War No. 81-Q by Cordwainer Smith a pseudonym for Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger First appeared in _The Adjutant_, Vol. IX, No 1, June 1928. This was a Linebarger's first published story, appearing in a high school publication. Note this story was later rewritten; this is the original. (“Karloman Jungahr”) It came to war. Tibet and America, each claiming the Radiant Heat Monopoly, applied for a War Permit for 2127, A.D. The Universal War Board granted it, stating, of course, the conditions. It was, after a few compromises and amendments had been effected, accepted by the belligerent nations. The conditions were: a. Five 22,000-ton aero-ships, combinations of aero and dirigible, were to be the only combatants. b. They were to be armed with machine-guns firing nonexplosive bullets only. c. The War Territory of Kerguelen was to be rented by the two nations, the United American Nations and the Mongolian Alliance, for the two hours of the war, which was to begin on January 5, 2127, at noon. d. The nation vanquished was to pay all the expenses of the war, excepting the War Territory Rent. e. No human beings should be on the battlefield. The Mongolian controllers must be in Lhasa; the American ones, in the City of Franklin. The belligerent nations had no difficulty in renting the War Territory of Kerguelen. The rent charged by the Austral League was, as usual, forty million dollars an hour. Spectators from all over the world rushed to the borders of the Territory, eager to obtain good places. Q-ray telescopes came into tremendous demand. Mechanics carefully worked over the giant war-machines. The radio-controls, delicate as watches, were brought to perfection, both at the control stations in Lhasa and in the City of Franklin, and on the war-flyers. The planes arrived on the minute decided. Controlled by their pilots thousands of miles away, the great planes swooped and curved, neither fleet daring to make the first move. There were five American ships, the _Prospero_, _Ariel_, _Oberon_, _Caliban_, and _Titania_, and five Chinese ships, rented by the Mongolians, the _Han_, _Yuen_, _Tsing_, _Tsin_, and _Sung_.