"The owner didnt think so Did you kill him?" "Werewesupposedto?" "It's tidier." "It's easy to be tidy from where you sit, Largo" "Don't get clever, dream head" "That wasn't the deal" "The dealwas whatever I say it was" "I own you, dream heads" "Unhuhhhh What do you say?" "Please, Largo" "Please, Largo" "Pure Shadow" "You won't just die without it;" "you'll die in terrified agony" "Please" "Good All right" "I want your brotherto ask for it" "One word from me, and your supply is gone, forever" "You've been paid Prove it" "I thought that honourwas a big thing with the Terra Nostra" "We own you, boy" "Please, Largo Please" "That's better We owned you from yourfirst tiny drop of Shadow" "Use Shadow?" "Do I look that stupid?" "Oh, try it" "Hanna" "Theothertwo hepromised..." " Enough!" "Thegems..." "Nobody steals from the Terra Nostra" "We're innovators You're dead" "Out, Hanna Casual, don't run" "Face down, Largo Quickly Quickly" "Now close your eyes Now stay like that" "Go ahead and try it" "Killing a Terra Nostra pusher will be the best fun I've had all day" "You stupid murdering scum ball" "They'll catch us" "Get Peety and meet me at launch grid six in twenty minutes" "Nobody gets away from them" "We will Look, I can get a ship" "Launch clearance, what about launch clearance?" "The crew on grid six are for sale" "It's too late forthat" "Listen Hanna, she told me to look after you and Peety" "That's what I'm trying to do" "Grid six, twenty minutes Right?" " Right?" "." " Right..." "Approach completed" "Allvectors are matched and holding" "Power down, now" "Switching to automatics" "Confirmed All systems functioning Status is firm" "Very pretty" "I know Piloting wasn't bad either" "So, that is Space City" "Also known as The Satellite of Sin" "By whom?" "Me" "It had to be someone of limited imagination" "Pick a pleasure, any pleasure" "And you'llfind it for sale in Space City" "If you've got the money But we have, we have" "And if you can stomach doing business with the Terra Nostra" "We're going to use them, Gan, not do business with them" "A subtle distinction that escapes me forthe moment" "Now don't tell me you have a moral objection to using their organisation to infiltrate Earth?" "Of course not" "Well, I have" "Think, Gan, think what they've got:" "men, material, information" "Think what we could do with a fraction of the resources they control" "No, YOU think, Blake Think what it is they control" "Everything dirty, degrading, and cruel on just about every colonised world" "Earth is all I'm interested in" "The Terra Nostra aren't responsible for everything, Gan" "I could go and murder somebody now and it wouldn't be theirfault" "Mind you, if I picked his pocket afterwards they'd want their cut" "It's largely academic anyway I don't think we'll get within shouting distance of them" "The Terra Nostra run Space City" "How can you be sure of that?" "You say they're a criminal organisation who work in secret" "They work in secret on Earth and the Federated worlds" "Organising crime" "Space City itself is neutralterritory" "Not officially owned by the Terra Nostra but it's an open secret" "A neutral base for an outlawed organisation?" "Well, presumably it has its uses Entertainment, for example" "Why don't you take a cold shower or something?" "And risk being left behind when we go and meet yourfriend?" "Largo's no friend of mine" "When I met him on Callisto he forgot to mention he was a member of the organisation" "Just said he wanted me to run a cargo into Earth He didn't tell me what it was at first" "Drugs?" "Shadow I turned him down" "Very sensible Possession carries a mandatory death sentence" "That wasn't the reason" "Navigation computers are receiving interrogation signal from Space City traffic approach control" "It's about time Request standoff position Cally, stand by on the teleport" "Jenna, get on the communicator and see if you can contact yourfriend Largo" "Gan, Avon, get ready as well" "Vector coordinates received and laid in Execute" "Er, what about me?" "You're staying here" "What?" "Where I can find you if I need you" "But that's Space City, one of my all time great ambitions You'd probably be disappointed" "I'lltake that chance I would neverforgive myself, Vila" "Hanna Twenty minutes I said" "That launch crew goes off shift in an hour" "We may not get another chance Where is Peety?" "How?" "How?" "That's how" "He didn't take any more He didn't need another dose fortwelve hours, at