If you
chose to interpret it as meaning "energy per unit time," why, that's
real tough.

Why nail the "power metal" down to an isotope of gold with an atomic
weight of 197? Because that's the only naturally occurring isotope of
gold.

The "Emperor Carl" was, of course, Charles V, who also happened to be
King of Spain, and therefore Pizarro's sovereign. I Germanicized his
name, as I did the others--Francisco Pizarro becomes "Frank," et
cetera--but this is perfectly legitimate. After all, the king's name in
Latin, which was used in all state papers, was _Carolus_; the Spanish
called him _Carlos_, and history books in English call him _Charles_.
Either _Karl_ or _Carl_ is just as legitimate as _Charles_, certainly,
and the same applies to the other names in the story.

As to the title "His Universal Majesty," that's exactly what he _was_
called. It is usually translated as "His Catholic Majesty," but the word
_Catholic_ comes from the Greek _katholikos_, meaning "universal." And,
further on in the story, when the term "Universal Assembly" is used, it
is a direct translation of the Greek term, _Ekklesia Katholikos_, and is
actually a better translation than "Catholic Church," since the English
word _church_ comes from the Greek _kyriakon_, meaning "the house of the
Lord"--in other words, a church _building_, not the organization as a
whole.

Toward the end of Chapter One, I wrote:

"Throughout the Empire, research laboratories worked tirelessly at the
problem of transmuting commoner elements into Gold-197, but thus far
none of the processes was commercially feasible."

I think you will admit that the alchemists never found a method of
transmuting the elements--certainly none which was commercially
feasible.

In Chapter Three, the statement that Pizarro left his home--Spain--with
undermanned ships, and had to sneak off illegally before the King's
inspectors checked up on him, is historically accurate. And who can
argue with the statement that "there wasn't a scientist worthy of the
name in the whole outfit"?

At the beginning of Chapter Four, you'll find:

"Due to atmospheric disturbances, the ship's landing was several hundred
miles from the point the commander had originally picked ..." and "...
the ship simply wasn't built for atmospheric navigation."

The adverse winds which drove Pizarro's ships off course were certainly
"atmospheric disturbances," and I defy anyone to prove that a Sixteenth
Century Spanis