I’m sure,” said Perthonogis, “that Captain—Queeg, is it?—may be helpful on our mission. He appears to be a man of action.”

  “We’ll probably all just get swallowed by this entity,” Crystal said. “Come along if you want to.”

  “Hey,” Long John protested. “Nothing like being a ray of sunshine.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “What exactly do you think is going to happen, Captain Queeg?”

  He shrugged in the nonchalant way that irritated her. “I never count my eggs until they’re spilled . . . besides, we have the good doctor’s awe-inspiring magic device to help us! We can’t lose!”

  Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t decide if you’re an idiot … or suicidal.”

  “If you expect the worst, that’s generally what you get.”

  She couldn’t help a small smile. “Thank you for rescuing us, by the way.”

  “Any time.” He glanced down at his spider crew. “Back to the ship, guys. We will see you on planet, Captain Aris. Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Perthonogis.”

  The king’s city, Levaza, capital of Bragazza, lay spread out below a hill from which the palace rose resplendent into the evening sky, all its lights burning. Below the palace lay a landing pad, and there Long John landed the Don Quixote beside the Victorious. The large Space Force ship dwarfed his smaller Fighter.

  He told his crew to make themselves useful cleaning up the ship, and climbed out of the airlock with Limpet riding on his shoulder. Finding that a shuttle ran to the palace, he climbed aboard; it was a quick trip to the palace up a steep switchback road with trees rustling on either side. The pleasantly chill air smelled of pine needles.

  A major domo met him at the entrance and bowed. “Captain Queeg, I presume? His Majesty is in the Strategy Room. If you would follow me.” He led the way down several hallways lit by modern lamps disguised as antiques, and Long John found Crystal and Dr. Perthonogis had already been admitted.

  His Majesty Leoniv the Third, ruler of the largest country on Hejmo, stood at the head of a long table filled with documents, with various government officials on either side. Computers filled with data crowded the space and hung on the walls. His Majesty, an elderly white-haired man, had dark circles under his eyes and his hair stood up in tufts as if he had been tugging on it. He gave Long John a distracted nod when the major domo introduced him.

  Long John gave him a salute. The king was answering a question put by the glyptodont.

  “It’s for real, all right,” said Leoniv with a sigh. “Our astronomers have confirmed it beyond a doubt. You can see here—” he pointed with a stylus to a screen completely black— “This sector has been swept clean of everything: nebulas, comets, suns and their planets . . . nothing remains.”

  Crystal frowned. “Wait a minute. Some of those suns are light-years away. There’s no way you could tell that they’ve disappeared.”

  “It looks like they have a Kitchner-Malvern scope,” said Dr. Perthonogis. “It allows you to see space in real time. But only briefly, I understand.”

  “Yes,” said Leoniv. “This picture is a snapshot taken through the scope. It shows us what is really there—or not there, in this case.”

  “Do you have a plan?” asked Perthonogis.

  “Is making your peace with your Maker a plan?” The ruler ran his hands through his hair, leaving it more tousled. “I’ve got a population of six billion at last guess, and not enough ships to take even a tenth of them off. And if we were to evacuate, where would we go?”

  Crystal thinned her lips, but looked as if she had nothing to add. Dr. Perthonogis said, “I wish the Coalition had seen fit to send more help. But even if they had, it would not be enough.”

  “We’re going out there,” Crystal said at last. “We’ll see if we can find any weak points in it. There must be something we can do.”

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  Long John felt his heart twist at her words, she sounded so vulnerable and yet so determined. She was like a blade honed to a sharp edge for battle.

  “My dear,” said the king with a look of compassion, “You are very brave, but you have only one ship. I prefer that you and your companions leave here and go somewhere safe. There is no reason we should all perish.”

  Crystal stiffened. “Your Majesty, we must go. If there’s even a chance we can do something, find anything that will help, we must take it. And I’m sure my companions agree.” She glanced from Perthonogis to Long John.

  The king looked at Long John. “Captain Queeg, have you any recommendations?” His eyes widened at sight of the spider on his shoulder. Limpet tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the king. “You, or your crew member?”

