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

Category Military mercenaries of highest rank to maintain skeleton staffs between those periods when they were under hire by corporations or unions. That of Marshal Stonewall Cogswell was one of the most complete, he habitually keeping upward of a hundred officers in his private uniform. It paid off, for with such a skeleton force of highly skilled professionals as a cadre, the marshal could enlist veterans for his rank and file and whip together a trained fighting force in a fantastically short period.

And nothing was so of the essence as time, in the present Category Military. For when two corporations sued for permission to meet on a military reservation for trial by combat to settle their commercial differences, the sums involved were staggering. Joe Mauser had been correct in saying that the fracas had grown, even in his memory, from skirmishes involving a company or two of men, to full fledged battles with a division or even more on either side, forty thousand men at each other’s throats.

So a commanding officer became noted not only for his abilities in the field, but also those of cutting financial corners, recruiting his force of mercenaries, whipping them into a unit and getting them into the action. In fact, corporations, these days, invariably stated the period of time to be involved when they petitioned the Category Military Department. Perhaps a month, three weeks of which would be used for recruiting and drill, the last week for the fracas itself. Nobody could excel Marshal Cogswell in using the three weeks to best advantage.

Major Joe Mauser came to attention before the desk of the lieutenant colonel of Marshal Cogswell’s staff who was acting as receptionist before the sanctum sanctorum of the field genius. He saluted and snapped, “Joseph Mauser, sir. Category Military, Rank Major. On request to see the marshal.”

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Warren answered the salute, but then came to his feet and grinned while extending his hand to be shaken. He said, “Good to see you again, Mauser. Hope you’re in this one with us.” His grin turned rueful. “That trick of yours with the glider cost me a pretty penny. I’d made the mistake of wagering heavily on Hovercraft. But the marshal is waiting. Right through that door, major. See you later.”

Evidently, Joe decided, the marshal was recruiting for another fracas. Which was why Joe had been summoned, although when a field officer of Cogswell’s stature was gathering officers to command a force, he seldom called upon them; they clamored for permission to serve with him. You weren’t apt to find yourself in the dill, under Cogswell, and you practically never failed to collect your victory bonus. Victory was a habit.

Marshal Cogswell looked up from the desk at which he sat scowling at a military chart stretched before him. The scowl disappeared and his strong face lit with pleasure. The craggy marshal was a small man but strongly built, clipped of voice and with a tone that would suggest he had been born to command, had always commanded.

Joe snapped to the salute which the marshal acknowledged with a flick of his baton, then stood to shake hands. “Ah, Major Mauser. Bit of trouble locating you.” His eyes narrowed momentarily. “Trust you are not at present affiliated with any company colors.” He took in Joe’s uniform and scowled vaguely, not placing it.

Joe said in self-deprecation, “This is my own devising, sir. I thought if I was going to have to present myself to be killed, for a living, that I might as well show up before the screens as distinctively as possible. I’ve been told that ultimately the fracas buffs make or break you, in our category.”

The marshal frowned, as though unhappy and possibly surprised at Joe’s words, however, he sat down again and repeated his question by merely looking at the other.

“No, sir, I’m free,” Joe said. “However, frankly, I wasn’t looking for a commission right at this time.”

Cogswell stared at him. Mauser was a good junior officer and they’d been through half a dozen fracases together over the years, not always on the same side.

“Why not?” Cogswell barked. “Are you convalescing, major? Surely you didn’t manage to cop one in that last farce?”

“Personal reasons, sir.”

“Very well,” Cogswell growled. “However, I’m going to attempt to sway you, major. Would seem that I am up against it, if I don’t, and, in a manner it’s your fault.”

Joe was bewildered. “My fault, sir?”

The older man’s voice went brisk. “This is the situation. I have been approached by the United Miners to command their forces in their trial by combat with Carbonaceous Fuel. Same old issues, of course. Contract between the union and corporation is usually for only two years. Each time it comes up again, the union officials try to get a larger cut of the pie and the hereditary heads of Carbonaceous Fuel resist. Automatically, the Category Military Department issues a permit. The fracases they’ve been fighting prove so popular that there’d be riots if the permit was refused. Frankly, I’m no great admirer of the group in control of United Miners, but⁠—”

Joe was surprised enough to say, “Why not, sir?” Old pro mercenaries seldom concerned themselves as to the issues or principles involved in a fracas. They chose their side by more mundane considerations.

Marshal Cogswell looked at him testily. “Sit down, Joe. You’re not on my staff, as yet, at least. Zen take the formality!” When Joe had accepted the chair, he growled again. “Suppose you didn’t know I was born into Category Mining?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, I was. But even as a boy this new industrial revolution was cutting the number of employees involved in the category each year that went by.”

“That’s happened in every field, sir. Including my original one.” Joe Mauser was thinking, so what?

“Of course,” Cogswell rapped. “My objection is what happened to the union. Unions were originally founded as an instinctive gathering together of employees to achieve as high a pay as they could get from the employer, with the