"What?" 

 "That's what it says here. You'll have to get on the subradio and do some plain and fancy talking. Fortunately, not a man jack aboard this ship knows a word of your language, so they'll think you're arranging truce terms. 

 "They'll be sitting ducks when your warship pulls up alongside and sends in a boarding party. By the time they realize what has happened, it will be too late." 

 "You're giving us the ship, too?" Tallis looked at him wonderingly. "And eight prisoners?" 

 "Nine," said MacMaine. "I'll hand over my sidearm to you just before your men come through the air lock." 

 General Tallis sat down in the other small chair, his eyes still on the Earthman. "I can't help but feel that this is some sort of trick, but if it is, I can't see through it. Why are you doing this, Sepastian?" 

 "You may not understand this, Tallis," MacMaine said evenly, "but I am fighting for freedom. The freedom to think." 

  The Traitor  

 Convincing the Kerothi that he was in earnest was more difficult than MacMaine had at first supposed. He had done his best, and now, after nearly a year of captivity, Tallis had come to tell him that his offer had been accepted. 

 General Tallis sat across from Colonel MacMaine, smoking his cigarette absently. 

 "Just why are they accepting my proposition?" MacMaine asked bluntly. 

 "Because they can afford to," Tallis said with a smile. "You will be watched, my sibling-by-choice. Watched every moment, for any sign of treason. Your flagship will be a small ten-man blaster-boat—one of our own. You gave us one; we'll give you one. At the worst, we will come out even. At the best, your admittedly brilliant grasp of tactics and strategy will enable us to save thousands of Kerothi lives, to say nothing of the immense savings in time and money." 

 "All I ask is a chance to prove my ability and my loyalty." 

 "You've already proven your ability. All of the strategy problems that you have been given over the past year were actual battles that had already been fought. In eighty-seven per cent of the cases, your strategy proved to be superior to our own. In most of the others, it was just as good. In only three cases 

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