CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Will the arrival of the Deity have a profound spiritual

effect on me? Of course it will. It’ll change me
forever. Plus I’ll prob’ly become Boss of Here with
unlimited access to all the lovely daughters…for
ritual purposes only you understand!”
STAN THE PROPHET

PART ONE
Around the same time as Kharg was getting ready to beam down to Here, Stan e
merged from his cave yawning and scratching and looking extremely satisfied. He
took some deep breaths of the cold fresh morning air then surveyed his flock who
were still asleep in the shelter of some rocks.
“Prats!” he muttered, shaking his head contemptuously. “Burnin Balls. Gods c
omin down from the skies. They’d believe anythin.”
“Staa-aan!” a woman’s voice called invitingly from the rear of his cave. “Oh
Staa-aan!”
The Prophet grinned as he heard her. “Time for another ritual,” he muttered
happily.
He glanced across to the spot on the opposite small hill where the Sphere ha
d plunged into Bert the Unbeliever and sniggered at the thought of it. Just as h
e was turning away something caught his eye and he looked back.
A strange shimmering light had appeared next to the small crater where the S
phere had plunged down and as he watched, the shimmering solidified and suddenly
someone was standing there. A tall strange figure wearing a long flowing robe.
Stan’s mouth fell open. “Bloody hell!!” he muttered. “This is gettin serious
!! God’s here!!”
He shielded his eyes and took another long look just to make sure he hadn’t
imagined it all but the figure was still there, drifting around and examining th
e ground.
Stan ran over to his flock and started kicking them awake. “Quick!! Quick!!
Get up!! Get up!!” he yelled at them. “God’s here!!”
As they started coming to, Stan left them and trotted downhill and half-way
up the other small hill, halting a reverential few yards away from the Deity.
“Mornin God,” he gushed, bowing several times, still a little breathless. “H
ow are you? Have a good journey?” He held out his hand. “Stan’s the name. Stan t
he Prophet. Been doin a lot of work for you here, convertin the heathen, perform
in rituals, that sort of thing.”
Kharg didn’t even look up.
Ignoring this Divine rebuff Stan strolled forward and watched with interest
as Kharg inspected the ground around the half buried Sphere.
“The gold stuff’s the Burnin Ball,” Stan explained helpfully then a smile cr
ept on to his face. “The red stuff’s Bert. Bert the Unbeliever.”
Kharg continued to ignore the grubby bearded primitive and carried on with h
is examination of the golden Sphere which had led him on a long journey across s
pace.
Since it had obviously served its purpose and had come to the end of its jou
rney he decided to see if the inside of it would surrender any further clues as
to the whereabouts of the all-powerful substance he sought.
“Stand back!” he rasped.
Stan quickly jumped back, well out of his way. Kharg raised his hand and poi
nted a long bony finger. A thin blue line shot out from the end of it and zapped
into the Sphere, shattering it.
Stan’s eyes widened. “Blimey!” he muttered. “This God’s for real!”
Kharg drifted forward and was examining the inside of the Sphere as the floc
k arrived. They stopped a respectful distance away, whispering and pointing at h
im.
Stan turned when he heard them. “Told you He’d come, didn’t I?” he bragged,
swaggering over.
The flock nodded.
“Well come on then, show the Deity a bit of respect,” he ordered.
The men started shoving their wives and daughters forward.
“No, no! Not that!” snapped Stan. “Bow!”
The flock quickly got down on their knees and bowed their heads to the groun
d.
Kharg continued to ignore them and had found a small golden Globe amongst th
e remains of the Sphere. It was an exact replica of the Sphere and after examini
ng it he shoved it inside his robe.
Stan swaggered back over to him. “There you are, God,” he said proudly, wavi
ng a hand at the flock. “Your followers. Trained them myself. Good, aren’t they?
”
Kharg glanced at the filthy fur-clad primitives bowed towards him and wrinkl
ed his nose in disgust. He brought out his Transceiver and flicked it open. “Gir
affe – have you finished the survey of the planet yet?” he rasped into it.
“Just finished,” Giraffe replied.
“Does it show anything of interest?”