least twelve hours" "He just, just died" "Just died?" "That's what Shadow does It kills you" "Think I don't know that?" "Then why?" "Why so stupid, Hanna?" "Stupid" "Stupid Peety" "Lookafteryou..." "Not yourfault" " Largo..." " Bek?" "." "It won't help Peety It'll help me" "What about me?" "You?" "It's too late, remember You're already dead, like Peety" "Must run in the family Shed the gun" "Largo wants you two, very badly" "Blake's wrong I know how you feel, Vila" "I don't mean about leaving me behind" "I've wanted to visit Space City ever since I was old enough to read the graffiti in the Juvenile Detention Wards" "But I'm not talking about that, I don't care about that" "No, of course not I don't" "Am I arguing?" "I'm talking about his great plan to enlist the help of the Terra Nostra" "He plans to buy their help" "All right, ""buy" their help It stillwon't work" "You should have spoken before" "Who listens to me, ever?" "Does anyone ever listen to me?" "I'm telling you, it'll be a disaster" "Relax You don't know them" "I know Blake" "Thinks of himself as a hard man Hard?" "He's strictly a fluffy cheeked amateur compared to those boys" "I think Blake can look after himself" "He's led a very sheltered life What, Blake has led a sheltered life?" "Look, he was an Alpha grade on Earth A highly privileged group, the Alphas" "Wouldn't last five minutes among the Delta service grades where I grew up" "And it's the service grades where the Terra Nostra really operates" "Without anaesthetic, usually" "No, Vila No what?" "No, I'm not going to operate the teleport for you I don't understand" "I do You're about to suggest it would be a sensible idea, if you went across and gave the others the benefit of your experience" "I hadn't thought of that What a very good idea, Cally" "No Cally?" "I'm going to get myself something to drink Call me if anything happens" "Miserable alien I just want to see what it's like" "Information Main visual is available" "So?" "You expressed a desire to see what it is like" "Very funny, Zen Chuckle chuckle" "If you were a decent computer you'd be able to operate the teleport system like Orac can" "Like Orac can" "Key, key Ah, key" "Orac?" "Orac?" "Are you in there, Orac?" "Am I in where?" "What precisely do you imagine I am?" "Some sort of tame rodent in a cage?" "That's precisely what I imagine you are A rat in a box" "I see no point in continuing this conversation" "Now, don't start sulking again, or I shall switch you off and throw away the key" "Soon, that will be no longer a problem Eh?" "Well?" "What do you want?" "Orac, I've got a little job for you" "I don't think that at this stage you really need to know specific details of our plans, do you?" "As you say" "In effect, we want to buy cooperation and expertise from the Earth based network" "Why are you telling me allthis?" "We don't know who rules the Terra Nostra Possibly you don't either" "But you do know how to get our proposition to them" "A go between" "Naturally, we would be prepared to pay for your services" "Forgive me, Blake, but one of the reasons I made my home in a free city like this is because I adore eccentrics" "Do we take it that you're not interested?" "Oh, I'm fascinated But I'm just an independent businessman" "Are you sure?" "Look, the Terra Nostra doesn't exist Believe me, it's a phantom, a" "A shadow?" "A myth, a legend" "It's a legend a lot of people believe in" "And yet you know it doesn't exist?" "Why are you so certain?" "I've got a contact in Federation Security" "If the syndicate existed, then he'd know about it, wouldn't he?" "This contact, he wouldn't be the one who arrested me after I refused your cargo, would he?" "Oh, that was a mistake, Jenna I was doing a favourfor a friend" "If I'd known what the cargo was I wouldn't have touched it myself" "You didn't answerthe question" "Why do I feel as if I'm on trial here, hmm?" "Why do I feel as if you should be?" "They're beautiful stones I'm a bit of a collector, in a modest way" "I could make you an offer" "They have a sentimentalvalue for me Oh, family heirlooms, eh?" "No, I'm just sentimental about money" "We're wasting ourtime with him" "Yes, I think so" "Shallwe go?" "I'm sorry we couldn't do business" "Let me at least offer you some refreshment We didn't come for refreshment, Largo" "Oh, but I insist" "He insists" "Maybe we should have listened to Gan" "Looks as though he was right after all" "Communicators please And those Thank