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Transcriber's note:
This etext was produced from _Astounding Science Fiction_,
March, 1950. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence
that the copyright on this publication was renewed.
THE MERCENARIES
by
H. BEAM PIPER
Illustrated by Brush
_Once, wars were won by maneuvering hired fighting men; now wars
are different--and the hired experts are different. But the human
problems remain!_
Duncan MacLeod hung up the suit he had taken off, and sealed his shirt,
socks and underwear in a laundry envelope bearing his name and
identity-number, tossing this into one of the wire baskets provided for
the purpose. Then, naked except for the plastic identity disk around his
neck, he went over to the desk, turned in his locker key, and passed
into the big room beyond.
Four or five young men, probably soldiers on their way to town, were
coming through from the other side. Like MacLeod, they wore only the
plastic disks they had received in exchange for the metal ones they wore
inside the reservation, and they were being searched by attendants who
combed through their hair, probed into ears and nostrils, peered into
mouths with tiny searchlights, and employed a variety of magnetic and
electronic detectors.
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