Agent of Vega and Other Stories

Espionage and Intrigue in the
Far Reaches of the Galaxy
from the Creator of Telzey Amberdon
and Trigger Argee

The Galaxy was not a nice neighborhood, and most would have laid bets that the Vegan Confederacy was too small and weak to survive, let along prosper. But prosper it did, to the bewilderment of observers, who didn't know about the Vegans' secret weapon.

Once, the Galactic Empire had spanned the stars and when it crumbled and fell, star systems were isolated, some barely surviving, many becoming tyrannical feifdoms, others turning to piracy, and all of them often at war with each other. The Confederacy didn't have huge space armadas, and millions of troops to protect itself and re-civilize its neighbors, but it did have the Zone agents. Few outside the top echelons of the Confederacy even knew that they existed, and even fewer had an inkling of how the agents time and again could appear on the spot just when a push in the right place could stop a war, topple a despot, or thwart an invasion of unfriendly aliens.

Their numbers were pitifully few, and they had to patrol vast stretches of space. They were helped by their ships, bristling with hidden armament and piloted by robot brains of high intelligence. But their main weapon was that the minds of their opponents were open books to them. Not all of the Agents of Vega were human, but they were the most powerful telepaths the Galaxy had ever known . . .

Publisher's Note: Part of Agent of Vega & Other Stories has previously appeared separately. This is the first expanded, unitary publication.

"Take my advice and buy TWO copies of this book! You'll want to lend it to friends and (trust me on this: I have years of experience to back up the observation) once people get their hands on a Schmitz book, they don't let go!" - Janet Kagan, Hugo-Winner and author of Uhura's Song

"Wonderfully fresh imagination." -The Horn Book

Cover art by Bob Eggleton

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, November 2001

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
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Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

ISBN: 0-671-31847-0

"Agent of Vega" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1949. "The Illusionists" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, in March 1951, under the title "Space Fear." "The Second Night of Summer" was first published in Galaxy, December 1950. "The Truth About Cushgar" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, November 1950. (The four Agent of Vega stories were first collected and issued in book form under that title by Gnome Press in 1960.) "The Custodians" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, December 1968. "Gone Fishing" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1961. "The Beacon to Elsewhere" was first published in Amazing, April 1963. "The End of the Line" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1951. "Watch the Sky" was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, August 1962. "Greenface" was first published in Unknown, August 1943. "Rogue Psi" was first published in Amazing, August 1962.

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com

IN THIS SERIES:

Telzey Amberdon
T 'n T: Telzey & Trigger
Trigger & Friends
The Hub: Dangerous Territories
Agent of Vega and Other Stories

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Mother of Demons
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The Philosophical Strangler

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Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory

with Dave Freer:
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Pyramid Scheme