The Borthudians capture Polesotechnic League ships and impress their four-man crews. A Solar Spice & Liquors ship with:
"...extra hull bracing and a new and monstrously powerful engine..." (p. 158)
- can use tractor and presser beams to capture a twenty-crewed Borthudian frigate but costs three times the profits than it can be expected to make. However, only one in four League ships will be specially equipped. For every four encounters, the League will lose twelve men but the Kossaluth will lose twenty warriors and thus will soon also lose this war of attrition. Enforced peace terms will include freeing of all slaves with massive indemnities. Spacemen who have recently refused to fly through Borthudian space will now volunteer, knowing that, if captured, they will soon be freed with enough compensation to retire in luxury. League academies will train Borthudian spacefarers for slightly raised fees and the League will impose trade concessions but the alternatives are worse for the Kossaluth: to impoverish themselves with continued attacks or to withdraw, leaving their unstable empire subject to subversion and to rebellions armed by the League. Van Rijn offers Borthudian rulers a way to lose power without also losing their lives.
Later in the series, van Rijn is celebrated as the single-handed conqueror of Borthu, Diomedes and t'Kela.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I love "Margin of Profit," in both the original and revised versions. Old Nick and Dominic Flandry, in different ways, are two of my most favorite fictional heroes!
Old Nick expected the rulers of Borthu, not being hopelessly stupid, resigning themselves to accepting it was better to losing power and some wealth instead of their lives.
Ad astra! Sean
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