  Long John shook his head and replied slowly, “No, Your Majesty. We stand ready to support Captain Aris in any way possible. As she says, there is always a chance.”

  Limpet nodded. “We smart. We stop planet killer. No guts, no glory.”

  Long John hid a smile. “I guess that sums it up.”

  They heard a disturbance in the hallway outside, and the door burst open. In the doorway stood Colonel Dandridge, looking the worse for wear. He wavered on his feet, his eyes were bloodshot, and he wore a thick bandage around his head. Two guards hovered behind him, looking frustrated.

  “Sorry, Your Majesty,” said one. “He wouldn’t take no. We weren’t sure how far to restrain him.”

  Leoniv nodded and gestured him in. “Come in, Colonel. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine.” Dandridge’s voice was hoarse. “I’m ready to continue the mission we came on.” He glanced around the room and his gaze fell on Long John. He pointed a shaking hand. “What is that man doing here? Why is he not in chains?”

  Long John cocked his head. In the shocked silence, Crystal said, “He saved us from the pirates, Colonel. There’s no need to—”

  “He’s a criminal! He was on trial for murder, theft, who knows what else, and he escaped from Attike. He needs to be locked up.”

  Perthonogis wrinkled his snout uneasily. “Colonel Dandridge, this is not the time to—”

  “You stay out of it! You don’t know anything about this man. He can’t just waltz in and expect to be accepted after all he’s done . . .”

  Several people tried to speak at once.

  Leoniv slammed his hand on the table. “Enough!” He straightened up and glared at all of them. “I don’t care if he’s a serial killer on nine different planets! He rescued Captain Aris and brought her back, and I’m not pursuing any charges. I’ve got a planet full of people who need to be evacuated, not enough ships, and no time for this hurly-burly! All of you, clear out! Solve your differences outside.”

  Long John saluted again and headed for the door. He was followed by Crystal, Perthonogis, and several of the councilors.

  Once outside of the Strategy Room, Dandridge confronted Long John. “Get out of my face, Queeg. I’m taking the Victorious and getting on with the mission.”

  “Take it easy, Dandridge,” said Long John, stepping back. “I’m not the enemy.”

  “You’re a bloody criminal!” Dandridge cocked a fist and aimed a blow at Long John.

  Long John caught the fist before it reached him. “You don’t want to do that.”

  Dandridge growled at him and pulled away.

  Crystal raised her hand. “Colonel, you’re not well enough to take off. You need to listen to the medics and spend time recovering.”

  He glowered at her. “Didn’t you hear the king? This planet is in the line of attack; it’s doomed. We need to take off. Come on.” He turned to head for the doors.

  Dr. Perthonogis hurried after him and touched his arm. “Colonel, it’s vitally important that you stop a moment and consider—”

  Dandridge turned, frowned at him, and collapsed. Long John saw the hypospray that the glyptodont concealed in his hand.

  “No! I knew he needed more time to recover.” Crystal turned to the guards nearby. “Would you please take the colonel back to the medical wing?”

  When they had carted the colonel away, Long John said to Perthonogis, “What did you give him?”

  “Merely a sedative. He’ll be out for a couple of hours.”

  Long John nodded. “Shall we take your ship, or mine, Captain?”

  “You don’t think we should wait for Colonel Dandridge to recover?” she asked. “He is, after all, supposed to be in charge of this expedition.”

  Long John frowned, wondering if she was serious. “Time’s getting short. We should take off . . .but if you’re worried about the colonel, you could stay and look after him. I’m sure the king wouldn’t object.”

  “Stay and—!” She stared at him in surprise. “Absolutely not! There are perfectly competent doctors and nurses here.”

  “I think,” said Dr. Perthonogis, “that we should go, if we are going to take on this creature. Things will not get easier the longer we delay. And clearly, we are leaving the colonel in good hands.”

  “Fine. My ship or yours, then, Captain?”

  “If we take the Victorious, we need to take her crew, because they are necessary. But—”

  “Why risk more lives? Right. The Don Quixote it is.” Long John led the way out of the doors to the shuttle.