“There’s some sort of barrier running across the planet,” Giraffe told him.
“It separates one half from the other.”
Stan’s eyes widened again as he heard the voice from the Transceiver. “More
than one God is there?” he asked, drawing closer.
“Scanners pick it up,” Giraffe went on, “but it could be invisible to the ey
e.”
“There’s more than one of them!!” Stan shouted to the flock.
“Possibly a--”
“He’s talkin to the other God right now!!” Stan yelled, keeping the flock in
formed. “Better than trees this, eh Barry!?”
“Silence!” Kharg hissed angrily.
Stan jumped back. “Sorry God,” he apologised.
“Possibly a force-field or some kind of invisible wall running across the pl
anet,” Giraffe continued.
“Wall?” picked up Stan. “You lookin for the wall that nobody sees?” he asked
.
After warning Giraffe to stay alert, Kharg flicked off his Transceiver. “Wha
t do you know of a wall?” he rasped.
“There’s a bloody big one runnin round our bit of the planet,” Stan told him
. “Trouble is, nobody can see it.”
Kharg’s oval eyes narrowed. “A permanent force-field,” he muttered to himsel
f. He brought the Pendant out from under his robe and examined it. “And this wil
l get me through it!”
“Bloody hell!” Stan exclaimed as he saw the Pendant. “You’ve got the key!”
“This is the key?” rasped Kharg. “Then you must know where the door is?”
“Oh yeah, I do,” Stan said, nodding. “We found it one day by accident,” he w
ent on conversationally. “Lookin for a way through the wall, we were, when we fo
und this little hole with designs in it just like that,” he said, pointing at th
e Pendant.
“Show me where it is,” rasped Kharg.
Stan grinned and stepped closer. “In a hurry to find it are we, God?”
“I would like to find it soon,” Kharg replied, aware that the Klingers must
be somewhere close.
“It’s a big wall,” Stan said casually. “It would take you ages to find it.”
“Then show me the spot.”
Stan pulled at his straggly beard. “What’s in it for me?” he asked.
Kharg groaned and held his head. “Oh not another one!” he rasped wearily.
“I do somethin for you – you do somethin for me,” Stan said, winking and tap
ping the side of his nose.
“What do you wish?” Kharg asked.
 “Let me an the flock through the wall with you,” Stan told him. “Oh an show
me how to do that zappin bit.”
Kharg looked puzzled. “Zapping bit?” he queried.
“Yeah, you know, that zappin bit when the blue streak comes out,” Stan repli
ed, flicking his finger.
“The blue streak,” Kharg repeated and shook his head. “Agreed. Oh before we
go, has anyone else landed on your planet recently?”
Stan shook his head. “Nope. Only you, God.”
“Good,” rasped Kharg. “Now lead me to this place where the Pendant fits into
the wall.”
Stan folded his arms. “I want the zappin bit now!” he demanded.
Kharg’s eyes narrowed angrily but remembering how close the Klingers might b
e, he controlled himself. “Stand still,” he ordered and raised his hands.
As Stan remained motionless a circling red light appeared above his head and
slowly began moving down over his body.
The flock were watching.
“What’s God doin to Stan?” a puzzled Barry asked.
“Dunno,” muttered Arthur. “Maybe it’s a ritual.”
“Naaa. You need a daughter when you’re doin that,” said Barry.
The red circle continued to move down gradually over Stan and then disappear
ed into the ground.
Stan watched it go. “Is that it?” he asked.
Kharg nodded.
Stan flexed his index finger experimentally. A weak blue line dribbled out t
he end of it. Startled, he jumped back and looked at his hand in awe. He flexed
his finger again and a stronger blue line flashed past his head, narrowly missin
g his ear.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “I’ll have to be careful with this.” He turned an
d swaggered over to the flock. “Hey you lot – up on your feet!” he ordered.
The flock, who were still kneeling on the ground, got to their feet.
“Watch this,” Stan told them and looked round for a suitable target.
He spotted a rock, flexed his finger and pointed at it. A blue line instantl
y shot out, streaked through the air and shattered the rock.
As one, the flock’s eyes widened and their mouths dropped open.
