about a rumor of blueskins. Even if their throats will be cut now. Is
that the program?"

Maril shivered.

"No. They'll be put on short rations like everybody else. And people
will watch them. The Wealdians expect to die of plague any minute
because they've been with Darians. So people look at them and laugh.
But it's not very funny."

"It's natural," said Calhoun, "but perhaps lacking in charity. Look
there! How about those astrogators? I need them for a job I have in
mind."

Maril wrung her hands.

"C--come here," she said in a low tone.

There was an armed guard in the control room of the ship. He'd watched
Calhoun a good part of the previous day as Calhoun performed his
mysterious work. He'd been off-duty and now was on duty again. He was
bored. So long as Calhoun did not touch the control board, though, he
was uninterested. He didn't even turn his head when Maril led the way
into the other cabin and slid the door shut.

"The astrogators are coming," she said swiftly. "They'll bring some
boxes with them. They'll ask you to instruct them so they can handle
our ship better. They lost themselves coming back from Orede. No,
they didn't lose themselves, but they lost time, enough time almost to
make an extra trip for meat. They need to be experts. I'm to come
along, so they can be sure that what you teach them is what you've
been doing right along."

Calhoun said, "Well?"

"They're crazy!" said Maril vehemently. "They knew Weald would do
something monstrous sooner or later. But they're going to try to stop
it by being more monstrous sooner! Not everybody agrees, but there are
enough. So they want to use your ship--it's faster in overdrive and so
on. And they'll go to Weald in this ship and--they say they'll give
Weald something to keep it busy without bothering us!"

Calhoun said dryly, "This pays me off for being too sympathetic with
blueskins! But if I'd been hungry for a couple of years, and was
despised to boot by the people who kept me hungry, I suppose I might
react the same way. No," he said curtly as she opened her lips to
speak again, "don't tell me the trick. Considering everything, there's
only one trick it could be. But I doubt profoundly that it would work.
All right."

He slid the door back and returned to the control room. Maril followed
him. He said detachedly, "I've been working on a problem outside of
the food one. It isn't the time to talk about it right now, but I
think I've solved i