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supplies?” I asked.
    “They brought with them the devices for siege work from Brundisium,” he said. “I
    suppose that, too, must be the source of their supplies.”
    That seemed to me to make sense. If it were true, however, why had Ar’s tarnsmen
    not attempted to interdict these supply routes? If they had, I had heard nothing
    of it.
    “The fighting at Ar’s Station, by report, has been lengthy and fierce,” said the
    man. “Her walls are defended by common citizens as well as soldiers. The
    Cosians, I think, did not expect such resistance.
    I supposed not.
    “You are of the red caste,” said the fellow. “Why is Cos interested in Ar’s
    Station?”
    “I am not fully sure,” I said, “but there could be various reasons, and some of
    them would seem obvious. As you know much of the friction between Cos and Ar has
    to do with their economic competitions in the Vosk Basin. Taking Ar’s Station
    would, in a stroke, diminish the major citadel of Ar’s Salerian Confederation
    and the Vosk League.
    To be sure, in virtue of their mutual distrust of Cos and the Salerian
    Confederation normally maintained close relations, and the Vosk League, a
    confederation of towns along the Vosk, originally formed, like the Salerian
    Confederation on the Olni, to control river piracy, was, at least in theory,
    independent of both Ar and Cos. I say, ‘in theory’ because one of the charter
    cities in the Vosk League is Port Cos, which, although it is a sovereign polis,
    was originally founded by, and settled by, Cosians. If Ar were out of the way in
    the area of the Vosk, of course, I did not doubt but what friction would develop
    quickly enough between Cos and the Salerian Confederation, and perhaps between
    Cos and the Vosk League, (pg.34) and for much the same reasons as formerly
    between Cos and Ar.
    Some well-known towns in the Vosk League are Victoria, Tafa and Fina. The
    farthest west town in the league is Turmus, at the delta. The farthest east is
    White Water. Some of the towns of the league are actually east of Ar’s Station,
    such as Forest Port, Iskander, Tancred’s Landing, and, of course, White Water.
    Ar’s Station, although it was apparently active in the altercations with pirates
    on the Vosk, never joined the league. This is probably because of the influence
    of Ar herself, which might regard her extensive territorial claims in the area
    as being implicitly undermined or compromised by membership in any such
    alliance.
    The headquarters of the Vosk League is located in the city of Victoria. I
    suppose there are special historical reasons for this, for Victoria is not
    centrally located on the river, say, between the delta to the west and the entry
    of the Olni into the Vosk on the east, which point, incidentally, is controlled
    by the city of Lara, a member of the Salerian’s Confederation. Victoria lies
    rather toward the west, in the reaches traditionally more subject to Cosian
    influence. Geographical position, accordingly, at least with respect to
    approximating the midpoint between the delta and the Olni, was apparently not
    the paramount consideration in locating the headquarters of the Vosk League. Had
    it been one might have expected to find its headquarters in, say, Jasmine or
    Siba, towns much more centrally located.
    “I have heard,” said the man, “a large relieving force bound for Ar’s Station
    departed from Ar weeks ago.”
    “I heard that, too,” I said. I knew that it was true. I also knew that Ar,
    inexplicably, to my mind, had literally invested the bulk of its land power in
    that very expedition, and had done so with the main forces of Cos not in the
    north but in the vicinity of Torcadino. This seemed to me a military mistake of
    almost unbelievable dimension. I had been in Torcadino several weeks ago,
    indeed, at the very moment when the city, housing Cosian siege engines and
    supplies, serving as a depot and staging area for the eastward advance of Cos,
    had, in a daring