ld be misled. What I most certainly _do_ deny is any implication
that such misleading was accomplished by the telling of untruths. A
fiction writer is, _by definition_, a professional liar; he makes his
living by telling interesting lies on paper and selling the results to
the highest bidder for publication. Since fiction writing is my
livelihood, I cannot and will not deny that I am an accomplished
liar--indeed, almost an habitual one. Therefore, I feel some small pique
when, on the one occasion on which I stick strictly to the truth, I am
accused of fraud. _Pfui!_ say I; I refute you. "I deny the allegation,
and I defy the alligator!"

To prove my case, I shall take several examples from "Despoilers" and
show that the statements made are perfectly valid. (Please note that I
do not claim any absolute accuracy for such details as quoted dialogue,
except that none of the characters lies. I simply contend that the story
is as accurate as any other good historical novelette. I also might say
here that any resemblance between "Despoilers" and any story picked at
random from the late lamented _Planet Stories_ is purely intentional and
carefully contrived.)

Take the first sentence:

"In the seven centuries that had elapsed since the Second Empire had
been founded on the shattered remnants of the First, the nobles of the
Imperium had come slowly to realize that the empire was not to be judged
by the examples of its predecessor."

Perfectly true. By the time of the Renaissance, the nobles of the Holy
Roman Empire knew that their empire was not just a continuation of the
Roman Empire, but a new entity. The old Roman Empire had collapsed in
the Sixth Century, and the _Holy_ Roman Empire, which was actually a
loose confederation of Germanic states, did not come into being until A.
D. 800, when Karl der Grosse (Charlemagne) was crowned emperor by the
Pope.

Anyone who wishes to quibble that the date should be postponed for a
century and a half, until the time of the German prince, Otto, may do
so; I will ignore him.

A few paragraphs later, I said:

"Without power, neither Civilization nor the Empire could hold itself
together, and His Universal Majesty, the Emperor Carl, well knew it. And
power was linked solidly to one element, one metal ..."

The metal, as I said later on, was Gold-197.

By "power," of course, I meant political and economic power. In the
Sixteenth Century, that's what almost anyone would have meant.