WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE

S.J. Jefferson

Chapter 1



Null Space Captain Dan Hutyer thought ironically how funny it was that one word, one decision could alter the whole course of your life, and even it's duration. His face contorted with mental pain as he fought with the controls. Even at the best of times computers became unreliable in Null space and as a minimum, manual overview was necessary. Right now it was one hundred percent manual. You needed special skills to be a Null Space Captain, and he was one of the best, but this situation was testing him to the limit. 

It was strange; he always thought he'd die at the hands of a woman, but it was a man who had set him on this course. One word, just one word; it could have all been so different. He remembered sitting in that bar, not a downtown dive, it was a classy joint; Null Space Captains were well paid, he could afford it. It was just after news of the cutbacks. His chances of ever flying again were virtually wiped out. The drink had virtually wiped him out at that moment. He was rambling, cursing the authorities, no-one was really listening, the barman was well trained to appear to lend a sympathetic ear as he wiped the glasses, nodding in agreement every now and then. 

The bottle of whisky, good whisky, excellent whisky from good old Earth had been banged down on the bar beside him. "May I join you for a drink Captain?" the authoritative voice had asked, "I have a proposition for you." He'd looked up through bleary eyes to see a short, plumpish, well dressed man with a ruddy complexion; thick dark hair greased down and combed back. 

Hutyer had nodded. "Yeah," he'd mumbled. 'Yeah', and that was it; that was why he was here now. He could, should have said no and just continued drinking himself into oblivion, or picked up one of the high class prostitutes who sat together, discretely and demurely at the tables in the room, their eyes constantly scanning for clients. 

"Samuel 'S.J.' Jefferson," the man introduced himself, sitting at the bar and pouring them both a generous measure from the bottle he'd brought. "You may have heard of me," he'd continued. Hutyer had shaken his head. In fact, he had heard of him, but his brain was too raddled with drink to bother to concentrate his memory. A brief expression of annoyance had crossed the other man's face at the apparent sleight. "I'm on the lookout for a Null Space Captain," he'd continued. 

"There's plenty around now," Hutyer slurred, emptying his glass in one gulp. 

"I want the best. I can pay for the best," the voice continued. "You fit my profile exactly. I want you. I'm a man used to getting my own way." 

Hutyer's face creased into a frown as he poured himself another measure from the bottle. "What the hell do you want with a Null Space Captain?" he asked, trying to focus on the man's face. "We're all on the scrap heap. Earth's decree has virtually banned Null Space travel." 

Jefferson's face broke into a grin. "One door closes, another opens," he stated. "A new venture. I want you to be part of it...." He paused, briefly staring at the ceiling as if for inspiration, then he continued. "Let me explain. As you no doubt know, private enterprise on our home planet, Heras 6, was rendered unfeasible by the Government Control Bill of 2346, which levied such a high rate of taxation on the profits of any business that share values were reduced to nothing in a couple of weeks. Consequently, the Central Government bought a controlling interest in all firms of any consequence, and eventually took them over altogether. They used the profits from one business to offset the losses from another, and any surplus was diverted to expansion and increased living standards." 

"Due to the fact that the Government was and is composed of able men, albeit cunning ones, this system has worked much better than most people expected it would, and there has been a tendency for the population of the planet to become more nearly equal, with all receiving the same basic income, relative to their skills.". 

"However, a rather clever Solar lawyer of no small ability; myself, Samuel 'S.J.' Jefferson studied the 2346 Control Bill for loopholes and found that grade c2 areas are exempt. Not surprising as there were and are no grade c2 areas on the surface of Heras 6. I would now refer you to the case of Jefferson v Solar Government, in the year 2347. The Law Computers ruled that a group of men moving in just sufficient manpower and equipment to transact business which would be carried on in a c2 area, and otherwise not developing the area at all, were not undertaking activities that could result in a reclassification of that area, and therefore, they remained outside the scope of the Act." 

"I interested a group of citizens who had money to invest, but nothing to invest it in, in my scheme, and we determined to set up business in a c2 area. However, the snag; what sort of business to start up? I quickly confirmed my suspicions, that it was impossible to undercut the Government, and they operated in virtually every field of commerce. Due to their immense funds, of course, they could have priced me out of business in a month. Then I had a stroke of luck. The c2 areas I had in mind for my operating base were derelict space stations which circled Heras 6. Now, for what I suspect were political as much as ecological reasons the central Terran Government had condemned large areas of the Galaxy as unsafe for human beings, and the Government swiftly cancelled all space flights in those areas, for fear of losing ships and passengers, and being stuck with large claims for compensation from such losses. However, there were still people who wanted to go to such places, so there was a ready market." 

"The fates were smiling on me. Again more for political reasons, to undermine the increasing dominance of Heras 6 within the human occupied areas of the Galaxy, the central Terran Government clamped down on Null space travel, claiming it was fracturing the space-time continuum. I was convinced that the derelict space stations I owned fell outside of the areas under which the restrictions applied; a sloppy piece of legislative drafting if you ask me, but then who I am to complain." 

"So there we have it, everything was ready, Null space-ships were falling into the market at rock bottom prices and I readily acquired all I needed. I'm getting the personnel. Now, everything is ready. 'We'll Take You Anywhere' is the name of the Company. For a premium rate I will transport people to anywhere they want to go. And you, my boy, are going to be my first Null Space Captain!" 

Dan Hutyer smiled wanly. "Fair 'nuff," he mumbled, slumping head forward onto the bar. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

It was no good, the controls weren't responding properly, not even to his own skilful touch. He struggled vainly as his ship fell on through the green of Nullspace. This was a universe beyond time and space itself, which sat parallel the continuum, each ensuring the continued existence of the other. Nullspace negatived everything in the universe, mirrorlike. Every star, planet, atom of the universe was balanced out by a negative counterpart here in the minusness of Null. Here distance was negative, the space-time continuum reversed. The farther you went, the less time it took you. So man had devised ways of getting into Null, in order to span the gulfs between the island universes, for the distances involved were so vast that it required only a few minutes to cross them in the Null continuum. But now Hutyer was trapped. His ship wouldn't Denull. 

He began to wonder grimly if this, his first mission for the 'We'll Take You Anywhere' organisation would also be his last. It had seemed simple enough, a burial in space, or in this case, Nullspace. The only trouble was, no-one had ever tried to jettison an object from their craft while in Null, and Hutyer began to wonder, rather bitterly, whether he would get the chance to regret doing it. No doubt, his boss, S.J. had charged a handsome price to do the deed, and whilst Hutyer was on a percentage cut of each fee, what good would it be if he never got back home to spend it? 

He gazed at the featureless green of' Nullspace beyond the ports, eyes wild with panic, searching for one of the Nullthings that existed out here in the nothingness, their mile wide jaws waiting to devour any unfortunate travellers who lingered too long in the strange negative universe. No man had ever stayed in Null for more than two hours and returned. Usually, it was not necessary anyway, for if a longer period was spent in this peculiar greenness, the distance covered shrank to proportions that were manageable by ordinary space travel. But now he had been in Null for nearly twenty four hours. His luck couldn't last much longer. Sooner or later it would give out, and then he was finished. He had to get the controls to respond. 

His hands flashed over the control panel as his ship plunged further into the greenness. Outside the green was now so bright that it almost hurt the eyes to look at it, but, paradoxically, also so dark that it was like night-time on Earth seen through a sheet of green glass. 

Dan Hutyer breathed a silent curse as a blob appeared on the Nullviewer. It was a Nullstar. Yes, there it was, visible now through the ports, shining bluely with a weird light that seemed to darken everything that it fell on, rather than illuminate it. But it was not the star that worried him. Where there was a star, though, there would be a Null planet. Then the inhabitants would pick up his ship on their detectors, and would come swarming out to get him in their dartlike Nullships. His craft could not possibly withstand an attack of that sort. He was doomed. Unless he could get the controls to respond properly, the black rays of death would stream out to engulf his ship, reducing it and himself to a stream of atoms. 

You needed to have a calm stable personality to manage the rigours of a Null Space Captain's job, but right now, Hutyer felt death's icy grip closing round his heart. He panicked. He cracked. "No," he screamed. "They can't get me. They can't!" He punched his fist into the control panel over and over again. Suddenly the thin whine of the deNull motor sounded. He began to laugh, hysterically. He was regaining control. He was saved. 

He gazed at the observation ports, expecting to see the green of Null fading as the ship warped back into the space-time universe, but something was wrong. He was moving, it was true, but in the wrong direction, instead of denulling, the ship was heading farther into the weird greenness, taking him farther than any known being, human or alien, had ever ventured before. He gave a hysterical cry as the Null planet vanished in a green blur. The green light waxed and waned, lighting up the cabin with a glow like the illumination from some kind of ghostly green candle, flickering. 

He stared through the port in desperation as a cluster of Nullcrystal swept by him, trying to match his velocity, sending out questing tentacles to ensnare his frail craft. Then, suddenly, it too was gone, left far behind as his ship penetrated further into the strange Null universe. Shapes flashed by as Hutyer stared out of his observation windows, stunned by what had happened. He screamed twice, and it helped a little. 

The craft seemed to plunge onwards for an eternity, until the green of Null had darkened to a deep shade that was almost black. Here there were no Nullstars, and no attendant planets. He gasped as the blackness began to give way to an eerie glow, green still but as different from the green of Null as that awful shade was to the comforting blackness of the space-time universe. A moment later he could see what was causing the glow. Into his field of vision swept a huge sun, impossibly large, pulsating with a frightening regularity. It's diameter must have been at least five light years, and yet he could stare directly into it's heart without being blinded, it's light was not the harsh glare of a space-time star, nor the green brilliance of a Nullstar, instead it was a gentle, pale luminescence that seemed to brighten the very fabric of this strange environment. It was the colour of terrestrial leaves in Summer. 

The giant sun floated gently before him, it's glow seeming to soothe his tired brain. He knew not which way his ship was moving. Indeed, for all he knew, it could have been plunging directly into the heart of the mammoth star, but he didn't care. He sat as if in a dream, watching the vast sun pulsating as his ship slid past it. Then a sudden chill ran over him. This green was not the green of Null, that much was certain. Then what was it, and where had his ship taken him? Could this be somewhere beyond even Null, and if so, what horrors awaited him here? The doubts endured for a brief microsecond in his mind before they were gone. 

He was still basking in the giant's glow when a limb appeared on his port, sliding slowly out of his field of vision. Then he wasn't going to plunge into the vast star after all. His ship was sliding past it at an unimaginable velocity, yet such was the bulk oŁ this monster furnace that he appeared simply to be drifting on some gentle celestial tide. As he watched the green star float past, a planet appeared from around it's limb. It too was green, but just a shade darker than it's parent body. 

Hutyer realised dreamily that his ship was heading straight for the planet, but he made no move to take up a landing position as his vessel spiralled down towards the new world. The ship moved into a landing orbit of it's own accord, but still he was too mesmerised by the light of the huge star to give any thought to this strange occurrence. The surface plunged to meet him as his ship fell through the alien sky. Suddenly his landing jets blasted, again without a move on his part to activate them, and his ship decelerated to a perfect touchdown on the alien soil. As the landing legs scraped the ground Hutyer awoke from his trance with a start, realising that he had landed. He gazed through the observation port at a world of green, everything was the same colour as far as the eye could see. The earth, the vegetation, the sky, the people. 

The people!! Hutyer leapt to his feet with a startled cry, staring out at the strange terrain. No, he had not made a mistake. There were people out there, a whole party of them, moving towards his ship. His mind calculated furiously. What if they were hostile, like the men of the Nullworlds? But he would have to take that chance; there was nothing else for it. He had no doubt that whatever force had pulled him down to this strange place would be easily able to keep him here, and it seemed logical that that force should be connected with the group of beings moving towards him at this minute. 

Alien? Hutyer looked again. No, they looked human, but not men, they were women. Yes, there was no doubt about it. They looked exactly like human women, but they were green. He screwed up his eyes to blot out the vision, imagining that he was hallucinating. Green women? He must be going mad. It was ridiculous. Or was it? He considered for a moment. On a green world, in a green universe, why not green women? Anyway, ridiculous or not, the living proof was there, before his eyes. 

As the women drew closer he saw that they were clad only in scanty fragments of green cloth, of a colouring only fractionally different from their skin. He strained his eyes to pick out identifying features, but they all seemed to be more or less identical. He flicked the atmostest control, a metallic voice pronounced the air fit for breathing. He leapt out of his seat and ran to the airlock. By the time the outer door swung open, the women had gathered in a tight knot around his ship. As he stepped out of his ship they fell to their knees, moaning and praying. Hutyer stood silent, bemused by his reception. Then a telepathic whisper entered his mind softly. 

"Thank you, Colour Master, for answering our prayers." 

He stood rooted to the spot, unable to utter a word, but it was unlikely that the women would have been able to understand, even if he had, as they seemed to converse entirely by telepathic impulse, and although Hutyer could pick up their strong thoughts, it seemed unlikely that he himself could generate a thought wave strong enough to bridge the gap between his mind and theirs. Nevertheless, his silence didn't seem to have any damping effect on the women's awe, for the voice started again. 

"Come with us, Colour Master, that your power might defeat the Others." 

The women rose to their feet as one, and he realised with a jolt that their unity of action, and maybe even their similar physical appearance must be due to the fact that they were all in constant mental contact. He followed the women as they strode off, trying to fathom out what was going on. What and where was this strange green planet and it's giant sun, outside of Null itself, these strange telepathic women who regarded him as their Colour Master, whatever that might be. He looked down at his clothing, reds and blues standing out gaily against the green drabness of the alien planet. But on a planet with no other colours, how could these women know of anything but greens. 

His thoughts were interrupted as they reached a strange looking craft. The whisper inside his brain started up again. 

"Travel to city, 0 Colour Master," it said. The women stood to one side, making way for him to enter. He sat down in a strange looking seat near one corner of the craft, and was still waiting for the others to enter when the door closed silently. Hutyer gazed around as the vehicle rocked into motion, but there was no one else inside with him. 

The surrounding countryside merged into a vague green blur as the vehicle accelerated. Hutyer sat back knowing that all he could do was wait and see where the car took him. 

After about an hour's high speed travel the vehicle lurched to a halt, almost throwing him out of his seat. The door hissed open and he looked around. He was in a green city. All around him were strange buildings, the purpose of which he could only guess at. Side roads radiated from these buildings to all points of the compass. He looked around again, searching for some sign of habitation, but to no avail. The city seemed deserted. 

"We are here to greet you, Colour Master," a voice whispered in his skull. 

He disembarked from the craft to find two more women, exactly the same as the others, standing in the shadow of the vehicle, by it's tail, where they had been hidden from his previous scrutiny. As he stepped out they bowed. 

"Please follow us, Colour Master. We will take you to our mistress, who will explain everything to you." 

He began to feel that these women had been expecting him, but he also knew, somehow, perhaps some of their knowledge had leaked to him telepathically. They were not the ones who had pulled his ship down to the surface of this world. He followed the women as they hurried through the deserted streets. Somehow they managed to convey to him a great urgency. 

But why all this hurry? Ah well, doubtless he would find out soon enough. The women scurried into a passage leading beneath the city, and he followed, oblivious of the fact that he could easily have been walking into some kind of trap. 

Nevertheless, nothing untoward happened, and soon they arrived in front of a huge green door that swung open at their approach. One of the women stood at the door as if announcing him. A moment later a telepathic whisper told him that that was in fact what was happening. 

"The Colour Master," the woman announced. She motioned for him to enter. As he went into the room the door closed silently behind him. 

A woman sat on a throne above him. Hutyer stared at her, but the only difference from the others that he could detect was the colour of her scant clothing which was of a bluish hue. Around her shoulders hung a blue cape, flimsy and waist length. It made sense, this woman was wearing the only piece of colour that he'd seen since he arrived, and she was their ruler. Therefore they must regard him, dressed in far more resplendent tones, as some sort of God. Hence the Colour Master bit. 

She bowed to him. "Please sit, Colour Master, while I study your mind." 

Hutyer sat on the floor, feeling nothing, but knowing that this strange Queen was delving into his mind, in search of something or other. There was a long silence before the mental whispering began anew. 

"Thank you, Colour Master," the woman stated. "Now I will explain our prayers for help. This world is inhabited by two races, and until a short time ago we lived together in peace and harmony. Then came an evil Colour Master to our world. He befriended us, and even gave me this coloured cloth which I wear still, as a token of his friendship. As his stay progressed, he told us that he came from a land of many colours. In his own land, he said, there were people like us, and also people like the other race of our world. But where he came from, the others were rulers, and we were nothing but servants. He incited the other race into rising against us, that they might enslave us, as our fellows were enslaved on the Colour Master's world. You must understand that until the stranger came we had ruled equally, but he corrupted the other race with his promises of power. 

"War came inevitably, and there was a long conflict, which resulted in stalemate. This impasse was recently broken, and now our enemies are gaining the upper hand, slowly but surely. When we saw the conflict going against us, we prayed for a miracle to deliver us. Now our prayers have been answered, and you are here. We beg you to pit yourself against the evil Colour Master and destroy him." 

She leaned forward and gazed at him, a pleading look in her eyes. Hutyer decided that she looked very beautiful like that. He thought over her plea. What was there to lose? His ship was trapped on this strange world, presumably by this woman's enemies. If he could defeat this other 'Colour Master' perhaps he could get off this strange planet alive. 

"Very well," he said. "I will help you." 

She looked down at him, sadness written across her face. "Thank you, Colour Master," her mind whispered. "I am forever in your debt. Go now. My servants will help you in any way that they can. In fact, we have captured one of the enemy, whom it might be useful for you to see." 

Hutyer nodded as the door opened again. Two green women stood outside, waiting for him. He suspected that they were the same ones who had brought him to the Queen, but in this place it was difficult to be sure. As he followed them the door closed behind him, and he did not see the green tear fall from the queen's eye. 

Hutyer followed the women in silence. Suddenly they both stopped abruptly and turned, so that he barely managed to stop himself bumping into them. 

"Colour Master," they spoke slowly, smiling. Hutyer gaped at them. This was not telepathy. It was speech. And they had spoken in his language, too. A whisper entered his mind. "We have mastered the basics of your speech now, Colour Master. we may now converse verbally. Come, test us." 

Hutyer blurted out the first thing that entered his mind. "You are women," he said. 

They searched his mind, and he assisted them by thinking of women as hard as he could. It wasn't too difficult for him. The women nodded. 

"Yes, Master. It would appear that we are." 

"Are your enemies men?" queried Hutyer, forming a mental vision of a man in his mind. 

The women paused again as they scanned his mind. "No, Master," they replied. "there is nothing like that on this world except you." 

Hutyer was taken aback. He was sure that the women's enemies would be men. But if there were no men...What were the others. And what about children? Of course, these women might be immortal, never dying and never being born, as indicated by their similar appearance. Or they might be hermaphrodites, having no need of men. Or they might have baby farms, where offspring were produced artificially. Who knew, they might even reproduce by budding. However, that wasn't the main consideration at the moment. He wanted to know what he was up against. He turned back to the women, puzzled. 

"Are your enemies other women, then?" he asked. 

"No" one replied. "They are -" she paused as if searching for a word that would describe their opponents. She glanced back at Hutyer. "I cannot find the right word," she admitted. "But it is of no real consequence, for you will see one of them for yourself shortly." 

Hutyer frowned slightly. What was he up against? Oh well, there was nothing for it but to wait and see. 

"In here, Colour Master," the girls said in unison, as they passed through yet another green door. As Hutyer stepped into the room he saw that he was standing on the top of what seemed to be a vast glass cage. 

"Down there," said one of the women, pointing into the cage. 

He gazed down into the cage, but everything looked like a green blur to him. Wait a minute. Had something moved? He strained to see. 

"Are you having difficulty in seeing, Colour Master," asked a one of the girls. Hutyer nodded. Green lights flashed on, illuminating the occupant of the cage. He gasped in horror. It was a robot! He turned away, trembling. How could he defeat an army of robots, led by a robot. These machines were cold, calculating, ruthless, he couldn't stand robots, never had been able to. He'd never felt at ease with a robot around, even back home, and these metal monsters were obviously far in advance of their Terrestrial counterparts. 

"Is something wrong?" asked one of the green women. 

"No," Hutyer replied, fighting to stop himself from trembling. 

"Have you worked out yet how we are to defeat them?" she asked. 

Hutyer frowned. "How do you fight them at the moment?" he enquired, his mind filled with visions of vast nuclear wars. 

One of the girls stepped forward. "I will show you," she offered. "Watch the cage." 

A moment later the cage door opened, and another girl stepped inside. The robot turned as she entered, and they stared at each other for a timeless instant, before the girl clutched her head, screamed, and fell to the floor. 

"She is dead," the other woman replied to his unspoken question. Hutyer stared at her, aghast. 

"What kind of warfare is this?" he demanded. 

"Telepathic," came the reply. "It is the only method of fighting that we know. It is only the massive shielding built into the cage that protects us now, otherwise we would have perished. The screening is too bulky for us to carry," she added, anticipating his next statement. 

"You have you no other weapons?" 

The girl studied his mind, as he conjured up visions of guns, rockets and bombs. "No" she replied after a while. Hutyer grinned. "Well, that's the answer, then," he asserted. "I've got plenty of weapons back in my ship. We'll blast hell out of them. Come on!" 

The girls ran back down the passageway, with Hutyer hot on their heels. Suddenly they stopped dead and swivelled about. Hutyer stared at them. "What's up?" he queried. 

"How are we to use these weapons. As soon as we get near enough to bring them to bear, the robots will destroy us with their minds." 

He shuddered. Telepathic robots just didn't seem right to him, somehow, But he answered confidently. "Oh, that's no problem. Just tell me the enemy's position and I'll fire the weapons from my ship. It'll be easy enough." 

The girls bowed. "You are truly a great Colour Master," they acknowledged. The three of them hurried back to the car that had brought him to the city. Before long they were back at Hutyer's ship. 

"Now then," he said, when they had clambered into the control cabin. "Whereabouts are the enemy situated?" 

The women pointed back in the direction from which they had come. "But that's your city," protested Hutyer. 

"Yes. Our city. But the enemy's too. We share it, as always." 

He gaped at them. "But you are at war." The girls stared at him, uncomprehending. He shrugged and picked up several small hand blasters. His ship was always well stocked with weapons; it was a necessity when you were travelling through Nullspace. 

"I think we'd better get back to the city," he said, stuffing the guns into his belt and pockets. 

The car carried them effortlessly back to the alien town. As they alighted, one of the women caught him by the arm. 

"Come," she said. "We will show you the area of conflict." 

The spaceman followed in a daze as the girls led him through the broad streets, into a part of the city where he had not previously been. They entered a huge building, and climbed a flight of marble stairs. The girls pushed open a door and motioned for Hutyer to enter. 

He found that he was looking down into a vast room. It was bare save for row upon row of women and robots, who sat staring at each other. He estimated that their numbers ran into thousands. 

"This is the battle arena," the girl explained. "At the moment all but a few of our people, who are needed to run the essential services off the city, are down there, engaged in a telepathic battle." 

"Ah," Hutyer murmured. "So that's why the city was deserted." The girl appeared not to have heard him, and continued. 

"At the moment, we have the upper hand, slightly, But whenever this happens, a new robot is manufactured, and enters the battle to turn the tide against us. Then one of our people dies, and we have no way of replacing her, for we have lost the power of reproduction; being immortal. But then we fight all the harder, and restore the balance. So far, the point has not been reached where the robots have been able to overwhelm us, but of course, neither have we been able to defeat them. We are looking to you to tip the balance in our favour." 

Hutyer considered the proposition. "Well, that seems easy enough to me. If the robots have no weapons, all that it needs is for me to go in there and blast a few dozen of them. That'll turn the tide all right." 

The girl shook her head. "No, Master. If you went into that room, all of your mind's powers would be taken up in defending yourself against the robot's assaults. You would be unable to fire your gun. Like the other room where we held the robot prisoner, we are only free from their power at the moment because of the telepathic shield which protects us." 

Hutyer grimaced. "Are all the robots down there?" 

"All except their Colour Master." 

"Oh, and where is he?" 

The girls pointed. "He is in that room, just round the bend of the corridor." 

"Eh? So near us? Why in the universe don't you destroy him - he's the one that caused all this conflict." 

The women stared at him in horror. 

"We would not even dare to touch a Colour Master, let alone destroy him." 

Hutyer pondered silently. "Hmm, I think that I follow your reasoning; but that doesn't stop me going in after him, does it?" 

"Indeed not. For you too are a Colour Master." 

Hutyer hefted his one of his guns in his hand, feeling the comforting, weight of the others in his belt and pockets as he strode towards the door that the green women had pointed out. Surely it wasn't going to be this easy? The girls had said that the head robot had got no weapons. It would be sufficient merely to step into the room and fire. Then the menace of the robots would be ended. Or, at least, Hutyer hoped that it would. He had a hunch that if their leader was destroyed, the robots would retreat from this peculiar world - but fast. He pushed at the door and was surprised when it opened without resistance. 

He stepped inside the room and saw a brightly coloured robot working at a bench. Hutyer was so surprised that he forget to fire the gun in his hand. The robot seemed to be putting together more of it's own kind - by hand. The machine turned as he stared. 

"I have been expecting you," it declared telepathically. lts crystal eyes bored into Hutyer's, but he could not turn away. "Put that weapon away," ordered the robot, and he found himself obeying. 

"That's better," the robot continued "Now we can talk. I see from your mind that you came here to destroy me. I think that you will find that impossible as I have the power to control your mind, or destroy it, should I wish." 

Hutyer slumped into a nearby seat. He knew that his mind was trapped in a telepathic net. He was helpless and the robot knew it. 

"You may think that what I am doing is wrong," the machine went on, "but I have my reasons. Like you, I chanced on this planet by accident, when my ship went out of control in Nullspace. On landing I found a society in which robots were the slaves and those women their rulers. I had to help them. If you landed on a world upon which your kind were enslaved by aliens, would you not help them?" 

"But these women aren't aliens," Hutyer protested, rubbing his chin nervously. 

"To you, no," agreed the robot. "But to me they are weak, insubstantial creatures, unfitted to rule the world, and even more unfitted to rule creatures such as I." 

"How are we to settle our differences, then?" asked Hutyer, puzzledly. 

"There is only one solution," answered the robot. "You must go, and leave us to settle our differences in our own ways. If you leave this world in the next twenty four of your hours, I guarantee to remove the binder-beam that pulled you down to this world. If you remain, I shall destroy your mind, and leave you a senseless moron." 

Hutyer licked his lips nervously as he walked back to the door. He backed out and closed it behind him, breathing heavily. The girls were waiting for him. 

"You failed," they said, and it was more a statement than a question. 

Hutyer nodded. "Yes. We'll have to find another way." 

"Have you any suggestions, Colour Master?" asked one of the women. 

"Not one," admitted the spaceman. He stood deep in thought for a second, before a puzzled frown crossed his face. 

"Hey: I've got it," he rapped. "You said that a certain proportion of your people were engaged outside the conflict, running the city. Why don't you withdraw them from their duties just long enough to tip the scales in your favour. When the battle's over, they can return to their regular tasks and the rest of you can help catch up with whatever backlog builds up." 

"But that is not possible, Master. Our leader will explain why. Let us return to her." 

Hutyer followed the girls back to their Queen, scowling. Why did these women refuse to use their reserve forces to win a battle whose loss might well mean the end of their race? He was still mulling over the problem when he was ushered into the Queen's throneroom. She smiled as he entered. 

"My servant's have told me telepathically of your suggestion," she said. "Actually, we had thought of it already, but it is unworkable. You see, when we say that our city is maintained by telepathy, we are not joking. In fact, I must admit that I have understated the case. To be precise, it is not just the essential services of the city that my reserve forces are maintaining, but the city itself. If they were to be employed in the battle arena, the city would cease to exist, it is as simple as that." 

"Are you telling me," gasped Hutyer, "that this whole place is one big mental illusion?" 

"In a way, yes," admitted the Queen. "But a very real one. You stand on the floors, and feel them, but they are not there. You smell the scents in the air, but they are non-existent. You see our buildings, but your eyes deceive you." 

He closed his eyes, trying to assimilate this new information, then gave up as the obvious answer struck him. 

"Are you willing to pay any price for victory?'' he asked. 

The Queen nodded. "Anything within reason." 

Hutyer grinned. "Very well, then, here is my plan. It's quite simple. All you have to do is instruct your subjects to stop thinking of the city. Then it will vanish. while this strange occurrence throws the robots off their guard, your subjects can cash in on their confusion, and destroy them telepathically." 

The Queen looked pensive, and shook her head. "No," she said at length. "It would not work." 

Hutyer stared at her impatiently. "But why won't it work? Are you unwilling to sacrifice the buildings in the conflict area?" 

"No, it is not that." 

He lost his patience. "Well, if you wont save yourselves voluntarily, then I order it as a Colour Master." 

The Queen reeled as if from a blow. She stared evenly at Hutyer for a long instant before she replied. "Very well, "she conceded. "If you command it, then it must be so, I cannot argue with a Colour Master. But you must realise one thing. The responsibility for your actions rests with you alone." 

"Yes, yes," agreed Hutyer impatiently. "I accept responsibility if my plan fails." 

The Queen gazed at him sadly. "It is if it succeeds that your conscience will have the heavier load to bear," she asserted enigmatically. 

Hutyer stared at her, a puzzled look on his face, but she seemed reluctant to say more. She stood up and bowed to him. 

"I shall go and tell my people of your order," she stated. "Goodbye, Colour Master." 

"What do you mean, goodbye," muttered Hutyer. "If the robots are crushed, I could stay on here for a while. I must admit that you have a rare beauty." 

"Then let your decision bear all the harder upon your conscience." 

Hutyer glowered at her. "My mind is made up, and no talk will make me change it. This plan is the only way that I can think of to save your people in the short amount of time that is available." 

The Queen hung her head. "Very well, then. Now go to the vessel in which you came, so that you may escape the consequences of your own decision. Please, I beg it." 

The look on her face persuaded Hutyer to follow her advice. He had originally planned to remain in the city to see the battle through, but in his ship he would be shielded from the effects of whatever strange forces were going to be used in the ensuing conflict. Also, if his plan failed, and the robots looked like coming out on top, he would have a better chance of escaping. There was a fair chance that the beam that had dragged him down to the planet would be out of commission for the duration of the conflict, as the robot's leader would be unlikely to have any spare energy to waste on such a purpose. 

He turned and walked back through the door. Two green women stood waiting for him in the passageway, their faces solemn. They led him back through the city to the same strange vehicle that had brought him here. He climbed in beside them, and the car pulled away from the Queen's palace, heading for his ship. 

When the vehicle arrived back at his vessel, the green women helped him mount the ladder up to his cabin. They stood at the foot of the ship, watching, as he turned at the entrance lock. together they whispered a telepathic farewell, eyes downcast; then they walked back across to the car. With a soft purr of the engines the vehicle accelerated back towards the city. 

Hutyer shrugged as he closed the lock behind him. "Anyone would think that I was signing their death warrants instead of saving them, from the way they're going on," he muttered to himself. He made his way to the central control cabin, the metallic clang of his space boots echoing in the empty steel corridors. It was so strange to be back in his ship after his stay in the city. Somehow, now, his craft seemed alien and empty, after the warmth and hospitality that the inhabitants of this green world had shown him. Ah well, he thought, after the battle had been won, then would be the time for relaxation. Perhaps he might never return to the space-time universe. There was no-one special waiting back home for him. There was a lot to keep him here, after all. The green Queen and all of her strange subjects. But first of all, the battle must be won. 