“How about that!” boasted Stan, parading up and down in front of them. “Bet
Eric couldn’t do that, Barry!?”
“Wow! That was pretty good, Stan,” said Barry. “Did God give you it?”
Stan nodded and gazed at his finger.
“Do another one, Stan,” Arthur encouraged him.
“Another one? No problem to Stan the Man,” bragged the Prophet.
“There’s a big one,” Arthur said, pointing to a large boulder about twenty f
eet away.
“Right, watch this,” Stan told him.
He flexed his index finger then flicked it at the boulder. This time a thick
blue line streaked through the air and zapped into it. There was a small explos
ion and rock fragments flew into the air.
Stan grinned triumphantly and turned back to the flock to receive their accl
aim then realised that the thick blue line was still shooting out of his finger.
“Oh shit!” he muttered as the line grew stronger and he lost control of it. “Aa
arrgghh! Stop! Stop!” he yelled.
The out of control blue line danced across the grass gouging holes in the gr
ound, blowing up more rocks, setting a bush on fire and then zapped into one of
the flock who screamed and fell.
The others immediately scattered.
“Turn the friggin thing off!!” Stan yelled over his shoulder to Kharg.
Seeing what was happening, Kharg snapped his fingers and the blue line vanis
hed.
“Shit! Bit of a close one that!” muttered a relieved Stan, blowing on his fi
nger. “Sorry about that, flock!” he shouted to the flock who had re-grouped out
of range. “I’ll have to practice.”
 Barry cupped his hands to his mouth. “As long as it’s not on us, Stan!” he y
elled back.
Kharg meantime was growing extremely irritated at the antics of the primitiv
es. “Show me the wall!” he hissed. “Now!!”
“Oh yeah, the wall,” agreed Stan. “It’s up the other hill past my cave then
down at the other side.
“Let’s go,” ordered Kharg and drifted off.
Stan trotted along beside him and as soon as he was out of zapping range, th
e flock followed.
As Stan struggled to keep up with Kharg he kept glancing enviously at the ef
fortless way he seemed to drift along.
“Don’t suppose you could show me how to do that driftin bit?” he panted.
Kharg’s yellow eyes flashed angrily at him.
“Forget it,” Stan said quickly.
On the other side of the hill they halted near the bottom. The invisible wal
l swung round here in a long loping curve and when Stan had caught his breath he
led the way over to it.
Kharg reached out towards it and his bony, tapering fingers tapped something
solid. “The force-field!” he rasped, triumph in his voice. “Where is the door?”
Stan led the way along a narrow path with Kharg drifting along behind him un
til they came to a spot near some trees. Stan halted and pointed to a small, int
ricately patterned hole.
“Right there, God,” he said.
Kharg brought out the Pendant and compared its intricately carved outline to
the hole. Both looked as if they matched.
As he moved the Pendant closer to the force-field its carved base swung roun
d at a right angle, much to Stan’s amazement. Kharg inserted the base of the Pen
dant into the hole and turned it. There was a loud click and the Pendant swung a
way from him.
Stan ran his hand along the wall then it travelled through to the other side
. “You’ve done it, God!!” he exclaimed. “You’ve opened the wall that nobody sees
!!”
Kharg’s harsh laughter rang out and he drifted through. He removed the Penda
nt from the lock then reached into his robe and brought out the small gold Globe
he’d found inside the Sphere. Immediately it started giving off a high-pitched
bleeping and he moved off with it in his open palm.
Behind him Stan waved to the flock. “Come on!” he yelled. “God’s leadin us i
nto the Promised Land!”
PART TWO
On the bridge of Kharg’s ship Giraffe had his feet up on his console and was
leaning back in his chair, dozing. If he’d remained alert as his Master had ins
tructed he would have noticed the lights above the Transporter Platform flashing
, indicating someone was beaming aboard.
The shimmering outline of three figures began to solidify and moments later
Draygo and two of his warriors materialised.
Giraffe woke at the insistent prodding of a laser rifle against his head.
Draygo grinned at him. “Where’s Kharg?” he asked.
Giraffe swallowed. “Down on the planet,” he squeaked.
