The Merchandise Guide
Annual 1975

"It can't be happening! It's like some terrible nightmare!" Commander John Koenig crouched in the dust-shrouded rubble of the underground chamber--some kind of cellar that was part of a ruined city. The relic of a civilisation long since vanished. Beside him, Doctor Helena Russell moaned softly, shivering even under the covers of the ancient material he'd pulled round her. Concussed, she was as helpless as a child!    Koenig looked up, his ears straining for the sound of the four men on the surface. His men. Techni- cians from Moonbase Alpha who--was it only twenty four hours ago--had been grinning re- assuringly at him in the briefing area of Main Mission. But now--now they were hunting him. Searching for him and the injured woman, with only one purpose in their minds. Murder. Something terrible had happened to these men. Something beyond Koenig's understanding. They were going to kill him--and there was practically nothing that he could do about it! If Koenig ever needed help, it was now . . . but his Comlock was broken. Shattered in a fall. He hadn't even got the power to call Moonbase for assistance . . . They had made a long-range probe survey of the planet as soon as it had been sighted and identi- fied. All the resources of Moonbase technology had been marshalled to investigate the possibilities. For the survivors of the cataclysm that had separated Moon from Earth were still desperately seeking a

Inexplicably, the four technicians from Moon- base Alpha had become hunters! Now, with the urge to kill, they began searching for the entrance to the underground chamber . . . new home somewhere in their unalterable journey across space.    The reports had been good. No, more than that. Excellent. Atmosphere compatible. Temperature, cold but bearable. Traces of vegetation--but none of organo-biological life. It had seemed that the place was inhabitable, yet uninhabited.    The first initiation of Project Exodus--the plan to evacuate the Moonbase personnel--had been put into operation, and a manned craft, with four And waiting beneath them, their quarry! Their own leader--Commander John Koenig, bur- dened with his helpless colleague, Doctor Helena Russell!

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