you" "Amateur" "A pro keeps it simple" "Vila?" "Vila?" "Zen, where is he?" "I left him on watch" "He is no longer on the ship" "But he must be" "He teleported into the city with the assistance of the one called Orac" "I forgot about Orac" "The one called Orac is not concerned for the safety of the Liberator" "Wellwhere is Orac then?" "He's not in the teleport section;" "I just came from there" "In return for the remote activation of the teleport system," "Vila conveyed the one called Orac to another part of the Liberator" "Which part, where?" "Be silent Orac?" "Zen?" "Zen" "Vila, this is Cally Come in please Vila" "What do you want, Cally?" "I want you back here Get ready to teleport" "Wasting your time, Cally I'm not wearing a bracelet" "I'm not going to be snatched away in the middle of, in the middle of anything Sightseeing" "And you should see some of the sights I'm seeing No Perhaps you shouldn't" "Where is Orac?" "I promised not to tell" "I never break a promise Oh yes, you do" "Almost never Orac's all right He can't run away" "Oh, you fool, Vila" "Stop worrying, Cally I'll be back soon" "Tell you what;" "I'll bring you back a present" "What would you like, Cally?" "Name it and it's yours" "A necklace, Vila, made from yourteeth" "No Orac?" "I will destroy the life support systems if you attempt to find me" "Why are you doing this?" "I don't think even Vila could open that I wonderwhat they'll do?" """A pro keeps it simple" I imagine they'll kill us You can't get much simplerthan that" "Sorry, Avon That makes allthe difference" "I don't know how they spotted me" """I don't know how they spotted me "" "Something amuses you?" "You were using him as a lookout?" "I mean, he'd really blend into the background, wouldn't he?" "What did you do, put up a sign?" "Is that what you did or is Largo keeping you here as a favour?" "We made a fool of him Obviously" "That's why we haven't been killed yet He's making an example of us" "Oh, shut up Hanna It's none of their business" "Isn't it?" "I mean if they're making an example of you" "It's not for outsiders You don't know much about the Terra Nostra, do you?" "Do you?" "Leave her alone" "We are an object lesson fortheir own people Largo's on his way up in the organisation" "One sign of weakness and he'll be on his way down again, probably minus his head" "Now there's a happy thought" "It's a pity we won't live to see it" "We're not dead yet Largo hasn't got what he wants yet" "COMMUNICATOR CHIME Liberator, this is Blake Come in please" "Blake, this is Cally We have a problem" "Later, Cally, this is more important" "We've made a deal but we need the rest of the money as a demonstration of good faith" "They don't entirely trust us yet Have Zen collect it and bring it across" "Allthe money?" "Yes, Cally, all of it" "Ah, it's a trick Kill him Wait a minute Why do you think it's a trick?" "You think I'm a fool Zen can't leave your ship" "Your shuttlecraft is here in the city" "We carry more than one shuttle" "How many?" "Four" "Four Cally, this is Largo" "Yes Shallwe send your shuttle back or one of ours?" "Neither It is not necessary Why not?" "We have anothershuttle Another shuttle?" "Quite a ship How many do you carry?" "He's testing me" "Probably too far away" "Blake, Blake, I shall count When I reach the right number, call my name" "One" "Two" "Three" "Four" "Cally, are you stillthere?" "Sorry, what did you ask?" "I was just wondering how many shuttles you carry Four Does it matter?" "We'll be expecting your man, Zen Right" "And he won't be expecting us" "We shan't be needing his othertwo friends after all Kill 'em" "What about her?" "We'll keep hertillwe're sure" "Orac, I need Zen I will ask no questions" "Zen?" "Put the battle computers online" "Put up the force wall, activate the radiation flare shield, and clearthe neutron blasters forfiring" "Completed Neutron blasters are cleared forfiring" "Open up a voice channel to the city's central control" "Confirmed" "Central control Go ahead" "This is the weaponry officer on the battle cruiser Liberator" "Your computertook a priority channel Whatever you want had better be important" "Four of my friends are being held prisoner in your city" "Unless you release them immediately I shall open fire on you" "Listen, lady You shouldn't drink in those cheap dives You go blind eventually" "Zen, report battle computer status to central control Confirmed" "All right So you're at battle stations You don't expect us to believe