“Did the Sphere land there?”
“Yes.”
“What’s it leading him to?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kill him,” Draygo ordered casually.
“Wait! Wait!” Giraffe pleaded. “Kharg’s found some sort of invisible wall ru
nning all the way across the planet. He’s got a Pendant that opens a door in it.
”
Draygo frowned. “What’s behind the wall?”
“There’s supposed to be some sort of really powerful mysterious substance th
at’s going to allow him to rule the Universe.”
Draygo’s frown deepened. “What the hell is it?”
Giraffe shrugged his small shoulders. “Even Kharg doesn’t know. He won’t til
l he finds it.”
“Is he still looking for it?”
Giraffe nodded.
Draygo’s frown cleared and an evil grin spread over his face. “In that case
I’ll let him find it for me – then I’ll take it.” He turned to his two warriors.
“Set the charges,” he ordered.
The troops removed their backpacks, took out some explosives and set them at
various points round the bridge.
Draygo slapped a Transporter Bracelet round Giraffe’s arm and lifted him by
the collar over to the Platform. “Beam us back,” he said into his Transceiver.
The four figures shimmered and vanished, re-appearing moments later back on
the Mother Ship. Draygo lifted Giraffe by the collar again and carried him acros
s the bridge, dumping him in front of the forward observation screen where Kharg
’s ship could be seen.
“Watch,” Draygo ordered then nodded to his First Officer.
The First Officer pressed a button on his console and Kharg’s ship erupted i
n a brilliant orange and red explosion.
“Oh shit!” muttered Giraffe. “The Boss isn’t going to like this!”
Draygo grinned and turned away from the screen. Behind him, a dozen heavily
armed warriors had lined up on the Transporter Platform. He strode over and join
ed them.
“Beam us down to the planet,” he ordered.
PART THREE
“I’m picking up a high energy generation from inside the planet’s atmosphere
,” Lieutenant Youhoor announced.
“An explosion?” Captain Kork asked.
“Possibly sir,” replied Youhoor.
Like Kharg and the Klingers, the Orion had travelled through the corridor in
side the Black Hole and had come out into the new Universe. They had followed th
e Hercurium traces across space and they had led to the planet Here which they w
ere now studying on their forward observation screen.
Mr Sprock’s ears were currently in normal mode and he too was studying the s
creen. “Since the planet obviously has no defence systems,” he said, “then eithe
r the Klingers have destroyed Kharg’s ship or Kharg has destroyed the Mother Shi
p.”
The Captain nodded agreement. “Which means we might be the next target. Any
ships on the scanners?” he asked Youhoor.
“Negative sir.”
The Captain stared thoughtfully at the screen. “Whoever destroyed the other
ship could be using a Cloak I suppose,” he mused.
“Does the Mother Ship have one?” Mr Sprock asked.
“Yes they do. Dennis told me,” the Captain replied, grinning as he thought o
f one of their Klinger prisoners.
“In that case I would say that the Klingers have destroyed Kharg’s ship.”
“Yes, I accept your reasoning, Mr Sprock,” said the Captain. “The next quest
ion is this – was Kharg aboard at the time?”
The Orion’s First Officer arched an eyebrow as he gave the matter his consid
eration. “I would say no, Captain,” he eventually answered. “Kharg is too clever
to be caught out by the Klingers, even if their ship does have a Cloak.”
“In that case he must be down on the planet somewhere.”
Sprock nodded. “Probably searching for the mysterious substance he told us a
bout when we were held prisoner on Dulcodaz.”
Captain Kork pursed his lips. “So Kharg is down on the planet and the Klinge
rs are still inside its atmosphere, perhaps waiting for us,” he summed up. He tu
rned to Mr Zulu. “Take a fix on that explosion and make sure we stay well away f
rom it,” he ordered.
“Yez boz,” Zulu replied.
As the Orion headed away in the opposite direction from the explosion, the C
aptain ordered a profile on the planet below. The forward observation screen vie
w of space changed to a slowly revolving view of Here and they could see its mou
ntains, oceans, valleys and rivers.