Hutyer reached across the control console and activated the scanner. He focused it on the city, glancing at his watch as he did so. Not long now. He gazed at the picture on the screen, waiting for the first sign that his plan was working. The streets were just as empty as they had been when he had first entered the city, but he knew that somewhere beneath the strange complexes of alien buildings, the telepathic battle for control of this planet was still proceeding. 

Hutyer glances at his watch again. The moment was drawing near. As he turned his gaze back to the screen the city flickered and vanished. He magnified the image and the screen zoomed in on the conflict area. The spaceman chuckled as the robots fell to the ground in confusion as their seats vanished from beneath them. A split second later they fell to the ground in a huge wave. Hutyer cheered wildly in the silent cabin. His plan had worked. The green women had won. His exultation lasted no more than the space between one heartbeat and the next. 

In a flash the green women disappeared from the arena. As they faded into nothingness the vegetation flickered, then it too was gone. The river was next, the trees, the very air. His ship now rested on a barren ball of rock. He realised with a start that everything had gone black. There was no mere green light illuminating the planet. He gazed up into the sky, and his nightmares were confirmed. Even the vast green sun had vanished. 

He saw a flash of light heading for him across the bare rock. He realised that it was the Colour Master robot, a headlamp illuminating it's path. He got up and opened the airlock, realising that he was doing it against his own will. The robot had him in it's power again. 

The machine strode in through the airlock, and a minute later stood before him in the control cabin. "Foolish flesh creature," it rasped, "you have destroyed them all." 

"But how?" he whispered. 

The robot made a snarling noise. "Don't you understand, even now? The so-called 'women' were nothing but androids, created by the original rulers of this planet - the ones that you call the robots. The women had the power to evolve, whereas the robots did not, and in time the creation became more powerful than the creators. Then they rose against those who had made them, and sought to control the whole world. Already with their powers they had created the green Sun and made the planet more hospitable, to their own tastes at any rate. Now they wished to reap all the benefits for themselves. I came upon this world when the two races were locked in conflict, and resolved to help the rightful rulers, the robots, to regain control." 

"They could only fight telepathically, for their continued existence depended upon the continued existence of the women, for without the products of their mental powers the robots could not exist any more. But what the women overlooked was the fact that they were as much dependant upon the robots as the robots were upon them. Both races needed the other. Thus, the robots had to gain mental control before the women destroyed them, and the whole planet with them. Had you not come along, the robots would yet have come out on top., 

Hutyer sat in his seat, stunned into silence. "But why did the women obey me? They must have known that it would mean the end of them." 

"Yes, they did. But there is more to this than I have yet told. I have said that the women were androids, but I have not explained what was their power source." 

"What?" 

"It was the green light of the Sun." 

"But surely, if they themselves created it -" 

"Ah. But they were previously powered by many smaller green light generators. When they realised their power they built the huge Sun to supply their entire needs. The smaller light sources were destroyed. In a way, that was their undoing." 

"But I still don't see..." 

"Until you came all was well. But then you arrived, and the reds and blues of your ship and your garments, much brighter and more garish than mine, created a new wavelength on this planet. While you were in their midst, this new type of light interfered with their green power source, and upset the balance of their finely tuned androidal bodies just enough to put them under your complete control. They had to obey you, even though it meant their own destruction. You see, at heart, they were still machines. The robots that you sought to destroy had more in common with you than they did." 

"And I destroyed them all," breathed Hutyer, astounded. 

"And you destroyed them all," echoed the robot, "or at least the disturbing wavelength of your coloured light destroyed their balance." 

"But you are coloured also..." 

"I had the telepathic control to force the women not to notice what disruption my colours caused. You lacked that ability. Now the androids are gone and the robots have no power source, for they also ran off the power of the green Sun." He stopped, looking at Hutyer with greater anger. "You will leave this sector immediately. Were I human, and foolish like you, I should probably destroy you for the harm that you have done, but logic tells me that it would serve no purpose. Now go." 

The robot strode from the cabin. Hutyer watched as it made it's way across the barren darkened landscape to where it doubtless had a ship waiting to carry it back to it's own world. 

He waited until it had disappeared from sight, then confirming that his ship was no longer restrained, blasted off, leaving only a crater in the rock as evidence of his visit. 

Later on, in orbit, he activated the Denull control, which now seemed to be working again. He then tensed, he appeared to be back in 'normal' Nullspace and reactivated the Denull control, again half expecting the ship to be ripped to pieces, but he let out a sigh of relief as he found himself back in the twinkling blackness of the space-time universe. 

All the way back to the base which circled Heras 6, he could hear the voice of the green android Queen as she whispered her last goodbye. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 2



In this business, Dan Hutyer mused, money talks. That was why he was taking three passengers who knows where into Nullspace. His boss, 'S.J.' had personally negotiated the deal; no doubt a very lucrative one and now he was flying blind to who knows where. It was unlikely to be the safest of trips, the leader of the group had insisted the most experienced Nullspace Captain was allocated to the journey. 

Maybe he'd be taken into their confidence soon. What the hell, what could he expect? He was only the Captain after all..... 

Hutyer flipped on an internal scanner to further study his human cargo now that they'd removed their space-suit helmets. The leader of the group was a middle aged gentleman with a red flowing beard. The second, a younger man with a lean sallow face, and the third a rather attractive blonde girl about twenty. Hutyer's expression hardened and he activated the intercom. "We're now in Nullspace," he stated, "a dangerous place at the best of times, so I think it's time I knew just exactly where it is you want to go, and what you're intending to do when we get there. I suggest you all come up to the control room now." 

The trio duly assembled. It was the girl who broke the silence, speaking uncertainly at first, not sure if she should be saying anything at all. "We are a scientific exploration party. We've sunk all our funds into this mission. Everything we had. Out homes, savings, everything. Our mission was so unbelievable, that no-one would back us." 

"And what is this expedition?" Hutyer interrupted, sensing that what he was likely to hear wasn't going to please him at all. 

"I'm coming to that," the girl explained. "As you know, Null is a universe beyond time and space, but it coexists with the continuum, each ensuring the continued existence of the other. Null space negatives everything in the universe, mirrorlike. Every star, planet, atom of the universe is balanced out by a negative counterpart in the minusness of Null." 

"Yes," Hutyer replied a little irritably, "I know all this. Why did you want to travel here into Null?" A cold shiver passed down his back as the image of the beautiful green Queen whispering goodbye to him, flashed across his mind. 

"Think of something that people have believed in for centuries," she answered, "but no-one has ever been able to find. Something that many say doesn't exist. Others say it exists as a nothingness. We believe it exists here in Null as negative matter." 

"What?" Hutyer demanded impatiently. He was in no mood for guessing games. 

"God!" she replied, her eyes blazing. "We believe that God exists here in Null, but only in a negative state in our Universe. That is why no-one has ever found him." 

"You' re mad," breathed Hutyer. 

"No," sneered the girl, "you're just like all the other small minded fools back on Earth. Our theory is backed up by common sense - and by an eye witness. A man who was stranded in Null came upon a bizarre area unlike any other in Null. Inside it, he swore he saw God. It is this place that is our destination!" 

Hutyer's mind raced. They were all mad, or deluded fanatics at best. Still, he had little choice; they had chartered this ship and his services, no doubt at an astronomic cost, and he'd have to fulfil his side of the deal, although that did not include being dragged into danger of certain death. "Very well," he decided. "Feed your information into the database." He looked uneasily at the scanners which displayed the eerie green lights of Nullspace. Things were deceptively quiet at the moment. "You will all be needed here to man the weapons," he added. "Nullspace is full of danger." 

The two male travellers took first tour of duty at the weapon banks, poised, ready to blast at the slightest movement. In the hell that was Null it was a case of destroy, or be destroyed. You could show your enemy no mercy, for it would show you none. 

The ship locked into the co-ordinates of it's new destination. An hour passed as they drifted through the vastness of Null. They had only seen one Null planet, which had passed far off in the distance. Hutyer, who had now taken his turn with the guns, moved restlessly in his seat. It was uncanny that they should have travelled so far into Null and not have been attacked. 

The bearded man looked up from reading their course on the viewers. "We will be entering the designated area very shortly," he announced. 

Hutyer turned to him. "I've been in Null many times," he said, "and every time I have journeyed into it, I have been attacked. Why is it that this time we have not even been approached?" 

"Because," the bearded man replied, "I too have jouryned many times into Null and I have been able to construct a course free from violence." 

"It is impossible to chart Null," Hutyer countered, "it would be easier trying to keep a chart of the waves on a Terran sea." 

"Then what is this?" cursed the bearded man angrily, pointing at the screen which displayed the eccentric orbits the Null planets took and huge groups of Null crystal patterns. The screen was also criss- crossed with the flight paths of the Null ships. 

Hutyer was about to pursue the argument that Null was ever changing, and was therefore impossible to chart, when the sallow faced man pointed excitedly towards a diffused glow in the distance. "There it is," he shouted. 

Hutyer strained his eyes, but could only see a white blur, vaguely resembling a cloud. It seemed to pulsate irregularly. 

As they drew nearer, no details became clear except that it looked more and more like a cloud. Suddenly it engulfed them and for a few seconds the ship was enveloped in a white mass resembling cotton wool. 

As quickly as they entered it, they were free of it. Hutyer looked around. For as far as the eye could see, was the surface of a giant planet. There was an air of complete silence everywhere. The bearded man spoke. "I name this land, Heaven," he announced. 

Hutyer stared in disbelief at the viewer. Never before in all his journeys into Null, had he seen anything like this before. 

"You still doubt our words of wisdom?" the girl asked him. 

"I'll wait and see," Hutyer replied, sounding rather uncertain. 

"We will be famous," breathed the sallow faced man. "Our names will go down in history!" 

"Take her down," the bearded man ordered. 

The ship dived towards the surface. Hutyer selected a flat plateau area, bringing the ship down to an unexpectedly rough landing. 

The girl studied the instrument panel. "The air is breathable and the temperature is in the high eighties. The gravity is slightly lower than that on Earth." 

"Right, Captain," ordered the bearded man. "Let's not waste any time. Let's get the hovercar out and start exploring." Suddenly, his whole mood changed and he held out his hand in friendship to Hutyer. " I'm Jed Rivers," he announced, "that's Troy Tressel, and that's my daughter, Miriam. It won't be long before we get back and everyone on Heras 6 will know of us. What's your name, Captain?" 

"Hutyer," he supplied in response to the question. "Dan Hutyer." 

"Okay, Dan," Rivers continued. "Come, let us go and explore." 

They boarded the hovercar and flew up to a hundred feet. Rivers looked out of the near window. "I think we'd better start looking down in the lowlands," he suggested. "It looks pretty barren up here." 

Tressel nodded his agreement and took the hovercar down rather quickly over the sheer side of the plateau. 

"There, a forest by the looks of it; down there," Rivers stated, sketching a crude map on a piece of paper. "We'll look for a clearing to land in, then we can do a bit of exploring on foot." 

They hovered over the forest tree tops. "It looks like a rain forest back on Earth," Miriam said. 

"Except that there's no rain," Hutyer muttered, looking up at the white cloud mass that they had passed through on the downward journey. 

Rivers looked up at the sky, "it may rain soon," he said. "I used to work on a weather station on Venus, and the sky used to look just like that when it rained, and boy, when it rained, did it rain!" 

Tressel was scanning the forest that seemed to stretch on and on almost to the horizon. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "over there." He pointed to a small clearing. 

"Can you get us down there?" Rivers asked peering anxiously downwards. 

"Soon find out," he replied, diving sharply down as if in a death dive. Hutyer gripped onto the side or his seat. Miriam, who was sitting next to him in the back stared unemotionally ahead. 

The hovercar grated to a landing on the hard uneven surface. Before Hutyer had regained his composure, Rivers was out of the ship, examining the ground. 

"Look at this, Troy," he said in a puzzled voice. "There isn't a spot of vegetation here, it's barren rock. But look over there." He pointed to the jungle that was almost moving before their eyes, in a tangled mass of trees, undergrowth and creepers, all fighting each other to reach up to the sky for light. 

Hutyer warily looked around. There was an unearthly hush over the forest. "The lull before the storm," he muttered, more to himself than to the others. 

"I think you're right," Rivers replied. "It would be foolish to explore the forest as we wouldn't be able to proceed without constantly blasting a path with a ray gun. As we didn't come to kill and destroy, we shall wait until the rain has come and gone. Then we'll take off again and continue our exploration from the air. These craft can become unstable in heavy turbulence." 

Hutyer wiped his hand across his forehead. "It's pretty hot out here," he said, "Let's get back into the ship." 

"You can go in if you like," Rivers replied. "We'll be back inside in a minute." He began to move off, "Come on Troy," he ordered, "we'll take a look at the edge of the vegetation." 

Hutyer got back into the craft and was joined by the girl, Miriam, while the other two walked over towards the edge of the clearing. 

"Look at this," Rivers pointed, "The leaves of this plant are incredibly hard and scaly. I wonder why?" 

"Don't know, Jed," Tressel replied. "All the vegetation is like it though." 

The silence of the forest was broken by the splatter of a raindrop. 

"Looks like the rain's coming," said Tressel. 

"Yes," Rivers confirmed. "We'd better get back inside, once it starts I think it'll really come down." He held out his hand and a drop of rain fell on it. He stared at it for a second in disbelief, then screamed in pain. 

Tressel saw a black mark where the raindrop had I fallen on Rivers' hand. 

"Quick, back to the ship," gasped Rivers. "it's raining pure acid!" 

The two ran back into the safety of the hovercar. One or two drops fell on their clothes as they dived back inside, burning holes in the material. A second or two after the door was closed the rain began to lash down from the skies. 

"Is this car safe from acid attacks?" Tressel cursed, rubbing at the burn marks on his clothes. Hutyer stared blankly at the frightened look on the man's face. "It's not water out there," Tressel panted, getting his breath back, "it's acid!'' 

"Acid!" Hutyer and the girl exclaimed in unison. 

"Yes," Rivers confirmed, "and strong acid at that." He showed them the black mark on the palm of his hand. 

"Well," Hutyer confessed. "The hull can withstand a ray gun blast, but I just don't know about a concentrated acid attack." 

The four sat there, staring uneasily at each other as the downpour continued. After a few minutes, the deluge stopped as quickly as it had started. Thirty minutes later, the heat had dried the rocks, sending huge clouds of toxic steam back up into the atmosphere. 

When the instruments indicated the air was safe to breathe, Rivers got out and inspected the hull of the 'car. He got back in a minute later. "The air's rather bitter," he stated. "I wouldn't go out there just yet." 

"So we can go on?" asked Miriam. 

"Yes," Rivers decided, "but we'd better get out of this forest area. I've a feeling these rains occur quite frequently." 

Tressel started up the motor and the hovercar lifted from the barren rock, back into the sky and above the tall trees. They travelled for what seemed like hours, looking down on the seemingly never ending forest, as Rivers stared nervously up into the sky for signs of another storm. 

Finally Miriam pointed triumphantly at the far horizon. "Look," she said, "the forest thins out. It looks like a desert beyond." 

An hour later, the craft was brought down on the edge of the vegetation and the desert. Rivers jumped out as Tressel turned off the motor. The others disembarked. 

The temperature was in the high eighties Hutyer judged, but there was a soft breeze blowing. He looked around, "it's a nice beach," he said. 

"But it's a long way to the sea," Miriam interjected, smiling. "That was an old joke in the twentieth century," she added. 

Hutyer smiled for the first time since he had arrived. 

Rivers looked around. "This doesn't look very promising to me, Troy." 

"No," agreed Tressel. "We'd better move on soon. We'll need to stay awhile to let the motor recharge itself though. The power's beginning to fade, and we need peak performance in case we need to make some hasty evasive manoeuvres." 

"The trouble is, I think it's getting really hot without the air conditioning," said Hutyer who was sweating profusely. 

Rivers was studying the plant life, which was smaller and weaker than in the main forest. 

"The leaves are much softer here," he stated. "I should think we're safe from the acid rain here." 

Hutyer looked around. "Pity there's no shade," he said, sweat now pouring down his face. 

"You're right," agreed Miriam. "it's so hot." She pulled down the zip on her dress. "It's alright," she said, as her father was about to protest. "I'm quite decent." 

Hutyer noted that she was wearing a bright yellow bikini underneath her dress. 

"Well, watch you don't get sunstroke then," Rivers countered. 

"I'm used to the sun," she responded, "as I thought you could have seen from my sun tan." 

Hutyer looked at her from the corner of his eye, pretending to be studying the vegetation. Her skin was deeply tanned. She also had a very shapely figure, he thought, but kept seeing the sad eyed green Queen whispering her last goodbye to him. He turned away and genuinely began to study the vegetation. It looked too Heran to be very interesting. He pulled off his shirt and began to fan himself. 

Tressel who was looking in the undergrowth, suddenly shouted out an exclamation. Miriam rushed over to where he was. 

There was a clay pot standing on a pedestal, inside was a greenish looking liquid, with the tail of something red sticking out. Miriam pulled it out. It looked like the remains of a fish. 

Rivers and Hutyer came running over to see what was going on. Rivers stood there for a moment silently, then a huge smile spread across his face. "You realise what this means," he boomed. "There must be some form of life on this planet." 

Hutyer screwed up his nose. "It smells off to me," he stated, as Miriam dropped it back into the clay bowl. 

"Whatever or whoever left that here," said Tressel, "has left this area now. It is extremely unlikely to have gone into the forest as it's too thick to penetrate. Therefore he or it must have gone into the desert." 

"All things are possible to God," exclaimed Rivers, throwing his arms up towards the sky in exultation. 

"I'll believe you when I see the creature," Hutyer decided. 

"Disbeliever," taunted River., "You will eat your words, wait and see." 

"I think it would be best and safer to progress into the desert," Miriam decided. 

"Yes my dear," replied Rivers. "I think you are right. Come on," he shouted, "there's no time to waste." 

So saying, he began to stride back to the hovercar. The others followed in his wake. 

Back in the 'car, Tressel started up the motor and the machine rose back into the air. They travelled for an hour or two, flying low over the flat featureless desert when Rivers suddenly pointed excitedly down at the ground underneath them. 

"It's a city," he breathed. 

Hutyer peered down at the surface. "A gathering of rubble would be a better description, I think," he replied. 

"Pah!" spat Rivers, "it's still another sign of civilisation." 

"Shall I take her down?" asked Tressel. 

"Yes, Troy," replied Rivers excitedly. "Land it as close to that town as possible." 

As they landed they could see no signs of movement at all. 

"Maybe it's their afternoon resting period," Hutyer suggested dryly. 

"Silence fool," ordered Rivers. "Come on, Troy, we'll go and look in the houses. Miriam, you stay here with our disbelieving host." 

As the two walked away towards the huts, Hutyer looked at the girl. When the engines were switched off, so was the air conditioning. It was already getting unbearably hot, and he was starting to sweat again. 

"Do you really believe that your father will find God here?" Hutyer asked, mopping his brow. 

"Well," she replied candidly, "when he first thought of the idea, he and Troy seemed so enthusiastic about it that it never crossed my mind to disbelieve." She paused uncertainly. "but since we actually started the trip, and there's someone sceptical around.........." 

"There's now some doubt in your mind." 

"Yes," she nodded. "I guess that's the truth." 

"I'm sure that your father is sincere," replied Hutyer. "but I don't see Tressel as the believer myself." 

"Well," she confessed, "now you mention it, I have my doubts about him." 

"How did your father get mixed up with him anyway? Hutyer asked. 

"It was when we were on Heras 6," the girl replied. "I can't remember exactly where." 

"What does he hope to gain?" asked Hutyer. "Fame?" 

"l think he believes that if God does exist here, there will be riches beyond the imagination," replied the girl. 

"That sounds more like my idea of Tressel," agreed Hutyer. "I think we'd better keep an eye on him." 

"Like you have been on me," she girl suggested smiling. "Particularly since I stripped down to my bikini. She edged forward across the seat. Suddenly there was a call from inside the rubble. 

"I think they've found something," said Hutyer. "We'd better go and see." 

The girl pouted. "Later then," she decided. 

They ran towards the rubble. "I think they're in there." Miriam pointed to a hole amongst a heap of stones. 

"I'll go first," said Hutyer. "In case it's a trap." 

He squeezed his body through the narrow opening in the rubble and found himself inside a large underground cavern. Miriam was slimmer than him and she slipped through the hole and fell lightly beside him. 

"Where are they?" she asked, trying to see in the dim light. 

"l don't know," Hutyer confessed. "It's too dark to see properly." 

"Father! Troy!" the girl called out. Her voice echoed strangely in the darkness. She grabbed hold of Hutyer's hand. "It's so eerie," she whispered. "I'm frightened." 

"Rivers! Tressel!" Hutyer shouted. "Where are you?" 

There was a faint muffled noise from the other side of the cavern. 

"We'll try over there," Hutyer stated. 

"Okay," Miriam replied. Despite the fact that it was hot even down here, Hutyer felt a shiver run over the girl's body. 

They made their way carefully across the cavern, heading in the direction of the sound they had just heard. 

"Look," whispered Miriam. "There's something over there, on the rock face." 

Hutyer peered through the darkness. He could just make out a faint trace of light. They walked slowly and cautiously to the point of illumination. Hutyer felt over the rock surface. "It's smooth here," he said. 

"Perhaps it's a door," the girl suggested. 

"Yes," Hutyer replied. "I think you're right." 

"Look," she pointed. "It is a door, it's slightly ajar." 

Hutyer pulled and the door swung open. He peered inside and saw a dimly lit passageway. He turned to Miriam. "Well, do we go on?" he asked. 

"Yes," she replied. "I think my father would have gone this way." 

He shrugged. "What can we lose?" 

"Our lives," the girl replied sombrely. They walked carefully down the passageway that appeared to be carved out of the rock layer that ran underneath the sandy surface of the desert. They walked for about three minutes in a straight path, then turned a corner and found themselves in a huge, brightly lit cavern. 

Miriam gasped. Covering one wall and stretching fifty feet up to the roof was a huge machine. Laying by the foot of it were Rivers and Tressel, motionless. There was an unearthly silence in the cavern. 

"Father!'' exclaimed Miriam, rushing forward. 

"Wait'" ordered Hutyer. "it may be a trap!" Ignoring him, she threw herself down by her father and pulled his head up onto her knee. Cautiously Hutyer followed. She looked up at him, tears tutoring down her face. "He's dead," she sobbed. Hutyer bent over Tressel's motionless body. He examined it for a moment. "No," he replied. "I don't think so. They're both in a very deep sleep." 

Suddenly a voice hissed into their minds. "Why have you destroyed my solitude?" it asked. 

Hutyer quickly scanned the room for the owner, as Miriam screamed and fainted. He realised it was coming from the machine that towered above them. "What the-" started Hutyer. But that was as far as he got. He clasped his hands over his ears as a high pitched whine erupted in his head. He was unable to concentrate. Everything was becoming blurred. The huge cavern began to dissolve before his eyes. He felt as if he was falling. He called out as everything went black. 

When he came to he found himself in a dimly lit room. He saw the other three laying motionless on the floor. He staggered to his feet, clutching his head. Slowly the events off what had happened came back to him. He went over to Miriam and felt her pulse; it was slow but strong. He tried to revive all three or them, but it was to no avail. He heard the door open and he spun around. There was no-one there. 

A voice hissed in his brain once more. "Walk down the corridor on your left," it ordered. "If you disobey, you will be destroyed." 

"But what about the others?" asked Hutyer, not knowing if he could be heard by the owner of the voice. 

An answer hissed back. "Leave them, you can do nothing for them." 

The words sent a chill down his back. He realised that it would be useless to resist. He walked out of the door and turned left as instructed. He continued to walk until he found himself back in the cavern that housed the huge machine. 

"Why did you come to this planet?" it asked. 

"It was not my choice," Hutyer replied. "I am under contract-" 

"I know," the machine replied. 

"But -" 

"While you were sleeping," the machine explained, "I studied your minds. There were parts I did not understand, such as the references to 'God', whatever that is. But I have the basic picture." 

"Are you going to set us free?" Hutyer asked. 

"I may," the machine replied. It depends." 

"Depends on what?" queried Hutyer. 

"There is a task that I require to be carried out," answered the machine. "A task that is beyond my present capabilities." 

"What is it?" asked Hutyer suspiciously. 

"There is a group of people - no, I detected a surge of hope in your mind - they are utterly alien to you. However, they are causing me trouble and they must be destroyed. They are in hiding down here somewhere. If you succeed in ridding me of them, you may be set free. If you fail, you will all be destroyed." 

"Where do I start?" Hutyer enquired. 

"I can see treachery in your mind," breathed the machine. "Do not try to outwit me, for you would fail and earn a slow death for you and your companions." 

"Very well," Hutyer agreed reluctantly, "but where do I start?" 

"Go back to the cavern from where you came and start there." 

"If I find these enemies of yours, how will I destroy them? You seem to have the ability to harm us. If you cannot deal with them, it seems they must be more powerful than me." 

"That is your problem" answered the machine. "Now go." 

Hutyer turned and walked out of the cavern that housed the mighty machine and back into the passageway. A few minutes walk brought him back into the original cavern by the surface. He walked over and looked up at the light coming in from the surface. The entrance to the cavern! He could easily jump up and catch something to climb up and escape. It was too easy. But what about the other three? The machine would kill them if he didn't return, but he would probably survive, for it seemed that this cavern was outside the machine's influence. What was he to do? He stood underneath the hole. To hell with them, he thought. Even if I do succeed in my mission, I have no guarantee of living, it's me or them. 

He jumped up and managed to grasp the rock surface and secure a foothold, he hung there for a moment breathing heavily. Then slowly he eased himself back onto the surface. He sat on the rubble for a moment; it seemed even hotter than when he'd gone down. 

Hutyer looked over to where he had left the hovercar, almost convinced that it wouldn't be there, but it was in exactly the same position that they had left it. He walked slowly over to it, making sure not to trip on the rubble. 

Reaching the door of the machine he slowly opened it, checking that this was not a trap. Then, with feverish haste he clambered inside. He fired the engines for take-off. Pressing the 'lift' control the hovercar shot up to fifty feet. He hovered in the air, taking his bearings. He saw the vague shadows of the forest in the distance. He turned the 'car and headed towards it. 

As he flew through the air, he suddenly had a vision of Miriam in front of his eyes. She was waking up and finding that he wasn't there. Then the huge machine dealt her a fatal blow. His vision blurred for a second then he saw the green Queen sadly saying her last goodbye. 

With a look of grim determination, he turned the craft and headed back towards the rubble. He already had the death of the Queen on his mind. He couldn't stand the thought of bearing the guilt for the death of this beautiful girl as well. He had to return, if only for the sake of his sanity. But he knew that his feelings were deeper than that. 

Hutyer brought the machine down by the side of the rubble and got out. This time he had a ray gun in his hand. He went back into the debris and peered down the hole. He pushed the gun into his belt and eased himself down into the cavern. He landed lightly on his feet. He looked around, the place seemed as deserted as before. Then suddenly some sixth sense made him turn around. 

He gasped in horror; rolling towards him was a huge white slimy jelly-like object, fully eight feet high. Hutyer began to back away, but it was no good, the thing was going too fast. He was about to throw himself to one side when it enveloped him. He couldn't move. It was covering him. He couldn't breathe, it was all over his face and in his mouth, wet, horrible and slimy. He tried to scream, but for the second time that day, he found himself falling into oblivion. 

When he came round, he found he was tied up, laying on some sort of bed. He looked around, he was in a cavern, which was small and deserted. 

He struggled as a blob, similar to the one that had enveloped him earlier, suddenly oozed through a hole in the wall. It slid across the floor and stopped by his bed. A mouth appeared near its top. Hutyer could see vocal chords form under its translucent surface. It spoke in a high pitched voice. "Dan Hutyer, we know you were sent to destroy us, but we also know that you were sent against your will by the machine." 

"What do you know about this machine?" asked Hutyer in a daze, realising that this was one of the race of creatures that he had been sent to destroy. 

"Dan Hutyer, we will explain. We were travelling through Null, in our confortum ship, when something entered. An evil form of life that was comprised of pure thought. It entered our vast machine bank and took control of it. It guided us through the vastness of Null, back to this place, that was its home. Here it crashed us onto the surface. It transported the whole of our mechanised complex down into the depths of the ground. We were left stranded on the surface. We had no choice, so we built homes as best we could from the wreckage. But this thing wasn't satisfied, it wanted to destroy us. We are susceptible to heat, so it increased the heat on the planet's surface until it became unbearable. We retreated into the shade of the forest, but even there we were not safe; it increased the vegetation until it was so thick that we couldn't freely move from one place to another. Even then, we managed to hack a clearing and made it immune from the rampaging vegetation, but then the thing turned the rains of the planet into an evil burning fluid. We had no alternative. We retreated here, underground, only to find that these caverns were the home of the evil creature itself." 

"I see," Hutyer replied. "so what are you going to do with me? Kill me?" 

"Dan Hutyer, no," the blob replied. "As long as you promise to help us destroy this evil thing, you will be our friend." 

"You're telepathic as well, aren't you?" asked Hutyer. 

"Dan Hutyer, yes," the thing replied. "We know that your answer is yes." 

"Indeed it is," Hutyer confirmed. "You may be strange to me, but I'd rather trust you than that other thing." 

"Dan Hutyer, that is good. We have a plan. After a short time, this thing is helpless without a machine to house it. The previous mechanical host it occupied when it attacked us was on the verge of wearing out. If we hadn't come along at the wrong moment, it would have almost certainly perished. We have a simple plan, blow up its power supply This belonged to its previous host. All it needs is the pushing of one switch." 

"Then why have you waited so long?" Hutyer queried. 

"Dan Hutyer we have the power to form hands, but they have no force behind them. The controls on our machines are extremely sensitive and responsive to a slight touch, but this is not the case on the power supply. But surely you are the answer, you have strength in your hands." 

"Yes," agreed Hutyer. "I'll help you. But there is one thing that bugs me. My three travelling companions - the machine said it would kill them if I turned against it." 

"Dan Hutyer, we will rescue your friends first." 

"Let's get on with it," Hutyer decided, concerned that each minute that passed increased the danger to Miriam's life. 

He felt his bonds fall away as the blob creature touched them. It gave out a high pitched whine and five other blobs crawled in. They remained silent for a moment, locked in telepathic communication, then the one that had formed a mouth advised him that all was ready. 

Hutyer looked pensive. "This is no good," he cursed. "The machine creature holds my companions in his own cavern. We cannot reach them without alerting it." 

The creatures pondered this new development for a moment, then the one with the mouth turned to Hutyer. "Dan Hutyer, it will have to be the power supply first," it stated. "You will have to risk that your friends aren't killed before the machine is destroyed." 

Hutyer considered the suggestion for a moment. "There's not much choice, is there?" he agreed reluctantly. 

The blobs began to slide out of the door and Hutyer followed them. They proceeded cautiously, with Hutyer expecting an ambush by the machine creature at any moment, but they arrived at their destination unscathed. 

Hutyer found himself in a room full of complex and strange shaped machinery. Yet for its alienness, it was clear that one large lever was the master control of the power units, a fact confirmed by the blob. It all seemed childishly simple. He stepped forward and pulled the lever to its 'down' position. Nothing happened. The low hum of the machines in this room continued. Hutyer felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

"Dan Hutyer, it will take a minute or two for the power to ebb away," the blob reassured him. 

"I can't risk waiting around, " Hutyer cursed. "In this interim period, the machine will register the power loss and my colleagues will die. 

Despite protests from the blobs, Hutyer ran into the main chamber where the machine was located and its prisoners held. He could feel the machine probing his mind. He desperately tried to think about how he had destroyed the blob creatures. 

"You have betrayed me," the machine hissed. "You will die for this." 

