articular moment and situation seemed the least occasion for quibbling
over words.

Then he said, "Yes.... It could be a paradox. If this prediction by that
wild Talent is true, there is a way it could win a fight. I don't
believe it, but I'm going to put something in motion. Nothing can make
matters worse!"

He turned and strode back to the council room where King Humphrey and
the high commanders of his fleet sat like dead men, waiting for the
moment to be killed, to no purpose.

Chapter 12

Bors got nowhere, of course. His proposal had all the ear-marks of
lunacy of purest ray serene. He proposed urgently to equip all the ships
of the fleet with the low-power overdrive fields. It could be done in
days. Instructions were already distributed and would have been studied
and understood. The fleet would then go to Kandar--if it appeared that
the Mekinese grand fleet would go there--and set up a dummy fleet of
target-globes in war array. This would be a fleet, but not of fighting
ships. It would be a fleet of metal-foil inflated balloons.

One actual fighting ship, he stipulated, would form part of this
illusory space-navy. He volunteered the _Horus_ for it. That ship would
signal to the Mekinese when they arrived. It would make the king's
proposal to surrender, on the Mekinese promise to spare the civilian
population of Kandar. If the enemy admiral agreed to these terms and the
king believed him, then the true Kandarian fleet could appear and yield
to its overwhelmingly-powerful enemy. If the admiral arrogantly refused
to pledge safety to Kandar's population, then the dummy formation might
be destroyed, but the fleet would fight. Hopelessly and
uselessly--though the new low-power drive worked well in action--but it
would fight.

The First Admiral said stonily, "If I were in the position of the
Mekinese admiral, and I agreed to terms of capitulation, and if it were
then shown to me that the basis of the terms was a deceit, I would not
feel bound by my promise. When the actual fleet appeared, I would blast
it for questioning my honor."

Bors looked at him with hot eyes. The king said drearily, "No, Bors. We
must act in good faith. We cannot question the Mekinese good faith as
you propose, and then expect them to believe in ours. The admiral is
right. We can fight and bring destruction on our people, or we can place
ourselves at the mercy of Mekin. There can be only one choice. We
sacrifice ourselves, but we