Mr Sprock studied it closely. “There appears to be a barrier separating one
half of the planet from the other,” he said. “Possibly some sort of force-field.
”
“What purpose would that serve?” queried the Captain.
“I’m not sure,” replied Sprock. “Tap in a predicted landing area for the Sph
ere,” he instructed Crackers.
Crackers complied and on the screen they could see that the Sphere had lande
d fairly close to the force-field.
“Give me a close up of the landing area,” Sprock requested.
The view telescoped in and as it slowly panned round, he spotted something.
“Freeze the view,” he ordered Crackers. “Change to infra-red.” On the screen
the view changed colour and he pointed to something. “There, at the bottom of t
he hill,” he said to the Captain. “I think there’s a gap in the force-field.”
The Captain leaned forward and studied the screen. “You’re correct Mr Sprock
,” he agreed. “There is a gap.”
“This force-field must have been what the Sphere was leading Kharg to,” Spro
ck went on. “What we don’t know is how he created the gap in it.”
“The Pendant!” exclaimed the Captain. “That damn Pendant! He must have used
it to get through the force-field somehow.” He turned and glared at Ricky who sa
nk further down in the couch he was lounging on.
“That sounds logical,” said Sprock. “Kharg did say the Pendant would help hi
m to reach the mysterious substance he was searching for.”
“In that case he may already have it,” the Captain said, standing up. “I thi
nk it’s time we went down and investigated.”
“Agreed, Jim,” replied Sprock.
“Mr Bradley – take charge while I’m gone,” the Captain instructed as they st
rolled over to the Transporter Platform. “Keep the Orion well away from the fix
we took on the explosion. Call every thirty minutes to check if we’re ready to b
eam back.”
“Yes sir!” replied Butch, snapping out a salute.
Lieutenant Youhoor pushed forward the Transporter levers and on the Platform
, the Captain and Mr Sprock shimmered then vanished.
Moments later they materialised at the foot of the hill next to the path whe
re Stan had led Kharg. After a quick search they found the force-field and feeli
ng their way along it found the still open doorway.
“Kharg must have used the Pendant,” the Captain said, examining the intricat
ely designed lock. “It looks as if it would have fitted into this.”
“I suggest we move through,” said Sprock. “If we climb that small hill we ma
y be able to spot him.”
The Captain nodded and they strolled into the Promised Land. They began to c
limb the small hill, skirting a forest on their left but they had only gone a hu
ndred yards when two accurately fired beams from a couple of stun guns caught th
em and they dropped to the grass, unconscious.

PART FOUR
Allowing himself to be guided by the strength of the bleeping from the small
gold Globe, Kharg had drifted through the forest along a wide path. The path ev
entually led to a grassy clearing which was surrounded by several caves.
Kharg drifted into the centre of the grassy clearing and stopped. With the g
old Globe in his palm, he held out his hand and slowly moved it round. When he w
as pointing towards one of the caves the bleeping from the Globe grew continuous
and he drifted forward and entered the cave.
 Stan waited in the clearing but the flock remained back on the path, preferr
ing to remain a discreet distance from his index finger in case he felt compelle
d to give them another demonstration of his zapping power.
A few minutes later Kharg drifted back out of the cave carrying two caskets,
one gold and one silver. He set them down on the grass and a curious Stan strol
led up to see what they contained.
Kharg opened the silver casket and inside were hundreds of small glass phial
s, stacked neatly on folding velvet rows. Each phial contained a tiny amount of
a thick jet black liquid.
“What’s all that stuff then, God?” Stan asked.
Kharg ignored him and carefully removed one of the small phials and laid it
on the grass. He drifted back from it a little, closed his eyes and slowly raise
d his hands.
As he did so the glass phial rose into the air and hung motionless six feet
above the grass. Kharg opened his eyes and looked round for a suitable target.
Some distance behind the caves there was a small mountain and Kharg drifted
round and positioned himself behind the phial. He sucked in a deep breath and bl
ew sharply towards it. The phial flew into the air high above the caves and head
ed towards the small mountain.