Hutyer could hear the high pitched whine start up again, but this time it sounded off-key. The machine began to emit flashes bright light, as it tried to boost its flagging power. Hutyer stumbled forward to where Miriam lay, propped against the wall. Tressel was slumped in the corner. Rivers' body was charred and contorted. 

"What happened?" Hutyer gasped. "Did the machine get him?" 

"No," Miriam sobbed, tears running down her face. "Father and Troy thought they could interrupt the power supply to the machine, but the cable must have been live. Father's dead!" 

Hutyer went over to Tressel who was stirring. "You alright?" he asked, as the other man opened his eyes. 

"Yeah," he replied. "Just a bit groggy. Jed got the worst of it." 

"He certainly did. He's dead." Hutyer stated. He looked anxiously at the machine. It was clearly malfunctioning, but the power surges seemed to be increasing, not decreasing. "We'd better get out of here," he decided. "That thing should have lost power, but it seemed to be increasing. Rivers' must have caused some internal reaction. This whole place could blow up any second now." 

He pulled Tressel to his feet. "Come on, Miriam," Hutyer called to the girl, who was bent over the dead body of her father. She didn't seem to hear. 

Hutyer went over to her and pulled her away. "Come on," he ordered. "We've got to leave now." 

"No," she sobbed. "I'm not going to leave him." She broke from his grasp. 

"There's no time for arguing," he shouted. He grabbed her again, but she fought free. He had no choice. He hit her on the jaw and she slumped to the ground unconscious. He easily lifted her slim body. "Okay, Tressel," he ordered. "Run like hell!" They retreated from the increasingly volatile machine that pounded unintelligible alien curses into their minds, it's deadly whine, now wildly varying from flat to sharp. 

Three minutes later, as they burst into the outer cave, there was a huge explosion from behind them. Hutyer dumped Miriam down on the ground, gulping huge lungfulls of air. Tressel slumped down beside him, then he gasped in horror. Hutyer looked round to see what was happening. One of the blob creatures was sliding towards them. 

"It's alright," he gasped to Tressel. "They're friendly." 

"Dan Hutyer, we thank you," it said. "We are in your debt." 

"So what will you do now?" Hutyer enquired, silently thankful that this time his intervention had not resulted in the destruction of everything. 

"Dan Hutyer, we are old now," the thing replied. "We will stay down here until the planet outside reverts to how it was previously. Then we shall live the remainder of our lives on the surface. You see, our home is far away, we could not make it back in our lifetime." 

Hutyer bade them farewell and with Tressel's help, returned to the surface with the recovering Miriam. He gently laid her in the back of the 'car, then addressed Tressel. "I think it's time to get back to Earth now," he said sombrely. 

"No," replied Tressel. "That's just where you're wrong. We came here for a reason and we haven't finished yet." 

"What are you raving about?" asked Hutyer incredulously. "Haven't we gone through enough?" 

"Listen," said Tressel, "I came here to find the riches of God. I may not have found them, but I saw something back on the edge of the desert and the rain forest that could knock the bottom out of the diamond market." A malicious smile crept onto his lips. "Or marketed properly, make me one of the richest men in the Galaxy." 

"You' re mad," breathed Hutyer. 

"And it'll all be mine," Tressel raved, raising his gun. 

"You can't kill us," breathed Hutyer. 

"Oh no," Tressel sneered. "Well just look on boy." 

"Kill either of us," warned Hutyer desperately, "and you'll kill yourself." 

"Eh?" questioned Tressel, a slight look of doubt on his face. "How do you work that out?" 

"You know just as well as I do," lied Hutyer, "that it's impossible for one person to make it alone through Null." 

Tressel seemed prepared to give Hutyer the benefit of the doubt. "Okay," he replied angrily, "you win. For the moment." 

Tressel sat in the back of the hovercar with the inert form of the girl, while Hutyer sat in the drivers seat. 

"Just bear in mind," warned Tressel, "that there'll be a gun trained on your head all the way back to the ship." 

The journey back to the ship was uneventful. Now the machine creature was dead, the forest was already beginning to die. 

Tressel looked at the girl. "How hard did you hit her?" he asked. "She's been out a long time." 

Hutyer stared at her nervously. She had been out a long time. 

"Disembark," ordered Tressel, "and don't try anything, or I may have to blast one or two of your fingers off to teach you a lesson. We'll leave the bitch here. We don't need any excess baggage on the return trip." Suddenly he lost concentration. "Oh yes," he gasped, running past Hutyer and falling to his knees. "Look," he said triumphantly, " a real monster diamond!" 

Hutyer was taken aback, they had found pitifully few precious stones on other planets, and nothing to compare with this. 

"It's all mine," Tressel laughed. "I found it!" His expression became more serious. "Right, time to get back home." 

"But what if there's more diamonds here?" Hutyer bluffed, stalling for time. "There's bound to be, isn't there?" 

"You might think I'm crazy," Tressel cursed, "but I'm not stupid. This big baby here will more than set me up for life." He looked uneasily up at the clouds. "This forest might be dying, but there's one hell of a storm about to break. We don't know how much more the hull of the 'cab can cope with." 

As he spoke, the clouds began to spatter down their deadly cargo. The two men dived back into the 'cab as the deluge began. As Tressel clambered into the back seat, Miriam sprung to life, viciously kicking him in the stomach, he was knocked backwards through the still open door. He screamed in agony as the downpour of acid burnt into his skin. The girl pulled the door closed as Tressel writhed in agony outside until he became still. 

"It was him or us," she said dispassionately. "I thought it was best to bide my time and pretend to still be unconscious." She began to cry. "I want my father back!" 

"I'm sorry," Hutyer said quietly. "There was an explosion.........." He left the remainder of the sentence unspoken. He looked out at the disintegrating body of Troy Tressel. Out from under the protective cover of the vegetation, the 'diamond' he still clutched in his hand was now exposed to the acid rain was disintegrating. It was just a worthless crystal. 

"Your father was obviously a sincere man who died on a quest he passionately believed in," Hutyer stated. 

"A waste, a terrible waste," the girl sobbed. "Now I'm all alone." 

Hutyer leaned back in the 'cab and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No," he assured her, "you're not." 


WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 3



Dan Hutyer let out a curse of anger mixed with disbelief. The ship had warped out of Nullspace successfully, but was ignoring the course set to return to its base at the space station circling Heras 6 and instead was heading in a completely different direction. He turned to his fellow traveller, Miriam Rivers. 

"The ship's gone out of control," he stated. "it seems to have taken up its own flight path." 

"Where's it heading for?" she asked. 

"I don't know," Hutyer confessed. "I'll get the course from the computer." 

He consulted the machine and a series of co-ordinates lit up on the viewer panel. He studied them for a moment, then turned back to face Miriam who stared anxiously into his eyes. 

"We're heading for 86-457b-3,'' he replied sombrely. 

"The Ghost Planet?" Miriam queried. 

"Yes," Hutyer confirmed. "The Ghost Planet.'' 

"What do you know of it?" the girl asked. 

"Much the same as you, I suspect," he confessed. "Mainly myth and rumour. I'll see what the computer's got in its memory banks." 

His brow furrowed. He looked back at Miriam. "Listen to this," he said. "..This planet has basically the same characteristics as Earth, but for an inexplicable reason, it is completely devoid of any form of life. The surface of the planet is bare rock or water. Despite the lack of life, there has been a high mortality rate in the visiting expeditions. Returning crews have reported rumours of ghosts. Although these may be discounted as improbable, it is advised to stay away from this planet and if it is found to be necessary to land in this system 86-457b-2 should be used instead." 

"Well," Miriam replied, "that's encouraging, I must say." 

"What I can't understand," said Hutyer, "is what's drawing us to the planet, if there's no life on it?" 

"Perhaps we'll find out when we get there," Miriam replied uneasily. 

"I'd rather not find out at all," said Hutyer. "I'm keen to get back home and put recent events well behind me." 

Suddenly both of them were shot onto the floor. "We're accelerating," gasped Hutyer, "at no mean speed either. He staggered to this feet and dragged himself to the control panel. "Null!" he exclaimed, "according to this, we're just about to exceed the speed of light, while remaining outside of Null." 

"It has been proven that that's quite impossible," Miriam replied. "In ten-" 

The rest of her sentence was broken into low and high pitched whines. Hutyer felt his whole body being torn apart. The shapes in front of his eyes seemed to merge into each other and then split up into the colours of the spectrum. Following that strange things that were colours he'd never seen before. This effect seemed to last for years. Suddenly it ceased and Hutyer found himself lying on the floor, his head and stomach whirring round in opposite directions. The shapes of the objects in front of him slowly merged back into their normal colours and shapes. He brushed the tears away from his eyes and staggered to his feet. Miriam lay on the floor gasping for air, like a fish out of water. He stumbled over to the control panel and gasped in amazement. 

"According to our instruments," he stated, "a lot of which couldn't stand the experience we've just been through, show that for a period of one hour, our ship travelled at a speed exceeding that of light." 

Miriam stumbled to her feet as if she were drunk. "W-what," she stuttered. 

"And unless I'm very much mistaken," he continued, "we are just about to enter an orbit around 86- 457b-3." 

Miriam switched on the scanner. "It basically does looks like Earth from up here," she observed. "In a barren kind of way." 

"Head for a seat, and strap yourself in," ordered Hutyer. "We're not going to worry about an orbital landing, we're going straight down!" 

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" asked Miriam. 

"Quite possibly,"" Hutyer replied. "As far as I know, no-one's ever lived through one to tell me. It's not something I'd attempt, but then I've got no control over the ship!" 

They ran over to their seats and strapped themselves in, as the ship hurtled down into the atmosphere of the planet. The gravity began to build up and Hutyer could only speak with great difficulty. "It's getting hot in here," he gasped. 

Miriam didn't reply, but moaned quietly, as the sweat poured down her face. Hutyer felt himself slipping into unconsciousness and as he did, he heard an explosion in the rear of the ship. 

When he came to, the cabin was back to its correct temperature and things seemed to be back to normal. Miriam stirred in her seat. 

"Are we down?" she asked drowsily. 

"I'm not sure," Hutyer replied He unstrapped himself and stumbled over to one of the windows. He gasped. "Come and look," he called to the girl. 

"We've landed by the side of a sea," she stated, joining him at the observation port. 

"I don't think so," he replied. "When we were coming down, I'm sure the ship was coming down too fast to make a safe landing on solid ground. 

"Then we got washed ashore by the tides," Miriam suggested. 

"A reasonable suggestion," Hutyer replied, "but look at the water." 

"No tide," she answered. "It's perfectly still." 

"Yes," agreed Hutyer. "I think we'd better get outside and see what exterior damage has been caused." 

They made their way cautiously outside. The temperature was pleasant. The air was breathable but left a stale taste in the mouth. The report was perfectly correct, there was nothing but solid rock and crystal clear water for as far as the eye could see. 

"What beautifully clear water," Miriam observed. 

"There's nothing to disturb it," Hutyer replied, "and nothing to pollute it." 

"But there must be erosion," argued Miriam. 

"I suppose so," Hutyer agreed, "but it must be very very slow. Water won't wear much away without tides and with this double sun, there is very little difference in temperature between the day and night." 

"I suppose you're right," she replied, looking round nervously. "The silence is rather disturbing," she added. 

"Yes it is," agreed Hutyer, "but we may have to get used to it." 

"Why?" the girl asked frowning. 

"I should say that over half the ship is written off," he replied. 

"Can't you repair it?'' she asked. 

"I could get help if our communications system worked," he said, "but -" 

"It doesn't," she interrupted completing his sentence. 

"Top marks," he replied, smiling grimly. 

"Well what do we do?" she asked. 

"Live here until we run out of food. Then we die of starvation. There's nothing to eat for as far as the eye can see, which suggests the stories about this planet are true." 

"How long will the food last?" 

"About two months. That will mean strict rationing." 

"A fun outlook," she commented bleakly. 

"Of course," he replied, gazing around himself slowly, "the total silence may drive us mad first. It should be interesting to see which it is." 

"Thanks," she replied bitterly. 

A silence fell. An absolute silence. Miriam was just about to speak, when an evil voice broke into their minds. 

"You thought you had destroyed me," it whispered, "but you were wrong. Having destroyed my home in the machines of the Brez, I had to find a new one, your ship. It took some time for me to adjust. That is why I could not destroy you immediately. But now I have taken control of your ship. It is in my power to destroy you. I have brought the ship down onto this planet as no shelter exists here for you and there is nothing for you to turn against me." 

"Run," shouted Hutyer. "Out of it's range!" 

As they raced away, a gun turret moved upwards, almost lazily, from the ship and swung in their direction. 

"Down on the ground and roll," ordered Hutyer. As they did so a searing ray of heat lashed the ground where they had been seconds earlier. 

"You will not escape," the voice cursed. 

"Up," shouted Hutyer, dragging the girl to her feet. "Keep running. Did you notice that it was not so loud then. It only has a limited power range." 

They ran in a zig-zag path as the blaster once more brushed past their feet. 

"I can't run much further," gasped Miriam breathlessly. 

"Keep going," shouted Hutyer. "We're getting out of it's range." 

"But not out of the blasters range," she answered, as a volley shot over her head. 

They ran on, ducking, rolling over and zig-zagging to avoid the hot breaths of death that gushed from the gun turret. After about five minutes Miriam collapsed to the ground. She lay there, her chest heaving up and down. "I don't care if I'm killed," she panted. "I can't run another inch." 

"I think we're safe for a few moments," Hutyer replied sinking to the ground beside her. "I'm sure that we're only alive at the moment due to the fact that that thing was not in complete control of the ship's mechanism. Those guns are deadly accurate." 

"Thank God for that," she replied. 

"If it hadn't been for God," Hutyer replied, "We'd never have ended up in this nightmare and we'd both be safe at home on Heras 6." Miriam laughed. Hutyer looked at her curiously. "What's so funny?" he asked. 

"That thing over there was in control of that area of Null we landed on, wasn't he?" she giggled. 

"Yes," replied Hutyer dubiously, fearing her laughter was a little near to hysteria. 

"Well then," she continued, "that thing over there in the wreck of our ship - is God! Isn't that hilarious!" She rolled over on the ground unable to stop laughing. 

Hutyer pulled her to her feet and slapped her round the face. She stopped laughing and looked at him bitterly. "You hit me," she shouted. 

"Yes," he replied. "You were getting hysterical." She broke from his grasp and began to run away. "Come back," he cursed, "you're running back towards the ship!" He swore under his breath. She'd lost her mind, no doubt delayed shock from her father's death. He was about to run after her when a flame spouted from the ship and blasted the ground beside the point she'd reached. She fell in her tracks. He cursed and leapt up, running towards her. He dived and rolled to avoid another blast from the ship. He couldn't stand another death on his conscience and this overrode his sense of reason. He crawled over to where the girl lay. Although her clothes were singed by the blast and she had suffered some minor concussion, she was alive. 

"I'm sorry," she breathed quietly, as he began to pull her behind the cover of a rock. "I lost it for a minute there-" 

"Don't worry," Hutyer replied. "You've gone through a lot recently!" They were out of sight of the ship's guns here behind this rocky outcrop and could move off in safety. But how long could they survive without food and water? All the supplies were back in the ship. Flames lashed out once again in their direction, but they were well off target; it was clear the machine creature could no longer locate them. However, he knew that the evil creature would not give up so easily and would seek a way of destroying them. 

After resting for a few minutes, they took up a steady walking pace. They had travelled for a few minutes when Hutyer happened to glance up into the sky. Was it his imagination or could he see smoke? It was quite near, only a few miles away. It was very wispy and had it been on another planet, which did not have such a pure atmosphere it would have gone by unnoticed. He shook his head as if to clear it. This was not possible. There was no form of life whatsoever on this planet, unless the trail of smoke belonged to someone or something that did live here. Something that made sure that there was no other form of life on the planet. They could be going from one danger to another. Still, they had nothing to lose except their lives and under the present circumstances, they were already limited. 

He looked up in the sky again. The trail of smoke was still steadily rising. They walked purposefully forward. An hours walking brought them to the crest of a hill. Hutyer looked down into the valley, from where the smoke had originated. He gasped, there was a spaceship laying there. From the angle at which it lay, it was obvious that it had crashed out of control. It was of Terran design, but it wasn't a freighter, it looked like a pleasure cruiser. Perhaps they were to be saved after all! 

The slope down to the valley was sheer and quite smooth almost everywhere. There did appear to be one possible route down, but it looked dangerous; however, so was what lay behind them. What worried Hutyer was that whatever had made the trail of smoke was nowhere to be seen. The ship looked completely dead. It could be a trap he thought as they eased their way around the ridge to the way down. They would have to proceed with great caution. 

They edged their way down the treacherous slope, more than once slipping. The girl seemed more sure footed than him, but finally, after several scary moments, they were at the bottom. He looked back up at the slope they had just descended and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to have to do that again in a hurry. 

Moving closer to the ship he saw there were no lights showing anywhere. It was as still and silent as the planet on which it lay. The main airlock door hung open as if it had been forced. He moved towards the airlock and looked through a porthole. There was nothing to be seen but a murky darkness. 

Due to the angle at which the ship had come down, the opening to the airlock was now pointing up towards the sky and Hutyer had to scramble up the side of the ship to get in. When he looked inside, he saw everything was at an angle and all the moveable items had slipped to the far wall. There was no sign of life. He called out, but received no reply. He tried twice more, but still received no answer. He noticed some tracks on the ground leading away around the other side of the ship. He scrambled back out and got down on his knees to inspect them closer. They looked like tracks of big machines mixed with footprints. They all had one thing in common, they went round the other side of the ship. Hutyer saw a piece of scrap metal in the shape of a club laying near his foot. He didn't know what good it would do, but he picked it up. The weight of it felt reassuring in his hand. He walked along past dark portholes, round huge silent motors and exhaust tubes. As he looked round the corner, a strange fear filled his mind, as if he were expecting to be confronted by some huge alien army. There was nothing there, except perhaps an even greater maze of tracks that blotted each other out in confusion. 

He was pondering the situation, about to return to Miriam who he'd left on guard, when suddenly a voice spoke from behind him. "I watched you come down the hill," it said softly. 

Hutyer spun around, his metal club raised in his hand. He was confronted by a blonde girl, looking at him with large frightened eyes. Her clothes were tattered and dirty and the dirt on her face was smudged where tears had left their tracks. 

"I'm the only one left," she sobbed. "All the others are dead." 

She broke down in tears and rushed forward and clung to him. Her body was trembling with fear. Hutyer put a comforting arm around her, dropping his club to the ground. 

"Whose this?" Miriam asked in an accusing voice. Hutyer shrugged, trying to calm the other girl down. After a few minutes she stopped crying and sat down on the ground with Hutyer next to her. 

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked. "There was a party of us, out from Heras 6," she said quietly. "About forty of us and ten crew members. We were on a pleasure cruise. Everything was going according to schedule. I was in the control room at the time, talking to the Captain, when one of the other crew members called him over. He said there was some sort of UFO approaching the area of space we were in at an unimaginable speed. Suddenly we were in its grip. The Captain said something about force fields and there was confusion everywhere. Lights were flashing on and off and the controls were breaking down. Things were so strange that I almost passed out. The next thing I remember was that we were heading down onto this planet. The Captain shouted out something about the Ghost Planet, then a little sanity returned as we broke out of this thing's influence. However the Captain said we would have to land here and have a complete check over for metal fatigue. Well we landed as best we could in this valley; it's a miracle we got down at all. We were trying to land on a flat ridge to the east, but we overshot. Anyway, it was about two hours after we'd landed that the Captain was deciding whether to give permission to go outside when suddenly huge machines swarmed out of the cliff face itself. There were robots as well, they killed mercilessly as if it were their only objective. They got everyone except me. I escaped by a miracle. They piled all the dead bodies up in a heap, then another great machine came out and collected them and carried them off. It was horrible. I'll never forget it as long as I live!" 

She broke down and started to cry again. As Hutyer put his arm round her once more to comfort her, he pondered this new information. Could this be an explanation to why nothing existed on this planet? There was some mechanical army hidden underground destroying anything that moved on the surface? 

"I think they're coming back for the spaceship later," she sobbed. 

"Then we'd better get out of here fast," said Hutyer. "If we want to stand any chance at all. But first we must get some food from the ship." 

"Have you got a ship?" the blonde girl asked hopefully. "Can we escape from this hell?" 

"I'm afraid our ship is in an even worse jam than this one," he replied. 

Suddenly a rumbling filled the air. They spun round to see the face of the cliff sliding away. 

"I think they're coming back," she breathed, gripping his arm. 

"Come on," he said leaping to his feet. "We'll be dead in next to no time if we hang around here." 

"But there's nowhere to run to," the girl replied. 

Hutyer spun around. "In the ship," he said, "that's the only place." 

"But that's what they're coming to take away," she replied. 

"Don't argue," he ordered, "it's our only chance." 

He pulled her to her feet and the trio raced for the nearest airlock. He scrambled up the side of the ship and tugged at the airlock control. "It's locked, or jammed, or something," he shouted down, "it won't open!" 

Miriam glanced nervously behind her, as the other girl looked helpless, mouth hanging open. The whole side of the mountain seemed to be opening. Whatever was coming out, was big and the ground underneath her feet trembled and the still air was filled with a mighty roar. 

Hutyer gave a last desperate heave and the lock-door hissed open. As it did so, it swung him off balance and he fell back to the ground. He lay there dazed for a second, before scrambling to his feet again. Just as he did so, Miriam spoke. "It's too late," she warned, as a huge machine rolled slowly out of the opening. Hutyer had seen some big machines in his time, but this one topped the lot, from the front of it, stretched two huge claws, each at least one hundred feet wide. 

"It's some sort of grab," he shouted, trying to make himself heard above the mighty roar of the huge machine. "It's come for the spaceship." 

"They must've seen us," Miriam cursed. 

"Perhaps not," said Hutyer, looking up at the huge creation as it rumbled nearer. "Into the ship, quick." 

Miriam was past arguing, she and the other girl followed him as he scrambled up the ships side, and he pulled them into the airlock. When they were in, he pulled it to. They sat there on the sloping deck, breathing heavily. 

"I don't think there was anyone in that machine," Hutyer explained. "There were no observation ports in it, I think it was some sort of huge robot. Also there were no gun turrets. I think it is just a grab. The killer machines have already done their job." 

"So we're undetected?" Miriam asked. 

"I'm not sure," he replied, "but for a few minutes we are safe." 

"But not for long," said the blonde girl, breaking her silence. As she looked out of the porthole 

The daylight was blocked off by part of a huge claw that swung slowly down around the ship. There followed a huge crashing of glass and scraping and crushing of metal as the huge claws took grip. One at each end, it slowly picked the ship up from the ground. Hutyer and the girls were flung across the floor, as the ship lifted. There was a silence as the ship hung in mid air suspended by the huge claws. Hutyer crawled over to the window and looked out. He turned back to the girls. "You'd better hang onto something for grim death," he said, "this machine hasn't room to turn itself around, and due to the fact that it is raising itself, I should sat it's going to swiv-" 

The rest of his sentence was lost as the ship was spun around and he was hurtled across to the air-lock. When it stopped, he scrambled to his feet. Miriam crawled over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked anxiously. 

"Well there's nothing broken," he replied. 

As he crawled to his feet, the ship lurched again. 

"We're on the move," Miriam stated superflously. 

"I've got a feeling things are going to get worse, a lot worse, pretty soon," Hutyer observed. 

The huge machine crawled slowly back into the mountain. Once inside it trundled down a slope. As it entered, the wall slid back into place, immersing everything into total darkness. 

"We're moving underground," Hutyer confirmed. "We'd better stock up with some food. We might not get another chance." 

They got up and walked into what looked like a store room. Hutyer groped about in the darkness for a light switch. After a few seconds the room was illuminated. It was a store room. There was only one sign of fighting here, some stores had been knocked over and spattered with blood. 

Suddenly he smiled at the blonde girl. "Let me introduce myself," he stated. "Dan Hutyer. What's your name?" 

"Therese," she replied. "Therese Lewis." 

"Say, you're no relation of THE Professor Lewis? He had a sister named Therese." 

"Yes," she confirmed. "He was my brother." 

"Was?''' asked Hutyer. 

"Yes," she answered, "he was on board as well. We were going to Lomas 2 to test his latest invention." 

"I'm very sorry," Hutyer responded, anguished at another death of someone he knew of, if only by reputation. 

"That's alright," Therese responded. "I've seen so many horrible things recently, I think they've all cancelled each other out. I'm just left with a feeling that this is all a ghastly dream and I'll soon wake up." 

"He'll be a great loss to humanity," Hutyer continued, "He made many great inventions." 

"Perhaps in a way it's just as well that we never got there," Therese responded. "It was a terrible invention." 

"What was it?" Hutyer enquired, wondering what could be so terrible for the girl to make such a statement. 

"I'm not sure," Therese replied evasively. "It was top secret." 

"Yet it was being transported on a pleasure cruiser?" Hutyer queried. 

"Yes," she said, "it was a security camouflage." 

"Have you any idea what it was for?" 

"He once mentioned something about it making the ZG bomb obsolete." 

Hutyer whistled. "It must be some weapon then," he said. "Hadn't we better salvage it!" 

"I have it here," the girl replied calmly, pulling a small box from her pocket and opening it. The design looked strangely familiar to Hutyer. 

"It's quite harmless unless activated," the girl assured him. "Only my brother knew the code and now..." her voice trailed away. Hutyer put a comforting arm round the girl's shoulder. He noted that Miriam was glowering at him in a disapproving manner. 

The swaying motion of the ship ceased. "I think we've stopped," Miriam shouted.. 

"Quick," warned Hutyer, "grab onto something for your life, I think we're going to be dropped." As be spoke the huge machine opened its claws and the space-ship fell to the ground with a huge crash. He picked himself up from the floor, rubbing his bruises. "Are you alright?" he called out. The two girls nodded; they were badly shaken but otherwise unhurt. "We'd better get out of this spaceship," he warned. "I feel that if we stay in here a moment longer we're finished." 

Miriam pushed open the air-lock and crawled down the side of the ship. Hutyer and Therese followed. They were in semi-darkness. There were holes in the roof that presumably led to the surface, as shafts of light filtered through the air. 

"Look," Hutyer pointed, "there are artificial lights on the roof even though they're not on. That means that there is some sort of living creature down here behind all this." 

The huge motors of the grab roared into life, reverberating deafeningly in the confined area. It began to move forward towards the three travellers. 

"Quick," said Hutyer, "it must've dumped its load and is now returning to base. If we jump on, we might find out what is going on." 

As they jumped out of the path of the machine, Therese pointed to a hatch at the side with a window in it. Hutyer nodded and they jumped on and the door opened. They fell inside. 

"This further verifies my point about some living creature being behind this, or this hatch wouldn't have a window in it," Hutyer observed. 

"Hey," warned Therese, "we're not going further underground, we're on the way out again!" 

"You're right," agreed Hutyer. "The question now is, do we stay in here and go up to the surface again, or do we disembark and try to find out what's going on down here? Whichever we chose, the outlook isn't very promising." 

"I think we'll be staying in here, whether we like it or not," Miriam replied. 

"How do you work that out?" Hutyer asked. 

"Well," the girl smiled grimly, "I've just tried to open the hatch, which is the only exit, and it is quite firmly locked." 

Hutyer tried to open the hatch door himself, but also failed to meet with any success. "Looks like we're going back to the surface," he stated. They sat in silence as the huge machine slowly lumbered back along the passage. "Hey," exclaimed Hutyer, pointing to his left, "that was where the machine appeared from, but we're going past it. We're in another passage and now on level ground. We must be travelling along underground, just below the surface." 

"But where are we going?" Therese wondered out loud. 

Hutyer pondered the question for a moment. "I think we're going to pick up something else, and from the direction we're heading in, I should say it's the remains of my ship." 

They travelled along underground for several minutes, then they felt the machine moving up a slope, it stopped and waited for another door to open. Once more they were out in the light of day. Hutyer looked to where his ship had been. It was now only a smouldering heap. Obviously the thing that had taken control of it had put up a good fight, for he saw the ruins of several wicked looking robots scattered around. At the moment there was another machine sweeping all the mess into a big heap. Hutyer breathed a sigh of relief, at least the thing from Null had been destroyed. That was one danger eliminated. 

The other machine, having completed its task trundled away into yet another entrance which led underground. 

"This place must be honeycombed with passages," Therese exclaimed. "Whatever is behind this has vast resources." 

The machine they were in, grabbed the rubble in it's claws and swung round. It then moved back into the passage. 

"Whatever invented these machines is alien," Hutyer suddenly decided. 

"Why do you say that?" Therese asked. 

"They don't know how to reverse," he explained. "They all lift off their chassis and swing round, only their tracks stay on the ground." 

"Yes," Therese replied, "it would be an illogical thing for a Terran design." 

As they pondered this new piece of information the machine slowly rumbled back down the passage. Half an hour later, it stopped and dropped its load by the other spaceship. The motor died. 

"Well that's a relief," breathed Hutyer. "At least we can speak in our normal voices now." 

Therese pushed the door and it opened. She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. 

"Perhaps it locks itself in motion?" suggested Hutyer. " 

"Well, what do we do? Get out, or stay on?" Miriam asked. 

"Stay on," decided Hutyer. "If we get off, we'll just be stuck in the middle of an underground cavern. If we stay on, it may lead us to the centre of activity." 

"Very well," conceded the girl. 

The machine's motor rumbled into life, once more and it jerked forward. 

"Leave the door open," Hutyer ordered, as Therese moved to close it. "We may need to get out fast and we don't want it locked." 

"We are moving further underground," Miriam decided. "We're on a slope once again." 

Suddenly the door swung to and locked itself. 

"Oh well," Hutyer sighed. "Guess we'll have to stay on board now until it gets to where it's going, whether we like it or not!" 

The machine seemed to be travelling forever. They began to lose track of time, and as they went deeper, there were more and more passageways, crossing each other, but all were dark and deserted. The air in the cabin was becoming stale and the three began to nod off to sleep. They woke together as the machine jerked to a halt. 

Hutyer rubbed his eyes. He stared out of the window. "Hey ," he shouted, "look at this!" 

They looked out of the window. Still in semi-darkness, they couldn't see very far, but as far as they could see, there were machines of all shapes of designs standing in silent rows. "There must be thousands of them," Hutyer breathed. 

"We're in some sort of garage I think," Therese suggested. 

"Yes," agreed Hutyer, "and probably nearer the centre of whatever is going on." 

Therese opened the hatch door and they jumped to the ground. "Which way?" she whispered. 

Hutyer shrugged his shoulders. "We may as well try that way," he pointed ahead. 

They walked, treading silently through the darkness, gazing with awe inspired eyes at each huge machine they passed. Therese started to count them, but there were too many. They seemed to walk forever, finally they reached the end of the row and they came up against a solid wall. 

"Dead end," Miriam murmured. 

"Let's try walking along, er, that way," Hutyer suggested. "There may be a door." 

They walked in darkness, feeling along the wall for an exit. Suddenly Hutyer stopped. "Here it is," he said, "an opening." 

They walked through the gap. The room they found themselves in, seemed even darker and they moved forward, slower than before. Suddenly Therese gave a stifled scream. 

"What is it?" Hutyer whispered. 

She pointed with a trembling finger. Ahead of them they could just make out the shapes; robots, the type that had attacked her ship. Each one bristled with weapons. But, like the machines, they were now silent. The trio moved forward between the rows, they were tightly packed, there seemed to be no end to the numbers of these silent warriors. 

"Heras 6 wouldn't stand a chance against this lot," Therese whispered. 

"No," breathed Hutyer, "but what is it all for? Some vast alien robot army, soon to rush forth and destroy the Terran Empire?" 