that you'd" "A man called Largo is holding my friends You have six minutes to release them" "You can't be serious?" "I was never more so You have five minutes and fifty five seconds" "Detectors report high speed approach Scan" "Gun ship It is manoeuvring for attack position Warn them off" "Warning ignored Compute coordinates, range blasters" "Blasters ranged Warn them again" "Warning ignored They are pressing their attack I gave them a chance" "Hold yourfire!" "Central, the next shot will be right down yourthroats You have three minutes and thirty seconds" "You two, out Why?" "You'd prefer not to know" "Your professional simplicity is beginning to irritate me" "Wellthink of it as a temporary problem Move" "Simple enough for you?" "Don't stand around There's more where he came from" "Your sense of timing is as impeccable as ever I have always admired your patience" "Are you all right Jenna?" "What does it look like?" "Leave it" "Largo" "Central You're holding prisoners Release them What?" "There's a lunatic woman threatening to destroy the city Get those people back to their ship" "Must I?" "Do it, Largo" "I think we've outstayed ourwelcome" "All right, Cally We're ready to come across" "We'll come with you I'm sorry" "Sorry?" "Polite, but inadequate We can't stay here, so you're not going without us" "I think they went without us There's gratitude for you" "Gratitude?" "You point a gun at them and expect gratitude?" "Maybe we could use him as a hostage?" "Him?" "After his foul up you won't get a drink of water in exchange for him" "I changed my mind Why?" "Do we care?" "Put these on" "What's in it for you?" "You can help me with one of my crew" "His name's Vila and he's suffering from a bad attack of alcoholic remorse" "All right, Cally He wants to make a necklace of his teeth" "No effect on the flight systems?" "Everything seems normal enough Maybe she imagined it" "That's not like Cally Not like Orac either" "Any luck?" "Can't find Orac Even tried calling his name" "Oh, I'm sorry I missed that" "It's the kind of natural stupidity no amount of training could ever hope to match" "You found Orac?" "No, but then I never really expected to It is one of Vila's more elaborate practicaljokes" "Talking of Vila, how long before he comes round?" "Oh, several hours And he won't feel much like laughing when he does" "Oh, I'll guarantee that All right, we've wasted enough time on it" "Let's get back to the Terra Nostra" "Back?" "We only just managed to get away from them" "We chose the wrong approach, that's all" "Is that all?" "I thought maybe we'd chosen the wrong people to get involved with" "WE chose the wrong approach?" "I chose the wrong approach Does it matter?" "Yes, it does All right, Avon You were right and I was wrong" "You said persuasion wouldn't work and it didn't So now we use force" "Force?" "Yes, of course Lawmakers, lawbreakers, let's fight them all Why not?" "The Terra Nostra's wealth comes from organising and controlling all sorts of crime" "But their biggest profits and a lot of their control comes from one area" "Shadow" "That is the only one that matters That is what we attack" "And how do you propose to go about it?" "Where would we get the information we would need?" "Bek, would you ask your sisterto join us, please?" "COMMUNICATOR CHIME" "Blake?" "Yes, Cally" "Has anyone found Orac yet?" "No, I think we'll have to wait for Vila" "There may not be time forthat Has something else happened?" "No, not exactly Well what exactly?" "A feeling I have Come back to the flight deck" "I should keep on searching Leave it, Cally" "Yes" "Orac?" "I warned you not to look for me" "I know where to look forthem, chairman" "Only your stupidity makes it necessary to look forthem" "I had to ensure that they took my agent with them" "When she is reporting on their movements I'llfollow them and capture them" "So" "Chairman, the rewards will be threefold The money they are carrying, which is substantial;" "the bounty from the authorities, which is also substantial, and more importantly, the demonstration that we can punish where the Federation itself can't even reach" "Very well, Largo, a heavy cruiserwill be at your disposal, but don't delay too long orthe rewards will be one fold:" "the demonstration that we can punish" "I thank you for your confidence, Chairman" "Largo, that is too small a thing to thank me for" "You'll pay forthat Before or after he finds out that you are lying?" "Was I lying?" "It would