H. Beam Piper 
Mercenaries 

Should a nation’s political climate guide its scientific agenda, or should research exist in a separate realm that’s unaffected by these types of considerations? That’s the question at the heart of "The Mercenaries, " a thought-provoking science fiction tale from H. Beam Piper. In a world divided by political schisms, one group of independent scientists fights to preserve its integrity at all costs.