smoke drifting out of the still-open boatport.

Nearly half an hour later, figures came very cautiously toward the
spaceboat. Thal was their leader. His expression was mournful and
depressed. Other brawny retainers came uncertainly behind him. At a nod
from Thal, two of them picked up Derec and carted him off toward the
castle.

"I guess he got it," said Thal dismally.

He peered in. He shook his head.

"Wounded, maybe, and crawled off to die."

He peered in again and shook his head once more.

"No sign of 'im."

A spearman just behind Thal said:

"Dirty trick! I was with him to Walden, and he paid off good! A good
man! Shoulda been a chieftain! Good man!"

Thal entered the spaceboat. Gingerly. He wrinkled his nose at the faint
smell of explosive still inside. Another man came in. Another.

"Say!" said one of them in a conspiratorial voice. "We got our share of
that loot from Walden. But he hadda share, too! What'd he do with it? He
could've kept it in this boat here. We could take a quick look! What Don
Loris don't know don't hurt him!"

"I'm going to find Hoddan first," said Thal, with dignity. "We don't
have to carry him outside so's Don Loris knows we're looking for loot,
but I'm going to find him first."

There were other men in the spaceboat now. A full dozen of them. Their
spears were very much in the way.

The boat door closed quietly. Don Loris' retainers stared at each other.
The locking-dogs grumbled for half a second, sealing the door tightly.
Don Loris' retainers began to babble protestingly.

There was a roaring outside. The spaceboat stirred. The roaring rose to
thunder. The boat lurched. It flung the spearmen into a sprawling,
swearing, terrified heap at the rear end of the boat's interior.

The boat went on out to space again. In the control room Hoddan said
dourly to himself:

"I'm in a rut! I've got to figure out some way to ship a pirate crew
without having to kidnap them. This is getting monotonous!"

XI

There was a disturbing air which was shared by all the members of
Hoddan's crew, on the way to Walden. It was not exactly reluctance,
because there was self-evident enthusiasm over the idea of making a
pirate voyage under him. So far as past enterprises were concerned,
Hoddan as a leader was the answer to a Darthian gentleman's prayer. The
partial looting of Ghek's castle, alone, would have made him a desirable
leader. But a crew of seven, returned from space, had dis