make me very unhappy to think that you tried to use me, like some fool" "You're just an enforcer Here for your gun, not your brain" "Of course I was lying Except about the girl" "She's not your agent Ohh, but she is" "That dream head is going to tell us exactly where Blake and his friends decide to go" "Don't worry It's all I have" "You'll get it back Zen Analyse I want the derivation" "The main constituent is an organic compound, probably derived from the zerophyte of the genus Korda" "A cactus Confirmed" "The species is alpha seven oblique five Known as the Moon Disc, it was greatly prized for its partial telepathy and its ability to move short distances to avoid direct sunlight" "It stayed in the shadows That's where the name comes from" "Commercial collectors rendered the Moon Disc extinct on its native planet" "Which planet, Zen?" "Zondar" "And when it proved impossible to grow in any other environment the total extinction of the species followed logically" "Only it didn't There are traces of an element" "All right, Zen, we've got enough" "Have the navigation computers set in a course forthe planet Zondar" "Confirmed Wait" "It has to be the source, the key to allthe Terra Nostra's power" "If we controlthat, we controlthem Right" "The drug in return fortheir help?" "Blake that would make us pushers" "Maybe we won't keep our end of the bargain And that would make us cheats" "That will make us winners, Gan That's the only excuse forfighting" "It's too good a chance to miss, Gan" "I'd like to see that, to see them grovel" "When the Federation introduced the death penalty for possession, the President described Shadow as the greatest single threat to the welfare of mankind" "Don't tell me you agree with Gan No, no, no, I'm just interested" "It seems to me that we have identified the source of that threat rather easily" "So why haven't they?" "Exactly" "Maybe we're about to find out Maybe we already know" "Never again I'm dying" "Cally" "Cally, what's the matter?" "Cally?" "Cally?" "It's only me What's the matterwith her?" "DISTANTSCREAMING" "Obviously, she's insane" "How is she?" "The same I left the girlwith her" "Have you run the diagnostic checks again?" "Still nothing" "There's no physical explanation for her condition unless somehow it's locked up in here and I don't see how that can be" "She is an alien She is more human than I am" "That's not difficult Have you remembered anything yet?" "It's a complete blank" "From the time you left to meet Largo to when I woke up back on the ship" "With what you drank you're lucky to rememberwho you are" "I would hardly callthat lucky This is NOT helping Cally" "Orac's told you what happened Nothing, according to him" "I don't believe it Computers do not lie" "Orac is not a computer That was its creator's vanity" "Orac is a computer It is a highly sophisticated tool, and that is all" "Well, something frightened Cally" "Yes, and so badly she may never come back from wherever she's hiding" "It was not Orac Maybe it wasn't anything, anything real" "Information Flight time remaining is now forty eight minutes" "Visual and detector readouts are now available" "Let's see it, Zen" "It's a pretty colour" "Oh, considering what it is Let's hope they don't know we're coming" "There's no reason why they should" "They'll be making planetfall anytime now" "Excellent Are all Largo's addicts so available?" "Yes, Chairman It seems he's been adding it to allthe Shadow that we've supplied" "Radioactive, you say?" "Not exactly" "Controlled particle emission Detectable only with the right equipment, which Largo's got, of course" "Surely it damages the addicts?" "Kills them a little sooner" "But at least if you need one you always know where to look" "What a clever idea We must consider it for general use" "What about Blake and his friends, Chairman?" "You can leave allthat to me Yes, Chairman" "You've done well Dispose of the body His assets are now yours" "Thank you, Chairman" "Cally's stillthe same Hanna's singing to her now" "What?" "I don't think she's going to come out of it, Blake" "She will I don't think you care whether she does or doesn't" "One thing at a time, Jenna" "I've been thinking If it's that hot down there, why don't you try landing on the night side?" "Why don't you try listening?" "The system has twin suns; there is no night side" "I wish you wouldn't shout" "Gan, have you got everything clear?" "Yes Well?" "Zen's doing the flying, I'm just monitoring it