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sideways before he spoke.
    “And I keep the Phalanx?”
    I nodded.
    “Then, majister, I thank you. By Vox! I shall have no difficulty in remembering my name!”
    The feeling of relief I experienced in having pushed that problem to a solution lasted for some time as we worked on. But, inevitably, more problems came crowding in and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel remained obscured. Mind you, to call rewarding Nath — or anyone of the people who labored so hard for Vallia — a problem is to be foolish. It was just Nath’s insistence on remaining with the Phalanx that prevented my using him in a wider capacity for which he was perfectly suited.
    Plans for Turko to march northward to Falinur pushed ahead. An army had to be collected. It had to be equipped and fed. And, at the same time, the rest of the territories regained in the island had to be protected.
    Two new plants for processing the bumper crop of mergem we had been blessed with this season had just reached completion. Mergem, a leguminous plant, when dried may be stored for long periods and then reconstituted. It is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, with trace elements — although at the time I knew nothing of them, by Vox! — and has seen many a beleaguered city safely through a siege. With little persuasion from me, the Presidio, to whom I was delegating more and more responsibility, had ordered the planting of vast areas of mergem. These two new processing facilities would give an even larger return than the traditional methods of grinding and drying in the suns light. Now we could use not only the pods, but the stalks as well.
    And, as all good Kregans know, you can flavor your reconstituted mergem with all manner of tasty fruit juices.
    Delia burst into my room as I shoved the mergem file away. She looked marvelous, rosy of face, brilliant of eye, quivering with passion.
    “Dray! You sit here! What are you about? Why haven’t you done something?”
    I stood up. I think — I am not sure — Enevon killed a smile. I searched for meaning, and for words.
    “Come on, Dray! We can’t just do nothing! We must hurry!”
    “Yes,” I said. And I tried to put a snap, a ring of decision into my voice. “We must act!”
    “At once!”
    “Of course...”
    Now my Delia is the most wonderful person in two worlds. That goes without saying, although I have said it, will say it and continue to say it. But, all the same — what in the frozen wastes of the Ice Floes of Sicce was she talking about now? By Zim-Zair! It was enough to make a plain old fellow like me jump up and down on his hat.
    And here came Jilian, recovered of her wounds, roaring into my little study, shouting that we must hurry. Jilian with her black leathers and her pale face with those dark brilliant eyes brought a heady wash of action wherever she went. Jilian, with her whip and her claw.
    “Don’t just stand there, Jak!” she called.
    Delia said, “Oh, you have to take a two-handed sword to stir him up when he gets like this. Come
on
, Dray!”
    I swallowed. Venturing all, I said in a voice that was little more than a husky croak, “Where to?”
    Both women — both gorgeously beautiful women — stared at me as though I was bereft of my senses.
    “Well,
I
don’t know!” said Jilian.
    “I’ve no idea,” said Delia. “But we must hurry!”
    Now I shut my mouth most firmly. I put both hands flat on the desk. I closed my eyes.
    Enevon coughed. “I think, majis, this matter touches the business of Ortyg Voinderam—”
    “An imbecile I’ll sink my claw into if—” began Jilian.
    Now I grasped what was going on — well, some of it. Ortyg Voinderam had eloped with the Lady Fransha, and Delia as Empress of Vallia no doubt knew far more about the affair than anyone could guess. From this knowledge I judged that young Idiot Voinderam had not obtained an opinion from the empress. Delia would not interfere in matters of the heart. But, as she was the empress, these were