iled.

"I'm an anti-social. I like to fight. I want to fight."

"A misfit joining the misfits? A grudge against the Council? It's not
good enough, mister, we live on the Council. Try again."

Saltario's black eyes stared without a flicker. "You're Red Stone,
Commander of the Red Company. You hate the Council and I hate the
Council. You're the ..." Saltario stopped.

I said, "The Traitor of the Glorious War of Survival. You can say it,
Saltario."

The lipless mouth was rigid. "I don't think of it that way. I think of a
man with personal integrity," Saltario said.

I suppose I should have seen it then, the rock he carried deep inside
him. It might have saved thirty thousand good men. But I was thinking of
myself. Commander Red Stone of the Red Company, Earthmen. Only we're not
all Earthmen now, every year there are fewer recruits, and it won't be
long before we die out and the Council will have the last laugh. Old Red
Stone, the Traitor of the War of Survival, the little finger of my left
hand still missing and telling the Universe I was a very old soldier of
the outlawed Free Companies hanging onto life on a rocky planet of the
distant Salaman galaxy. Back at the old stand because United Galaxies
still need us. In a way it's a big joke. Two years after Rajay-Ben and I
had a bellyfull of the Glorious War of Survival and they chased us all
the way out here, they turned right around and made the peace. A joke on
me, but sometimes I like to think that our runout was the thing that
made them think and make peace. When you've been a soldier for
thirty-five years you like to win battles, but you like to feel you
helped bring peace, too.

* * * * *

I said, "Personal integrity. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? So you
like personal integrity? All right, Saltario, are you sure you know what
you're getting into? We're 60 million light years from Galaxy Center, 10
million from the nearest United Galaxy city. We've got no comforts, no
future, nothing to do but fight. A woman in her right mind won't look at
us, if they see you in uniform they'll spit on you, if they catch you
out of uniform they'll kill you."

Saltario shrugged. "I like to eat. I've got nowhere to go. All I've got
is myself and a big piece of ice I called home."

I nodded. "Okay. We fight small wars for good profits. It's not Earth
out here, but we've got four nice suns, plenty of Lukanian whisky
Rajay-Ben taught the loca