Part 16 (2/2)

With a mighty effort he raised his laser-cannon, and blasted the side clean out of the tube.

Balazar, who had elected to stay behind as look-out, was peering into the hatch.

'What's happening?' he yelled.

He heard a series of explosions - and suddenly an enormous ball of green vegetable gunk shot from the hatchway, covering him from head to foot in green slime...

Dibber stumbled though the smoking hole in the wall into Drathro's control room. Immediately the robot smashed the laser cannon from his hands.

Glitz, who came next, dropped his weapon at once. 'We come in peace,' he said unconvincingly.

Peri and Merdeen staggered in after them.

'Are you all right, Doctor?' said Peri.

The Doctor got stiffly to his feet. 'For the moment,' he said grimly, his eyes on the still-vibrating black-light console. 'Though not for long, I fear!'

Drathro surveyed his prisoners. 'I could kill you all now, but there is no necessity. We are waiting for something the Doctor tells me is quite unique - a black-light explosion.'

'Do something, Dibber,' groaned Glitz.

'Like what?'

The Doctor said, 'I've been trying to convince this mobile junk heap here that none of this needs happen - if he'd let me shut the system down.'

'Seems eminently sensible to me,' said Glitz.

Ah, but he won't listen to anything sensible,' said the Doctor bitterly. 'He needs black light to function, you see, so he sees no reason why the rest of us should survive. That is your narrowly egotistical little view, isn't it, Drathro?'

'If I am doomed, you are all doomed,' said the robot implacably.

The black-light console was juddering as if it would shake loose from the control-room floor, its lights flas.h.i.+ng wildly.

It couldn't last much longer, thought the Doctor.

'Now, look here, wait a minute,' said Glitz. 'I mean, if it's only black light you want Drathro, we've got plenty of that, haven't we, Dibber?'

Dibber was a bit slow picking up his cue. 'We do?'

'On the s.h.i.+p,' said Glitz desperately. 'On the s.h.i.+p, Dibber.'

'Oh, black light,' said Dibber. 'Yeah, we got so much of that sometimes you can hardly see.'

'There is black light on your s.h.i.+p?' said Drathro eagerly.

Glitz's story was patently unconvincing, yet the robot grasped at it like a sick man promised a miracle cure. He wanted, needed to believe them.

'As my friend says,' said Dibber smoothly, 'we've got more black light than we know what to do with. So what I suggest is, you come with us and we'll, er, fix you up.'

'Why?' asked Drathro, suddenly suspicious.

'Well, I hate to see a good-looking robot like you go to waste,' said Glitz. 'Tell you what else we can do for you.

We can drop you off in the Constellation of Andromeda.

How about that?'

'It is possible?' asked Drathro eagerly.

Not only life, but a return home, thought the Doctor.

Glitz was quite a con man when he got going. Now for the sting.

'Of course,' said Glitz casually, 'you'd have to bring all the secrets. They'd expect that. You'll have to bring them back.'

'How far is your s.h.i.+p?' asked Drathro.

'Oh, right outside really,' said Glitz vaguely. 'No distance at all.'

'I could function for a short distance.'

'Of course you could,' said Glitz encouragingly.

'I accept your offer,' said Drathro. 'I will fetch the secrets.'

He pointed to Glitz's gun. 'Take that, and tie these others up.'

The robot disappeared into a small inner chamber.

'Well done,' said the Doctor and headed for the black-light console.

Dibber barred his way, laser-gun in hand. 'Sorry, Doc.

You heard what he said.'

By the time the robot emerged with a flat metal case in its metal hand, Peri and Merdeen were securely bound, and Glitz was just finis.h.i.+ng las.h.i.+ng the Doctor to a nearby console.

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