"Marduk doesn't like us, any more," Harkaman told him. "They have ships on all their trade-planets, and they all have orders to fire on any, repeat any, Space Vikings, including the ships of the self-styled Prince of Tanith. I got this from Captain Garravay of the _Vindex_. After we were through talking, we fought a nice little ship-to-ship action for him to make films of. I don't think anybody could see anything wrong with it." "This order came from Makann?" "From the Admiral commanding. He isn't your friend Shefter; Shefter retired on account of quote ill-health unquote. He is now in a quote hospital unquote." "Where's Prince Bentrik?" "Nobody knows. Charges of high treason were brought against him, and he just vanished. Gone underground, or secretly arrested and executed; take your choice." He wondered just what he'd tell Princess Lucile and Count Steven. "They have ships on all the planets they trade with. Fourteen of them. That isn't to catch Dunnan. That's to disperse the Navy away from Marduk. They don't trust the Navy. Is Prince Edvard still Prime Minister?" "Yes, as of Garravay's last information. It seems Makann is behaving in a scrupulously legal manner, outside of making his People's Watchmen part of the armed forces. Protesting his devotion to the King every time he opens his mouth." "When will the fire be, I wonder?" "Huh? Oh yes, you were reading up on Hitler. That I don't know. Probably happened by now." He just told Princess Lucile that her husband had gone into hiding; he couldn't be sure whether she was relieved or more worried. The boy was sure that he was doing something highly romantic and heroic. Some of the volunteers tired of waiting, after another thousand hours, and spaced out. The _Viking's Gift_ of Beowulf came in with a cargo, and went on orbit after discharging it to join the watch. A Gilgamesher came in from Amaterasu and reported everything quiet there; as soon as her captain had sold his cargo, with a minimum of haggling, he spaced out again. His behavior convinced everybody that the attack would come in a matter of hours. It didn't. * * * * * Three thousand hours had passed since the first warning had reached Tanith, that made five thousand since Viktor's ships were supposed to have left Xochitl. There were those, Boake Valkanhayn among them, who doubted, now, if he ever had. "The whole thing's just a big Gilgamesher lie," he was declaring. "Somebody--Nikky Gratham, or the Everrards, or maybe Viktor himself--paid them to tell us that, to pin our ships down here. Or they made it up themselves, so they could make hay on our trade-planets." "Let's go down to the Ghetto and clean out the whole gang," somebody else took up. "Anything one of them's in, they're all in together." "Nifflheim with that; let's all space out for Xochitl," Manfred Ravallo proposed. "We have enough ships to lick them on Tanith, we have enough to lick them on their own planet."