hem the monstrous vengeance now
in store.

Bors, in fact, felt guilty because he was still alive.

There was only one small thing he could still try to set aright. He
could insist that Morgan take Gwenlyn far away from the dangerous
possibility that Mekin might somehow find her. He _had_ to make Morgan
see the need for it. If necessary, he would convince King Humphrey that
a royal order must be issued to send the _Sylva_ light-centuries away,
before the Mekinese empire began to restore itself to devastated
calm--if that process hadn't already begun.

Mekin had its grand fleet assembled and ready. If convincing and,
unfortunately, truthful rumors ran about Mekin, as elsewhere, concerning
the fleet and Bors's attempts to hide it, then their dictator need only
give a single order and the grand fleet would lift off. When it found
Kandar unoccupied it would leave Kandar dead. Then it would seek out the
fleet, and destroy it, and then it would move from one to another of
its rebellious tributaries and take revenge upon them....

And Bors could only hope to salvage the life of one girl from the
wreckage of everything that human beings prefer to believe in. He could
only hope to send Gwenlyn away--if he was not already too late.

The _Horus_ broke out into normal space twelve days after leaving
Deccan. The untrustworthy sun of Glamis still shone brightly. The inner
planet revolved about it with one side glowing low red heat and the
other side piled high with frozen atmosphere. The useless outer planet
remained a lush green, save for its seas. And the fleet still circled it
from pole to pole.

Bors had himself ferried to the flagship by space-boat, because what he
had to report was too disheartening to be spoken where all the fleet
might hear. Gwenlyn met him at the flagship's airlock. She looked very
glad, as if she'd been uneasy about him.

"Call for a boat," Bors commanded her curtly, "to take you to the
_Sylva_. Go on board with anybody else who belongs on it, your father,
anybody. I'm going to ask the king to insist that the _Sylva_ get away
from here--fast! Before the Mekinese turn up."

Gwenlyn shook her head, her eyes searching his face.

"The _Sylva's_ not here. It's gone to Kandar as a sort of
dispatch-boat."

Bors groaned.

"Then I'll try to get another ship assigned to take you away," he said
formidably. "Maybe one of the captured cargo-ships I sent back."

"No," said Gwenlyn. "They're going to be rele