The Merchandise Guide
Annual 1975

nothing for you. Our ship material- ised before you to decoy you on board. Now we have you, and we intend to plunder your brain! Yes --to extract your entire know- ledge so that we can know exactly how to destroy your friends-- conclusively. It is our custom when we are confronted with outsiders."    Carter felt chill spread over his body. So this was it! A race of aliens who could not--would not tolerate the approach of beings different from themselves. And they were going to use hid know- ledge--the entire contents of his mind and memory--to work out some way of attacking Moonbase and destroying it for ever! He had to think! To think! But these
electrodes . . . their power . . .burning into his very soul . . . On Moonbase, Professor Victor Bergman awoke from his induced sleep period with a shout of mingled alary, surprise and excitement. No--it wasn't a dream! It was there. Still there! Buzzing in his head as clearly as though the man was right beside him!    Bergman'a hand shot for the Comlock beside his bunk. "John! Here--quickly! I've got him! I've got Alan Carter! He's coming through so strongly I can hardly believe it!"	Within seconds, Commander Koenig was by Bergman's side. "E.S.P., Victor? I don't believe it!"    "But it's true, John! I knew it was possible! He-- he's held captive! They're doing some kind of brain- drain operation on him . . ." Bergman's fingers clawed at his temples as he concentrated. "I'm in touch, John! Aliens . . . they mean to destroy us!"    Shaking with agitation, Koenig forced the story out of his colleague even as Alan Carter's thought- waves came through across the void of space.    "But where is he, Victor? Where is he?"    Bergman gulped. "The same place, John. Just the
Desperately the rescue teams bounded across the lunar surface! Could Paul Carter have survived the crash of his Eagle . . .?	same place. I can hear the aliens, too. A sort of twittering, but it seems to make sense. All coming through Alan! Their--their ship's invisible to us, but it's close. So close!"    Koenig sat down. He had to. This was beyond even his compre- hension. "He's got to escape, Victor. Tell him. Get through to him! He's got to get out of there!"    To Alan Carter, it was as though unknown forcer were play- ing havoc inside his mind! On the one hand, the insidious urging of his captors. On the other, the strong messages from Bergman and, yes, even Koenig! A battle of wills--and his own head was the battlefield!    Some inner reserve of strength welled up within him. Con- vulsively, he sat up, and the electrodes ripped from his flesh! His hand found the stun-gun at his waist--hadn't the fools taken it from him? No--how could

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