ught two other Space Vikings to cover my cousin's
crippled _Victrix_. Why?"

So he must tell his tale, so worn and smooth, again. King Mikhyl's
cigar went out while he listened.

"And you have been hunting him ever since? And now, you can't be
sure whether you killed him or not?"

"I'm afraid I didn't. The man in the screen is the only man Dunnan
can really trust. One or the other would stay wherever he has his
base all the time."

"And when you do kill him; what then?"

"I'll go on trying to make a civilized planet of Tanith. Sooner or
later, I'll have one quarrel too many with King Angus, and then we
will be our Majesty Lucas the First of Tanith, and we will sit on a
throne and receive our subjects. And I'll be glad when I can get my
crown off and talk to a few men who call me 'shipmate,' instead of
'Your Majesty.'"

* * * * *

[Illustration]

"Well, it would violate professional ethics for me to advise a
subject to renounce his sovereign, of course, but that might be an
excellent thing. You met the ambassador from Ithavoll at dinner, did
you not? Three centuries ago, Ithavoll was a colony of Marduk--it
seems we can't afford colonies, any more--and it seceded from us.
Ithavoll was then a planet like your Tanith seems to be. Today, it
is a civilized world, and one of Marduk's best friends. You know,
sometimes I think a few lights are coming on again, here and there
in the Old Federation. If so, you Space Vikings are helping to light
them."

"You mean the planets we use as bases, and the things we teach the
locals?"

"That, too, of course. Civilization needs civilized technologies.
But they have to be used for civilized ends. Do you know anything
about a Space Viking raid on Aton, over a century ago?"

"Six ships from Haulteclere; four destroyed, the other two returned
damaged and without booty."

The King of Marduk nodded.

"That raid saved civilization on Aton. There were four great
nations; the two greatest were at the brink of war, and the others
were waiting to pounce on the exhausted victor and then fight each
other for the spoils. The Space Vikings forced them to unite. Out of
that temporary alliance came the League for Common Defense, and from
that the Planetary Republic. The Republic's a dictatorship, now, and
just between Goodman Mikhyl and Goodman Lucas it's a nasty one and
our Majesty's Government doesn't like it at all. It will be smashed
sooner or later, b