PACIFISTAUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
This is one of the controversial stories that most likely would never have been published a couple of decades ago. In fact, it would never have been written since there is small motive for a writer to turn out material that flies in the face of taboo. The first censoring takes place before you ever sit down to your typewriter—when you know it won’t sell. Perhaps it is an indication of the maturing of science fiction, and of its readers, that there are few, if any, taboos in the category anymore. This first appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and was later picked up by Judith Merril for the tenth of her series of The Year’s Best SF. It has also been reprinted elsewhere.
—Mack Reynolds
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It was another time, another space, another con
