embarked; there were
other views of their landing at some naval installation on the
ground, and he could see reporters being chevied away by Navy
ground-police. And there was a wide range of commentary opinion.

The Government had already denied that, (1) Prince Bentrik had
captured the _Nemesis_ and brought her in as a prize, and, (2) the
Space Vikings had captured Prince Bentrik and were holding him for
ransom. Beyond that, the Government was trying to sit on the whole
story, and the Opposition was hinting darkly at corrupt deals and
sinister plots. Prince Bentrik arrived in the midst of an
impassioned tirade against pusillanimous traitors surrounding his
Majesty who were betraying Marduk to the Space Vikings.

"Why doesn't your Government publish the facts and put a stop to
that nonsense?" Trask asked.

"Oh, let them rave," Bentrik replied. "The longer the Government
waits, the more they'll be ridiculed when the facts are published."

Or, the more people will be convinced that the Government had
something to hush up, and had to take time to construct a plausible
story. He kept the thought to himself. It was their government; how
they mismanaged it was their own business. He found that there was
no bartending robot; he had to have a human servant bring drinks. He
made up his mind to have a few of the _Nemesis_ robots sent down to him.

* * * * *

The formal presentation would be in the evening; there would be a
dinner first, and because Trask had not yet been formally presented,
he couldn't dine with the King, but because he was, or claimed to
be, Viceroy of Tanith, he ranked as a chief of state and would dine
with the Crown Prince, to whom there would be an informal
introduction first.

This took place in a small ante-chamber off the banquet hall; the
Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Bentrik were there when
they arrived. The Crown Prince was a man of middle age, graying at
the temples, with the glassy stare that betrayed contact lenses. The
resemblance between him and his father was apparent; both had the
same studious and impractical expression, and might have been
professors on the same university faculty. He shook hands with
Trask, assuring him of the gratitude of the Court and Royal Family.

"You know, Simon is next in succession, after myself and my little
daughter," he said. "That's too close to take chances with him." He
turned to Bentrik. "I'm afraid this i