The Stellar Legion

Someone in the fort has sold out the Stellar Legion, and when the rains come to the Venusian swamps, the Nahali will pour over the earthworks. Ian MacIan, a white-haired Earthman who was once an officer, wants nothing now but to die honorably in the ranks. Young Commandant Lehn, five generations Legion, has other plans for him.

Lehn calls for three volunteers to scout Nahali territory: MacIan, the sly Martian outlaw Thekla, and Bhak, a hulking six-fingered strangler from Titan. Only Lehn knows the patrol is a trap to flush out the traitor, and out in the swamp, among scarlet-eyed creatures whose touch can kill, nobody's past stays buried.