"Listen," warned Miriam. "I can hear machinery starting up." 

"Where?" asked Hutyer straining his ears. 

"It's hard to tell with all this echo, but I think it comes from over there." She pointed right. 

"Let's go and look," he suggested. "We must explore every clue we get." 

They moved carefully through the rows of silent machines towards the sound they heard. Twice they changed course. Finally they emerged through an archway. In front of them, dimly lit by a beam of light from a ventilation shaft, was a huge conveyor belt at least a hundred feet wide. Along the centre of it, in a neat row, were the bodies of the crew and passengers of the ship that had been attacked. Some were horribly mutilated and burnt beyond recognition. Therese gasped and turned away crying. Hutyer peered into the twilight. He saw the white ashen face of Therese's brother. 

"I'll try and retrieve his body," Hutyer cursed as the conveyor belt began to move. "God knows what alien destruction they have planned!" He leapt onto the belt. As he tried to lift the dead body, he gasped in anguish. They had been secured by metallic strips. He could not shift them. Hutyer looked up, in the dimness, he saw the conveyor belt ending. What lay beyond? Whatever it was, he felt great danger creep across his whole body. 

He looked up. He was now very near the end of the conveyor belt. He ran towards the side of it and was about to jump off, when he stopped in his tracks. At this point on the 'belt, it was a hundred foot drop to the ground below. He was now very near the edge. He looked down. As the conveyor belt dipped down into the darkness, an evil blade skilfully slashed through the bonds that held the bodies, releasing them to fall into a seemingly bottomless abyss. He could see a vague red glow miles below - was that the molten core of the planet. He gasped as the hot air hit him. He turned and began to run against the direction of the conveyor belt. It was no good. It was speeding up and he could only just match its speed. He knew all he could do was run until he was exhausted and then he would be carried over the edge into the depths below. 

He ran for what seemed hours. His legs were like lead, when he saw Miriam coming towards him. She had something in her hand. It was a gun. She pointed the gun downwards and blasted at the 'belt. A huge hole appeared, as the hot searing rays ripped through the metal surface. The belt stopped. Hutyer collapsed to his knees panting heavily. 

Miriam ran over to him, pulling him to his feet. "We can't stay here," she warned. "It may start up again any second." 

Hutyer nodded and staggered back along the 'belt, until they reached the part where he had boarded it. He collapsed onto the ground, while Miriam explained. "I didn't realise you were in danger until I saw you were running," she said. "Then I remembered all those robots back there had weapons and I thought that if I got one of them, it might be of some help. It took a minute or so to prise one of them from its holster. It looks like it did the job though." 

"Thanks," Hutyer gasped. 

"It was a pretty damn stupid thing to do," Miriam cursed. "Lucky one of us was ready to try and save you." She looked angrily at Therese. 

"It was a lovely thought, trying to save my brother," Therese replied quietly to Hutyer. "Thank you for trying." 

Hutyer nodded. He was about to speak when he heard more machinery moving into action. He looked at the conveyor belt, but it was still immobile. 

"There's something coming along the belt," he warned. 

They crouched by the edge of the belt, as the sound grew nearer. 

"Look," whispered Miriam. Hutyer gasped; there were more machines coming along the belt. He pulled the gun out of Miriam's hand and was about to blast them, when she whispered in his ear. "They're not fighting machines," she observed, "they've no weapons." 

She was right. The machines trundled past them, as if they weren't there. They halted at the hole in the 'belt. The machines fell silent for a moment, then one of them put out long tendrils that felt around the hole. The others then went to work as the first withdrew its tendrils into its metallic shell. They pulled out the remains of that section of metal. Another spewed forth another sheet of metal, which was carefully welded into place. Finally one machine that had been stationary throughout the operation moved forward and examined the new sheet. Satisfied, it gave some unseen sign, and they swivelled round and moved back down the belt. 

"It was a repair crew," sighed Therese, half smiling. 

Hutyer frowned. "I'm sure there's a central control somewhere and those machines will have reported back that the hole they mended was caused by an intruder. From past experiences, more machines - fighting machines - will be sent to eliminate us." 

There was a clanking noise behind them, and they spun round. Two machines, of a slightly more complex design than the others they'd seen before, blocked their exit. 

Hutyer dropped his gun, and raised his hands in the air. "You'd better do the same," he advised the girls. "They might not understand, but we stand a better chance of not being blasted." 

Therese and Miriam complied with his wishes. The machines just stood there, as if they were studying them. Suddenly, they emitted a garbled string of sounds and Hutyer clasped his head. He felt something digging into his brain. The sounds from the machines suddenly began to make sense. 

"You will follow me," one of the robots ordered. "The others will follow behind you. Any attempt to escape will result in immediate destruction." 

Hutyer glanced at the girls. They were led along a twisting route of passages. 

"Robots that are telepathic?" Therese queried. 

Hutyer was about to answer, when the machine ordered silence. 

Finally they emerged into yet another huge cave. The air here seemed to be full of electricity. The robots turned and sped out. The doors hissed to behind them. 

Hutyer looked around. The girls looked at him anxiously. "Where are we now?" Therese asked. 

Suddenly a voice boomed out from all around them. "You are in my brain," it said. Therese screamed and Hutyer spun round looking for the owner of the voice. It continued: "I am the guardian of this planet. I am your friend." Having made this statement, it lapsed back into silence. 

"Where are you?" Hutyer asked. 

"I am all around you," it replied. 

"What are you?" 

"I am the guardian of this planet." 

Hutyer sighed, he was getting nowhere fast. He tried a different approach. "Are you a robot?" he asked. 

"Yes." 

"What is your purpose.'' 

"To guard this planet." 

"Why?" 

"It is the wish of my creators." 

"Who are your creators?" 

"Those who created me." 

Hutyer realised that he would have to use a different method to get any results. 

"l don't understand," he continued. "I require a full explanation to the following points: one, why are you the guardian of this planet and, two, who is behind all this. Three, why did you kill almost everyone on that space-ship and four, why are you my friend?" 

The machine pondered the question for a moment. "I obey you," it replied. 

There was another brief silence, then the machine started once again. "The story begins millions of your seasons ago. My creators held power over all the Galaxy. Then it was easy, for there was no other life to be found. It was here on this planet, the centre of the Empire, that there were many forms of life, but as the seasons passed, these other species began to crowd the planet. Soon they outnumbered my creators by a thousand to one. Many of my creators, of course, had left to live on other worlds, but they found it difficult. In the end, they decided to remove all but a few of each species of the lower forms of life and to send them to other planets, and let them breed there and overcrowd each other. This was done. Trillions of lower animals and plants were shipped off to other planets. Now there was ample room on the home planet once again for my creators. As they found it difficult to live happily on the other worlds, they all returned home." 

"However, a few years after this, a strange disease hit the planet from outer space. A disease for which no cure could be found. They realised that unless something was done, the race would be exterminated completely. They went into suspended animation underground; where we are now, until a cure could be found. But before they entered their self imposed hibernation, they realised that it might take the machines they had built many thousands, perhaps millions, of seasons to find a cure, and by that time, one of the lower orders of life they had sent to one of the other planets might have evolved into a power as great as them." 

"They destroyed all the lower orders of life that were left on the home planet, but decided that there was not time to destroy those on the other planets in the Galaxy. They devised a plan to keep the secret of their existence hidden. They built great machines that razed all buildings and other marks of civilisation from the planet. They put the rubble in their whole space fleet and set it on course for deep space. As they did this, they built millions more machines that burrowed into the ground and honeycombed the whole of the planet, with caves and tunnels. In the centre of this maze, near here, is housed a huge container. In it are twelve trillion of my creators. Next to it, is a huge bank of machinery, that is working to find a cure to the disease. It has been working now for fifty million of your seasons, and even as I speak the end is near." 

"But destroying all signs of life from the planet was not enough. What if they awoke and found their planet covered with another civilisation that had colonised it while they slept. It had to be protected, so a huge fleet of robots was built to cover all possibilities, with one huge machine to command them. I am it. My purpose - to destroy utterly and completely any form of life that even lands on this planet - whatever it is - and cast its remains into the central core of the planet, so no trace of it remains." 

Hutyer stared at the girls in a stunned silence. 

"I am your friend," the machine continued, "because you came from the smaller space-ship. I saw through my viewers that it held a form of life that tried to destroy you. Therefore, if that was my enemy, and it was yours as well, you must be my friend." 

Hutyer pondered the alien's creation's flawed logic, thankful that its reasoning powers were defective. 

"However," the machine continued, "the other creature with light hair, she came from the other ship and by some error escaped. She must, of course, be destroyed." 

"No," ordered Hutyer. "IF I am your friend and she is my friend, she must be your friend as well." 

The machine hummed with energy. "I must study this point from all sides," it replied. "I will answer soon." 

Hutyer looked at Therese. "Do you realise what sort of life-form could manage anything on this level," he said, "it must be fantastically advanced. When they come out of suspended animation, they'll overrun the Galaxy again." 

"But what can we do?" Therese whispered. "Our lives aren't even certain." 

"We'll have to think of something," Hutyer replied. "Get out your brother's box of tricks. Perhaps we can activate it. Though if it's more powerful than a ZG bomb, I don't think it'll leave much of this planet, or of us either." 

"I'm willing to make the sacrifice," Therese replied. "Now that my brother is dead, there isn't much to live for." 

"Do I get a say-" Miriam began. 

The machine spoke once again, interrupting them. "You have saved my creators," it boomed. 

Hutyer stared at the girls in bewilderment. 

"Upon your landing on this planet," the machine continued, "you brought with you a strain of bacteria that was not known to us. When you entered the underground maze, it was picked up by a sensor, examined and intensively bred. When tested on the disease, it destroyed it utterly. The creators are at this moment being revived. They will soon return to glory." 

"We're too late," cursed Hutyer. 

The machine spoke once more, ignoring Hutyer's words. "Your lives will now be spared," it said. "Go into the next room and look through my eyes." 

A door hissed open on the other side of the room. Hutyer and the girls walked cautiously through it. On one wall of the room, was a screen. As they entered, the screen lit up. The scene was that of the surface of the planet. As always, nothing moved. Then a concealed entrance from the underground burst open. Out poured what first looked like outsized locusts. They gushed out a hundred a second. It was only a few moments before there were as many as two thousand of them milling around. Suddenly they formed into rows, as larger aliens poured out. These began to give orders, and at a fantastic speed the others began to burrow into the ground. As they did so, the machines began to pour out of the entrances. They lined up in rows and then the soldier robots appeared and began dismantling them. Having done this, they destroyed each other. It was all over in a matter of minutes. Even while the machines still burnt, the creatures pulled the pieces of metal apart and chipped at them with stones. Their speed was incredible. Even as they watched, a huge shelter began to form from the blasted machines, but this was no rough shelter. The walls were smooth and straight. 

"This is going on all over the planet," the machine informed them. "But also, new creators are being born." 

The scene faded. It switched to another part of the planet, by the sea. Creatures were burrowing out canals inland. However, this was not what made Hutyer gasp. In the centre of the picture, sat a massive creature, ten times the size of the others. From its swollen belly poured hundreds of eggs. 

"Behold the leader of the creators," the voice boomed out. 

"Look," pointed Therese, "the eggs are already hatching." 

"But there's nothing for them to eat," Hutyer exclaimed, "the surface of the planet is barren rock, they'll all die." 

"No," corrected the machine. "They live off telepathic impulses sent out by the leader." 

"Good heavens!" exclaimed Hutyer. "All the race?" 

"Yes," the machine confirmed. 

"Is that why they found it hard to live on other planets?" Hutyer asked. 

"Yes," the machine answered. "However, just before hibernation, from the research they had carried out to try and find a cure for the disease, as a spin-off, they discovered a way of storing the impulses, enough for their whole lifespan; now they will once again be able to spread across the Galaxy." 

The machine switched back to the original scene. Hutyer blinked. Already they had the building erected. Now they were stoking a fire from some sort of fibrous substance that had been in the robots heads. Not seeming to worry about the heat, they shaped the metal with their hands. 

"They're making tools'" Hutyer exclaimed. He spoke to the machine. "How long will it take for them to return to their former power?" he asked. 

"Not long," the machine replied. "However, I can answer no more questions, for now my task is finished. I am switching off. I have advised the leader how you saved the race. A party of the creators are coming to fetch you." The machine went dead. The viewer began to fade. 

"You realise this is the end of Homo Sapiens as the superior race in the Galaxy," Therese gasped. 

"Yes," replied Hutyer, "never in Null have I ever seen -" He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence as if something had hit him. He stood there for a moment, then grabbed Therese's arm. "Come on," he urged the girls, "we don't have much time." 

"What?" asked Miriam as she ran along behind him. "Where are we going?" 

They ran down the passage and came up against a huge door that hung open. 

"In here," he ordered. They ran inside. 

"What's going on?" Miriam demanded. 

"Look, behind you," warned Hutyer. Therese turned and screamed. 

One of the aliens was in the room. It limped towards her, yellow blood trickling from its side. Hutyer ran over and put his foot through it. It rolled over and lay twitching. 

"One that didn't make it in the rush," he murmured. 

"We're in that huge container, the machine mentioned!" Therese exclaimed. 

"Yes," confirmed Hutyer. He pushed at the door and it swung to as if on a balance. He examined the crack between the wall and the door. Satisfied, he sat down on the floor. "Give me the machine," he ordered Therese. She handed it to him uncertainly and he placed it next to him. 

"I've just realised what this box looks like," he said. "It's an advanced form of Null converter. With a bit of luck, we'll be transported away from here." 

"No," Therese warned, "it's more than that, and far too dangerous for you to tamper with." She took the machine back. "I'll have to estimate the size of this room." She began to set the controls. Miriam began to back away uncertainly. "Both of you, keep well clear of the walls." 

"I don't like this," Miriam muttered backing further away. 

"Here goes," Therese breathed. "If this doesn't work and we get destroyed, be sure, if Earth and Heras 6 aren't warned, humanity faces certain destruction." She finalised the settings on the controls. She looked up wild eyed at Miriam, who now had her back against the wall. "Get clear of the walls," she screamed, "I had to estimate the distance-" A green light lit the room. Outside, there sounded like a huge rushing of air. The mighty door, six feet thick, began to buckle outwards. The walls diffused for a split second. Miriam was torn to pieces. Then it was all over. 

"What the hell was that?" Hutyer gasped. 

Therese looked shocked. "I warned her," she breathed. 

"What's happened?" Hutyer demanded. 

"It's finished," the girl stated simply. "The threat has been neutralised." 

Hutyer walked over to the door and depressing a button on its face, stood back. As it swung open, a huge current of air blew into the box, sweeping them off their feet. 

The gale raged for three hours. Therese refused to explain herself. Finally, it appeared safe to go out into the passage. They proceeded cautiously and eventually reached the surface. The exit door of the underground passage had been ripped off its hinges, and was nowhere to be seen. Outside the gale still raged. 

"What's happened?" asked Hutyer, as he saw a dead alien hurtled through the air, hardly recognisable, it's insides ripped out. He battled against the wind for a moment. "Back inside," he shouted. They half ran, and were half blown back down the passageway. Hutyer fought to close the door and finally succeeded. "Right, lady," Hutyer demanded, "you tell me now what you've done, or I'll push you out there into the gale." 

"This weapon," Therese said sulkily, "when it was activated, it momentarily sent most of the planet into Null." She paused to let the words sink in. "The same effect as being in space without a space-suit. All the creatures burst open. It remained in Null for only a split second, then it returned to normal space. You can imagine how catastrophic an effect it causes.." 

Hutyer stared blankly ahead, his mouth hanging open. "But if it got into enemy hands.." he replied, his voice trailed away. 

"It won't," Therese replied simply. "It wasn't totally successful, activating it, burnt it out." 

"Humanity might have been saved," Hutyer decided, "but we still face the main challenge - how to get back home?" 

"The authorities are bound to have sent ships to search for survivors from the ship I was on," Therese stated. "They knew where we were, the Captain reported back that we were landing here for emergency repairs. There are plenty in authority aware of the importance of my brother's work. We were both in highly important positions." 

"Lomas 2, where you were headed," Hutyer stated, "it was very similar in size to this planet, wasn't it?" 

"Possibly," Therese agreed. 

Hutyer's features hardened. "And no Terran colonies there." He paused. "You were going to test your weapon out there, weren't you?" 

"Such matters need not concern you," Therese responded. "The less you know of this whole episode, the safer you'll be. Had the machine not destroyed itself, I doubt if you'd've been allowed to live; security implications." She shrugged. "As it is, it's a failure; no-one is interested in failures." She paused. "But no- one knows that yet. Yes, I don't think they'll be giving up the search for me or my brother, or other survivors without a lot of effort." 

"So we just sit back and wait?" Hutyer suggested; the girl nodded. He hoped the rescue wouldn't take too long. Things looked like they were going to be pretty tense here. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 4



Hutyer leaned back in his swivel chair, staring up at the ceiling. After a minute or two of reflection he sighed, then leant forward and rechecked the neat pile of papers on his desk. He also checked that his desk computer was functioning efficiently. This done he went back to staring at the ceiling. 

The trouble with a desk job, he reflected, was that it was so darn uneventful. Still it was his own fault. After the traumas of his last two missions, he'd asked his boss S.J. to ground him for a while, and he'd taken over the role of Admin Manager. The trouble was business seemed a bit slack at the moment and so he'd got nothing to do. He sighed once more. What he needed was a diversion, something to take his mind off his boring paperwork. Like, for instance... 

He depressed a switch on his desk. A feminine voice at the other end asked sweetly: "Yes?" 

"Will you come in a moment, please Jenny?" he asked. 

A couple of seconds went by and then the door opened and a girl in her early twenties stepped through and walked over to his desk. As she approached Hutyer looked up and smiled at her. "Oh, I see the answer now," he covered up smoothly. "It's all right, thanks." He thought to himself; "if I got closed circuit TV in, I shouldn't need to call her in here just for a look at her. She certainly was a stunner. S.J. had said he was going to brighten the place up and he'd certainly come up trumps this time. He realised that the girl was speaking:- 

"As you say, sir," she replied, and turned back towards the door. Hutyer's gaze followed her as she went. What a woman! 

Just as she put her hand out to open the door he spoke again: "Business is a bit slow at the moment," he remarked conversationally. 

Jenny turned. "It may be for you," she replied, "but then you haven't got the job of completing all the data requests the Government keep sending us." 

The door closed behind her and Hutyer sighed. That put him in his place. She had only been with him for a few days, and he still hadn't quite got over her. But it was no good dreaming - she was taken. He remembered that she had made a special point of showing him her child permit when he had interviewed her; a clear indicator that she was in a stable relationship Hutyer sighed wistfully. Maybe he had left it too late; so many of the girls that he'd known had died in space tragically. Still, Jenny was efficient, apart from being the only one who wanted the job up here on the Space Station on the fringes on Heran law.. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of the intercom. "A Miss Elm to see you," announced Jenny. 

Hutyer brightened. A customer at last. "Show her in," he ordered. 

He moved his pile of papers to one side as the door opened and Jenny appeared. "Miss Elm," she announced. 

Hutyer stared open-mouthed as a young girl glided into the room. Something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger upon set her apart from all the other women Hutyer had met. She was tall and slender, with short, shining silver hair, her features soft and rounded. 

Jenny closed the door and the girl sat down. She pulled a folder from the brown case that she carried, and drew out of the folder a disc of the previous day's paper. She projected an image of the newsheet onto the wall. Hutyer saw that she had selected their advert. 

"We'll take you anywhere," she quoted, in a soft, silky whisper that fitted her body to a tee. A smile twitched across her face. "Anywhere?" 

"Anywhere." 

"What's the catch?" the girl enquired. 

Hutyer smiled. "There is no catch." 

The girl returned his smile. "Would you explain?" she asked. 

"It's all down to money," Hutyer explained. "We charge a lot, because we're prepared to go where others can't or won't go. It's really as simple as that. We're not adventurers, con-men or a charity, it's a simple hard nosed business." 

"Do you operate on government routes as well as charter trips?" 

Hutyer shook his head. "No. We could do, but our charges are higher, so there's no point." 

The girl was frowning. "One thing puzzles me," she admitted. "I thought that all these local space stations were owned by the government down on Heras 6." 

"My boss, S.J., owns all the previously derelict stations in the immediate area." 

"Very well." The girl pondered over what Hutyer had said. "I think you've got a customer," she decided. "That's if you are prepared to go where I want you to." 

Hutyer grinned. "We'll take you anywhere. Where do you wish to go?" 

"Midas 3." 

The spaceman raised an eyebrow. "Arret. The reverse planet." 

The girl nodded. "That is what some call it. Do we still have a deal?" 

"Eh? Yes, of course. May I ask why you wish to visit that particular corner of the cosmos?" 

Miss Elm smiled disarmingly. "I'm sorry, but my reasons are private." 

Hutyer shrugged. "It's not important." He glanced at his watch, which showed Heras Port time. "If you'd like to call back tomorrow, that'll give me a chance to estimate the cost and get a contract drawn up. If you don't wish to go back down to Heras 6 just for one night you can stay here. We have cabins for guests." 

"I'll come back tomorrow," stated the girl. "I have one or two things to fix up down on Heras 6. Good day, Mr. Hutyer." 

Hutyer rose as she stood up. "Good day, Miss Elm." His gaze followed her out of the room. When she had gone he depressed a button on his desk. "Come in, Jenny," he said. 

His secretary walked in. "Where does she want to go?" 

"Midas 3." 

"You're joking!" 

Hutyer shook his head. 

"That's what comes of this stupid slogan of ours," Jenny continued. 

As she walked out of the room Hutyer suddenly thought that he hadn't even noticed her body. He compared her mentally with Miss Elm, and decided that his secretary, attractive thought she was, suddenly no longer held quite the fascination for him. Jenny came back with a disc with data on Midas 3. Hutyer loaded it into his computer. 

"Midas 3: Thirty light years from Heras 6, grade 3C planet; out of bounds to all terrestrial shipping. This world is a grade A danger spot. Further details may be obtained from Terran Command at special request.'' 

"Is that it?" Jenny asked. 

"In substance yes," Hutyer admitted. "And I can't imagine Terran Command obliging us with a quick look through their data files." 

"Isn't Midas 3 the planet where plants walk around like human beings and men are grown like plants.'' She shuddered. 

Hutyer nodded. "Yeah. Something like that." 

"Hmm. I understand then, why the crew are paid so well." 

Hutyer agreed. "Yes, I don't envy them. I've seen some pretty frightening things in my time - enough to last me. Right now, I'm glad I've got an easy desk job here." 

Hutyer dialled up his boss, S.J., who was based down on Heras 6. His face appeared on screen. 

"Dan here, boss," the spaceman introduced himself. "We've got a new customer; she wants to go to Midas 3." The other replied swiftly, but it was not the outburst that Hutyer had rather expected. He nodded and hung up. 

"What did he say?" asked Jenny. 

"He just said 'right, I thought someone would soon want to go to that place.' He promised to send up supplies and the crew with the next ferry. Sounded as though he hadn't got a care in the world." 

"He hasn't got to go," observed Jenny tartly. 

"If the crew foul this one up and he loses a billion cred spaceliner perhaps he'll wish he had gone," Hutyer replied, with a cheerfulness that he didn't really feel. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer yawned and stretched as the buzzer on his desk imitated a hive of angry bees. "Yes, Jenny?" he asked, flipping the switch. 

"The ferry has just arrived," his secretary stated. "You asked me to tell you when it did." 

Hutyer clambered out of his comfortable seat. "Right," he replied. "if anyone calls, I'll be down at the landing bay." 

He took his private lift down to the docking area. As he stepped out of the lift, a faint lurching sensation was transmitted through the floor of the station. That meant the ferry had arrived, Hutyer told himself. As he arrived at the inner airlock it hissed open, and he was confronted by the three man crew. 

"You all look a bit worried," he remarked. 

"So would you if you were coming along," Captain Jon Russell replied. "Have you heard where we're supposed to be taking this Elm woman. Midas 3, no less." 

Hutyer shrugged. "Well, that's why you joined up with us, wasn't it? Not enough excitement in the Terran Fleet for you men of action." 

"We wanted action, but not suicide," Russell grunted. He handed Hutyer a disc. "S.J. said to give you that. It's the documentation.'' 

Hutyer accepted the disc with a smile. "You boys had better get a few hours rest," he said. "You're gonna need it." 

"Thanks for nothing," Russell replied. He turned to his crewmen. "Okay, boys. Let's go." As they reached the bend in the corridor, the Captain stopped and turned his head. "Don't forget, Hutyer," he said, a trace of a grin across his tanned features, "murder on territory outside Terran jurisdiction, i.e. class C2 planets and old space-stations is not deemed a punishable crime by the law computers." 

Hutyer grinned and headed back for his office. Once there, he opened up the disc and studied the documentation therein. He had just completed doing so when his buzzer sounded again. 

"Miss Elm is back," Jenny announced. 

Hutyer glanced down at his watch. "Time flies," he muttered to himself. "Send her in," he said to Jenny. 

He rose and greeted the slim girl as she glided into the office. "Good morning, Mr. Hutyer," she said. "Is everything ready?" 

"If you can provide the money," Hutyer stated, "you're as good as on your way." 

"Excellent." 

Hutyer rubbed his chin. "We shall want a few more details first, though, and then we can arrive at a financial agreement." Miss Elm nodded to this. 

"How many of you will be going along?" 

"Just me." 

Hutyer was surprised. "Isn't that a little dangerous? We can't guarantee your safety once you arrive you know." 

"Let me explain," offered the girl. "I already have colleagues out at Midas 3. However, due to certain circumstances I was unable to travel out with them. I tried the ordinary charter firms, but they're too scared of the government to take on a trip like this." 

"What exactly is your purpose in taking this trip?" Hutyer enquired. "Mind you," he added hastily, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to. You can be an anti-government faction for all we care." 

The girl shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing like that. I'm part of a scientific party. However, we're somewhat unofficial, due to the fact that we're in this for our own profit, and not for the benefit of the human race." 

Hutyer laughed. "Well," he said, "being a pirate of sorts myself, I can hardly blame you for that." 

"I shall only require a one-way passage," Miss Elm continued. "Your crew need only remain until I've located my team." 

Hutyer nodded. "Right, now just a few more points .... " 

He made notes as the girl answered his queries and, when she had finished he moved on to the cost. 

"It'll be eight hundred thousand credits," he informed, pushing the contract across to her. "Is it a deal?" 

The girl considered. "You're on," she said, signing with a flourish. "When can I start?" 

"As soon as the course has been fed into the ship's computers, and the motors have stored up enough power. And - er - of course, when we have received a cash settlement." 

"I'll return to Heras 6 at once to arrange for my affairs to be wound up and also for a transfer of funds to your company." 

"Right, and I'll get our boys onto computing the course and juicing up the motors. If you come back late tomorrow, we should be able to get going." 

The girl nodded. "Good. Will you be coming?" 

"No, but I'll introduce you to the crew tomorrow. They're all resting at the moment." 

Miss Elm rose. "Very well," she said. "I'll be back tomorrow." She swept through the door. Hutyer sighed. He would probably only see her once more. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

He waited about an hour, then strode down the long corridors and tubes to the crew's quarters. They sat around the table playing cards. 

"Okay," he rapped. "Action stations, boys. Get the ol' crate warmed up. You're space bound tomorrow." 

"Hell," cursed the captain. "And that was the first good hand I'd had all evening." 

"How long will it take to get her ready?" Hutyer demanded. 

Russell shrugged. "Hard to say with these particle jobs. With the alpha flux from the Heras sun at the level it's maintaining at the moment, it should take a day or so to charge the particle banks to full capacity. As to the programming, that should be quite easy. There's a standard course been worked out from here to the Midas system. All we have to do at the other end is put her into a landing orbit." 

"Good. Get to it." 

"You're a hard man, Hutyer," Russell replied, throwing down his cards. He turned to the crew. "Come on boys." As he turned to walk out he wagged a finger at Hutyer. "Now don't forget," he said, "your client had better be on time, cause if she ain't here when we've got full power stored up we're gonna have to take off without her. If we don't there's gonna be one hell of a big bang. That's the curse of these particle motors that have a defective cut-out. Once they've stored up the energy you have to use it. There's no switch to turn off. We either have to fly, or flood Heras 6 with lethal radiation by releasing the built up energy; not a good idea. Pity the boss is too tight to put in the safety upgrade ain't it? Maybe he would if you hadn't written off the pride of our little fleet on your last mission." 

Hutyer shrugged. "If S.J. had another ten billion creds to throw away you could have one of these new dimension-slip jobs, but when it's a case of all the insurance departments refusing to give a cents worth of cover, you're lucky not to be piloting a chemical fuelled rocket." 

"Like hell I am," Russell murmured, slouching out of the room. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

About an hour later Hutyer was beginning to doze off, when he was woken by the voice of the Captain coming over the intercom: 

"We've plotted the course, and fed it in, and we're storing power at full blast. Everything's goin' okay - all we've got to do is wait for full power. Can we take a break?" 

Hutyer rubbed his eyes. "Yes, I guess so, and don't spend all night playing cards." 

Russell muttered something inaudible and switched off the intercom. 

Hutyer stretched and was pacing up and down his office to restore circulation to his stiff limbs when the buzzer sounded again. Hutyer strode over to his desk. Didn't that secretary of his ever sleep? He flicked the switch. "Yes?" 

"Miss Elm has returned again." Hutyer glanced at his watch, surprise on his face. "That was quick," he muttered. "Okay, send her in." 

The girl walked back into the office that she had left only a short while before. 

"Everything's ready," she announced. "As I had nothing better to do I caught the return ferry straight back." 

Hutyer rubbed his chin. "I'd better find you somewhere to sleep." 

The girl nodded. "Good. Have you fixed a departure time yet?" 

"About a day." 

"Excellent. I can hardly wait." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer returned to his cabin, after showing the girl to hers, where he lay down and sank into sleep. A period of time passed, and he was suddenly awakened by Jenny. She was shaking him violently. He stared at her through bleary eyes. "Wassamarrer?" he asked. 

When Jenny spoke her voice trembled, and her face was white. "It's the crew," she whispered. "I went to get their breakfast. They're all dead." 

Hutyer leapt out of bed. "What?" 

"Come and see." 

They ran down the passages to the crew's quarters. They were sitting around the table, cards still in their hands. Each of them was shot neatly through the head. 

Hutyer returned to his office "Who could have done it?" he whispered, as they stared at each other in horror. 

"The girl?" suggested Jenny. 

"Surely not," Hutyer murmured. "Still," he added, going over to a drawer and pulling out a pair of guns, "we're alone up her now, as far as we know, apart from Miss Elm. If you see anybody apart from me or her you'd better shoot first and ask questions afterwards." 

Jenny swallowed. "Right, but I'm sticking with you." 

They made their way through the space station, searching for strangers. Two hours later they arrived at the storage bay. "We'll check the airlock," Hutyer said, "see if anyone's left during the night." 

They entered as the door hissed open. Jenny pointed. "Look," she gasped. 

"It's Miss Elm," shouted Hutyer. The girl was sprawled out on the floor of the airlock. Near her was another body, that of a stranger. He looked like a tramp. He was quite dead. A gun lay between them. 

They carried the girl back to Hutyer's office, where she revived a short while later. 

She looked about her, a dazed expression on her face. "What .... where am I?" 

"Can you remember what happened?" Hutyer asked. 

The girl frowned, rubbing her head. "I heard a noise. It was like .. gunshots. I got up and went down to the locks - I could hear something moving about down there. I saw this strange man. He lifted his gun, he was going to kill me. I attacked him. I .. I think I got hold of the gun. I seem to remember shooting just as he hit me. That's about it." She lay back. 

