any better than you do," he said peevishly. "I expected
to get killed in a space-battle--not very gloriously, but at least with
self-respect. Unfortunately we had bad luck. We won the fight. I do not
like what we have to do in consequence, but we have to do it!"

Bors bit his lips. He liked and respected King Humphrey, as he had
respect and affection for his uncle, the Pretender of Tralee. Both were
honest and able men who'd been forced to learn the disheartening lesson
that some things are impossible. But Bors believed that King Humphrey
had learned the lesson too well.

"You plan, Majesty," he said after a moment, "to send me out again to
capture food-ships if I can."

"Obviously," said the king.

"The idea being," Bors went on, "that if I can get enough food for the
fleet so it can make a journey of several hundreds of light-years--"

"It is necessary to go a long way," the king confirmed unhappily. "We
need to take the fleet to where Mekin is only a name and Kandar not even
that."

"Where you will disband the fleet--"

"Yes."

"And hope that Mekin will not take vengeance anyhow for the fight the
fleet has already put up."

The king said heavily, "It will be a very long time before word drifts
back that the fleet of Kandar did not die in battle. It may never come.
If it does, it will come as a vague rumor, as an idle tale, as absurd
gossip about a fleet whose home planet may not even be remembered when
the tales are told. There will be trivial stories about a fleet which
abandoned the world it should have defended, and fled so far that its
enemies did not bother to follow it. If the tale reaches Mekin, it may
not be believed. It may not ever be linked to Kandar. And if some day it
is believed, by then Kandar will be long occupied. Perhaps it will be
resigned to its status. It will be a valuable subject world. Mekin will
not destroy it merely to punish scattered, forgotten men who will never
know that they have been punished."

"And you want me," repeated Bors, "to find the stores of food that will
let the fleet travel to--oblivion."

"Yes," said the king again. He looked very weary. "In a sense, of
course, we will simply be doing what we set out to do--to throw away our
lives. We intended to do that. We are doing no more now."

Bors said grimly, "I'm not sure. But I will obey orders, Majesty. Do you
object if I pass out the details of the new device among some junior
officers? I speak of the way to co