The Mercenary

A pilot who escaped from hard labor, at the advice of his fellow escapee—a runaway convict as well—signs on as an infantryman for a hired Legion. After suffering defeat in one of the battles, he returns to his friend-convict, who tells him that certain areas of the Galaxy have fallen out of the usual space metric. Preparing for an expedition into those regions, he meets members of a closed engineering community, who, in exchange for certain services, help him prepare his ship. By chance, he regains his old ship…