Hutyer and Jenny withdrew to the far side of the room. "Do you believe her?" the secretary asked. 

"I guess so," Hutyer replied. "What would she gain from lying? She needed the crew to get to Midas 3. If she wanted to kill someone, why stop with them - she could've got us as well, and where does this stranger fit in? I don't know?" 

"Well," Jenny muttered. "One thing's certain now." 

"Oh? What's that?" 

"With no crew, she can't go." 

"Null!" exclaimed Hutyer. His face turned pale and he dashed back to his office and dialled up S.J. "Boss, Hutyer here. Listen sir. Some bum came up on the last ferry and murdered our crew. Yeah, it might have been a rival organisation, but that's not what's really worrying me at the moment. That ship of yours has been storing up power like wildfire. It's ready to go in a quarter of an hour, but we've got no crew and you know what'll happen if she doesn't take off. Boom! Eh? Yes, yeah ... right, that's what I figured." 

He hung up and turned back to the girl. "Jenny," he ordered. "You stay here. My relief's on the way up." 

Jenny stared. "Where are you going?" 

"Midas 3." 

"What!" 

"It's the only solution. "If that ship doesn't take off when it's accumulators are full, it's going to start bleeding off the excess, in a vast burst of radiation." He moved towards the door. "Get Miss Elm," he said. "We're on our way!" 

Hutyer met his passenger at the ship's lock. They entered and made their way to the control cabin. 

"Is everything loaded?" Hutyer asked the girl. 

She nodded. "The crew put it all aboard last night." 

They strapped themselves in. "The Sun must be going through an active period for us to have stored up power this quick," Hutyer muttered. He studied the controls. "Most of the hard work's already been done for me," he said. "We'll be blasting off, in two minutes," he announced into the communicator. 

"Okay," Jenny's voice came back. "And - good luck." 

"Thanks." Hutyer flipped it off. The next two minutes passed in silence. "Now," Hutyer announced. "We're off." He switched on the motors, and a deep roar filled the cabin. The ship slid away from the mooring lock of the space station, picking up speed all the time. As the Heras Sun began to dwindle behind them, Hutyer threw the Null switch, and the ship vanished into Null space. For thirty seconds they hung in that strange green anti- existence, which mirrored in reverse the properties of ordinary space-time. At a predetermined moment the computers cut the Nulldrive and the ship re-emerged into normal space. 

"That's Midas," said Hutyer, pointing at the star that shone in the distance. "We should be there in about six hours." 

"Good," said the girl. "I think I'll get some rest. I still feel shaky from that knock on the head that I got." 

She got up and drifted out of the control cabin, into the normal living quarters. Hutyer watched her go. She was certainly one hell of a girl, he thought, and for a moment he was almost glad that he'd come along. Then he stopped, and wondered whether he'd still think that after they'd landed on Midas 3. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

When the girl returned to the control cabin, a huge image of a planet was filling the visiscreen. "Midas 3," Hutyer announced. 

"Good," the girl smiled. 

"How do we find your party, with the whole of the planet to search?" Hutyer asked. 

"Fortunately I have a reference which should give the position of their camp," she replied. "I'll go and get it." 

She returned with the information and Hutyer fed it into the computer. The ship began to dive down towards the surface of Midas 3. It came to rest in a barren waste. Nothing but sand and rocks could be seen, stretching out to the horizon. 

"They chose this spot because it was deserted," explained the girl. 

Hutyer scanned the surrounding area. "I can't see a camp or anything," he muttered. "Ah. Wait a minute. Yes. There's something over there.'' He switched off the scanner. "Come on," he said to the girl. "The sooner you're safe with your party, the sooner I can get away from this planet." 

They made their way down to the hold. Hutyer pressed a button and a section of the hull slid back, creating an exit for the hovercar which was stored ready for transport on a planetary surface. 

"Hold on a minute," the girl said, breaking the seal on a large case. 

Hutyer frowned. "What gives?" 

"Camouflage." 

"What?" 

"Watch," she replied, pulling on two greenish shoes, from which tendrils sprouted. She donned two gloves decorated similarly. A matching suit and helmet completed the decor. 

"You look like a plant," Hutyer observed, as she tossed him a similar costume. 

"That's the general idea. If any of the intelligent plants that rule this world come our way we can drop to the ground fast and play like we've been uprooted." 

Hutyer begrudgingly donned the disguise. "I don't intend staying around long enough to cross swords with any of THEM," he said. 

"It's just in case," the girl responded. They got aboard the hovercar and it zoomed out across the barren surface, the door to the ship closing automatically behind them. 

"This place looks like Earth's moon did before it was terraformed," Hutyer observed. 

"I've never been to Earth," Miss Elm replied. "One day I shall - one day soon." 

Hutyer thought of the ancient Terran home world, thousands of light years away, towards the Galactic rim. 

"You haven't missed much," he replied. "It's turned into a huge sprawling slum, slowly choking in it's own filth. Heras 6 will be the galactic capital in another century. Being at the centre, it's better positioned for one thing." 

"Earth will be great again one day," the girl said. 

Hutyer shrugged. "Perhaps. But I don't believe in miracles." 

They arrived at the base. It was deserted - nothing moved. 

"Where is everybody?" asked Hutyer puzzledly. 

The girl shook her head. "I don't know. Let's look around." 

They got out of their vehicle and explored the base. Their first impressions proved to be correct. It was empty and lifeless, but there were ho signs of violence. 

"If they'd gone out exploring, they'd've left someone," Hutyer decided. 

"And I doubt that they've been captured," put in the girl. "Those plants are vicious. They'd be more likely to kill them outright." 

"What's the answer then?" 

The girl frowned. "I don't know." 

"I could leave you here," Hutyer pointed out. "I've fulfilled my part of the contract. I've delivered you to the base." 

"You wouldn't do that!" the girl exclaimed in anguish. 

"No," he reassured her. "But if we don't find your team soon I'll have to consider taking you back to Heras 6." 

The girl stared at the ground in dejection. Then she stiffened. "Look!" she exclaimed. "Tracks." 

Hutyer examined the ground. She was right. The tracks led away from the base. 

"Are you coming?" Miss Elm asked. 

"I guess I don't have much choice," Hutyer replied, annoyed. 

They trudged forward on foot for nearly an hour until Hutyer wished they'd brought the hovercar, even though it would have been extremely difficult to follow the tracks from inside the machine. They crossed a line of low hills and descended into a sandy valley. There was some sort of life visible in the distance. 

"Vegetation?" Hutyer suggested. 

"I'd be prepared for anything if I were you," the girl replied. 

"You mean human vegetation?" 

The girl nodded grimly. "I think so. Growing wild." 

They walked cautiously across the sandy plain. Hutyer gasped with horror as they drew near enough to make out features on individual plants. They looked just like human beings, except that their bodies were covered in hair like tendrils, and their feet were roots. They possessed eyes and mouths, from which came low moaning sounds. Their hands swung slowly in circles. 

"Their eyes are like ours," Miss Elm explained, "so that they can see us. But their brains are very rudimentary - they have almost no intelligence. They grow and act out of instinct. If you were to attack one it would try to defend itself, but it wouldn't have a chance." 

"Is it safe to go close to them?" 

"Yes, as far as I know. But you'd better keep out of the range of their arms." 

Hutyer walked over to them. They were just like wild plants the Universe over, roots tangled, the weak being forced to make way for the strong, reaching for the sky. He gazed into the eyes of one of the plants and found himself locked in it's gaze. It's eyes had incredible depth, an expression of infinite sadness. It moaned softly at him. 

Hutyer turned away, sickened by the thought of it's pitiful existence. He turned back to the girl. "It was as though it was pleading for me to release it," he observed. 

"There's worse to see yet," she asserted. "I've done my homework on this planet; I know what to expect." 

They trudged on across the sandy valley. Here and there tiny plants sprouted up in isolated clumps. At first Hutyer ignored these, but then he stopped to examine them more closely. They were tiny versions of the plants he had seen back a way, elfin human features perfectly reproduced. He pulled one out of the soil. It gave a little moan as his fingers closed around it, a clear white liquid dripping from it's roots as he tore it from the soil. It shrivelled into a mound of brown dust as he held it in his hand. He dropped the remains with a mixture of shame and disgust. 

"That dust is what the ruling species of the planet live off," the girl explained. "When mixed with water it makes a sort of organic fertiliser which they absorb with their tendrils." 

Hutyer winced. "How revolting." 

"Only to us. Our habits would probably sicken them." 

"I hope so," Hutyer replied. They moved on and eventually found themselves in a field of the tiny 'plants'. Neat rows of them stretched out to the horizon. Suddenly the girl tensed. "Play dead," she whispered. 

"What?" 

"Some of the plant-men are coming.'' She fell to the ground and Hutyer followed suit. 

"But if we were uprooted plants shouldn't we shrivel up?" he asked. 

"No," the girl whispered back. "It's only the little ones that do that. We're of a different variety, like those large wild ones that we saw." 

For a full five minutes the two lay there motionless. Suddenly they heard a rustling noise , and one of the intelligent plants appeared, right before them. Hutyer found it hard not to scream. The creature's body consisted of a stem, like that of a terrestrial plant, and it had two flat round feet that looked for all the world like leaves. Four tendrils sprouted where arms would have been on a human, ending in thorn like fingers. But the worst feature of all was it's head, a mass of overlapping, pinkish petals. From the fore of it's face sprouted two stalks, with eye sockets on the end. They waved in the wind as it moved on, away from them. 

"It can't see us in the same way as those plants could," the girl whispered. "It's vision is more like radar than anything else." 

The plant-man returned with another of it's kind. After a hurried consultation, and much waving of tendrils, one flapped off and the other stayed. Minutes later the whine of a machine sounded 

Across the field, and a huge harvester rolled up to them. It extended a giant claw and lifted them from the ground. Hutyer grunted as they were dumped unceremoniously into the back of the vehicle. Realising that here they were hidden from the scrutiny of the plant men he raised himself onto one elbow and whispered: 

"What happens now? I hope we're not going to be processed?" 

"I doubt it," the girl replied. "Don't forget we're wild plants, and they only eat cultivated ones. I bet that's it. They're going to cultivate us. You see, their fields aren't very productive, so every now and then they go out and gather in wild plants to strengthen the stock. We're what was handy." 

"This doesn't sound as though it's going to be too healthy for us," Hutyer decided. "I think we should get out of here." 

But even as he spoke a sliding roof slid over the back of the vehicle, as it lurched into motion. They were trapped. 

From time to time the hatch was opened and more plants were thrown in on top of them, a process which pleased Hutyer not one bit, but in the end, the harvester pulled to a halt and they were lifted from the back and dumped at the edge of a field. The truck rumbled away as Hutyer took a look around. The field contained row upon row of 'plants' similar to the ones that they had already seen, except that their bodies were completely featureless from the neck down, having been shaved of their tendrils. They looked something like pale balloons. "Are we going to lie here all day?" Hutyer muttered. 

"I think we'd better make a break for it," suggested the girl. "Wait.. it's too late." 

Several of the plant-men walked over to Hutyer, and picked him up in their stringy tendrils. They dug two holes in the ground and pushed his feet into them. They treated the girl in a similar fashion and also planted her. This completed they strode away to a different part of the field. "I've been planted," cursed Hutyer, trying frantically to pull his legs free. 

The girl looked anxiously around the field. "I think we'd better leave as soon as we can," she said, "or we're liable to get pruned." 

Hutyer finally managed to pull himself free of the packed dirt, leaving his boots imbedded in the soil. He pulled the girl out. He stared at the boots which they had left behind them. "That'll give them something to think about," he smiled. 

"But which way shall we go?" asked the girl. "We're lost. There is no way of telling which way we came in that harvester." 

Hutyer scratched his head. "Well," he said, "it went off in that direction, after it had unloaded us, so I suggest that we try and retrace it's tracks in the opposite direction.'' 

The girl nodded agreement. "Right, we'll do that," she said. They managed to follow the harvester's tracks for about a hundred yards, to the edge of the field, but there it became tangled in a maze of other tracks. Suddenly the girl gasped. Not a hundred yards away was one of the plant men, busily trimming the tendrils from one of the wild 'plants'. It turned as the girl spoke, and began to blip suddenly. 

"What's that noise?" Hutyer asked anxiously. 

"I think it's a warning cry to it's fellows. We'd better get out of here fast." 

They ran off, the creature flapping along in pursuit. Fortunately it was unable to match their speed and quickly dropped behind them. Ten minutes later they collapsed, panting, by an outcrop of 'plants' that moaned softly at them. Hutyer got to his feet, gasping for breath, and gazed around nervously. "I think that we've lost it," he said. 

"Good," said the girl. "I certainly hope so." 

They sat down and rested for a few minutes. Suddenly Hutyer let out a groan of despair. "Look," he said, "it's still on our trail." 

The plant intelligence had been joined by several others of it's race, and they lumbered towards the two fugitives, as though somehow attracted by smell, or some other sense. As they began to run again, the girl pointed behind them. "One of their machines has joined the chase," she warned. "I'm sure that that can out- race us." 

They ran on for five minutes or so with the machine slowly catching up on them. They found themselves in a rocky area, not unlike that which they had landed in. Although this terrain slowed them up, it also slowed the machine, and they began to widen the gap again. 

Suddenly the girl stopped, a look of intense relief upon her face. She pointed to the left. "Down the hole," she gasped. "Follow me, but watch out. The inside walls are probably slippery." 

She ran over to the hole and vanished. Hutyer followed close behind her. There were a certain number of hand holds down the inside of the hole, and so the descent was not too difficult, under the circumstances. They reached the bottom. 

"We're safe now," the girl stated. "The plants won't come down here." She pulled off her disguise and discarded it, tossing it onto the rocky floor of the hole. "We're going to have to do some climbing," she said, "and these disguises will only hamper us." Hutyer followed her advice and discarded his too. He stared at the girl. His initial impression still stood; she was certainly beautiful, he thought to himself. 

"Follow me - stay close behind, and whatever you do - be careful," she urged. 

Hutyer nodded. "Right," he agreed. The girl began to feel her way along the darkness of the underground passage. Everything went according to plan, until they were descending to a deeper level. Suddenly the girl lost her hold and fell to the bottom of the shaft. Hutyer scrambled down hastily to where she lay and cradled her head in his hands. 

Seeing her lying so still and peaceful, Hutyer could control his emotions no longer. As she came around he gently kissed her. Then he recoiled sharply, an expression of amazement upon his face. It had been just like kissing a piece of plastic. "What.. who are you?" he asked. 

She jumped to her feet and pulled out a blaster. Her features were hidden in the darkness. All the spaceman could see was her dim shadow and the whites of her eyes. "Too bad - Terran," she hissed. 

"Are you one of the plant-men, or what?" Hutyer cried. 

"I'm a what, Terran," she rasped. "There are about a hundred of us on this world. We're a version of those small plants we saw earlier on, but more human than those senseless beings can ever be. We were driven underground by the greater numbers of the plant men, and we were too few to risk fighting back and depleting our numbers still more. Therefore we devised a plan. What we were after was a space ship that had a particle drive, like yours does. First we tried to obtain a bomb powerful enough to smash this world, but such weapons are not easy to come by. Finally, we came across an advert for your organisation. We discovered that your ships used the particle drive, and everything suited us just fine. Your ship didn't belong to the Terran League, in fact it operated right outside their jurisdiction, so that they were not likely to make too exhaustive a search, if any, for it if it should not return from one of it's missions." 

"Therefore I contacted your organisation, and you know most of the rest. On the last trip I made up from Heras 6 I brought along that dead tramp you found, and fixed it up to look as though he had murdered the crew. I did that, you know. Why? Well, there will be less of a fuss, less surprise, should a ship be lost with just one crew member on board, and a last minute stand-in at that. So the crew had to go. You see, we thought of everything. And we won. Now we are in possession of your ship. We shall allow the particle drive to store up energy beyond it's limit, and radiation will drench the world, killing our enemies. In the end, an explosion will result that will destroy the planet, but we will not care, for we shall have moved on to better goals. To be more precise - Earth." 

"Earth?" 

"Yes, as you said, it has sunk into decadence. It is almost defenceless. We are few, but we have robot help, and it will be an easy conquest for us. Once we have it, and it's potential might, it will be the first stepping stone to the reduction of the Terran League, and all power for our race." 

Hutyer laughed, but uneasily. "You are quite mad." 

"We shall win. You will see.'' Gone was the beautiful girl Hutyer had seen before. Now she was only a hideous enemy, pitiless and implacable. 

"I suppose I am to be killed?" he asked. 

"Correct, Terran, as soon as the moment is right." 

Suddenly, then, the girl seemed to lose all control of her body. She twitched in mad convulsions as her finger tightened on the trigger. The blast seared over Hutyer's head. He leapt forward in the darkness and tore the weapon from her hand. Mad with a fanatical fury, she flung herself at him even as he fired, and half her chest was torn away in an electronic flash. 

As she fell, light illuminated the cavern. Hutyer gasped as it lit up her body. Through a gaping hole in her front he could see the metallic glint of circuitry. She was a robot! Then he turned. All around him were the plant men that ruled this world. In his thorny fingers, one of them held a strange mechanism, Hutyer decided that this was what had caused the robot to malfunction, it was obviously some kind of scrambling device. 

One of the intelligent plants grabbed Hutyer by the arm and tugged at him. It was obvious that resistance was useless, and so the spaceman followed as he was led along mazes of dank, subterranean corridors. 

At length they arrived back on the surface, in what Hutyer took to be a city, with long streets of rock built dwellings. Into one of these Hutyer was led. He looked around the dim interior of the building. In the corner something moved. One of the intelligent plants? No. It walked like .... 

"Null!" exclaimed Hutyer, "it's a man!" 

A man it indeed was. Old, dirty, tattered, but a man none the less. He stepped forward uncertainly, peering at Hutyer through rheumy eyes. Strange expressions flickered across his face. Fear... hope.. doubt. 

Suddenly he pulled a jagged piece of flint from his robe and slashed at Hutyer's hand. Hutyer cried out in surprise as blood seeped through the small cut that the old man had inflicted. The other watched him intently. 

"Had to be sure," he said, in a thin, frail voice. "You might have been a robot too." 

"You know about them?" Hutyer asked. 

A look of hate flashed across the oldster's face. "Yes. I know of them. Let me explain. I came to this world twenty years ago, one of an expedition sent to find out what had become of previous parties who had landed on this planet and never returned. One night, when I was out scouting around, my ship was raided and the crew destroyed. I suspected the plant men at first, but now I know better." 

"After I got over the shock of finding my shipmates murdered and my ship disabled I searched about for the other ships that had brought the previous expeditions, hoping I might get away in one of them. Well, I found them, but they were no use, being disabled like my own ship. However, from their logs, I did manage to piece together what must be the answer to this riddle. Shortly after the first expedition arrived on Midas 3, it discovered a strange immigrant to the planet. Where it was from, we shall never know, but it was that robot. Whether it was mad to begin with, an insane exile from it's race, or whether the crash deranged it I cannot say, but mad it was. It imagined itself the representative of a group of robots like itself, and dreamt of galactic conquest. It's hatred for humans was surpassed only by its loathing for the vegetative inhabitants of this planet. As further Terran ships came it killed off their crews, one by one. I guess it got our crew the same way. They probably saw a beautiful girl and let her in, thinking she was a survivor from one of the previous expeditions. After my wanderings were finished, I settled down here with these plant beings. At first I thought their habits were repulsive and inhuman, but I've lived with 'em for a long time now, and even established a form of communication. They're not so bad - the way things are here is just nature's little twist, I guess. Anyway, at least they kept track of the mad robot girl for me. They were my eyes and ears, all across the planet. 

"Then one day the girl left, in a ship she'd obviously kept hidden away in working order. Where she went to, I don't know, but you must have fitted into her plans in some way, because she came back with you. We tried to get you away from her earlier, but she was too careful, and we could not be sure that you weren't another of her kind - not until the plant-men's scrambler didn't have any effect on you. They had been tracking her for many years while she was on world, but she had always been too swift for them in the past; they'd never been able to corner her before. What I can't see is why she returned here." 

Hutyer smiled grimly. "I can explain that," he said, and filled in the blanks in the old man's knowledge. When he had finished the old timer nodded slowly. 

"So that was it. She.. it ... was mad, no doubt about it. It is good that it is destroyed." 

Hutyer nodded, then his face blanched abruptly. 

"What is it?" the ancient demanded. 

"My ship. She was alone in the control room for a few minutes before we left. If she jammed the particle accumulator..." 

"You'd better get back and stop it before the planet's flooded with radiation." 

"But I don't know where it is." 

The old man smiled. "No, but the plants do. They will show you." 

Hutyer breathed a sigh of relief. "But what of you?" 

"I will remain here. I have grown to like this world. I am content here." Hutyer nodded. "So be it." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

It was a long tramp back to his ship, and Hutyer was utterly exhausted as he sank into the pilot's seat and examined the control board. The particle motor was charged to capacity. He was only just in time. An hour more and... 

As the ship bore it's way on a reverse course back for the Heras 6 space station Hutyer lay back on his couch, ready to sink into an exhausted sleep. Just before slumber claimed him, he found himself thinking of Midas 3 and it's weird inhabitants in a different light. The old man had been right - it wasn't an evil place - just different. Hutyer sighed. Oh well, let the League continue to think of it as dangerous. They wouldn't understand, anyway. They would come, and bring destruction in their wake. There would be hate, and killing. No, it was better to leave things be. 

Then he fell into a deep, deep sleep, and across his dreams strode giant flowers that walked on feet like leaves. And he was a flower like them. 

And glad it was so. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 5



Jenny walked into the room, and stared down sympathetically at Hutyer. He glowered back at her from his bed. "And how is our favourite patient today?'' she asked, a trace of sarcasm showing through. 

"If I can't get up soon, I'll go mad," Hutyer shouted. "There's nothing wrong with me I tell you." 

"Come, come. When your ship docked back from Midas 3 you were found inside in a deep coma. At first, we thought you were dead." 

"Sorry to disappoint, you," Hutyer grunted sourly. "The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me, could they?" 

"Only because no-one knows much about Midas 3 except you. There's no telling what strange disease you might have picked up out there." 

"Null! I'm getting up," growled Hutyer. "And there's nothing going to stop me," 

Jenny smiled. "Good." 

"Eh? What did you say?" 

"Good," the girl repeated. "S.J.'s just been on the visi. He says you're to get up at once, because there's an important client on his way up here. We're to do whatever he asks." 

Hutyer looked sour. "Hmm, S.J. seems to lose his concern over my good health when he smells money. Oh well, as long as I don't have to go to any more way-out planets. I'm staying here. By the way, Has the boss got another crew yet?" 

"No, but he's working on it." 

"Well, he'd better hurry it up. I'm too young to die." 

Jenny regarded him amusedly. "You, young, mmm, perhaps the stresses of space have aged you prematurely." 

Hutyer flung a pillow at her. "Thanks for nothing," he said. "Now GET OUT!" 

After his secretary had taken a hurried leave, Hutyer dressed rapidly. He had just finished doing this, when a shuddering jolt was transmitted through the frame of the space-station that was his base. "Hmm, the ferry must have arrived," he muttered to himself. 

Hutyer walked quickly down to the landing bay. The inner doors opened, and a wizened man stepped into the station. Hutyer gasped with surprise. "Professor Bernard!" he exclaimed. 

The old man's face cracked into a smile. "So you know me," he said. 

"Everybody knows the man who made Null-space travel possible," Hutyer replied. 

"Good," Bernard smiled. "But we haven't got much time. Can we go straight to your office?" 

Hutyer nodded, and led Bernard along the corridors and gravtubes that were the route to his private office. He wondered what the famous scientist wanted with this organisation. His queries were soon to be answered. 

The old man sank gratefully into the chair Hutyer offered him. "I'll get straight to the point," he said. "You may or may not know that I've been working on a new project. You're aware, of course, that there is a direct ratio between the amount of time one spends in Nullspace, and the distance traversed in the terms of our own continuum." 

"Yes," Hutyer replied. "The longer you stay in Null, the shorter the distance you travel in respect of our own Universe." 

"Quite. The reverse applies also, of course. And there is a limit. One cannot safely travel further than about a thousand light years in one Jump, since you cannot stay in Null less than about a second. It takes that long to reverse the drive controls, even with mechanical assistance, which can become unreliable in Null." Hutyer nodded in agreement. "Furthermore, the less time you spend in Null, the less accurately can you pinpoint your destination." 

"Mmm. You can be several light years out. My old days as a pilot taught me that much." 

"Right then. Now what would you say if I was to tell you that I have developed a new drive - a drive that enables one to travel up to a hundred thousand light years in a few minutes, and can pinpoint the point of arrival to a few thousand miles, even over a jump like that." 

"It sounds impossible." 

"Quite. Nevertheless, I have developed such a drive." 

"What!" 

"Yes. Let me explain. It operates in several stages. The first takes you into Null for a split second. Then a more powerful drive unit moves you into a space beyond even Null, a sort of Null-Null. There are several more stages to this process, each one shifting you into a continuum farther removed from our own. Power builds up, over a period, which snaps in the end, and sends one hurtling back into the first - our own - continuum, but at a precalculated distance from the starting point; as much as a hundred thousand light years if desired." 

Hutyer looked dubious. "But you must need an incredible power source to drive such Null motors." 

"Yes," Bernard agreed, "and for ten years I have laboured on developing such a power source. Finally I realised that there was only one source of power sufficient for my needs." 

"Oh? And what is that?" 

"The power of a star." 

"What? But you couldn't possibly harness the power of an entire star." 

"No? We shall see, young fellah." 

Hutyer stroked his chin. "You can't be serious surely?" 

"Listen," continued the old man. "I've learnt that in this Universe nothing is impossible, only beyond the scope of our limited intelligence. What would you say if I told you that if I was to surround a star with Null transformers I could transfer the entire body into Nullspace. But a star is a different proposition from a mere spaceship, and it's transfer would strain the continuum more than a little. In fact, after about a year the stresses would become so great that the linkage between the continua would snap. As my Null transformers would anchor the star in Null. it's Nullspace equivalent would be forced into our Universe. The anti-star would be unstable in our continuum, and would be forced to - not explode -but split into several smaller stellar objects. These would be small enough to utilise as power sources for my drive. Lines of force would link the star's interior to the accumulators of my drive. It's that simple." 

Hutyer shook his head in bewilderment. This was all beyond him. "Don't tell me you've hired us to do that?" he said. 

"Heavens, no," Bernard replied. "That's way beyond you lot. No, no, what I've hired you for is to take me out to look over a likely star that I've got in mind to utilise for my experiment. I've got to let my computer banks get hold of a bit of first hand information." 

Hutyer looked suspicious. "How first hand?" 

"We'll be going almost into it's photosphere." 

"We'd never get THAT near it. We'd vaporise in seconds!" 

Bernard smiled. "In an ordinary ship, yes, but as you know, I've made a considerable fortune from my patent on the Null drive, more than enough to build a special ship. It has an extra hard hull, and is protected by a magnetic 'bottle' of force, rather like those that they use in fusion reactors. That should be enough to protect the ship against anything a mere sun can throw out." He glanced at his watch. "Anyway," he continued, "I've got to get back down to Heras 6 on the ferry, to pick up the others. Just thought I'd pop up to fill you in on my ideas. We'll be bringing the ship up tomorrow. All you have to do is provide a pilot." 

Hutyer shook his head as the old man strode out of his office. "All we've got to do is provide a pilot," he muttered. "Ha." He picked up his interphone. "Jenny," he said, "get me S.J. Quick." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer flipped off the visi as Jenny walked in. "What's going on?" she asked. Hutyer explained everything that had transpired up to the time that he had called S.J. "What happened then?" asked his secretary. "What did S.J. say? It looks as if Bernard is nuts." 

Hutyer nodded. "That's exactly what I said to S.J.. And he agreed with me. But Bernard's as rich as blazes, so we've got to humour him. After all, we've only got to provide the pilot." 

"And who IS the lucky pilot, by the way?" Jenny enquired. 

Hutyer stared back at her shamefacedly. "Well, actually," he muttered, "Bernard's got to leave tomorrow and S.J. hasn't got a replacement, fixed up yet, so ..." 

"You volunteered out of sheer love for the job." 

"For triple my normal cut actually," Hutyer confessed. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Early the next day, Herasport time, Bernard's giant ship docked smoothly against the side of the space- station. Hutyer stood waiting by the airlock as the Professor came through. 

"You'd better meet the others," Bernard said, pointing towards the three people who had followed him through the lock. "The one on the right is Umbert, my close friend, then there's Trass, my adviser, and my daughter Paula, who is his wife." 

Hutyer stared at Bernard's daughter as she stepped into the station. She was about twenty five, he guessed, and every bit the classic beauty. A smile twitched at her lips as she caught him glancing appreciatively in his direction. 

"Are you ready to leave?" Bernard asked Hutyer. 

The spaceman nodded. "Yes. If you could just give me a hand to get my equipment loaded aboard." He pointed at a pile in the corner. Trass and Umbert picked up boxes and took them aboard the big ship. Hutyer gathered up the remainder of his stuff and prepared to follow them. He was conscious of Jenny watching him as he lumbered into the airlock. 

"Take care," she called out after him. 

"I will," he called back, "but we should be quite safe as long as the ship's shield holds." 

Jenny grinned. "That wasn't what I was thinking of actually." 

"Huh," muttered Hutyer, "she's spoken for." 

"That's no real barrier," Jenny replied a little wistfully. 

Hutyer looked bemused by the girl's tone, but she turned abruptly and walked away. He ran on to catch up the others, who were waiting outside the connecting lock that led into their own ship. They took him to the control room. Bernard showed him the data that had been fed into the drive computer. Hutyer studied it for a moment. 

"Yes," he agreed at last, "I think that should get us there okay." 

"Good," said Bernard. "Then we might as well get going." He activated the firing sequence. 

Hutyer gave a start. "Not yet," he shouted. "We're not in our seats yet. The shock -" His warning was cut short as the ship blasted away from the space station, throwing them all about the room. Hutyer scrambled hastily to his feet. He saw that Bernard had been thrown back against the control desk. He dragged the Professor free as the others got shakily to their feet. 

Hutyer scanned the desk quickly. "Oh no," he groaned. "When you fell back you landed on the control that cut out the automatic pilot, and sent us into Null." He worked quickly to return them into the normal time-space continuum. His actions seemed successful and he studied the viewer. 

"There's a planet over there," he announced. "We'd better get a bearing, and if it's safe, land. Such a violent manoeuvre may have caused stress fractures to the hull. What the Null-" Hutyer cursed as he received further data from the ship's computers. There was disbelief on his face. 

"What's up?" Trass asked. 

Hutyer frowned. "According to this, we're in unexplored space. Or, to be more exact, we're not in space at all, nor in Null either." 

"But that's impossible." 

Hutyer rubbed his chin. "I once ventured into a continuum beyond Null," he said, "but it was nothing like this. There seem to be stars all around us - fairly normal looking stars." 

"Aha" exclaimed Bernard. 

"What is it, daddy?" Paula asked. 

"I think that I may have the answer," said the Professor. "If so, we've made history." 

"Well?" Hutyer enquired curiously. 

"I think we've done something that couldn't probably have been achieved very easily if we'd consciously tried for it. The ship was programmed to enter Null almost at once after take off. I think that it was just about to enter Null when I lurched against the control panel, cutting out the drive. I believe we are trapped between ordinary space and Null; in halfnull if you like." 

Hutyer looked dazed. "Eh?" 

"To be more exact, we are still in our Universe, but in a warped existence. We are in a tiny area of space that has been twisted almost inside out. We are probably warped out of all proportion with regard to the rest of the Universe." 

