o repair them; the other blew up
King Orgzild's nitroglycerine plant. Von Schlichten called Konkrook
and ordered a bombing-mission against Keegark organized, to make sure
the two ships stayed out of service.

* * * * *

The _Northern Star_ was still bringing loyal troops into Krink. King
Jonkvank, whom von Schlichten called, was highly elated.

"We are killing traitors wherever we find them!" he exulted. "The city
is yellow with their blood; their heads are piled everywhere! How is
it with you at Skilk? Do the heads fall?"

"We have killed many, also," von Schlichten boasted. "And tonight, we
will kill more; we are preparing bombs of great destruction, which we
will rain down upon Skilk until there is not one stone left upon
another, or one infant of a day's age left alive!"

Jonkvank reacted as he was intended to. "Oh, no, general; don't do all
that!" he exclaimed. "You promised me that I should have Skilk, on the
word of a Terran. Are you going to give me a city of ruins and
corpses? Ruins are no good to anybody, and I am not a Jeel, to eat
corpses."

Von Schlichten shrugged. "When you are strong, you can flog your
enemies with a whip; when you are weak, all you can do is kill them.
If I had five thousand more troops, here...."

"Oh, I will send troops, as soon as I can," Jonkvank hastened to
promise. "All my best regiments. But, now that we have stopped this
sinful rebellion, here, I can't take chances that it will break out
again as soon as I strip the city of troops."

Von Schlichten nodded. Jonkvank's argument made sense; he would have
taken a similar position, himself.

"Well, get as many as you can over here, as soon as possible," he
said. "We'll try to do as little damage to Skilk as we can, but...."

* * * * *

At 1830, Paula joined him for her breakfast, while he sat in front of
the big screen, eating his dinner. There had been light ground-action
along the southern end of the perimeter--King Firkked's regulars,
reinforced by Zirk tribesmen and levies of townspeople, all of whom
seemed to have firearms, were filtering in through the ruins of the
labor-camp and the wreckage of the equipment-park--and there was
renewed sniping from the mountainside. The long afternoon of the
northern Autumn dragged on; finally, at 2200, the sun set, and it was
not fully dark for another hour. For some time, there was an ominous
quiet, and then, at 0030,