me."

"Well, we'll give you everything we have on them," Shefter promised.
"Most of that is classified and you'll have to keep quiet about it,
too. I just skimmed over the summary of what you gave us; I daresay
we'll both get a lot of new information. Have you any idea at all
where he might be based, Prince Trask?"

"Only that we think it's a non-Terra-type planet." He told them
about Dunnan's heavy purchases of air-and-water recycling equipment
and carniculture and hydroponic material. "That, of course, helps a
great deal."

"Yes; there are only about five million planets in the former
Federation space-volume that are inhabitable in artificial
environment. Including a few completely covered by seas, where you
could put in underwater dome cities if you had the time and
material."

One of the Intelligence officers had been nursing a glass with a
tiny remnant of cocktail in it. He downed it suddenly, filled the
glass again, and glowered at it in silence for a while. Then he
drank it briskly and refilled it.

"What I should like to know," he said, "is how this double obscenity
of a Dunnan knew we'd have a ship on Audhumla just when we did," he
said. "Your talking about underwater dome-cities reminded me of it.
I don't think he just pulled that planet out of a hat and then went
there prepared to sit on the bottom of the ocean for a year and a
half waiting for something to turn up. I think he knew the
_Victrix_ was coming to Audhumla, and just about when."

"I don't like that, commodore," Shefter said.

"You think I do, sir?" the Intelligence officer countered. "There it
is, though. We all have to face it."

"We do," Shefter agreed. "Get on it, commodore, and I don't need to
caution you to screen everybody you put onto it very carefully." He
looked at his own glass; it had a bare thimbleful in the bottom. He
replenished it slowly and carefully. "It's been a long time since
the Navy's had anything like this to worry about." He turned to
Trask. "I suppose I can get in touch with you at the Palace whenever
I must?"

"Well, Prince Trask and I have been invited as house-guests at
Prince Edvard's, I mean Baron Cragdale's, hunting lodge," Bentrik
said. "We'll be going there directly from here."

"Ah." Admiral Shefter smiled slightly. Beside not having three horns
and a spiked tail, this Space Viking was definitely _persona grata_
with the Royal Family. "Well, we'll keep in contact, Prince Trask."

* *