Trass looked worried. "How long will this last?" 

"I couldn't honestly say," replied the Professor. "It's unlikely that we can exist in a warped continuum like this for any great period of time. We shall probably be thrown into our own Universe when it snaps. On the other hand we may be torn into a million fragments. Hmm. Having thought about it, I should say that that is the likeliest of the two alternatives." 

"Daddy always was an optimist," the girl said sarcastically, smiling in Hutyer's direction 

"What can we do about it?" 

"Absolutely nothing," Bernard replied philosophically. "Any disturbance of our present delicate balance could well be fatal. We dare not move the ship or even activate the controls. However, as we and the ship are both part of the same plane, it should be all right for us to move about within it." 

Umbert looked nervously about the control cabin. "I hope we get out of this soon," he said. "I don't much fancy the idea of just hanging around, waiting to be shattered into a million fragments." 

"There's no precedent that we can apply to our position," Bernard remarked, "that's the trouble. We could be stuck here for ever. We may all be dead from old age by the time we escape." 

Umbert forced a smile. "I think I'll go to my room and read up on the theories of this," he said. "This cheerful conversation here is making me nervous." 

He walked out of the room. Trass stared at the Professor. "I don't think he's safe," he remarked. "He always was highly strung." 

Bernard looked annoyed. "I won't have you talk about my friends in such a way," he snapped. "Even if you are my son-in-law." 

Trass glowered for a moment, then relaxed. He let out a deep breath. "Okay," he said, "We'd better check the ship for points of stress on the hull. We can do that from the engine room." 

The Professor nodded. "I think we'd better all be on maximum alert,'' he said. "Anything could happen.'' He strode out of the room with Trass, leaving Hutyer alone with Paula Bernard. 

"I'm sorry," she said. 

"Oh? What for?" 

"My husband. He's always losing his temper nowadays." 

"I'm used to such things," assured Hutyer. "I've heard much worse. In fact ..." He paused, and clutched at his head. 

"What's wrong?" the girl asked anxiously, as he began to sway on his feet. He stared blankly at her. 

"Dan," she said, running over to him, "can you hear me?" 

Hutyer toppled forward into the girl's outstretched arms. She screamed. Trass burst back into the room a few moments later. "What's up?" he said. "We heard a scream." 

Paula let Hutyer slide gently to the floor. "He suddenly passed out," she explained, looking distraught. 

Trass pondered. "We'd better get him to his cabin," he decided. "Give me a hand." 

Together Trass and his wife lifted Hutyer's inert form from the floor and carried him into his cabin. Trass felt for the spaceman's pulse. "He's dead!" he exclaimed. 

A sudden chill ran down the girl's spine. "What?" she breathed. "No, he can't be. He mustn't be!" 

"Yes. Must have had a heart attack. It's all too common in spacemen. They lead a very hectic life." 

"Are you sure," she begged. "He was clutching at his head just before he passed out." 

"I'll get the Professor, and the medical kit," Trass decided. 

Bernard returned with her husband a few minute's later, looking flushed. He put a stethoscope to Hutyer's chest. After a few minutes he got up and shook his head. 

"He's definitely dead," he said, "There's not a trace of a heartbeat." 

"I can't believe it," Paula sobbed. "I won't accept it." 

"We might all be soon," Trass added. 

The girl looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" 

"While you were here with Hutyer, I was down in the drive room." 

"So?" 

"We're drifting nearer and nearer that planet all the time. If we don't break out of this soon we'll have to risk firing the motors." 

Bernard frowned. "No," he said. "I can't allow you to do that. It could tear us into tiny pieces." 

Trass' face went red. "COULD," he shouted. "Yes, it COULD. But if we don't do something fast, we WILL burn up in that planet's atmosphere." 

The Professor shook his head. "Not necessarily," he averred. "In our present state we may well be protected from that." 

"But - even if that were so, I doubt that this tautly warped area of space we're in, is going to react happily with the matter in the planet's atmosphere." 

"And since when have you been an expert on such things," Bernard retorted hotly. 

Paula intervened as her husband purpled with indignation. "Please," she said. She glanced down at Hutyer's inert form. "Have a little respect for the dead." 

"I'm sorry," Bernard muttered, and Trass nodded sullenly. 

"The thing is," Paula said, "that we just don't know, and if you two were honest with yourselves you would both admit it. Who knows what is the right thing to do under the circumstances. It could be anything, even something so wildly illogical that we would never normally consider it." 

"We must have time to think," said the Professor. 

"And that's just what we haven't got," Trass put in. "We're drifting towards that planet remember." 

The Professor rubbed his chin. "Emm. Let's go back to the control room. There's nothing we can do for Hutyer. Let him rest in peace." 

They made their way back to the heart of the ship. As they entered the room Trass let out a strangled cry. "Look," he gasped. The systems were all flashing danger. 

"The outer airlock's opened," Bernard shouted above the clamour. "The inner airlock will give way any seconds." 

"Go for your space suits," shouted Trass 

The Professor was at a loss. "I must warn Umbert," he began. "I .. Too late. It's burst!" 

Even as Trass leapt to secure the control room bulkhead against the vacuum, there came a rush of air that whisked the three humans, and also everything else that was portable out through the door, along the corridor, and out of the gaping hole. 

Bernard looked around him in amazement. He was astonished to find himself still alive. Bruised and battered, but alive. He looked around him, and saw Trass and Paula, floating amongst the debris that had been torn from the ship. They too were moving. Below them floated Umbert - in a space suit - he'd obviously had a bit more warning in his cabin. Above was the inert form of Hutyer. 

Trass and his wife shoved off from a large piece of debris, and floated towards the Professor. They looked dazed, which was hardly surprising in the circumstances. Their faces and limbs were scratched and grazed. 

"What happened?" asked Paula, frightened. 

"Umbert may have opened the airlock, I think," said the Professor. "That would explain why he is in a space suit - in the normal run of things I don't think he'd've had time to put one on. That would have placed some sort of strain on the structure of the space warp in which we were enclosed, and I should think that the inner lock gave way under the forces that were unleashed. But just what those forces were, and why we're still alive I just couldn't say." He looked thoughtful. 

"It may be," he continued, "that the warp has tightened around the ship, enclosing only a very limited space, so that when the lock burst and the air rushed out, it didn't dissipate over a large area, but was held in by the warp. Yes, that must be it. How long things will remain this way is another matter, though. I wouldn't know how far this warp might stretch for one thing." 

"You'd better start hoping that it will stretch a long way," muttered Trass. 

Bernard frowned. "Oh. Why?" 

"Look at the ship." 

The Professor glanced over his shoulder. "We're moving away from it - at a terrific speed." 

"Yes. Towards the planet. It's gravitational field must still be having an effect upon us." 

The Professor mused on this. "Yes, due to our strictly limited volume, the planet might attract it in the same way it would a material body. Mind you, I don't know what might happen when we hit the surface. If this continuum we're trapped in and our own are mutually hostile, then they might cancel each other out upon contact, like matter and antimatter. Then.." 

"Pow," volunteered Trass lucidly. 

Bernard nodded. "I'm afraid so." 

"That is," Paula added, "if this warp doesn't stretch too far and break of it's own accord." 

Bernard scratched his head. "I don't think it's stretching at all," he said, "or if it is, only very slowly. The air doesn't seem to be dissipating into a larger volume of space, and the debris still forms a roughly spherical shell about us. It may be that our field has now parted from the one that is surrounding the ship, and that the two are drifting apart." 

"That doesn't alter the facts," Trass reminded him. "We're finished whichever way you look at it." 

Bernard nodded. "I'm sorry, Paula," he said, "but your husband is quite right. Still, with a bit of luck death will be so quick that we won't know anything about it." 

Their descent towards the atmosphere of the planet continued in silence. After about ten minutes the Professor cleared his throat and spoke: 

"We are about to enter the significant part of the planet's atmosphere," he announced. The three of them waited tensely for something to happen as the atmosphere of the new world rushed towards them. The bulk of the planet was now spread out hugely beneath them. 

After a while Bernard frowned in puzzlement. "We are not burning up," he said. 

"But what happens when we hit solid ground?" Trass asked. "We are falling at about six hundred miles an hour." 

"And it should be a lot more than that," Bernard revealed. "Our warp bubble must be meeting air resistance. Not that it'll help us," he said at last, "there are only a few seconds left before we make contact with the ground." 

Trass gripped his wife as the ground rushed up to meet them, and they both grasped the Professor's arm firmly. They plunged toward the earth beneath. They struck... 

Their bodies were violently jarred as the outer edge of the warp bubble made contact with the ground. They hurtled upwards again, thrown thousands of feet into the sky. When they came down again they bounced upwards once more, although not so violently this time. Up and down went their bubble, so many times that Bernard lost count. Then gradually, it bounced to a halt and settled on the ground. 

Trass jumped to his feet, and ran over to his wife, who had landed a few feet away. "We've made it," he shouted exultantly, pulling her to her feet. She stared at him, a dazed expression upon her features. 

The Professor stumbled over to them. "Well, we're down in one piece," he observed, "though I don't know how we did it." 

Paula frowned at her husband. "Look," she muttered, "although you seem to be holding my hand, you're not." 

Bernard gaped. "What?" 

Trass nodded. "She's right, too. It feels like I'm holding her alright, but there's a gap of about a quarter inch between us." 

Bernard scowled, and pondered for a moment. "Try and pick something up," he ordered Trass. "But make sure it's something of ours. On no account pick up anything native to this world. Use something from the ship." 

Trass pondered. "Hmm," he muttered. "Come to think of it, Prof., the outside world looks mighty queer." 

He was right. The surrounding terrain looked very strange indeed. Objects were blurry around the edges, and twisted into strange shapes. 

"Probably something to do with the fact that we're in a warped continuum," Bernard theorised. "No doubt we look very strange to anything outside." 

Trass shrugged. "Well, it should make the job of differentiating between objects from our ship and objects native to this world that much easier. We've just got to look for something that we recognise." 

He went off in one direction, and Paula in the other. They both returned within a few seconds, carrying pieces of metal. 

"It feels as though we are touching it," the girl said. 

"But we aren't," Trass added. "Look." 

Bernard peered at his hand and saw that he was right. There was a gap between the flesh of Trass' hand and the chunk of metal. He frowned. 

"Can you touch yourselves?" he asked. 

"Yes," they both asserted. 

"Ah! That's the answer then." 

"What's the answer?" Trass demanded. Bernard chewed reflectively at his lip. "We have already seen," he stated at last, "that this warped continuum in which we are trapped is capable of subdivision - for example the way it split when we parted company with the ship. When our warp bubble hit the surface of the planet, we bounced many times before we finally settled down. I think you'll find that each of us has his own little continuum around him, separate from the others." 

"But that could be difficult for us," Trass muttered. "How come we can still breathe. If we're sheathed in some kind of warp-suit effect, it can't be big enough to hold much of a supply of air." 

"Osmosis," Bernard declared. "The air from this planet is probably breathable. It seeps in through the warp- field, and takes the place of the stale air we exhale." 

Trass looked doubtful. "There was no osmotic effect with the larger warp when we were out in space. If there had been our air would've dissipated into space, and we would have suffocated." 

"Perhaps our bouncing weakened the field," Bernard countered. "Or then again, there may have been some leakage from the big field, but not enough to effect us in the period we were in space." 

He was interrupted as Paula gasped: "Good God!" 

"What is it?" Bernard asked. 

The girl pointed, open-mouthed, to her left. The two men peered into the blurry mist, but could see nothing. "What's up, Paula?" Trass said. 

"Hutyer," the girl said hesitantly. 

"He came down over there." Trass nodded. "So?" 

"He just moved." 

"But he's dead, my dear," Bernard replied. "It must have been a trick of the light." 

"No, by the stars," Trass rapped. "She's right, Prof. He's getting up!" 

The trip rushed over to where Hutyer lay. He was trying to raise himself to his feet. They pulled him up, and he looked around in bewilderment. 

"We thought you were dead," Bernard said. "In fact, you were. Your heart had stopped beating." 

"I feel ever so strange," Hutyer murmured. 

"I expect you do," Paula said. "Still, you're alive. That's what counts." 

Hutyer sat on the ground and gaped around him. The others explained what had occurred since his death, but he seemed to show little interest. A few moments later, he rolled over and sank into sleep. 

Bernard rubbed his hair. "Well, that takes the cake," he said. "He was dead - I'm sure of it. It may be something to do with this peculiar state that we're in. No-one's experienced it before. We have no precedents to guide us. Anything could happen next." 

"Thanks," said Paula, looking nervously about. "That's all the reassurance I needed." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

They spent the next hour or so collecting up everything they could find that had come from the ship. They stacked it up in a big pile. The last thing they came across was the body of Umbert, still encased in it's space suit. They slowly lowered it to the ground, near the pile of salvage. 

"It looks as though he's going to remain dead," Trass remarked. 

"Yes," Bernard agreed sadly. 

"Strange," Paula muttered, half to herself. 

"What?" asked her husband. 

"Eh? Oh, I was just thinking. We must have been here several hours at least, but out there, in the world beyond our warps, nothing has moved so as you'd notice." 

Bernard nodded. "You're right. of course, that might not be especially significant. It could be that this is a dead world, although that's a dubious conclusion in view of the life supporting atmosphere. Also, those queer blurred spire-things might be an indication of an indigenous culture. Still, our time rate might be different from that of the outside world. For all we know, we could be slap in the middle of a bustling city, but locked in a single instant of time, so that nothing appears to move." 

"It's all so strange," Paula declared. "Everything's so still and quiet. Apart from the noises that we make the world might just as well not exist." 

"For all the good that it'll do us it might just as well not," Trass put in bitterly. 

The Professor looked thoughtful. "Of course," he said slowly, "there is the possibility that this plane of existence we're in has a sort of temporal tension building up, like a winding spring. While we move through time, and the outside world does not, the temporal tension increases, and the spring tightens, until it can go no further." 

"And when a spring is tightened too far," said Paula, "it snaps." 

Bernard nodded wearily. "Yes. I think that we may be nearing the climax of this voyage very soon." He yawned. "But I'm tired. Very tired indeed. I think I'll follow Hutyer's example and get in some rest. Whatever's going to happen will do so whether I'm awake or not. We shall be powerless to stop it. 

"I'll keep watch," Trass volunteered, "though God knows what I'll be watching out for." 

Paula lay down on the ground next to her father and clung to him tightly, while Trass paced restlessly about in a small circle. After a while he checked that his wife and father-in-law were still sleeping, before strolling over to where Hutyer was laying in order to see whether there had been any change in his condition, He stared down at the sleeping figure, then recoiled in horror. He raced back to Paula and Bernard and shook them violently to wake them. 

"What's the matter?" Bernard asked urgently as he saw the expression on Trass' face. 

Trass motioned feebly at the spot where Hutyer was lying. The Professor roused Paula and the three of them strode across to the bundle that was the sleeping spaceman. 

"Tell me I'm dreaming, Prof.," Trass croaked. 

Bernard bent down and stared at Hutyer. The pilot's face was bulging and his eyes protruded as if they were bursting. His skin was dry and cracked. He looked wan and emaciated, and when Bernard undid his shirt, his ribs seemed to be almost poking through his skin. His feet bulged in a manner similar to his bloated face. 

"What in Null's happened to him?" Trass asked. He put his arm round his wife as she burst into tears. 

Bernard was pale. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've never seen anything like it before. He appears to have picked up some kind of infection." 

"It might be catching," Trass said. "Oughtn't we to get as far away from him as possible?" 

"If it's contagious," Bernard said slowly, "we've been near him long enough to pick it up, I think." 

"What can we do for him?" Paula said. 

Bernard shook his head. "Nothing. We can only wait and see what happens." 

Trass looked uneasy. "I don't like it," he muttered. "I don't want to end up like that. Let's destroy him." 

"No," replied Bernard sharply. "I will have no killing, even though from the look of Hutyer, it might be best for him if we were to put him out of his misery. But we don't know. Besides we can't get rid of his body, even if we do kill him. Don't forget that we're in the confined space of the warp." 

Paula took her husband by the arm. "I'll keep an eye on him," she decided. You and father keep a look out, just in case." 

Trass mumbled in agreement. He walked off with the Professor, but not before he had cast one more uneasy glance at Hutyer's emaciated form. 

A while later, Professor Bernard rushed over to his daughter who had just screamed. She was standing over Hutyer, or what had been Hutyer, gazing down in horror. 

The pilot's face, swollen and bloated earlier, was now covered in a mass of overlapping pink petals. His eyes stood out on stalks. His formerly well proportioned body had shrunk into what looked like a stem. His arms were like long thin tendrils, ending in thorny fingers, and his feet had taken on the aspect of two broad, flat leaves. 

Paula rocked on her feet, fighting hard to keep herself from fainting. Even Bernard's scholarly composure was shaken. Trass, alerted by his wife's scream, also came running across. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the thing that had been Hutyer. There was a long silence, as the three of them just stood and stared. 

It was Trass who spoke first. "My God, it's horrible," he breathed. 

"He's turned into a plant," Bernard explained needlessly. 

Hutyer began to stir. 

"My God, it's trying to get up," Trass babbled. His hand shot to his holster, but his gun was not there. He looked frantically towards Bernard, but the Professor too was unarmed. Then he saw a gun protruding from his wife's jacket pocket. "Kill it, Paula," he cursed. 

As the thing that had been Hutyer rose slowly to it's leaf like feet, the girl slowly pulled the blaster from her pocket and aimed it. Then, as the thing moved towards her slowly, waving it's stem-like limbs, she lowered it again. 

"I can't," she sobbed. "I can't kill him." 

"It's not a him," Trass screamed at her. "It's a thing!" 

"But it may still be Dan Hutyer; inside...." 

"He was a stranger," Trass cursed. Paula shook her head, and dropped the gun to the ground. She stepped back as the plant moved towards her. Trass dived for the ground and picked up the gun. "If you won't," he said, "I will." 

The girl kicked the gun away as he reached for it. "I can't let you do it," she said. 

Her husband staggered to his feet, a look of disbelief on his face. 'Why?" he breathed. "Why?" 

Before anyone could say or do anything more, Professor Bernard let out a startled cry: 

"Look! Look at the boundaries of our time warp." 

The walls were cracking, splitting. Obviously the spring effect had passed the point of maximum bearable strain, and the forces that acted upon it were now destroying it. Suddenly all hell broke loose, and the occupants of the warp were thrown off their feet by a mighty gale. For a brief second they were doused in a raging torrent of water that swirled and frothed about them. Then all was calm again. But only for a few seconds. Then a new wave of experience swept over them, whether subjective or objective it was impossible to tell. 

They seemed to be lifted off the planet, thrown back into the black gulfs of space; back into their ship, sucked into it as dirt is sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Finally there came a huge bang, that sent them reeling, clutching at their heads. There was a rushing of air, and Bernard muttered something about being in a ship with the lock open. 

But still their ordeal was not over, They had the impression of travelling at an immense speed, and they knew instinctively that the ship was travelling towards the surface of a planet. Somehow they were ejected. Ejected by Umbert, but at the cost of his own life. They watched him spinning downwards to his death, in the vast sea that lay beneath them. The next thing they knew, the four of them were aboard a life raft in the wave chopped seas, and Hutyer was back to normal. He clutched at his head, moaning softly. 

"What the Hell...," Trass muttered dumbly. 

Bernard's eyes lit up. "I think I've got the answer," he stated, gazing at Hutyer. "When our time warp finally gave way and snapped, just as the spring analogy foretold it would, we were tossed back into our own Universe. But - we had been travelling forward in time, whereas the rest of the Universe had remained static, at one moment in time. So that we could fit back into our own continuum, the energy we had acquired while locked in the warp bubble was expended in throwing us backwards in time, to the instant that we had first left our own Universe - the instant that it had all happened. Everything that had happened to us while we were in the bubble was cancelled. That explains Hutyer's state. The only thing that worries me," he continued, "is Umbert. I would have thought that he would have been returned to life." 

"He was," Trass said. "I saw him sucked back into the ship with the rest of us. But he died when he launched the lifecraft, that the rest of us could get away." 

Bernard pondered. "Mmm. Poor Umbert. Still, I think that I can see what has happened. When we came out of that warp, things took the course that they would have done had we never entered it. The ship came out of Null-space near it's objective - the star I intended to survey. But as we were all too dazed to regain control of my ship, it plunged down, out of control. This planet must be one of that star's family. In fact, the orange sky and pink clouds give it away as Wader, the water planet." 

"What has gone on?" Hutyer muttered. "Last thing I remember Was when I passed out aboard the ship." 

Bernard explained what had happened. 

"Hmm. Just as well that Paula didn't shoot," Hutyer mused. "Though I don't really blame her, really. I probably would have wanted to do just the same under the circumstances." He looked at Paula. "Still, thanks for not shooting. Why didn't you?" 

Trass looked intently at his wife. "Yes. What were you playing at?" he asked. 

Paula looked down at her feet. "I don't know," she admitted. "I just couldn't." She stared coldly at her husband. "We're not all killers, you know." 

Trass reddened. "And what's that supposed to mean?" 

"Forget it," Bernard intervened. "This is certainly not the time for petty squabbles." 

"This is more than a petty squabble," Trass replied. "There's something going on between those two." 

"Shut up!" Bernard shouted. "Look." He pointed towards the east, where the sea appeared to be boiling. 

Paula shivered suddenly. "What is it?" she asked. 

"Wader, apart from being covered entirely by ocean, is well known for it's ferocious sea reptiles. If one of them takes a fancy to our raft, we'll be lucky to survive." 

Paula looked nervously about the large raft. "It couldn't do much to this, surely," she said. 

"I don't know," Bernard replied. "I think, however, that we might be about to find out. It's heading this way." 

As the monster approached, it suddenly disappeared from view. A few moments later the last ripple had vanished, and the water was calm and placid again. 

"Perhaps luck is with us at last." Bernard said. But he had spoken too soon, for as the words passed his lips a scaly arm lunged over the side of the boat and grabbed Trass' leg. As Trass lurched to one side, uttering a startled cry, Hutyer leapt forward and grabbed his arm. He hung on for grim death as the reptilian creature tried to tug Trass into the water. It appeared to be deadlock. Either the monster must have been very young, or else old, for it seemed to lack the strength to pull both men into the seething water. It had a grim persistence to it's efforts, however, and Hutyer couldn't gain as much as an inch. The sea frothed as the creature lashed about beside the raft. 

Trass turned to Hutyer, a look of amazement on his face. "You... saved, me.." he croaked. 

"Why not?" muttered Hutyer. 

"I .. thought .. you .. wanted .. me .. dead." 

Hutyer shook his head, trying desperately to summon the extra ounce of strength that was needed. He thought of asking Bernard and Paula to help him, but realised that they would only get in his way in the confined space. Besides, they seemed to be paralysed with shock. 

"My wife.." Trass was saying. 

"No," strained Hutyer. "Null, no." The monster slackened for a split second, and Hutyer gained a slight advantage. He was able to shift position to gain more room. He saw Paula, staring at them wide-eyed. "Give me a hand," he cried, "for God's sake." 

Suddenly the reptile pulled harder, having seemingly summoned up new reserves of energy during the lull. "I'm losing my grip," Hutyer gasped. "I can't hold him." 

A crazy sort of see-saw ensued as Hutyer first gained an inch or two, then lost his advantage just as quickly. Paula stepped forward and grabbed her husband's arm. As she did so she knocked against Hutyer, breaking his grip. As Hutyer fell backwards into the boat, Paula too let go. For a second Trass balanced on the edge of the boat, then, with a cry of despair he was pulled over, into the surging waters beneath the raft. 

Hutyer stared at the girl in amazement. "You killed him," he said simply. 

The girl nodded. "Yes," she agreed coolly. "I had grown to hate him recently. I am glad that he's dead. Don't let it worry you. He would have killed you just as easily if he'd have had the chance." 

"But why?" Hutyer asked. 

"I wanted you," Paula said. "He stood in my way." 

"But you've only just met me," Hutyer said dazedly. 

"Yes," replied Paula. "I've only met you recently in the flesh, but I have followed your exploits in Null space ever since my father perfected the original Null drive and you tested it." 

"I remember," Hutyer whispered. "You were just a young girl then." 

"Just a girl, Yes. But I fell in love with you, Dan. I knew someday my chance would come." 

Hutyer shook his head disdainfully. "I could never love a murderess." 

The girl smiled crookedly. "It makes no difference now," she said. "We are marooned on this ocean planet, in the middle of an uninhabited solar system. There is no hope of rescue. At least we shall die together." 

Bernard looked at his daughter, anguish across his face. "You must be insane," he muttered, looking totally shattered. 

"What is sanity," the girl said. "I shall die with the man I love. That is all that matters." 

"We might be rescued, yet," Hutyer said. "Don't forget that this raft is equipped with standard safety features and that includes a distress broadcaster. It will have been sending out distress signals ever since we left the ship." 

The girl smiled. "Yes, but it can only be picked up in this system. And no-one ever comes here. Give up hope, Dan. We are all going to die." 

Bernard's eyes had wandered upward, as if in prayer, but now his body stiffened and he caught Hutyer's arm. "Look," he shouted exultantly. "It's a ship." 

Hutyer's gaze travelled upwards towards the area of the sky where the Professor pointed. A swathe of vapour crossed the sky. It looked as if Bernard was right. He located a flare in the equipment hold and set it off. Paula was gaping at the vapour trail, a look of indecision on her face. "We will be saved," Hutyer told her gently. "There'll be people to look after you. You'll get treatment-." 

"I don't WANT treatment," she raved. "I want to die with you. We WILL die together." She lunged at Hutyer, obviously intending to push him into the sea. He stepped aside, a look of incredulity upon his face, and she went straight on, over the side of the raft. Hutyer gaped as a scaled limb snaked around her neck and pulled her beneath the surface. Then the sea was peaceful again, Hutyer turned as a choked gasp sounded from behind him. He saw Bernard sinking to the surface of the boat, clutching at his chest. The strain of recent events plus seeing his daughter die had been too much for his old heart. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer turned to the Captain of the rescue craft. "But why were you in the system?" he asked. "No one ever comes here?" 

"The Galactic Union sent us out after Bernard," the spaceman said. "They decided that his plan to warp an entire sun out of our Universe was too dangerous. They forbade it. I was supposed to ensure it didn't happen. We had trouble following your trail, but finally locked into it, strange as it was. But when we arrived in the system we picked up your distress signal." 

"Now they're all dead," Hutyer muttered. "Every one of them. Each journey I take ends in disaster, without exception. I've had it. I'm never taking a ship out again. Never." 

There was a note of finality in his voice. He gazed out of the viewer at the twinkling stars as he spoke, Never again would they be his second home. All they held for him now were memories of disaster. 

Sadly, he turned his back on outer space, and walked out of the ship's control room, towards his cabin. 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 6



Hutyer lifted himself slowly out of his seat and looked at his secretary, a determined look on his face. "That's right," he said, "I'm quitting. I've had too much of space and Null. I can't take anymore. I'm leaving you in charge until my replacement is employed." 

"But you can't," his secretary, Jenny argued. "If it's the trips that worry you, you know S.J.'s signed up two new crews. There'll be no more worries in that direction." 

"No," Hutyer replied, "it's not only that, I'm finished with the whole scene. Stuck up here on this goddam space station for months on end. I want to get my feet on some solid ground down there on Heras 6 and find myself a woman to share my life with." 

"Thanks," she interrupted, "I suppose I don't count." 

"You're like Heras 6 is from up here," he replied bitterly. "I can see you, but I can't touch you. No, I'm going down there, draw out my share of the profits, find a woman, hitch up with her and move out to some nice quiet planet and idle my life away, never venturing off the ground." 

"You're serious, aren't you," she sighed. "I thought at first it was just a whim of yours. Okay," she conceded, "there's no point in me arguing with you. You've made your mind up." 

"Yes," he said, "nothing would make me come back up here." 

The station rocked slightly. "That's the ferry. I've packed my things. Goodbye." He held out his hand, but she hugged him strongly in what for her had previously been for her, an uncharacteristic gesture. 

"I'll miss you," she sighed, letting him go reluctantly. 

He walked quickly out of the room. It was a shame in a way. They had become good friends recently. He would probably never see her again. 

He walked down to the landing bay where he was greeted by the Captain of the ferry, who was having Hutyer's baggage loaded. "Are you leaving for good up here?" he asked. 

"I guess so" Hutyer confirmed. 

"Coming down to Heras 6?" the other asked warily. 

"Yes," Hutyer said, "for a short while. I don't intend to stay too long." 

"No," the Captain mused. "Oh well. Okay. Nothing else to load. We'll get on back down." 

Hutyer followed the Captain into the ferry. The ancient air-lock hissed to behind them. "When are they going to scrap this old hulk?" Hutyer asked. "Or are they just going to let her fall apart one blast off time." 

"She's got a few years left in her yet," the Captain retorted angrily. "Every part of this ship is 100% functional." 

Hutyer smiled at the Captain's indignation. They walked to the control room in silence. When they were all in position, the ship blasted off. 

As the ferry pulled away from the space station, another ship came close to colliding as it sped towards Hutyer's former home. The Captain swore profanities as his ship's automatic pilot came into action. 

"Lucky you had that installed," Hutyer said, "or we'd be space junk now." 

"If this was a fighter, I'd blast the devil out of the continuum," the Captain raved. 

"I wouldn't recommend that," the second-in-command advised, "it was one of the Government Security Ships." 

"What's that doing round here?" the Captain mused. 

"That's what I'd like to know," Hutyer said, frowning. He knew the authorities on Heras 6 had no time for S.J.'s business activities up here. 

"It's hovering around the station," the mate said. "It doesn't look like it's going to land. It's gone into orbit." 

"It'd better not land," Hutyer said. "Government or not, it has no jurisdiction out here in this particular bit of space. If they land on our station, we have every right to shoot to kill to protect our property." 

"They're just orbiting," the mate continued, "it's as if they're waiting for something." 

"Like a vulture," the Captain added. 

At this point a message began to come over the communicator. It was very faint, almost inaudible. 

"Where's it from?" Hutyer asked. 

"Space station," the communications officer replied. 

"What!" Hutyer exclaimed. "It sounds more like it's coming from another Galaxy.'' 

"Must be a transmission problem," the Captain cursed. 

"Gone," the communication's man added. "I got a bit of the message. It was from your dishy little secretary. Something about a message from S.J., Heras 6, and something about that ship we saw." 

"Very strange," the Captain muttered. "Null on fire!" he exploded. "look at our speed! Our motors are at full velocity, therefore we should be going at full speed. We're only at one quarter speed." 

"Have you considered that the motors may be packing up?" Hutyer suggested. "I can't believe they've lasted this long." 

"No," the Captain replied firmly. "impossible. I have checked the controls. The instruments show maximum velocity thrust. The instruments are correct. We've got two of everything as a fail-safe. It's as if we're up against some sort of force field." 

"We're slowing further," "the second-in-command informed them. 

"Cut to half thrust," the Captain ordered. "The motors'll blow. They're overheating, the energy is building up inside them." 

"There's nothing getting through," the communications officer advised. "There's something very strange going on." 

As he spoke, the ship regained its velocity. It entered the outer atmosphere of Heras 6 and the Captain had to fight to regain control, as the ship sped too quickly towards the surface of the planet. As they landed at the small spaceport where the ferry ship was housed, they saw a hovercar arrive. 

"Your boss has come to meet you," "the Captain advised Hutyer. "That message he was trying to get to you must've been important." 

Hutyer had reached the bottom of the gangway and was just stepping onto the ground as a hand frantically gestured for him to come over. 

"What's up?'' he asked, as the door opened and S.J. virtually pulled him into the 'car. 

