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John.
    “Nor will he invade Druth,” said Chuch, “for he needs Rufus’s strong spacefleet. And there is still Haldemar to consider, as he sits in his distant planet of Vanir and considers the import of events. The outcome is unclear. But I’ll stake my life on Dramocles losing, especially if we can come to an agreement between ourselves.”
    “What would you hope to get from such an agreement?” asked Snint.
    “No more than what I’m entitled to–kingship of Glorm after Dramocles has been killed or exiled.”
    “Kingship of Glorm!” said John. “That’s a modest request indeed, coming from one who brings nothing to our cause but his good opinion of himself.”
    “Do not take me lightly,” Chuch said, scowling.
    “Such is not our intention,” said Snint. “We’ll take you as you are, with what you bring. So far, that is nothing. But welcome anyhow.”
    Chuch rose. “Gentlemen, I must take my leave, for I go out to repair my fortunes. I think you’ll be gladder to see me when we meet again.”
    John laughed, but Snint said, “I hope so, young Lord, and I believe it may be true.”
    Chuch gave the briefest of bows and left the tavern.

 
    11
    The conquest of Lekk began well enough. Rux was a thorough professional. He always kept 150,000 troops on red alert in case anything should come up suddenly. Now he had those troops loaded into 50,000 three-man spaceships that were always fueled and ready. Within an hour, the invasion was under way.
    Rux’s troops were mostly Mark IV robots from the Soldier Factory on Antigone. They were programmed to destroy anything that didn’t look like them. This kept the circuitry simple and the unit cost down. Dramocles had bought them at a bargain price because they had been superseded by the Mark Xs, the new humanitarian model capable of sparing women and children unless they acted hostile. Rux’s Mark IVs were not sophisticated troops, but Dramocles had plenty of them, and they seemed good enough for taking over a little place like Lekk.
    Rux landed his robots without opposition on the large island of Xosa, assembling them on the plain of Unglaze to the southeast of Sour Face Pass. Unglaze was a barren stretch of land bounded on one side by the mountains of Eelor, on the other by the swift-moving Hrox River. Sour Face Pass was a natural gap in the mountains that shielded the village of Biscuit, King Snint’s home and therefore the administrative capital of Lekk. Rux figured that by seizing Biscuit, he would nip the bud of resistance before it had a chance to sprout (a typical figure of speech among the Sberrians). Rux could only fit seventy-five thousand robots into his line of battle, but they seemed more than enough. The Lekkian defenses at this time consisted of seven hundred male Lekkians who had been shamed by their neighbors into volunteering, and four hundred Drikaneans from Drik IV who had been vacationing on Lekk and whose hobby was fighting.
    All that night on the plain of Unglaze you could hear the familiar prebattle sounds: the crackle pop of circuit breakers being tested, the soft squish squish of last-minute lube jobs, and the high-pitched clicks of robots torquing each other’s nuts to full tolerance. At first light, when the robots’ photoelectric sensors were able to function, Rux gave the order to attack. The robots advanced, an awesome wall of steel, shouting, “All glory to the Soldier Factory!” These were the only words they were programmed to utter.
    The Lekkians had anticipated this move and taken countermeasures. Irrigation equipment had been hastily comandeered from neighboring villages and set up on the Lekkian portion of the plain. A full night’s watering turned this land into a bog, into which Rux’s troops charged, or rather, waded. The robots suffered many short circuits, for they were dry planet troops and their water seals were more ornamental than efficient. They floundered in the mud, their ranks in disarray and their traffic