Monitoring what?" "Maintaining a powered orbit on the edge of the atmosphere" "Why?" "For maximum cover" "From defences that should be there but aren't Are you ready to go?" "There's nothing you can do for Cally Shouting at everybody else is not going to help her" "A powered orbit can be tricky, Gan You need to stay alert" "All system are functioning normally Status is firm" "Good, then let's go Jenna, Vila Teleport" "I don't know why they're all so jumpy Show me the planet" "Visual" "I mean, look at it It's nothing" "Why should anyone draw attention to it with heavy defences?" "They don't expect it to be found" "Down and safe Stay by the teleport, Vila" "Cover me" "It's enough to fry your eyeballs Daintily put" "It must be the company I keep" "Zen's right It looks to be about half a mile away" "That's far enough to walk in this heat Far enough to crawl There's no cover" "Blake, over here Look" "Moon Discs" "FAINT CHITTERING" "Prized by collectors People collect odd things" "Look what you ended up with" "You process those;" "you'll get a liquid that'll killyou" "Only if you're stupid enough to use it" "Listen No, not overthere" "It's coming from them" "It's a sort of whispering They're supposed to be telepathic" "They're supposed to move So are we Come on" "It could have been frying eyeballs you heard Daintily put" "FAINT CHITTERING" "Vila Get back to the teleport Five minutes I must get something for my head" "You can't leave the teleport now Five minutes" "Don't be stupid My head is killing me" "And you may be killing Blake and the others All right" "Orac, operate the teleport as instructed Satisfied?" "Not really I'll only be five minutes" "Orac, did you understand the instruction?" "It was quite explicit" "Child of Auron Listen to the voice of Orac" "Remember the touch of hands and laughter and the warmth of open minds" "Remember these things for they are gone You are alone" "No" "You are alone You are the last of the humankind" "Orac, don't" "I am the darkness Orac brings my darkness" "You are alone, in me" "Run, last of the humans" "Run, before my darkness engulfs you" "Run, run, run" "Cally?" "TELEPORTWHINE" "They probably collect them in deep desert and bring them here to boost their growth" "With surface water in the area there will be a whole network of these gardens" "I almost feel sorry forthem They're plants" "These are singing You should have stayed in the cool" "The collection and processing plant should be somewhere overthere" "Seems logical Yes, well don't get too close" "Allwe've got to do is plant these sensors in some form of rough circle" "The battle computers will put together a complete picture of what's there" "And then the ship's main blasters will pick off anything we care to nominate" "Yes Back in an hour" "FAINT CHITTERING" "No, she didn't hit me, she ran straight over me" "I was just in the way I never saw anyone so scared" "You couldn't tellwhy?" "You couldn't see what was driving her?" "I don't think I'd want to You can't share someone's madness" "They can on Auron Cally told me her people can share any experience" "And telepathy means they never have to be alone Makes them very strong" "When they're together What happens when one's isolated?" "I think that's what we're finding out" "I'm going back to the teleport All right Orac, you can go back to sleep" "Agh That key's electrified Did you do that purposely?" "You will not disconnect Is that right?" "Ow That hurts" "The bridge is almost complete You will not disconnect" "GUNFIRE" "Next, please" "This is silly It's just a machine" "Of course it is If it wasn't so expensive, I'd kick it to pieces" "Yes, if it didn't bite Avon'llfix it when he gets back" "Yes The bridge is complete" "What?" "What did he say?" "Something's wrong" "No, that wasn't it Information" "Liberator is losing powerfrom all systems Orbital maintenance is threatened" "Switch off all auxiliary systems Power drain is increasing Orbit is decaying" "What's happening?" "Switch to main boosters Zen" "Automatic flight control is now aborted" "The manual controls won't respond" "Do something, Gan" "Something is draining off the power" "Orac, it has to be Orac Disconnect him, Vila" "Do it We're heading toward the atmosphere We'll burn up, explode" "Here, let me" "Hanna" "She's dead" "That thing killed her" "Don't do it It'll killyou too" "We're falling towards the atmosphere" "Hello" "You cannot stop me, child of Auron Then why do you threaten me?" "Orac is