"Lieutenant, how would you like to capture a Miro class cruiser?" Don laughed nervously. He said, "We've never captured a Kraden ship intact. -- A One Man Scout against a Miro class cruiser?" Demming grunted. "If we could arrange for you to capture such a vessel, there would be little doubt of you getting the Galactic Medal of Honor, Lieutenant." Don said, "Why? And why me, and what's your percentage?" "Lieutenant Mathers," Rostoff said patiently, "the bearer of the Galactic Medal of Honor is above law. He carries with him an unalienable prestige of such magnitude that . . ." Demming grunted. "Believe me, Lieutenant Mathers, there are an incredible number of laws which have accumulated down through the centuries to hamper the business man. It is a continual fight to be able to carry on at all. The ability to do no legal wrong would be priceless in the development of a new frontier." He sighed again, so deeply as to make his bulk quiver. "Priceless."

Author Biography

Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds (1917 - 1983) was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont and Todd Harding. His work focused on socioeconomic speculation, usually expressed in thought-provoking explorations of utopian societies from a radical, sometime satiric perspective. He was a popular author from the 1950s to the 1970s, especially with readers of science fiction and fantasy magazines. Reynolds was the first author to write an original novel based upon the 1966-1969 NBC television series Star Trek. The book, Mission to Horatius (1968), was aimed at young readers.