pper confessed.

"A replo-depot," Bennington said, calling deep on his reserve of
patience, "is the place to which all persons called up for military
service must go first. There, they go through a process similar to the
one we use here: a complete physical, a complete mental, a complete
skill-testing, all used to decide where the man himself can best be
used--or imprisoned. Then they are forwarded to that assignment."

Culpepper nodded, but he still seemed puzzled.

"You could waste an awful lot of men on just handling the food and
equipment that such a command needs, unless you used the men passing
through," Bennington went on. "But, if you have a small permanent
cadre who know what to do and how to do it, they can handle large
groups of untrained men.

"And you'll not only save money, you'll give these men something to do
while they are here," he added.

When Giles and Culpepper exchanged glances, Bennington was
immediately and almost totally certain that his explanation had not
been needed.

"Seems to me you could economize even more if a part of that permanent
cadre were trusties," Giles said.

"I would think so," Culpepper said, "but of course you would have to
pick the men very carefully."

Giles approved of that idea. "Responsible men, not hardened criminals.
Men who once held a prominent position in their communities, but made
a mistake and now would sincerely like a chance to redeem themselves."

"Take the example of Mike Rooney," Culpepper said. "A tragic case,
that. He's lost a good government job and with it all his pension and
retirement rights. And how? By simply having an accident with a
government helicopter when he was using it on a combination of
government and personal business.

"Rooney--" Giles said thoughtfully. "Yes, I know him very well.
Wonderful chap, nice family of growing boys. Now there is the sort of
man who would make you a good trusty, general. I would recommend him
very highly."

"I feel the same way," Culpepper said.

Bennington signaled to Ferguson, used the excuse of freshening his
drink to cover his thoughts. Rooney ... Rooney ... oh, yes, the
Internal Revenue official with the odd ideas about whose tax should be
collected and whose should be neglected ... and coming here for
processing on a minor charge.

The old run-around, Bennington decided: Put the man in jail on a minor
charge until the hullabaloo over his major crime no longer made big
headlines.

If word