recognized and killed by somebody
outside, every one of them would be at some villainy before next
sunrise. Well, King Simon I could cope with that.

He started when he realized how he had thought of his friend. Well,
why not? Mikhyl's mind was dead; his body would not survive it more
than a year. Then a child Queen, and a long regency, and long
regencies were dangerous. Better a strong King, in name as well as
power. And the succession could be safeguarded by marrying Steven
and Myrna. Myrna had accepted, at eight, that she must some day
marry for reasons of state; why not her playmate Steven?

And Simon Bentrik would see the necessity. He was neither a fool nor
a moral coward; he only needed to take some time to adjust to ideas.
The rabble who had bought their lives with their leader's had gone,
now. Slowly, he followed them, thinking.

Don't press the idea on Simon too hard; just expose him to it and
let him adopt it. And there would be the treaty--Tanith, Marduk,
Beowulf, Amaterasu; eventually, treaties with the other civilized
planets. Nebulously, the idea of a League of Civilized Worlds began
to take shape in his mind.

Be a good idea if he adopted the title of King of Tanith for
himself. And cut loose from the Sword-Worlds; especially cut loose
from Gram. Let Viktor of Xochitl have it. Or Garvan Spasso. Viktor
wouldn't be the last Space Viking to take his ships back against
the Sword-Worlds. Sooner or later, civilization in the Old Federation
would drive them all home to loot the planets that had sent them out.

Well, if he was going to be a king, shouldn't he have a queen? Kings
usually did. He climbed into the little hall-car and started up a
long shaft. There was Valerie Alvarath. They'd enjoyed each other's
society on the _Nemesis_. He wondered if she would want to make it
permanent, even on a throne....

Elaine was with him. He felt her beside him, almost tangibly. Her
voice was whispering to him: _She loves you, Lucas. She'll say yes.
Be good to her, and she'll make you happy._ Then she was gone, and
he knew that she would never return.

Good-by, Elaine.

[Illustration: FIN]

Notes:
Inconsistent hyphenation; the former forms were all changed to the latter:
Space-Scourge (7) vs. Space Scourge (41)
Sun-Goddess (3) vs. Sun Goddess (3)

Jaganath (2) vs. Jagannath (4)
Amaterasun (1) vs. Amaterasuan[s] (1)
handphone (1) vs. hand-phone (3)
planetside (1) vs. planet-side (1)
slag