my bridge You stand before it, puny telepath" "Yes, I know you now" "My powers are in your dimension, and Orac's carrierwaves are your bridge" "The energy is building I am ready to cross" "Hungry dark to absorb the blazing suns" "I will deny you You are alone" "No The warmth you mock me with is here" "I am not alone You will stay in your universe of darkness" "You will not disconnect" "You will not disc" "We're getting power The power's coming back" "Orac The key's gone" "There's two more overthere Vila, bring us up now" "Liberator, come in Liberator" "Cally, what're you doing down there?" "Waiting to come up, again" "So it was an alien life form that killed her?" "Yes It was trying to use Orac as a bridge to cross from its own universe into ours" "That's why it needed so much power" "But a quantum jump would need much more energy potentialthan Liberator could develop" "The explosion in the planet's atmosphere would have provided the rest" "Yes, I hadn't thought of that" "So you see, Bek, this thing tapped into Orac's channels, sucked up all his energy, so that it could come squirting out and swallow us all" "The plain man's guide to alien invasions" "But, where did Cally fit in?" "Why did it attack you, Cally?" "I was a threat to it I knew it was there because of my telepathy" "Orac uses special communication waves, which pass into another dimension" "And it is the same dimension that allows thought transference" "Orac's telepathic?" "No, telepathy is conscious" "Orac has no consciousness in that dimension He merely drives a beam though it" "Which is why he could be controlled by this force" "And why you couldn't, you fought it telepathically" "Yes Once the Moon Discs had broken through my isolation;" "as soon as I was no longer all alone, I could fight it" "But what about the key?" "How did you get Orac's key while he was up here and you were down there?" "Long arms?" "Telekinesis Who?" "The powerto move objects by thought alone That seems unlikely" "Yes, it does Even among my people such power is rare" "Maybe the Moon Discs Theirtelepathy gave me courage" "Perhaps it gave me strength, too" "So Eitherwe all become telepathic, orwe dump Orac" "Destroy ratherthan dump, surely?" "I'll do it" "It isn't necessary Will it work?" "Of course it willwork" "I have set a small disruption bomb to precise limits within Orac's energy range" "Any variation above or below and there will be a rather satisfying little explosion" "Any attempt to tamperwith the communication channels will reduce Orac to a heap of spare parts" "So Hanna died for nothing Just her Even that machine survives" "I'm sorry, Bek She was dying anyway" "Oh, I know that Just another dream head" "What about the low life scum that really killed her?" "What about the Terra Nostra?" "That is who we're waiting for now" "We're what?" "Why?" "We want them to realise that we know who they are" "This is the ID of a guard I killed" "He was a member of Federation security, a very special member" "He was one of the President's personal security force" "The President of the Federation runs the Shadow operation" "And since Shadow is the basis of the Terra Nostra" "I don't believe it It's quite logical" "To have total control, you must controltotally Both sides of the law" "The Terra Nostra, the Federation:" "two sides of the same power The same men of power" "Ironic, isn't it?" "We were hoping to use the Terra Nostra to attack the Federation, only to discoverthat it is already being used to support it" "Where are allthe good guys?" "You could be looking at them" "What a very depressing thought" "Whose is this?" "Mine Is it alive?" "Yes I thought they died if they left the planet" "No, you have to talk to them" "That's like talking to Vila, a complete waste of time" "When we've finished here, we'll get you back to Space City" "What for?" "There's nothing left there" "It's yourterritory At least you know who you're fighting now" "What have I got left to fight for?" "I'll give you three years, then I'll come looking I expect you to be able to help me" "Information" "Detectors report seven Federation pursuit ships approaching in attack formation" "Seven?" "One for each of us How very generous of the President" "Blasters cleared forfiring, sensors functioning, planetary targets identified and ranged" "Wait a minute, Avon Bek, that button burns the President's garden" "It won't hurt him much, but it'll sting a bit" "Stand by to take us out, Jenna, when it's done"