The Merchandise Guide
Annual 1976

Koenig aimed his laser pistol at the false panels! Somewhere behind them lay Victor Bergman! we ourselves were mortally hit. Our engines were snuffed, so to speak."    "Go on." Koenig's voice was deceptively calm now, and his colleagues in Main Mission knew it.    "We have known of your approach for some time, Commander," said Danrak. "And we know that you survive here by virtue of nuclear power. Briefly, we need fuel and parts from your reactors to repair our engines."    Koenig looked angry. "If you know so much about us, surely you know we are peaceful. That we drift across the universe in the hope of finding a hew home. In the hope of establishing friendship with another race--even yours! We would have helped you, without the need for all this dramatic rigmarole!"    Danrak laughed thinly. "You do not seem to understand, Commander. We do not want your friendship. We of Barrax- Beta do not favour outsiders. You saw, in my sh, cases containing spheres? Those are people. Or, I should say, were people. They are the intelligences of races we have subjected to our will. Intelligences that we use as slaves to man our ships. By all means join us--if you wish to be eternally transmuted to globes of mind-matter. Globes that can only obey our every command!"    The girl spoke again. "Clearly, they find all this confusing," she said. Her eyes swept the stunned faces of the Main Mission personnel. Paul Morrow had sat down heavily, his hands clenched. Sandra Benes licked her lips, her eyes wide with horror.    "Come." Danrak sounded impatient. "We do not wish to destroy you. Soon you will pass through our sector of space. You will journey far beyond us. Give us what we need, and your Professor Bergman will be returned to you, unharmed."    "Don't do it, Commander!" Paul Morrow leaped to his feet and gripped Koenig's arm! "Don't you see? They'll take all  our nuclear fule! They'll strip us of the equipment we need

to survive! They'll leave us to journey on, sure enough--but to journey on to a slow and lingering death as light, heat and support systems gradually run down and fade!"    "Koenig ground his teeth. "But Paul . . . they've got Victor!" It was then, as abruptly as they had materialised, that the aliens from Barrax-Beta vanished. As completely as thought they'd never been present. There was just the lingering echo of the last words of Danrak, hanging in the air--jarring and metallic. "Come to your decision--but come to it quickly ! You cannot match our powers!"    Now there was silence in Main Mission. A silence as deep as that which Koenig had found on the alien ship. But it was Alan Carter who broke it. "I've got an idea, Commander. It's a longshot, but it might work!"    "Go ahead, Alan."    "We know VIctor's being held somewhere on their ship. We can pinpoint the exact spot by bouncing signals from his comlock. Even if he's unable to reply--he may be unconscious or something--we can plot him." Carter paused, running a hand across his brow as if to clear his mind. "Now. You take an Eagle and go alone to the ship. To give your decision to Danrak. When you're in there, you mount a one-man rescue op."    Sandra Benes snorted. "They'd be onto him right away, Alan! What a ridiculous suggestion!"    Carter scowled. "Let me finish! In the meantime, I go round the blind side to the other vessel, and go aboard. Remember, they said they'd wiped out the whole crew. Well, once there, I can drop a transmitting device that'll make Danrak think the ship's still operational. I can fool him into believing that someone there has survived, and is about to attack!"    Koenig stiffened. "I think I see what you're getting at, Alan. You mean that Danrak will instantly turn his attention to the other craft, and in the panic, I'll get Victor clear!"    "Exactly, Commander! And meantime, I pull away in my Eagle, and the moment I see you get clear, I open up with everything I've got!"    Kano stood ready, eyebrows raised, but Koenig waved him down. "Don't feed it to the computer for approval, David. It's such a longshop it'd make the computer burst out laughing. But under the circumstances, it's our only chance. . ."    To the mute astonishment of the Main Mission staff, Koenig grabbed Alan's arm, and together they strode out of the room towards the travel tubes that would take them to their launch pads! For the second time, John Koenig stepped through the flexible tube connecting his Eagle with Danrak's ship. This time, as he stepped through, he was met by the alien himself. "I will meet your terms," said Koenig, shortly. "Our survival will be in our own hands, and it will be up to us to ensure it."    "I hope you can, Commander," smirked Danrak, sceptically.    Koenig followed the alien into the ship, and as they drew close to the room in which he now knew Victor to be held, Koenig surreptitiously thumbed the button of his comlock and coughed. A pre-arranged signal to Alan Carter. If only he was in position aboard the other alien ship!    Koenig needn't have worried! Over some kind of speaker- system came the voice of the Barrax-Beta woman, taut with urgency! "Danrak! The Trinion ship is still active! They're signalling attack!"    Danrak spun away from Koenig, his fists clenching. "It's--it's impossible ! Activate all defensive systems! Align killerbeams! I'm coming to the command centre!" Then he remembered Koenig, and half turned. It was too late! Koenig's fist caught the alien on the nape of the neck and

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