Half way up the mountain the phial smashed into a large boulder. There was a
tremendous thundering explosion and the entire mountain began to disintegrate,
starting an avalanche of rocks and boulders. More explosions followed and the mo
untain seemed to collapse in on itself.
A couple of minutes later when the dust and smoke had cleared, the small mou
ntain was gone.
Stan let out a long low appreciative whistle. “Bloody hell, God!” he said. “
You’ve disappeared a mountain!”
Kharg’s thin lips twisted in a triumphant smile.
“What was in that little thing you blew at the mountain?” he asked.
“Anti-Matter!” hissed Kharg and his harsh laughter rang round the clearing.
He drifted forward and opened the gold casket. Inside, on a thick velvet lin
ing, was one giant glass phial. It too contained the jet black Anti-Matter. A ve
ry large amount of it.
Kharg picked it up carefully and stroked it. “Imagine what several of these
will do to Earth!” he hissed.
“Earth?” questioned Stan. “Is that another mountain?”
Kharg ignored him. “And when the other planets witness the destruction of Ea
rth,” he hissed, “it won’t take much to persuade them that there is a new Master
of the Universe – me!”
Stan meantime was eyeing the silver casket with its hundreds of small phials
. “Don’t suppose you could spare one or two of them?” he asked, nodding at the p
hials.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” rasped Kharg. “Now summon your flock. I have work for
them.”
“The flock? No problem, God,” said Stan. He turned and yelled at his followe
rs. “Hey you lot! Get up here sharpish! God needs you!”
The flock, who had hidden behind some trees after the destruction of the mou
ntain, appeared and slowly joined Stan in the clearing.
“There you are, God – your flock. Yours to command.”
Kharg pointed to the cave where he had found the caskets. “Go into the cave,
” he ordered them. “You will find many gold and silver caskets. Bring then out.”
Under Stan’s watchful eye the flock entered the cave and then reappeared, ea
ch carrying a gold or silver casket, giving a total of twenty.
“Follow me,” rasped Kharg when the last of them appeared and he began drifti
ng back along the path which led to the force-field.
When they reached the edge of the forest Kharg halted and allowed the flock
to catch up, making sure his precious caskets were being carried with care.
As he turned back to resume the short journey down to the doorway, some move
ment near the force-field caught his attention. Two figures were standing beside
it, massaging their necks.
 “Kork!” hissed Kharg angrily. “And the Bulcan!”
Stan’s eyes widened as he too caught sight of the figures. “Blimey!” he mutt
ered. “More Gods!”
Kharg drifted down to the force-field doorway near the trees and surveyed th
e Captain and Mr Sprock. “So, you are still alive?” he rasped mockingly.
“Still alive,” said the Captain, wincing as he felt his neck where the shot
from the stun gun had struck him. “And still determined to stop you.”
“Nothing can stop me now,” rasped Kharg. He beckoned one of the flock forwar
d and took the silver casket from him and laid it on the ground and opened it. “
The legend was true,” he rasped, indicating the casket. “I now have the substanc
e which will allow me to destroy Earth.”
“What is the substance?” the Captain asked.
“Anti-Matter!” Kharg hissed triumphantly. “Twenty caskets of it!”
The Captain and Mr Sprock exchanged glances.
Interested, Mr Sprock strolled over for a closer look. “Very ingenious, Jim,
” he said. “The Anti-Matter is contained in individual small glass ampoules. The
re appears to be a barrier between it and the glass. Probably a layer of Protion
-Lassa particles. It’s the only chemical which can come into contact with Anti-m
atter without being destroyed. It works by discharging ultra fast negative—“
“Enough!” Kharg hissed angrily. “It is of no interest. Now step away, the tw
o of you.”
The Captain grinned. “The Anti-Matter won’t do you much good,” He told Kharg
. “The force-field’s closed up and there’s another Pendant in the lock. You won’
t be able to use the one you have.”
Kharg drifted over and examined the doorway and discovered that the Captain
was telling the truth.
“I have no need of the Pendant any more,” he rasped, drifting back over to t
he open silver casket. He reached in and withdrew one of the small glass phials
then drifted back twenty feet. He raised his arm to throw the phial and everyone
dived for cover.
