ut they'll never go back to divided sovereignty
and nationalism again. The Space Vikings frightened them out of that
when the dangers inherent in it couldn't. Maybe this man Dunnan will
do the same for us on Marduk."

"You have troubles?"

"You've seen decivilized planets. How does it happen?"

"I know how it's happened on a good many: War. Destruction of cities
and industries. Survivors among ruins, too busy keeping their own
bodies alive to try to keep civilization alive. Then they lose all
knowledge of how to be civilized."

"That's catastrophic decivilization. There is also decivilization by
erosion, and while it's going on, nobody notices it. Everybody is
proud of their civilization, their wealth and culture. But trade is
falling off; fewer ships come in each year. So there is boastful
talk about planetary self-sufficiency; who needs off-planet trade
anyhow? Everybody seems to have money, but the government is always
broke. Deficit spending--and always the vital social services for
which the government has to spend money. The most vital one, of
course, is buying votes to keep the government in power. And it gets
harder for the government to get anything done.

"The soldiers are sloppier at drill, and their uniforms and weapons
aren't taken care of. The noncoms are insolent. And more and more
parts of the city are dangerous at night, and then even in the
daytime. And it's been years since a new building went up, and the
old ones aren't being repaired any more."

Trask closed his eyes. Again, he could feel the mellow sun of Gram
on his back, and hear the laughing voices on the lower terrace, and
he was talking to Lothar Ffayle and Rovard Grauffis and Alex Gorram
and Cousin Nikkolay and Otto Harkaman. He said:

"And finally, nobody bothers fixing anything up. And the
power-reactors stop, and nobody seems to be able to get them started
again. It hasn't quite gotten that far on the Sword-Worlds yet."

"It hasn't here, either. Yet." Goodman Mikhyl slipped away; King
Mikhyl VIII looked across the low table at his guest. "Prince Trask,
have you heard of a man named Zaspar Makann?"

"Occasionally. Nothing good about him."

"He is the most dangerous man on this planet," the King said. "And I
can make nobody believe it. Not even my son."

XXI

Prince Bentrik's ten-year-old son, Count Steven of Ravary, wore the
uniform of an ensign of the Royal Navy; he was accompanied by his
tutor, an elderly Navy capt