"I take it you don't use many human servants, with robots like that," he said. "Not many. We're all low-population planets, and nobody wants to be a servant." "We have too many people on Marduk, and all of them want soft jobs as nobles' servants," the captain said. "Those that want any kind of jobs." "You need all your people for fighting men, don't you?" the boy count asked. "Well, we need a good many. The smallest of our ships will carry five hundred men; most of them around eight hundred." The captain lifted an eyebrow. The complement of the _Victrix_ had been three hundred, and she'd been a big ship. Then he nodded. "Of course. Most of them are ground-fighters." That started Count Steven off. Questions, about battles and raids and booty and the planets Trask had seen. "I wish I were a Space Viking!" "Well, you can't be, Count Ravary. You're an officer of the Royal Navy. You're supposed to fight Space Vikings." "I won't fight you." "You'd have to, if the King commanded," the old captain told him. "No. Prince Trask is my friend. He saved my father's life." "And I won't fight you, either, count. We'll make a lot of fireworks, and then we'll each go home and claim victory. How would that be?" "I've heard of things like that," the captain said. "We had a war with Odin, seventy years ago, that was mostly that sort of battles." "Besides, the King is Prince Trask's friend, too," the boy insisted. "Father and Mummy heard him say so, right on the Throne. Kings don't lie when they're on the Throne, do they?" "Good Kings don't," Trask told him. "Ours is a good King," the young Count of Ravary declared proudly. "I would do anything my King commanded. Except fight Prince Trask. My house owes Prince Trask a debt." Trask nodded approvingly. "That's the way a Sword-World noble would talk, Count Steven," he said. * * * * * The Board of Inquiry, that afternoon, was more like a small and very sedate cocktail party. An Admiral Shefter, who seemed to be very high high-brass, presided while carefully avoiding the appearance of doing so. Alvyn Karffard and Vann Larch and Paytrik Morland were there from the _Nemesis_, and Bentrik and several of the officers from the _Victrix_, and there were a couple of Naval Intelligence officers, and somebody from Operational Planning, and from Ship Construction and Research & Development. They chatted pleasantly and in a deceptively random manner for a while. Then Shefter said: "Well, there's no blame or censure of any sort for the way Commodore Prince Bentrik was surprised. That couldn't have been avoided, at the time." He looked at the Research & Development officer. "It shouldn't be allowed to happen many more times, though." "Not many more, sir. I'd say it'll take my people a month, and then the time it'll take to get all the ships equipped as they come in." Ship Construction didn't think that would take too long.