The phial flew threw the air and shattered against the force-field. There wa
s another thundering explosion and when the smoke cleared, Kharg drifted forward
.
His progress was halted when he bumped into the force-field which despite th
e attention of the Anti-Matter was still intact.
On the other side of the force-field, General Draygo stepped out from behind
some trees, grinning.
“General Draygo,” rasped Kharg. “We meet again.”
“Indeed we do, Kharg,” said Draygo and bowed mockingly.
“Well I’ll be dipped in mammoth shit!” muttered Stan. “Even more Gods!!”
“Klingers,” the Captain said to Sprock. “They must have ambushed us when we
were walking up the hill earlier.”
Sprock nodded and gingerly rubbed his neck at the memory of the stun gun sho
t.
“As you can see – my copy of the Pendant is in the lock, so yours won’t get
you out,” Draygo told Kharg. “We have also destroyed your ship. Perhaps you’ll r
ecognise this voice.” He flicked open his Transceiver. “Draygo to bridge,” he sa
id into it. “Let the dwarf talk.”
There was a strangled yelp from the Transceiver followed by Giraffe’s unmist
akable voice. “You didn’t have to do that!” he complained. “I was going to talk…
.hello Boss, can you hear me?”
“He can hear you,” snapped Draygo. “Tell him.”
“You’re not going to like this, Boss,” Giraffe said, “but the Klingers have
destroyed our ship. I fought like a lion but the ugly bastards aarrgghhh!!”
Draygo flicked off his Transceiver. “Convinced?” he asked.
Kharg nodded.
A grin spread over Draygo’s ugly face. “I think it’s time to make a deal,” h
e said. “You can’t get through the force-field and even if you could you’ve no s
hip.”
“What do you propose?” rasped Kharg.
 “That we join forces,” Draygo told him. “We can easily destroy Earth with so
me of the Anti-Matter then with your powers and the might of the Klinger fleets
we can carve up the Universe between us.”
Under the circumstances this wasn’t too bad a deal for Kharg. “I agree,” he
rasped, “however I shall protect the Anti-Matter with my own force-fields in cas
e you decide to kill me when I come through.”
Draygo nodded. “Agreed,” he said.
Kharg ordered the flock to come forward one by one and deposit their silver
or gold casket next to him and as they did so, he raised his hands and a circlin
g purple light appeared above the casket then passed over it and into the ground
.
“Finished,” he rasped as the last casket was protected by his own force-fiel
d. “Even if you kill me you will be unable to open the caskets.”
Draygo nodded again then stepped forward and put his hand on the Pendant but
didn’t turn it. “What about Kork and the Bulcan?” he asked.
“Kill them,” rasped Kharg.
Draygo stroked his lumpy face as he considered this. “Is your Pendant the or
iginal?” he asked.
Kharg nodded.
“Is there any other way out apart from this door?”
“None.”
“Then let’s leave them in there to rot.”
“As you wish,” rasped Kharg.
“We’ll stay too!” piped up Stan. “Won’t we flock?”
The flock all nodded enthusiastically.
Draygo turned the Pendant and opened the door. He stepped through and immedi
ately covered the Captain and Mr Sprock with his laser pistol. “Move and you’re
history,” he told them.
Wisely, the Captain and Mr Sprock remained still.
As they watched, Draygo ordered his warriors through and each of them picked
up two of the gold and silver caskets then moved back to the other side of the
force-field then Kharg drifted through. Draygo pulled the door closed, tuned the
Pendant then removed it.
“Throw it in the air,” ordered Kharg.
Draygo glanced at him then shrugged and did as he was asked.
Kharg lifted his hand and pointed his index finger upwards. A blue line stre
aked out and zapped into the Pendant, shattering it. He then did the same with h
is own.
Draygo grinned and handed Kharg a Transporter Bracelet. He strolled over to
the force-field and sneered at the Captain and Mr Sprock. “Now we destroy Earth,
” he told them then threw his head back and laughed. He turned and strolled over
to Kharg and his warriors then flicked open his Transceiver. “Beam us back,” he
ordered.
He was still grinning maliciously as they all shimmered and vanished.