S.J. raced the 'car to maximum velocity as they lifted out of the spaceport. "What's going on, Dan?" he asked. "I couldn't get through to you or the space-station. You've got to get back up there as soon as possible." 

"Have you forgotten that place is nothing to do with me anymore?" Hutyer asked. 

"Yes," S.J. replied impatiently. "I know all about that, but things have changed. Don't you realise what is going on?" 

"No," Hutyer answered, as the 'car banked sharply. "I think that maybe it's time that I knew though." 

"That job for Bernard and company that ended in tragedy." S.J. began. "As you know, the Central Government have been looking for a way to curtail our activities for some time. It's developed into a political issue now. The Free People and Trade Party that managed to form as an opposition due to a legal loophole in the Law that banned opposition parties, has gained considerable force, and the election is coming up soon. They could win it, but if "We'll Take You Anywhere" is forced to close - and it will if you are arrested, for they can then close the station down under the new Criminals & Companies Act, it could alter the whole tone of the election battle. We are its symbol of freedom. You'd be surprised how many people are unsure of Government's monopoly, however effective it is. They just need a little push to vote for the Trade party." 

"And what do you stand to gain out of all this?" Hutyer asked. 

"Power," S.J. confessed candidly. "I have been promised a place in the new Government if they succeed in the election, and of course, I won't forget you." 

"I'm not sure I agree with your motives," Hutyer said, "but I don't want to be arrested." He looked out of the window at the passing countryside. "Where are we now?" he asked. 

"I believe the security forces were right behind me, so they'll know all about the ferry. We can't use that, but I don't think they know about my private ship which I only recently acquired. We're heading for that. You must pilot it back up to the station, and stay there until the election. After that, it doesn't matter. You will be a free man, for we will pardon you. "We'll Take You Anywhere" will become pointless as liberal reforms will be granted which will include free access to space. If we lose, well, all my funds are tied up in it. I will be bankrupted, and probably arrested as an enemy of the state." 

"Very well," conceded Hutyer. "But I'm only going back up out of concern for Jenny. There's a government ship orbiting the space station, or was when I left. If that isn't enough there seems to be some sort of interference in that vicinity that's sending everything haywire up there." 

S.J. looked up into the darkening sky. "Looks like a bad storm on the way as well. Take-off may have to be delayed." 

Hutyer looked up at the black clouds rolling across the sky. It began to rain heavily and about an hour later, as lightening crackled across the sky, they reached their destination. The wind was now blowing a gale; take-off in these conditions would indeed be hazardous. 

They disembarked from the 'car and ran into the sole building on the private spaceport. As they entered the room, a figure who sitting in a chair, jumped up, with a worried expression on his face. 

"Seen the vidnews?" be asked, flicking on a screen and selecting the front page of the Herastown News. Hutyer and S.J. read the story of how Control lost contact with the ship as it neared the 'We'll Take You Anywhere' space station. First vocal and then visual contact. It went on to claim that S.J.'s organisation had captured the ship. 

"That's impossible," Hutyer cursed. "There's only Jenny up there at the moment..." 

"What's the matter?" S.J. asked, as Hutyer's words trailed away. 

"Jenny's all alone up there," he replied, "and there's something wrong. That Security Ship's obviously run into the same trouble that we had when we were returning here. It was getting worse all the time." 

"This is bad," S.J. said uneasily. "It could turn opinion against us if they think we've captured an SS ship." He looked at Hutyer gravely. "As soon as the storm's over, you must take-off." 

About an hour later, the storm had passed, and the high winds, that were now diminishing, had almost cleared the sky of cloud. 

"The newsvid on the viewer began to fade. "Looks like the midday edition," S.J.'s partner said as a new image began to materialise. 

'HOLE IN THE SKY' the headline blazed. Rouge space-station puts up mysterious force field around itself. The Central Government are quoted as saying: 'This is something new, none of our weapons are able to penetrate it. Urgent talks are being called with the Free Trade Party to discuss this threat to Solar peace. We will not tolerate this act of aggression. It must be stopped.' Samuel Jefferson, owner of the space- station, and director of the 'We'll Take You Anywhere' organisation, whose headquarters are based on this station, is urgently being sought by the Security Force...' 

"This could get out of hand," S.J. cursed. He made a quick calculation. "Get my telescope from the 'car," he ordered Hutyer, "we should be able to see the station from here." 

The telescope was set up. Where the station should have been was a black emptiness. It was like looking down into a dark black hole that had no bottom. 

"I'm taking off immediately," Hutyer decided. 

The ship was towed out of the hangar and was soon speeding off the launching pad into the sky. He headed for the black dot that was now visible from the ground. When he arrived in the area of the station, several Government ships were milling around, trying to pass through the invisible barrier before them. Hutyer thanked his stars that S.J.'s ship was of a similar design to them and he was able to proceed without being stopped. He tried to edge through the force field, but met with a similar fate. He matched the speed of his orbit to the black mass that revolved at the same speed as the planet below, and began to ponder the situation. If the Government, with all their resources, couldn't get through, how could he? 

A long shot hit him. He turned on his communications link to Jefferson. "I want the exact course the ferry I came down on took from the space station to Heras 6. It must be exactly correct, so you'll have to get someone to download it from the ferry's computer." 

An hour later, the message that Hutyer wanted was received. "It had better be of vital importance," S.J. said, "it took a great risk to bypass the systems the Security Forces had set up round the ferry. There's the danger they could now track the communication back to us here." 

"It's only a chance," Hutyer replied, "but it's the only one we've got." 

"What's your idea?" S.J. asked. 

"The way I look at it," Hutyer explained, "is whatever this thing is that has formed around the station, was materialising as I was coming down in the ferry. Therefore, our passage through the semi-materialised whatever it is, could have left a fault, or a line of weakness. I hope that by taking the ferry's course backwards, I shall be able to get to the space-station." 

"It sounds unlikely," S.J. replied, "but at this stage anything is worth trying. They're on the point of arresting the whole of the Free People and Trade Party for plotting subversive activities against the Government." 

Under computer guidance, Hutyer steered the ship onto the reverse course the ferry had taken. He reached the edge of the force wall. He was surprised to find that the speed of his ship, although drastically reduced, was still positive. He kept a careful eye on the controls, constantly juggling with them to reduce power, as energy, unable to be unleashed to drive the ship forward, built up. This further slowed his progress, until he found he was only doing a hundred miles an hour. He could see the space station, as if through a haze, in the distance, and the SS ship that orbited around it, emitting a green glow. Suddenly a huge roaring green shape sped across the front of the ship. It looked like a Null monster! 

Hutyer rubbed his eyes unbelieving. When he looked again, there was nothing. Was his mind playing tricks on him'? Progress was now down to 50 miles an hour. It seemed an eternity later that his ship finally docked against the hull of the space station near to where the SS ship orbited. He noted with alarm that the pressure of the outside space was four hundred percent. 

He made his way into the space station noting that the walls of the connecting corridor between the space station and his ship were bending inwards. It was like walking through mud. He had never experienced anything quite like this before in all his weird adventures. 

He opened the inner airlock that led into the cargo hold. It was deserted. He made his way slowly through the hold. Each step he took caused greater exertion. It took him several minutes to make the reception room that was next to his office. He found Jenny sprawled in a seat, as if in a trance, bathed in sweat. Two security officers were laying on the floor unable to get up. 

"What's happening?" Hutyer panted. 

One of the security men replied in a flat monotone. He spoke with great exertion, each word causing immense strain. "We have been studying your records around the time when your ship went into Null on the Bernard expedition. You caused a flaw in the space-time continuum. Null is seeping through, or if you prefer the Universe is being sucked into Null. At the moment we are in a transitional state, between the continua." 

Hutyer let the words sink in. He clung to the side of the table. Each second he remained in this strange area, it became harder to stand up. 

"I don't believe it," he panted. "I have never heard of a similar occurrence." 

"What's your explanation then?" the man gasped slowly but angrily. "Didn't you see the Null Creatures?" 

Hutyer's legs sagged. His eyes hadn't deceived him. It was a Null monster that he had seen. The implications staggered him. "But if this is true," he replied, "the reaction will not cease until the whole Universe has been sucked through." 

"Yes," the man panted. "Perhaps it will take a trillion years, but Heras 6 and perhaps the rest of the Heras system will go in our lifetime'" 

"We've got to get out of here," Hutyer groaned. He stepped forward, but let out a gasp of astonishment as his legs crumpled under him, and he sank to the floor. He crawled slowly over to the chair where Jenny was seated. He grasped her limp hand that was hanging down by her side and shook it. Her eyes fluttered. "Jenny," he gasped. "We've got to get out of here." She opened her mouth, trying to speak, but nothing came out. Hutyer tried to get up on his knees, but the pressure was increasing. He fell back to the floor sobbing. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

S.J. flicked off the switch. "It's no good, Herb," he said. "There's no contact with Hutyer." 

"There's a new edition just come on the vidnews," Herb announced. "Just come and look at this." 

'GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES DANGER OF NATURAL DISASTER - The Central Government has accepted the decision reached by the urgently set-up disaster committee that the Free People and Trade Party had nothing to do with the barrier around the space-station that houses the 'We'll Take You Anywhere' organisation, whose director Samuel Jefferson has still to be traced. The barrier appears to be caused by a flaw in space caused by the operations of the organisation who appear to have recently been experimenting with dangerous journeys into an area between normal space and time and Null. The last experiment captained by Dan Hutyer, resulted in the death of the party led by Professor Bernard, who invented the original concept of the Null drive. Hutyer, who is already wanted in connection with the deaths of Bernard's party is now also wanted in connection with tampering with the forces of nature in violation of the People's Safety Act...' 

S.J. turned away angrily. "I'll sue them," he cursed. "It's all lies!" 

"Come now," said Herb, "as a lawyer yourself, you should know you wouldn't stand a chance." 

"This all looks like a Government plot to me," he replied. "The idea now is to make the Trade Party look like an innocent, and also naive tool of our evil and dangerous organisation of killers and mad scientists. I fear however that it might just succeed. I would have thought that it wasn't sufficient just to discredit the Party's main symbol. I think they've still got something up their sleeve, and I don't like it." 

Three hours later another edition appeared on the vid. There was a massive banner headline. 'DESTRUCTION OF HERAS 6 IMMINENT.' 

"What the..." S.J. cursed. He rubbed his eyes and continued to read. 'The Central Government in an emergency broadcast have just warned that the flaw in space and time that has enveloped the rouge space station is spreading, and if it continues at its present rate, could envelope the whole of the planet. An emergency plan is being drawn up by the Government to try and find a way of evacuating the population in time. Meanwhile a disturbing connection has been found between the 'We'll Take You Anywhere' organisations' director and the Free People and Trade Party. The director has all his funds sunk into the party, sufficient if necessary for him to command a controlling interest in its affairs, although he is careful not to allow his name to appear as a member of their Executive. The Government fear that he is using the party to extend the activities of his pirate organisation on Heras 6. In this connection, he and other leaders of the Party are being urgently sought. The Government has stated that people should not panic, as they have high hopes of counteracting the threat.' 

S.J. ran his fingers through his hair. It all fell into place now, and the election was only a week or so away. The only thing that puzzled him was what HAD caused the hole in the sky? It was real, that much was certain. 

Herb looked anxiously out of the window, hearing something approaching. "Come on," he urged. "Security 'car coming in from the east." 

They rushed out to their own 'car. As they sped away from the hideout, they discussed the latest development. 

"You can see what they're doing," S.J. said. "They're using this space flaw to win the election. They realised that it would be an impossible task to discredit the Executive of the Free People and Trade Party, for they are all law abiding citizens, I made sure of that before I joined up with them. They're making them look like misguided fools who stupidly have joined up with, and been taken over by, my 'evil and corrupt organisation'." 

"Unfortunately," Herb interrupted, "it makes a plausible case. I remember you telling me that when Hutyer and Bernard entered Null they were tampering with forces completely beyond their control. Heaven knows, we know little enough about Null as it is." 

"Yes I agree," S.J. replied wearily. "But it was an accident. You read the report, didn't you?" 

"Yes I know," Herb agreed. "However, you've got to admit, presented the wrong way, it looks bad. If they win, they'll probably pass a law prohibiting pirate organisations of any nature, be they legal through a flaw in the law or not; on the grounds that the 'Hole in the Sky' was an example of what happens when there is no Government control." 

"If the hole is an act of nature," S.J. mused, "it certainly occurred at an unfortunate moment for us. I think it's a bit too convenient. It's real though, no doubt about that." 

The conversation was abruptly halted as the security 'car that had been chasing them, dived in front of them, forcing them to land. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer summoned all his strength and with a gigantic effort forced himself up onto his knees. He lifted his arm very slowly, until at last, he got hold of Jenny's arm. Holding tight, he deliberately overbalanced backwards. For a moment it felt as if his arm was being pulled out of its socket, as he stopped in mid air. The force of falling backwards was cancelled out against the weight of Jenny's body. Finally she was dragged out of the chair, and toppled to the floor. Hutyer crawled over to her, and breathed into her ear. Speech at normal volume had become an intolerable task. "Do you know what caused this?" he whispered. 

She opened her mouth, trying to form the words. Hutyer put his ear against her mouth, but even so, her speech only came out as a faint, hoarse whisper. "The ship," she croaked. 

"The ship?" asked Hutyer, "The one I took into half-Null?" 

She tried to shake her head. "No," she answered, "only a guess. Theirs." 

"Theirs?" croaked Hutyer. 

The girl moaned and passed out. The two security men had also gone into a coma like state. Hutyer guessed that he didn't have much longer, the pressure was getting greater. He crawled over to the table and after an eternity managed to drag himself up onto all fours. Finally, with the aid of the table leg, he got to his feet. He was bathed in sweat and panting heavily. His whole body felt as if it was about to be crushed inwards. 

He slowly staggered back into the cargo hold, and eventually, somehow made it to his own ship. The pressure here seemed to be building up as well, but was in no way as powerful as in the space-station. He just lay on the floor for about half an hour before he had recovered sufficiently to continue.. He stumbled up and looked at the controls. 

He noted with alarm that the pressure on the hull from outside was a thousand percent. He was puzzled. The pressure outside shouldn't affect the pressure in the space-station or in his space-suit, the only explanation was that whatever was causing the pressure was seeping through the hull of the station. There was only one thing that was capable of such action - Null. What the man had said must've been true. Slowly but surely, Null was changing place with the Universe. Presumably the Universe was not yet seeping into Null, and both were fighting for control of this area. That would account for the intense pressure in the virtual nothingness of space. Surely this situation could not be tolerated for very long, and Hutyer was sure whatever the result, a great disaster would ensue. 

What had Jenny been trying to say about the other ship? He decided it was time he paid it a visit. Perhaps it would offer a clue to what was going on. Whatever he did it would have to be very soon. He doubted whether Jenny would be able to survive much more pressure. With grim determination he managed to ease his ship away from the space station where it was docked. He turned and looked at the other ship that was orbiting the space station so near to his. He wondered how long it would take him to reach it. The pressure in his own ship was building up. The whole operation was looking hopeless, how could he reverse the might of nature? 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

S.J. got out of his 'car with an annoyed look on his face. 'What is the meaning of this outrage?" he demanded. 

"Mr Jefferson," one of the security men replied, "by the powers invested in us by the Governors of the Law & Order Committee of the Central Government, we arrest you on a charge of first degree treason." 

"I'm not this S.J. fellow," he replied in an angry, but assured manner. He flashed a false I.D. 

The man's face fell. "Yes you are," he replied, a trace of caution in his voice. "There's a picture of you on my tri-viewer." He turned to pull the viewer out of his car. S.J. struck him in the back of his neck and he fell to the ground. Before the other guard could get out of the Security Car, he was blinded by splintering plasti-glass as Herb shot a blast through their windscreen. 

S.J. jumped back in the 'car. "We've gained a breathing space," he said, "but they must've informed their control of our exact position before they forced us to land." As he spoke, they could see a fighter ship scream above them high in the sky. 

"I'd give us about three minutes," Herb replied nervously. 

It was a little under two minutes later that a huge fleet of helicars surrounded them. S.J. raised his hands as he stepped out of the 'car. He realised that this time there was no way out. He was surprised to see the Security Administrator himself step from one of the helicars. He walked over to S.J. as guards frisked him for weapons. 

He regarded Jefferson severely. "I'm surprised and deeply shocked," he said. "I can remember not so long ago you were one of the Central Government's best men, dedicated to justice. How could you commit such a vile act?" 

S.J. pointed to the black dot in the sky. "It is not of my doing," he replied vehemently. "I swear it. Can't you see, the Administration is using this to destroy the Free Trade Party, for they know it's the only way they can win the forthcoming election." 

"The planet is about to be destroyed," the Administrator cursed, "don't you realise the extent of your actions? Come with me now." S.J. was ushered into the Administrators heli-cab. The door hissed closed behind them. They were alone. "I'll come straight to the point," the Administrator said coldly. "The Government believe that you have the power to stop this catastrophe out in space, and that you are using it to blackmail them into submission, so that you can take this planet over, with yourself as dictator." 

"Rubbish," S.J. mocked. "They are playing games with you, or they gone completely paranoid." 

"Let me finish," the Administrator ordered. "I have been told personally by the Governor that they have lied to the people in two respects. One, they are unable to stop this menace, and two, if it expands at its present rate, it will on]y be a matter of hours before it touches the outer reaches of the atmosphere. They believe it will suck the atmosphere off the planet in a matter of minutes. There's no time for evacuation. Surely you realise what this means for us all!" 

"Yes," S.J. replied, sombrely, "sudden death for us all." 

"Therefore, I have been instructed to hold you until you give in and reverse the process. If you won't, you will be destroyed along with the rest of us." 

"But I don't know anything about this," Jefferson shouted. "For God's sake man, can't you believe me?" 

"I'll believe you when you give me the process for the way to stop the reaction." 

"In that case," S.J. replied, "Heras 6, if what you've told me is true, is doomed." 

A strained silence fell in the 'car, the Administrator's steely gaze at Jefferson broke as he began to nervously check the time. Finally Jefferson broke the silence. "All right," he said, "but I demand to speak to the Governor personally." 

"Very well," the Administrator replied. "I shall try to contact him." He called up the code on his viewer, but received a recorded message. "Mr. Blesh and his key cabinet colleagues have flown to Earth to report on the grave situation." 

The Administrator keyed in an overwriting code, but still could not contact the Governor direct. 

"What the hell's a maniac like Blesh doing as Governor. Surely he couldn't muster enough votes to sit for a period," Jefferson cursed. 

"He is deputising for Governor Markham who is seriously ill at the moment." 

"There has been nothing about this is the newscasts," S.J. countered. 

"It is not necessary for the people to know everything," the Administrator replied, sounding a little unconvincing. 

"But can't you see," S.J. stated, "Blesh and one or two of his cronies are in favour of decentralising Heras 6 as a major power and giving full control back to Earth. His belief in this policy is fanatical. How he ever got on the Government Committee I shall never know. He once said be would stop at nothing to redistribute the balance of power back to Earth, even if it meant the ruin of Heras 6." S.J. stopped, his face looked grim. "It's a double cross - a Terran plot!" S.J. breathed. 

"What the Null are you going on about?" the Administrator breathed. At this point, the face of Deputy Governor Smeeth came on the screen. Before the Administrator could speak, S.J. pushed him out of the way. He realised desperate action was necessary. 

The man looked tired. "Jefferson" he exclaimed. "What are you doing on here?" 

"Shut up and listen," S.J. ordered. "It's all just fallen into place. I bet 'the hole in the sky' was a government plot to get rid of me and the Free People and Trade Party in one swift move. But Blesh and his friends have double crossed the rest of you. How far was it supposed to have gone? Just enough to scare the people of Heras 6? Then, it would have been stopped by a brilliant Government move. Blesh has fixed it so it won't stop though, hasn't he? Not until Heras 6 is finished anyway. He's made sure there's nothing you can do about it." 

"My God," the man cried, "how did you know?" 

"I worked it out," S.J. answered. "Just tell me one thing. How come you're still here? I thought rats deserted the sinking ship" 

"I couldn't leave," he breathed. "I've sent my wife and children away, but I must stay and die with the rest of you as punishment for my folly." He broke down and wept. 

S.J. turned to the Administrator. "Now may I be released?" he asked tersely. 

The Administrator opened the door to his heli-cab, white faced. "Let them go," he told his men curtly. "They are innocent." He turned back to Jefferson. "There isn't much point in you going anywhere though is there?" he asked sardonically. 

S.J. looked up into the sky and thought of Hutyer. "We've have one last hope," he said quietly. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer wondered if he could cover the short distance to the other craft before the pressure became unbearable. He was only able to follow the line of his entry for part of the journey. After what seemed like years, he reached his objective, and locked onto its side. As he entered the other ship's air-lock, he was met by an incredible force. He gasped in surprise. It seemed as if his body was being squashed inwards. He managed to edge his way forward with extreme difficulty, it was as if he was walking through molten plastic that was hardening. It seemed at least an hour before he made it to the engine room, which was only a few feet away from him. The pressure here was so great that he found it hard to move at all. He looked inside and gasped with horror. The Null drive had been disconnected from the huge motor that powered the ship, and had been switched on. What was equally horrific was the fact that a larger control unit had been built into the Null drive, which seemed to be regulating the release of Null power into space. Suddenly everything became clear to Hutyer. It was nothing at all to do with his abortive trip, with Bernard. This was deliberate planned action by the Government to make it look as if 'We'll Take You Anywhere" was responsible. 

The warrant for his arrest must have just been a cover for them to send a security ship into orbit around the station. No wonder things had started going funny when that ship came into view. With a renewed effort, be forced himself centimetre by centimetre into the motor room. It took him an hour to cover the ten feet to the Null-drive unit. He saw it was regulated to stop when it had reached a certain point . So it was a scare by the Government - that clinched it. It was just as well, he thought; he was unable to lift his hand far enough in the extreme pressure. Then he studied the co-ordinates a little more carefully, and with a sickening feeling he realised it would destroy Heras 6 before it stopped. The shock of the discovery allowed him to summon one last superhuman effort. He got his hand on the power control, but sobbed as he realised that although he was touching it, the pressure was so intense, he couldn't give it that one last push; his hand was paralysed. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

S.J. looked at his watch. "If what the Administrator said was correct we've got another two and a quarter hours to live." 

"Why don't we get up into space?" Herb suggested. "There must still be time. We're both wealthy men. Money talks in these situations. We could get on board a ship, outbid whoever else is already on there-" 

"Even if we did," S.J. replied grimly, "we wouldn't get far. From what I can make out, this 'hole in the sky' is affecting all space around the planet. No ship can penetrate it." 

"We're on the verge of the greatest deliberate act of murder ever recorded," Herb gasped. "Thousands of millions of people will perish!" 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer backed away from the machine. It was no use. The pressure here was so great, if he didn't back off then he'd pass out, probably for good. Anyway, he had a new idea. He fought his way back towards the airlock. Going backwards was a little easier, he was almost being pushed back into the area of lower pressure. By the time he got back to his ship, he calculated he only had about ten minutes left. Wearily, and with a great effort, his hands adjusted the controls of his ship in a last desperate effort to save the planet below. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

S.J. looked up into the sky, there were a few minutes left. The clouds began to fly past angrily, and the wind was becoming stronger. 

"It's strange," Herb said, also looking up into the sky at the racing clouds, "I don't feel afraid, although I'm now convinced there's no chance of survival." 

The clouds began to churn around in circles. They couldn't avert their gaze. A huge whirlwind began to form, slowly spreading across the sky. 

S.J. looked at his watch for the thousandth time. "It has begun," he announced unnecessarily 

Herb smiled. "It sounds a bit stupid saying something like goodbye, it's been good knowing you." 

"I know what you mean," S.J. replied, "but well...." They solemnly shook hands. 

They returned their gaze to the sky. Jefferson looked at Herb, a puzzled frown on his face. "The Hole .....it's getting smaller," he said in disbelief. They watched, and within five minutes it had gone. The sky began to return to normal, although the clouds stilled milled angrily around. 

They hugged and jumped up in the air with relief. The Administrator, who had been sitting quietly in his hell-car ran over to them with a smile on his face. The security men, unaware of what had almost happened, looked at the trio as if they were mad. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer collapsed back in his seat, breathing heavily. The pressure was beginning to decrease. It had worked! Now came the most difficult part of the operation. Satisfied that it was safe, he turned his weapons on the other ship. It imploded and Hutyer blinked. The target ship had collapsed into itself and vanished into Null. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. The planet was saved. He regained his composure and slowly guided his ship back to the space-station. 

On arrival, he hurried to the room where he'd left Jenny and the crew of the other ship. Jenny had come to, and the other two men were sitting on the floor in a dazed stupor. Hutyer suspected they were innocent pawns, but took no chances and tied them up before they could offer an real resistance. 

Jenny was holding her head. "Dan, how did you save us?" she gasped. 

"Well," Hutyer explained, "I realised that I couldn't switch off the source of the disturbance, so I returned to my ship and activated the Null control. S.J.'s ship was more powerful than the Security craft and I flooded the area with the power for dimensional travel. It neutralised the Null field that was building up here. Then I destroyed the other ship." He looked very grim. "Everything had to be precise to the millionth degree, or I'd've destroyed at least Heras 6 in the process or even warped the whole of the space- time continuum into oblivion." 

"Lucky you're the greatest Null space Captain of all time," Jenny smiled. 

"Was," Hutyer reminded her. "I'm all finished what that now." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

"Well done my boy," Jefferson enthused. "If those traitors ever set foot in this area of space again, they face instant death for treason. The ruling party have been totally discredited. The results of the election are now a formality. There'll be great changes now." He turned to Jenny, "No more stints up in that space station for you, young lady, you can keep you feet well and truly on the ground here. Free Trade and travel will be fully reinstated." 

"Maybe too late," Jenny replied sadly. She kissed S.J. on the cheek. She looked at Hutyer and shrugged. "Bye Dan," she said simply, then turned and left. 

Hutyer looked bemused, then S.J.'s face broke into a knowing smile. "So you're off straight away, then?" he enquired. 

"Yes," Hutyer confirmed. He paused. "I'm really surprised you haven't made more of an effort to stop me leaving," he confessed. 

"The knack of success is knowing when to quit," S.J. replied somewhat ambiguously. 

"One thing, I don't understand," Hutyer added, "your colleague, Herb, I always thought he had strong links with the Administration back on Earth. He seems an unlikely friend." 

S.J. beamed. "In business and politics my boy, you make some strange bedfellows. Nothing is ever straightforward. It's always best to have a finger in more than one pie," he added laughing. 

"Guess that's why I'll never be a successful business man or politician," Hutyer confessed. He paused again. "Well, S.J., this is goodbye." 

Jefferson shook his outstretched hand warmly. "One thing," he added confidentially, "go out via Room 5. There's someone there you ought to see before you leave. Someone on their own now." 

As his ex-boss would not elaborate, Hutyer made his way to the stated room with a little suspicion. He opened the door cautiously, to find Jenny packing some stuff into a box. "Dan," she said surprised as he entered. "I didn't think I'd see you again." 

"What are your plans now?" Hutyer asked. 

She shrugged. "It's all fallen apart," she began, "no more excitement up on the space station, nothing for me here....." 

"S.J. suggested that-" 

The girl smiled sadly. "I told him not to mention it. It was the long shifts on the station. He's found someone else. Gone......." 

Hutyer cleared his throat. "Nothing to stop you coming with me then," he decided. 

Hope flashed in the girl's eyes. "Are you serious?" she gasped. Hutyer nodded. She dropped what she was packing and rushed over to him and clung on tightly. "I never dared hope," she whispered. 

"It'll all be different now," Hutyer averred. "We'll be safe, away from all this. A new life, together." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE
Chapter 7



Hutyer rubbed his bleary eyes, as the angry buzzing rang in his ears, and fumbled for his watch. The luminous hands showed it was only seven o'clock in the morning, which on Slarvo 3 meant it was only just twilight. He pushed a button on the control panel by his bedside, and the curtains slid open to confirm the time of day. He sighed and began to ease himself out of bed. Slarvo 3 was a paradise planet, the population mainly comprising of retired businessmen, high ranking ex space pilots, officials and holidaymakers. The constant sunshine in the short days and warm humid winds, gave the whole planet a lazy, almost carefree atmosphere. Hutyer wondered who on Slarvo 3 would have business with him that necessitated waking him at such an early hour. He looked over, making sure that Jenny had not been wakened, and slowly pulled himself up. Donning a robe, he made his way to answer the door; the buzzer of which still sounded impatiently in his ear. He checked the face on the viewer. It was not anyone he knew, yet the face seemed familiar in a vague way. He cautiously opened the door. 

"Yes?" he asked. 

"I'll come straight to the point Mr. Jackson, or should I say, Hutyer, late of the famous 'We'll take You Anywhere' organisation on Heras 6." 

"You'd better come in," Hutyer replied, rather taken aback. When he had arrived on Slarvo 3, it had been kept secret that he was from Heras 6's now famous rebel project. He had changed his name to Lee Jackson, grown a moustache and changed his hair style; a simple disguise which to this point had proven totally effective. "You obviously have the advantage over me," Hutyer replied. 

"Calvin Kart," the other replied. 

It clicked in Hutyer's mind. Kart was a leading light in the Free Trade And People's Party that had recently formed on the planet, which had previously been one of the best strongholds of the Administration. However, recently, he had noted with some alarm that politics had become the leading issue here, and a three cornered fight was brewing up. On one side, Kart with the F.T.A.P.P. and on the other, the Administration, who were split amongst themselves, between those that supported rule from Heras 6, and a splinter group who were constantly gaining support, who demanded that basic rule should return to Earth, which had been falling into hard times since Heras 6 had taken over as the centre of the Galaxy's affairs. 

"Well?" asked Hutyer, as the man sat down in a chair and stared intently into his face. "What do you want? Money?" 

A look of horror crossed Kart's face. "No," he replied, taken aback, "I haven't come here to blackmail you. In fact, I want everyone on this planet to know that you are Dan Hutyer." 

Hutyer's eyes narrowed. "You've lost me," he confessed, "but I can assure you I don't want any publicity. I've had enough of being Hutyer. That's all in my past. Apart from the connections that have been 'conjured up' about activities with the F.T.A.P.P. my past life has been filled with misfortune and tragedy. I'm happy and contented now being Lee Jackson. I've got my partner, Jenny, a nice home and anonymity. I want it kept that way." 

"Please let me explain," Kart interrupted, a note of desperation in his voice. "After I have told you my story and explained what I want you to do, I am certain that you will think again." 

Hutyer seated himself wearily, rubbing the final traces of sleep from his eyes. "Okay Mr. Kart, I've got too much to lose to annoy you, so tell me your story." 

"As you probably know, I'm Chief of the Free Trade And People's Party on this planet. When I started it, it was more as a result of my frustration against the straight-jacket administration that controlled everything, than out of any hope that I could win any election; even at the most local level. However, I gained much more support than I had ever thought possible, and although the percentage was small, it coincided with the split in the Administration Party, who are putting up candidates against themselves on the Heras 6 - Earth issue. This has weakened their majority by half and to cut a long story short, the F.T.A.P.P. now stands a chance of winning. We know it's a small chance, but one of the election polls shows us ahead by a narrow margin. Suddenly political fever has gripped Slarvo 3. You must have noticed it yourself, even allowing for the reclusive life you lead." 

"So you want me to stand as Dan Hutyer, thinking that my popularity will swing enough voters to give you a commanding lead." 

"That is partly it-" 

"No," he replied firmly. "Why do you think I left Heras 6? I've told you, I've had enough." 

"But I haven't finished yet," Kart argued. "Please let me finish'" A note of desperation in his voice made Hutyer concede. 

