The Merchandise Guide
Annual 1977

Eagle's firing mechanisms, and ignition pinwheels within the powerful motors burst into life!    The result was immediate. Within the docking bay, all engine vents were sealed. So that the instant overload blew the electrical circuits, and the whole control panel of the craft burst into lurid flame!    "You - you fool!" Helena's voice rose to a wild shriek! "We're on fire !"    Vamar lost his head. With a strangled yell, he tore loose from Helena, and she lost him in the acrid smoke that was rapidly filling the cabin. Choking and gasping, she fought her own way back to the exit and stumbled out into the arms of the ashen security men.    "Get - get clear! For pity's sak, get clear !"    Airlock doors slid closed behind them, and then they were racing for the travel tube. In minutes, Helena was back in Main Mission. "The bomb, John! The bomb !"    There wasn't a second to lose! Remotely, the stricken Eagle was raised to launch position. Equally remotely, the emergency thrusters were brought into

play, and the craft lifted away from its pad - the eyes of everyone in Alpha's command-centre riveted to its image on the big video screen.    "Raise all protective shields," snapped Koenig. "Full radiation screen! Stand by for red-scale concussion!"    Gradually, the Eagle receded - a self-contained furnace that had already consumed its treacherous occupant, and now threatened the stability of the massive central missile!    The blast as it exploded shook the Moon to its very core. It was if a giant fist had gripped Alpha and shaken it - and the occupants of Main Mission were flung headlong like dolls! But with nothing in empty space to feed on, the chain reaction stopped as soon as it had begun, and there was only blackness, and a drift of dust. All that remained of Eagle Seven.    "I wonder if they picked that up on Tal," said Maya soberly.    "Probably," said Koenig. "But they'll never be able to figure out what caused it. How could they guess that it was Vamar's intended means of revenge . . ."

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