Note: Edited by Eric Flint.

Synopsis: From the back cover of the Baen first edition: "The Hub is a very dangerous place... but so are its citizens! The Federation of the Hub: thousands of rough, ornery and tough-minded human worlds with only the subtlest of interstellar governments holding them all together. Stable at last after centuries of war, the Hub is now prime real estate... making it a merciless arena of the conflicting schemes of criminals, unscrupulous corporations, and invaders from beyond the edges of Federation space. But the Hub is well-defended, and not only by professional heroes such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. In Hub Space a citizen is expected to stand up for herself, blaster in hand, as needs must; so when Trouble comes Hubward in large doses, there are an awful lot of armed citizens waiting for it..."