sides had failed to recover the wreckage. At any rate, today it is floating, abandoned of all life, in your sector.β Rostoff added softly, βOne has to approach quite close before any signs of battle are evident. The ship looks intact.β
Demming opened his eyes again and said, βAnd youβre going to capture it.β
Don Mathers bolted his tequila, licked a final drop from the edge of his lip. βAnd why should that rate the most difficult decoration to achieve that weβve ever instituted?β
βBecause,β Rostoff told him, his tone grating mockery, βyouβre going to radio in reporting a Miro class Kraden cruiser. We assume your superiors will order you to stand off, that help is coming, that your tiny Scout isnβt large enough to do anything more than to keep the enemy under observation until a squadron arrives. But you will radio back that they are escaping and that you plan to attack. When your reinforcements arrive, Lieutenant, you will have conquered the Kraden, single-handed, against odds ofβ βwhat would you say, fifty to one?β
Don Mathersβ mouth was dry, his palms moist. He said, βA One Man Scout against a Miro class cruiser? At least fifty to one, Mr. Rostoff. At least.β
Demming grunted. βThere would be little doubt of you getting the Galactic Medal of Honor, Lieutenant, especially since Colin Casey is dead and there isnβt a living bearer of the award. Max, another drink for the Lieutenant.β
Don said, βLook. Why? I think you might be right about getting the award. But why, and why me, and whatβs your percentage?β
Demming muttered, βNow we get to the point.β He settled back in his chair again and closed his eyes while his secretary took over.
Max Rostoff leaned forward, his wolfish face very serious. βLieutenant, the exploitation of the Jupiter satellites is in its earliest stages. There is every reason to believe that the new sources of radioactives on Callisto alone may mean the needed power edge that can give us the victory over the Kradens. Whether or not that is so, someone is going to make literally billions out of this new frontier.β
βI still donβt seeβ ββ β¦β
βLieutenant Mathers,β Rostoff said patiently, βthe bearer of the Galactic Medal of Honor is above law. He carries with him an unalienable prestige of such magnitude thatβ ββ β¦ Well, let me use an example. Suppose a bearer of the Medal of Honor formed a stock corporation to exploit the pitchblende of Callisto. How difficult would it be for him to dispose of the stock?β
Demming grunted. βAnd suppose there were a few, ah, crossed wires in the manipulation of the corporationβs business?β He sighed deeply. βBelieve me, Lieutenant Mathers, there are an incredible number of laws which have accumulated down through the centuries to hamper the business man. It is a continual fight to be able to carry on at all. The ability to do no legal wrong would be priceless in the development of a new frontier.β He sighed again, so deeply as to make his bulk quiver. βPriceless.β
Rostoff laid it on the line, his face a leer. βWe are offering you a three-way partnership, Mathers. You, with your Medal of Honor, are our front man. Mr. Demming supplies the initial capital to get underway. And Iβ ββ β¦β He twisted his mouth with evil self-satisfaction. βI was present when the Kraden ship was discovered, so Iβll have to be cut in. Iβll supply the brains.β
Demming grunted his disgust, but added nothing.
Don Mathers said slowly, looking down at the empty glass he was twirling in his fingers, βLook, weβre up to our necks in a war to the death with the Kradens. In the long run itβs either us or them. At a time like this youβre suggesting that we fake an action that will eventually enable us to milk the new satellites to the tune of billions.β
Demming grunted meaninglessly.
Don said, βThe theory is that all men, all of us, ought to have our
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