"Very well," he sighed, "but please hurry. I don't want Jenny woken up." 

"Recently I have been receiving anonymous messages warning me that unless I dropped out of the political scene, something nasty would happen, which would make me regret ever taking up politics." He paused, apparently overcome by grief. He continued almost in a whisper. "Last week, my wife went missing while walking along the beach near our home early one morning. I feared the worst, but the police decided that she must have been caught by the tide and drowned. She was not a very good swimmer, and the tides near our house are very strong ...... I managed to convince myself that that was what had happened. This morning, about two hours ago, I received a vid." He stopped, and staring at the ground, continued in such a low voice that Hutyer had to lean forward to hear him. "It was of my wife walking along the beach. Suddenly she was ripped apart by blaster fire. The bastards took close up shots of her burnt body." He began to cry, tears trickling out of his eyes. He fumbled in his pocket. "They sent me a note with it - here." 

Hutyer took the note that he was passed. The message was short and to the point. "We warned you. Go to the police and we'll see you're crippled for life." 

A silence fell over the room. Kart wiped his eyes with a tissue. "I have resigned from politics,'' he said. "It's probably on the tri-view newscasts by now. We need a new leader." 

Hutyer stared at Kart with a shocked expression on his face. Finally he spoke in a slow voice. "I'm very sorry about your wife," he said, "but now the answer is more definitely no. If they've killed once, they'll kill again. Jenny is everything to me." 

"But you must help," Kart pleaded. "Perhaps if you saw the film?" 

Hutyer shook his head. 

Kart got to his feet, a lost look in his eyes. "We were counting on you," he mumbled. Hutyer walked over to the door with him. Kart went out without saying goodbye and walked down the path without looking back. 

Hutyer closed the door, resealed the atomic lock, and ran back into the bedroom. A strange fear for Jenny's life had suddenly seized him. He sighed with relief, as he saw her head laying on the pillow. He walked over to her and kissed her gently on the forehead. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

It was three and a half hours later that there was a knock on the door. Hutyer, who had just finished eating his breakfast, smiled at Jenny who had begun to clear her things away. "I'll go," he said, as she disappeared into the kitchen. His face was grim as he checked the viewer, expecting to find Kart back again. It was the face of a total stranger that greeted him. 

"Yes?" he enquired, slowly opening the door. 

"Mr. Jackson," the stranger replied, "you are Dan Hutyer from Heras 6. There's no use denying it, your prints check and everything-" 

"Is this some sort of joke?" he demanded angrily. 

"No joke, Mr. Hutyer," the man continued. "Tri-view News," he explained, "we'll pay a great deal for your story." 

"You're crazy," Hutyer replied. "My name's Lee Jackson. You'd better go and check your facts." Without giving the man time to argue, he closed the door on him, and reactivated the atomic lock that also put up a force screen. "Jenny," he called. 

She came out of the kitchen. "I heard," she replied. "Shall we put our plan into operation?" 

"No," Hutyer replied, "not yet. I want to see just exactly what Tri-view News have got to say for themselves." He walked over to the viewer and switched it on. He skipped the main item concerning the resignation of Kart from the leadership of the F.T.A.P.P. and found what he was looking for. He read the words out to his wife, who was peering anxiously over his shoulder. "Rumours are flying around Slarvo 3 that Dan Hutyer from Heras 6 is here and is taking over from Mr. Kart. These reports are as yet unconfirmed." 

"I was just beginning to like it here," Jenny sighed. 

"I haven't said we're leaving yet," Hutyer replied. 

"But we agreed when we arrived here that if anyone ever found out your real identity that we'd have to go to another planet." 

"Yes," Hutyer admitted, "but there are complications, it's not just the publicity." 

Further conversation was halted by the arrival of a package through the matter transmitter. Hutyer walked over and picked up the object. A brief note was attached to it. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." He unwrapped the package and found it contained a vid disc. A sickening feeling in his stomach told him what it was. "I don't think you ought to see this, Jenny," Hutyer said to his partner as he walked over to the viewer. He loaded the disc. 

"What is it?" she asked. 

"I think it's a film of someone being killed," he replied. 

"I'll stay," she decided. He detected a faint tremor in her voice. The film began - it was of a young woman walking along a beach. "Why that's Mrs. Kart," she exclaimed. Anything else she was going to say, was silenced, as the woman on the film crumpled up as a blaster's ray burnt into her stomach. They watched on in horrible fascination as the camera moved closer and slowly panned her still body. The screen went dark. "What does it mean?" Jenny asked in a voice little above a whisper. 

"I don't know," Hutyer said angrily. He got up and dialled the home of Calvin Kart, whose face appeared on the screen. Seeing Hutyer, his face lit up. "Have you changed your mind?" he asked. 

"Did you send me that film?" Hutyer demanded angrily. 

"What film?" Kart asked, a puzzled look on his face. 

"I've just received a copy of that film you told me about," Hutyer snapped. 

"No," he gasped, looking shattered, "I couldn't -" 

Hutyer broke the connection, cutting the man off. "Null!" he cursed. "If it wasn't Kart, it means someone else knows about my true identity." He dialled 'enquiries' on the viewer. "Yes?" a faceless voice asked. 

"84Q 2546 here," Hutyer replied. "I've just received a package through my transmitter. I want to know where it came from." 

There was a few seconds pause, then a computer flashed a set of co-ordinates on the screen. The transmitting point was prefixed by the letter P, which meant that it had been a public transmitting point and therefore could have been sent by anybody. He did note with some alarm that it had been sent from a point that was in this locality. 

A new knock on the door sent a shock through his body. He walked over to the door and checked the viewer before opening it cautiously. A mild looking man stood in front of him, dressed in the uniform of the Administration Party. Hutyer was uncertain how to respond, and so to avoid falling into a trap, remained indifferent. 

The man looked at his chart. "Mr. Jackson?" he asked. Hutyer nodded. "I represent the Administration Party, in fact I'm your candidate in the forthcoming election. As you may know, I'm the true Administration candidate, supporting direct rule from Heras 6 instead of Earth -" 

"I'm sorry," Hutyer replied, cutting him off, "I'm not interested in politics. I never vote, and I don't intend to start now." 

"Your partner?" he enquired checking his register of voters. 

"She is the same as me," Hutyer replied. The man shrugged in an almost indifferent way, then bade him a cheery goodbye with a politicians oily smile. Hutyer closed the door, looking puzzled. 

"Do you think he was really canvassing for votes?" Jenny asked. 

"I don't know," Hutyer confessed. He walked over to the recorder and sat down in front of it. Switching it on, he began to speak. "Good-day," he said, "you may have heard of me, my name is Dan Hutyer. I used to work for a company entitled 'We'll Take You Anywhere' which was a pirate organisation operating on a space station that orbited around Heras 6. This was a symbol of freedom against the Administration and was instrumental in giving The Free Trade And People's Party control of Heras 6. I have been living on Slarvo 3 under a different name, because I didn't want anything to do with politics. My cover appears to have been broken now, and I'm under pressure to take control of The Free Trade And People's Party on this planet. I have no wish or intention of doing so and will now have to leave this planet. I want no part of politics. The only thing that matters to me is my partner, Jenny. Goodbye." He switched off the record and transmitted it to the co-ordinates of the Tri-view News Company. "Now is the time to leave," he decided quietly. "Pack what you need, I'll get the hoppercab ready." 

Ten minutes later, the 'cab rose from their back garden and was coasting across the city, when an incredible streak of lightning lit the sky for miles around. Hutyer needed all the skill he had learned while he was a space pilot to regain control, as the 'cab rocked in the turbulent air. He brought the 'cab down to a bumpy landing on a stretch of waste ground. 

"We'd better stay here until things calm down," he decided, looking up to the sky uncertainly "We want to get off this planet in one piece." 

"Just our luck," Jenny muttered. "We haven't really got much time to waste. Your little speech will be on the Tri-View newscasts in no time. We've only got the time it's going to take them to check that it's really you on that broadcast." 


Hutyer nodded grimly. He switched on the viewer in the hoppercab. A new item was just materialising. "This could be it," he muttered. However, as the screen settled down, he saw that the new item was far more important. 

'ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES SECRET WEAPON' the headline screamed. Hutyer read on in disbelief. 'Only a few minutes ago, a fleet of Administration craft flying over the city activated their new weapon. Based on a Null Drive, the Administration warn that they can destroy the whole planet in a split second, and that their demonstration showed the weapon on minimum power. The result of the demonstration has grounded all flying craft within a thirty mile radius of the city due to the turbulence and electrical discharges released.' 

Hutyer stopped reading and turned, white faced to Jenny. "I've seen one of these weapons before," he breathed. 'A whole planet was decimated in a split second. It was an invention of the late Professor Lewis of Heras 6, his sister said it was defective and was burnt out when we used it. Maybe it's been modified. 

"But what do the Administration think they're doing?" Jenny asked. 

"I think they're making sure of their victory by assuming control by force," Hutyer replied. "Apart from all the other serious implications this brings up, it isn't going to be very healthy for us when the Administration hears of the definite proof that I'm on this planet." 

"What are we going to do?" Jenny asked anxiously. 

"We're going straight to the spaceport. We'll have to risk the turbulent weather. We're going to find ourselves another sleepy backwoods planet, because I can see the danger of this confrontation escalating into a full scale Galactic War between the three political factions!" 

The hoppercab lifted off the ground and rose rather jerkily into the air where it was battered from all sides by the high winds. Hutyer's knuckles stood out white on his hands, as he gripped the steering column, trying to fly a straight course. 

"Look!" Jenny exclaimed. 

Hutyer suddenly realised why she had cried out, very high in the sky was a huge fleet of ships, flying above the storm. 

"Why that's a fleet from the Main Command on Earth," Jenny stated. "I recognise the design of their ships." 

"That can only mean one thing," Hutyer muttered. "Trouble. They must be carrying enough weapons to raze this planet to the ground." 

"Do you think it's got something to do with this weapon the Administration's got hold of?" Jenny asked. 

"Unfortunately, I can't think of any other reason," Hutyer confessed. "If they position their fleet around this planet, it's going to be almost impossible for us to get away unchallenged." 

"What are we going to do?" Jenny asked, looking anxiously up at the massive fleet of ships. 

"There's only one thing we can do," Hutyer replied bitterly, "we'll have to land and go into hiding." He just managed to keep control of the small craft as he landed it against the high winds. 

"Oh look," Jenny exclaimed, pointing at the viewer in the car. A new news item had taken over the headline. 'EARTH SEND WAR FLEET.' The Administration on Earth has sent a war fleet to our planet, to stop the Government keeping control of their latest weapon of defence that has recently been given its first trial over the main city. The authorities on Earth have warned that serious steps may have to be taken, if the Administration does not heed its warning and surrender the weapon, which they claim, if it got into the wrong hands, could present a serious threat the whole Galaxy. As yet, the Administration have not given an official reply.' 

"Depending on the next move," Hutyer said softly, "we may see the first stage of a political Galactic War. I'm certain that the weapon they've got, if it's the same one that I saw used, could be adjusted to wipe the whole Terran Fleet out in a split second." 

"But surely they wouldn't dare," Jenny exclaimed. 

"Why not?" Hutyer replied. "I'm sure it would also possible to use the weapon to form a protective shield around this planet, so that anything trying to get in would automatically be destroyed. In that way, they would be impregnable from an outside attack." 

"You seem to know a lot about this weapon," Jenny replied cautiously. 

"Yes," Hutyer confirmed. "You may remember someone came to see me a month or so ago. He said he was studying the possibilities of using the Null Drive as a weapon. In our false documents I had identified myself as a veteran null space navigator. He wondered if I could help him out with a few of his theories. I must admit, I was a bit worried, but I allowed him to ask me sufficient questions until I was sure that the information he'd gleaned on me was from my false entry permit and nothing more." 

"Did you tell him anything?" 

"No. I said that I was of the opinion that the whole thing was unlikely to work." 

"Do you think he is the inventor of this weapon?" 

"I must confess it's a possibility." 

"Do you know his name?" 

"Yes. Len Baddol." 

Jenny keyed the name into the 'cab's terminal. "He lives very close to here, where we've landed," she exclaimed. "Come on," she decided, "let's pay him and visit and see if he's home." 

Hutyer looked dubious, but Jenny was already disembarking from the 'cab. They cut across the waste ground on which they'd landed and came out into the street, which appeared to be deserted. It seemed that everyone had taken refuge indoors from the inclement weather conditions. 

They stopped outside the address the computer had given them. "This is it," Hutyer shouted, trying to make himself heard over the howling wind. 

"It looks safe enough," Jenny decided, peering around. 

"The house looks empty," Hutyer agreed. "But it could be a trap." 

"It's too late now," Jenny replied motioning him on. "If anyone's going to get us, they will, we're too close to escape." 

"Look," Hutyer pointed, "the door's open!" 

"Let's go in then," Jenny urged. 

The two moved forward to the door. They found that the force field, although operational according the control panel by the door, was not working, and that the force lock had been broken. Hutyer frowned, and peered through the opening in the door. "There's a hell of a mess in there," he said. "It looks as if there's been some sort of struggle." 

They stepped through the door, expecting to be jumped on by a horde of Administration troops, but after a thorough search, they found that the house was deserted. 

"Well," Hutyer sighed. "That's odd." 

"What's that?" Jenny asked. 

"This house has been systematically searched," he replied. "I couldn't find a single scrap of information that in any way connected this man with Null in any way. Don't you find that a bit odd?" 

"Well, not necessarily," Jenny replied, "perhaps he was a man who believed in leaving his work at his place of employment." 

"That's just it," Hutyer replied. "He told me he worked from home. This was his office, laboratory and testing station." 

"Oh'" Jenny replied, rather anxiously. 

"It suspect the Administration's jumped him, stolen all his plans and are now using them to their own advantage." 

"Or destruction," Jenny added uneasily. 

"Quite right," Hutyer agreed. "The deeper I get into this, the less I like it." He walked over to the window. "The turbulence is beginning to die down now," he stated. "It's still pretty grim, but I think we should be able to make it to the spaceport." 

"I'm not sure we should try and leave yet," Jenny replied. "I thought we were going to go into hiding here because of the potential blockade by the Earth fleet?" 

"We must try," Hutyer insisted, moving towards the door. "I've had enough action and excitement to last me a lifetime. My adventures only seemed to bring tragedy in the end. I don't want to lose you. I've lost too much already." 

"I'm not helpless," she replied angrily. "If I'd've wanted an easy life, do you think I'd've joined 'We'll Take You Anywhere'. I wanted to do something different, something no-one else could do. Surely you must have felt the excitement too? You didn't become a top class Null space pilot just by flying ferry ships from one backwoods mining depot to another, did you? You're the great Dan Hutyer, the first man to go into a dimension beyond Null and return alive. The idol of a people all over the Galaxy. The hero of a million young space pilots. The great Hutyer; on Heras 6 your name is synonymous with freedom and the rights of the individuals." She paused, her eyes blazing angrily. "We can't run forever," she insisted. "It's time we made a stand!" 

"We must go," he replied helplessly. "It's the only way. You understood that when you agreed to come with me." 

"I thought it would be different," she admitted. "It was alright at first, but I've become bored. I want excitement." 

"It'll only bring unhappiness and death," Hutyer warned. 

"We stay and fight this," the girl insisted. 

Hutyer suddenly cursed, and pointed at a security camera on the far wall; it was still operational. "We're being monitored." He stiffened as he heard the tramp of a battalion of troops come marching down the street; their leader barking orders. 

"We must fight our way out," Jenny decided, her eyes lighting up. 

"No," Hutyer said quietly, "we surrender. We have no weapons." He walked over to the door and stepped out to greet the Commander of the unit. 

"Hutyer?" he asked simply. Dan nodded. "The woman?" 

"My partner," Hutyer explained. "She has never had anything to do with my activities. Please let her go." 

The Commander motioned for four of his men to go into the house. As the first entered, he jumped back, letting off his blaster rifle. Hutyer gasped in horror as he pushed his way past the guards. Jenny was laying on the ground, doubled over in an impossible position. 

"I thought she had a gun," the guard explained. They grabbed Hutyer as he turned on the guard with a snarl of animal fury. As they dragged him back outside, they were greeted with a hail of blaster shots, which sent the troops scuttling off down the street for cover, leaving Hutyer sprawling on the pavement where they had pushed him. He looked wildly around the rooftops for the snipers, but they were nowhere to be seen. 

He heard a high pitched whistling coming from above him, and saw a small grenade being propelled through the air towards him. For a second he thought that it was going to land on top of him and he watched with a hideous fascination. At the last moment, it was blown off course by a strong blast of wind that was still whipping through the streets, and landed on the roof of the house he had just come out of. The next second there was debris flying everywhere, and he found himself covered with dust and small chips of rock. He staggered to his feet, and stared through dirt stained eyes at what was left of the house, which was now just a smouldering pile of debris. He sobbed a gasp of anguish and stood fixed to the spot for a full minute unconcerned with any danger that might still exist. Then he turned and began to stagger back towards his 'cab. 

He drove it back towards his house through the high winds that grabbed the steering from his hands on several occasions, almost plunging him down towards his death. He landed badly in his back garden, crashing through a fence, and hitting his head on the windscreen. He was surprised to find the area around his house deserted. He got back into the house, and immediately dialled Calvin Kart's number. As Kart came on the screen, he looked amazed. 

"Hutyer!" he exclaimed. "What's happened, to you?" 

"It's unimportant," Hutyer replied unemotionally. "When's the election?" 

"In a few days," Kart replied, "Why do you ask?" 

"I'm with you," Hutyer breathed angrily. "Don't ask me why, just tell me what you want done." 

"A simple eve of the poll broadcast," Kart replied, hope lighting his eyes. 

"If the people know you're with us, they won't fear the Administration weapon." 

"The election will still go ahead as normal?" 

"Yes," Kart confirmed. "The Administration's in deadlock with Earth over the use of the weapon. They don't dare to use it while the Terran Fleet is circling the planet. They'd only destroy themselves if they tried to use it because the Terran Fleet is allowing no ship to land or take-off until the emergency is over. The latest opinion poll taken only a few minutes ago shows the Administration greatly weakened by its rash action. Most of the voters swung over to Earth, and we thought we were finished, but now we've got your help, I think it'll swing enough votes to us. We need someone like you at a time like this." 

"Yes of course," Hutyer replied bitterly, "the great Dan Hutyer." 

"Where are you?" Kart asked eagerly. "I'll send a 'car to bring you to a safe house." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer hardly bothered to even listen to what he was saying, as he read the script with a cold anger. When he had finished, Kart came over with a huge smile on his face. "Excellent," he exclaimed. "It's just what we needed. We'll get a legal victory now as well." 

"What?" Hutyer asked. "I don't understand what you mean?" 

"We're already in charge," Kart explained, drawing a gun. "We have been for some time now. Take him to the spaceport. Goodbye Hutyer, you're taking a long trip. Personally, I'd rather get rid of you here and now, but I've been persuaded otherwise." 

Hutyer was so overwhelmed with anger and grief, that he made no attempt to resist as he was led from the studio and driven to the spaceport. It was not until he was on the ship that blasted off almost immediately he was thrown aboard, that he began to wonder what was going on. As he walked down a corridor towards the control room, he met up with Jenson, at whose house Hutyer's wife had met with her death. 

"You scum," Hutyer raved, grabbing hold of the man, and smashing him against the wall, "so you were behind this all along. I'll kill you if it's-" Suddenly his anger died away, as he looked into the man's eyes. They were not filled with success, greed, or even fear; they were empty, filled with hopelessness. They stared at each other wordlessly. 

"So they got you as well did they?" Jenson asked quietly, prising Hutyer's hands from his lapels. 

"What's happened?" Hutyer exclaimed, almost sobbing; the shock of his wife's death catching up with him. 

"The whole thing was a huge fraud by the Free Trade Party. Several weeks ago they took control by force and imprisoned all members of the Administration Party. But they were worried about whether they would be able to keep control by force alone, and so they set about devising an intricate plan. Originally they were going to rig the election, but doubted if they had enough actual support to make their victory credible to the population. Then they found me on the Administration's files, and decided to use my Null machine to discredit the Administration Party. Originally, I agreed to help them although my loyalties were still with the Administration. I hoped I could find a way to betray them, but in the end they found me out. Their plan was to unleash my machine over the main city, and not only frighten and anger the people, but to invent an imaginary crisis between the Administration and Earth. With the resources of the planet at their command, it was quite easy. All they had to do was change the insignia on a group of ships, and then they had a Terran Fleet hovering over the planet, as a grim warning of the dictatorial regime of Earth. Then, ferreting through some top secret files, they found you -" 

"But no-one knew about me," Hutyer breathed. 

"I'm afraid they did. The Administration of Slarvo 3 had an agreement with Heras 6 to ensure that no- one discovered your true identity." 

"But if they knew-" 

"Not everyone in the Administration Party is bad," Jenson replied. "There are good and bad factions in every organisation. Anyway, you can be sure whatever has happened to you in the last week has been the doing of Kart and his cohorts. They discovered my true allegiance about the same time as they found out about you, so I don't know their exact plans, but I should imagine that they used your popularity to swing the vote their way. Is that right?" 

Hutyer nodded silently. "They killed Jenny in cold blood," he muttered. "To get me on their side. The whole thing a trap..." his voice trailed away into tears. "Let me be alone for a little while," he begged. 

"Sure," Jenson replied. "We've got all the time we want. I've been up in the control room. Apart from you, me, and the leaders of the Administration Party, there is no crew. The communications have been cut, and the Null Drive has been jammed at full power. We're heading nowhere fast, and there's no replacement parts aboard, and needless to say, no escape tubes." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hutyer was not sure how long he remained alone, immersed in his own grief, but when he made an appearance in the control room, he only felt a cold calculating anger. It did not take him long to confirm what Jenson had deduced. They had made a thorough job of ensuring that the ship could not be steered or slowed down in any way from the control room itself. All the controls had been smashed or welded into an unrecognisable mass. 

"As far as I could make out from my experiences of Null Drives," Jenson said, interrupting Hutyer's observations, "the only controls that could still be operational are in the actual Null Drive Chamber. As you know, the latest type of Null Drive motors give off lethal radiation that can only be contained by special force fields. It would be certain death if we tried to enter the drive room while it was operational." 

"That agrees with my observations," Hutyer replied. "However, whilst agreeing with everything you have said, there is still a chance." 

"What is that?" Jenson asked. 

"To control the Null Drive from the actual drive itself," Hutyer replied calmly. 

"But that would mean certain death," Jenson exclaimed. 

"Almost certain death," Hutyer corrected. "There have been cases of people having been exposed to these Null radiation for short periods of time, and surviving." 

"Are you trying to say you're going in there?" Jenson asked. 

"Yes," Hutyer confirmed. "It seems to be our only chance. It shouldn't take too long to reverse the flight programme of the Drive's built in computer guidance system. I know it's a slim chance, but I think we must take it. Apart from what you said, you must realise that whyever they chose not to kill us on Slarvo 3, it will only be a matter of time before the Null Drive Engines overheat. Also there are the strange creatures that roam Null, that we have no defence against." 

"Do you value your life that little to risk certain death in the drive room?" Jenson asked. 

"Yes," Hutyer replied quietly. "The loss I have suffered is almost total. Please promise that if I don't make it back out, but succeed in turning the ship, you will not cease until you have killed Kart and as many of his band as possible." 

"You have my word," Jenson pledged. "Good luck," he breathed, feeling totally at a loss as to what should be said at a moment like this. 

Hutyer walked quickly, a grim determination urging him on faster and faster towards the rear of the ship where the Null Drive was housed. He reached it without seeing anyone else. His luck was in, although they had welded the main entrance shut, he discovered one of the inspection hatches had not been tampered with. It was only held by a force lock, whose control was undamaged. A grim smile crossed his face. Obviously they had not been totally convinced that anyone would be so foolhardy as to try and gain entrance. 

He activated the opening device and slowly edged down the narrow corridor towards the Null Drive Motor. He realised that each step he took drew him nearer to what would probably be his death. As he neared the Drive, the walls of the corridor began to glow with a green light, and he knew that the damaging rays were already eating into his body. 

All at once the Drive was before him, emitting not only the usual green glow of Null, but also tiny pinpoints of violet light, and these were what could mean his death. He briefly studied the Computer's guidance system. It all seemed too easy. The Computer had been left to guide its own course, but as it progressed through Null, it tracked its path into its memory banks. All that was necessary was to reverse the program and it would take them back to their original destination, making any necessary adjustments for the movements of the bodies that it guided itself by. These computers were used by exploration teams in unknown areas to get them safely home. Had an old fashioned guidance system been employed, then Hutyer doubted if he could have plotted their return course in time. His experienced hands quickly altered the computer's instructions. Having made the adjustments, his hand hovered over the button to set the programme in operation. To reverse the ship's course, the Null Drive would have to overload its engines for a few seconds, and then expel the excess power. He realised that he would be engulfed in it before he could reach the safety of the outside. He shrugged his shoulders casually. What did it matter? He activated the Control and began to run towards the narrow corridor. As he ran, he felt very light headed. He wondered how far he would get before he died ..... 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

"The walls of the corridor were designed to envelop radiation, so they can be used for emergency in flight repairs" Hutyer explained, "and it looks like I just made their safety before the main blast of energy hit me. I still thought I was done for though. Did I really make it out on my own?" 

"Yes," Jenson confirmed. 

"Don't be modest," another voice said. Hutyer recognised the man as the now ex President of Slarvo 3. "He went in and dragged you out." 

"Thanks," Hutyer replied. "You shouldn't have risked your life though. You remember your promise." 

"There were others who would have done it," Jenson replied. "Have no fear." 

"How long have I been out?" Hutyer asked. 

"Almost too long," Jenson replied. "We touched down a few minutes ago. We were just about to go and deal with Kart when you came to." 

"You mean we landed without being challenged?" Hutyer asked, looking surprised. 

"Yes," Jenson confirmed. "The spaceport is deserted." 

"Let's go then," Hutyer decided. 

The group made their way out of the spaceport, and found a rather drunk man at the transport terminal. 

"Where is everyone?" Jenson asked. 

"At the Liberation Celebration of course," the man slurred. "The Free Trade Party's won. That Earth fleet's gone scuttling back home!" 

They left the old man to his bottle of drink and boarded a 'cab without being stopped. Hutyer punched out the code for the Administration building. "The whole area's alight over there," he stated. "I should think that's where the party is." 

The cab flashed over the city at top speed to the Administration Building where a huge carnival was going on below. They landed on the rooftop and were immediately surrounded by guards. 

"No-one lands here, a guard drawled. '"Push off or we'll blast you." 

"Don't you recognise me?" Hutyer demanded, hoping that these guards had not been in on Kart's deception. 

"Sorry Mr. Hutyer sir," the guard replied, immediately recognising him. "We heard you'd left to free other oppressed planets." 

"Well, I'm back. Where's Kart? I've brought him back these traitors." 

The Guard looked inside and saw the leaders of the Administration Party. "We heard they'd tried to run for it. Do I shoot them now?" 

"No," Hutyer ordered. "They come with me." 

"Yes sir. Mr. Kart is in room 12. 6th. floor." 

"Right," Hutyer nodded. "I can deal with these men by myself. You guards can stay here." 

Hutyer led his group down to the sixth floor. "Say," Jenson exclaimed, "there's my original working prototype of my Null weapon, over there in the glass case." 

Hutyer stared at it for a moment, then a look of hate filled his eyes. "Smash that case open and get it out," he decided. 

"What are you going to do?" Jenson asked. 

"How short a range has it got?" Hutyer asked. 

"Down to an inch," Jenson replied. "It's far in advance of anything else of its type." 

"We're going to send Kart and his friends on a trip into Null," Hutyer decided. "Like they did us, only theirs will be far briefer Have you any idea of the size of the room he's in?" 

"Not as such," Jenson replied, "but I'm pretty sure every reception room in this building is identical. I did some work here once." 

"Good," Hutyer decided. "Then get to it. We'll place it in the middle of his room!" 

Jenson broke open the glass case and studied his machine. He worked quickly over the next quarter of an hour to power it up to operating efficiency. Jenson and Hutyer ushered the rest of their party into a side room, then continued down the corridor towards their target. The Security Guards recognised Hutyer and waved him past their check points, slapping him on the back and congratulating him for his part in their victory. They reached room 12 and Hutyer kicked the door open. He was greeted by a full meeting of the Free Trade Party. Kart looked up in disbelief as Hutyer and Jenson regarded him with hate in their eyes. "No one move," Hutyer ordered, as Jenson positioned the machine in the room. Hutyer smiled grimly, as he saw Mrs Kart sitting at the table; unlike Jenny, Kart's wife was not dead, thought she would be soon. "Give them five seconds," Hutyer advised, as Jenson nodded to show that all was ready. they quickly departed the room, activating the force lock on the door behind them. "Move away," he urged Jenson as he backed away. The door suddenly bulged outwards, the walls around them cracked, and Hutyer realised that they might all be crushed alive, but the supports held firm. 

It was all over. Hutyer was the first back over to the room. When he looked in, he saw there was nothing there, only a huge hole. The floor had vanished, and he looked down through the hole to the floor below where bewildered people spattered with dust and tiny pieces of debris looked up in awe. He nodded grimly, justice had been done to his satisfaction. 

He turned back into the corridor to see a young woman come round the corner. "Very impressive, Dan," she said in something of a mocking tone. "I've been following your progress on the security cameras since I saw you enter the building. It wasn't unexpected really." 

"Therese Lewis," Hutyer gasped. "What are you doing here?" 

"Oh, lots of things," she replied, a harder tone in her voice. "I've been following the progress of my brother's Null weapon in its latest incarnation for one thing." 

"Professor Lewis' sister," Jenson gasped. 

"Yes," she replied smiling sweetly. "I see you managed to iron out some of the problems my brother hadn't sorted." She reached the entrance to the destroyed room. "Very nasty," she commented, looking in. "But just what I expected of you." 

"It was you who had us put on that ship instead of letting Kart kill us, wasn't it?" Hutyer cursed. "You're a major player in all this aren't you?" 

"Politics is such a dirty business, Dan," she smiled, "and far too complex and sophisticated for a simple Null Space Captain. Still, Earth will be pleased with today's events. I think our position is now secure here again." 

"You work for Earth?" Hutyer queried. 

"Among others," the girl added smiling sweetly. "She looked at her watch. "Mmm, security are slow getting here. Still never mind. Bye, Dan. I think your adventures have just reached their end." 

A concealed blaster fired from under her tunic, ripping Hutyer's chest open. He collapsed to the floor. As he fell, she pulled out the blaster, flicking the control to stun and felled Jenson with another burst. She looked down at his frozen body. "You're too valuable to kill," she added, "you must have more secrets of the Null Weapon in that head of yours." 

As the security guards lumbered into view, she knelt down and cradled Hutyer's head in her hands. "Poor Dan," she sighed, "it's a pity it had to end like this. I rather liked you, and you did try to recover my brother's body for me, but you shouldn't have come back, the broken hero is a very dangerous creature indeed." 

A crooked smile crossed Hutyer's pained face. "I always said I'd die at the hands of a woman," he gasped. "I-" Blood began to ooze from his mouth as he fell silent. 

Therese stood up and flashed her high level security pass at the guards. "I will deal with the removal of these bodies," she said. "I suggest you locate the ex President. He's downstairs somewhere. He is to be reinstated with immediate effect." 

As the guards hurried to obey her orders she took out her communicator and punched in a code. "Hello. Yes, it's Therese. Yes, S.J., there's been a very successful outcome here. I'll fill you in on the details when I see you. Bye." She terminated the connection. 



 


 



 


 



 
