no
longer a world which will sponsor it, it's turned pirate. It will take
vengeance on its own. It defies the might of Mekin and it dares the
Mekinese fleet to do something about it."

"Why?" asked the king.

"Pirates," Bors answered, controlling his enthusiasm, "have to be hunted
down. It takes many ships to hunt down a pirate. I should be able to
keep a good-sized slice of the Mekinese navy busy simply lying in wait
for me here and there."

"And?"

"There are tribute-ships which carry food from the subject worlds to
Mekin. Hating Mekin as befits the sole survivor of this fleet, Majesty,
it would be natural for me to capture such ships, even if I could do
nothing better with them than send them out to space to be wasted. They
wouldn't be wasted, naturally. They'd come here."

The king said, "But you couldn't supply the fleet indefinitely!"

Bors nodded agreement. But he waited.

"You may try," said the king querulously. "Have you something else up
your sleeve?"

Bors nodded in his turn.

"Don't tell me what it is," said the king. "So long as the fleet gets
some food and its existence isn't known.... If I knew what you're up to,
I might feel I had to object."

"I think not, Majesty," Bors said, showing a rare smile. "I'll need some
extra men. If I do capture food-ships, they'll be useful."

"I can't imagine that anything would be useful," said the king bitterly.
"Tell the admiral to give them to you."

Bors saluted and left the room. He went directly to the admiral who in
theory was second in command only while the king was aboard. He
explained his mission and some of his intentions. The admiral listened
stonily.

"I'll give you fifty men," he said. "I think you'll be killed, of
course. But if you live long enough to convince them that the fleet's
been destroyed, you'll be of service."

"What," Bors asked, with a trace of humor, "can possibly be done about
the fact that we wiped out a Mekinese fleet instead of letting it
exterminate us?"

"The matter," the admiral answered seriously, "is under consideration."

Bors shrugged and went to his own ship, the _Isis_. He was excessively
uncomfortable. He'd said to his uncle, and implied to the king, that he
had some plan in mind. He did, but it angered him to know that he
counted on assistance; that, in theory, he could not possibly accomplish
it alone. It was irritating to realize that he expected Gwenlyn and her
father to turn up, with their Talents, wh