When Kurt arrived back in the bar, Lisa was still trying to explain things to her astonished crew.

'I'm sorry it's so sudden, and I realize it's something of a liberty to ask you to sail with someone you don't even know.

But at this late date, there's just no alternative.' Zorelle opened her mouth to protest and Lisa said, 'And it does mean I don't have to ask you all to increase your contributions.'

'Just as well, my dear,' said Zorelle acidly. 'I'm practically ruining myself for you as it is. But I'm still concerned that you should accept a man of his somewhat dubious reputation...'

She broke off as Kurt wandered up to the little group. He nodded to Lisa and said, 'All taken care of.'

She gave him a quick, grateful smile.

He glanced round the little group, sizing them up. The older woman, dressed up to the nines, had to be Zorelle, using everything that money could buy in the way of clothes and make-up to fight off the years.

The luscious young beauty in the low-cut sleeveless gown would be Mari, and the handsome young fellow with his arm around her must be Nikos. Love's young dream, and the best of luck to them.

Then there was Lisa. She made the proper introductions and Kurt shook hands all round.

'It's very good of you to save the day for us like this,' said Mari, with an automatically flirtatious smile.

'It's a pleasure and a privilege,' said Kurt. He saw Nikos look hard at him and added, 'It's a privilege for us all to crew for Captain Deranne.'

Lisa gave him a look and said, 'If you'll forgive me, I've still got quite a lot to do. I'll see you all back on board.'

With Lisa gone they all looked a little awkwardly at one another.

'Let's have some champagne and drink to a successful voyage,' said Kurt. He raised his hand for the barman. 'I'd better go over the financial side with you all, my contribution and so on.' He smiled around the still-wary group. 'By the way,' he added casually, 'anybody ever heard of something called a Tontine?'

'I'm sorry,' said Lisa Deranne. 'It's quite out of the question.

The Tiger Moth Tiger Moth doesn't carry pa.s.sengers.' doesn't carry pa.s.sengers.'

The arrangements and formalities were all complete at last, she was eager to be off and now this tall white-haired stranger had accosted her with his absurd request, just as she was about to go on board.

'If it is a question of credits '

'No it isn't. I'm not licensed to take paying pa.s.sengers.

Besides, I'm going on a shakedown cruise with a relatively inexperienced crew.'

'But your eventual destination is Station Beta?'

'That's right, but there's no telling when we'll get there.

We'll be proceeding under solar sails for some of the way. I'm sorry, but what you ask is impossible.'

The stranger made a last effort to convince her. 'It is really important for me to get a pa.s.sage from this station as soon as possible. Its atmosphere does not agree with me.' He managed a ghastly smile. 'As you can see, I am not in the best of health.'

'I'm sorry, but I can't help you, I really can't. Believe me, a solar yacht is no place for a sick man. There'll be a liner leaving soon and they have full medical facilities.'

There was a roar of engines and the hull of the Tiger Moth Tiger Moth vibrated with power. vibrated with power.

The stranger looked hungrily at the ship, eyes gleaming.

'You leave at once?'

'Very soon. The crew's on board and my engineer is just running up the drive. If you'll forgive me, I've a lot to do.'

The stranger stared fixedly at her.

(Kill? Copy? Negative. Role too difficult to sustain.) 'Are you all right?' asked Lisa. 'Shall I call help?'

'No, forgive me, I am just a little tired.'

Lisa went on board, and the stranger watched her go.

As the entry-lock door closed behind her, the stranger shimmered and blurred, re-forming into a feebly pulsing sphere of light. The sphere hovered for a moment, as if gathering its forces, and then floated towards the rocket vents beneath the ship.

Soon afterwards Bay Four depressurized, the exit doors slid open and the solar yacht Tiger Moth Tiger Moth moved away from the s.p.a.ce station to begin her shakedown cruise. moved away from the s.p.a.ce station to begin her shakedown cruise.

10.

Takeover After Tiger Moth Tiger Moth set off on her cruise, life on s.p.a.ce Station Alpha went on as usual for a time. set off on her cruise, life on s.p.a.ce Station Alpha went on as usual for a time.

The next shuttle from Megerra arrived, disgorging a number of hungover engineers, a small dark angry woman and a large blond cheerful young man, both of whom immediately started asking questions.

They questioned station officials, technical staff, stopping-over s.p.a.ce-crew, pa.s.sengers in transit and anyone else who would talk to them. They were seeking news of a tall silvery-haired man, possibly rather unwell, who had arrived on the previous shuttle from Megerra. They got it too, up to a point then the trail simply disappeared.

It wasn't easy keeping track of people on a busy s.p.a.ce station. All the time s.p.a.ce freighters and s.p.a.ce liners were making routine arrivals and departures, picking up and setting down goods and pa.s.sengers, so that the population was constantly changing.

By the time the Doctor arrived, Roz and Chris had followed the trail to a dead end. He found them in the bar, where Roz was trying to persuade Chris to stick to beer rather than try the barman's recommendation, a Dravidean Deathwatch.

'I'd take her advice if I were you,' said the Doctor. 'Three beers, please, barman.'

The barman started to ask him who he thought he was to interfere, caught the look in the cold grey eyes, and went to get the beers.

Chris and Roz greeted the Doctor enthusiastically, though their delight at seeing him soon gave way to despair at what they insisted on seeing as their failure.

'One step behind, that's us,' said Roz gloomily. 'If I were you, Doctor, I'd fire me and hire the Pinks.'

'Nonsense,' said the Doctor firmly. 'I don't know of any other investigators who could have found Karne's trail so quickly and held on to it for so long.'

'Trail is the word,' said Chris. 'As in trailing behind.'

'That's enough breast-beating,' said the Doctor. 'Tell me about what happened on Megerra.'

Interrupting each other as usual, Roz and Chris told him the full story.

The Doctor was particularly interested in the events in the nightclub on their last night on Megerra.

'It sounds to me as if our Rutan friend will be in a pretty feeble state.'

'It was far from feeble in that nightclub,' said Chris.

'It carved up the whole place single-handed,' agreed Roz.

'And most of the occupants as well.'

'Ah, but it was fighting for its life,' said the Doctor.

'Lashing about in a frenzy. And you say it absorbed a good deal of blaster-fire?'

Roz nodded. 'Everyone in the place was blazing away at it.'

'Didn't seem to do it any harm, though,' said Chris.

'It may not have seemed to,' said the Doctor. 'It will have put up an energy shield, you see, absorbed most of the blaster-fire. But to do that must have been a tremendous drain on its power levels. And if the shield faltered it may even have suffered some tissue disruption. It's very hard to kill a Rutan with energy weapons but it can be done.'

'How do you kill them?' asked Roz. 'Could be a very useful piece of information.'

'I dispatched my first one, or rather my friend Leela did purely in self-defence, mind you with a rocket-launcher stuffed with bits of old iron, a sort of improvised blunderbuss.'

'An improvised what?' asked Chris.

The Doctor explained. 'In a way, the more primitive the weapon the better. They can shield themselves from energy weapons, and projectile weapons go straight through them without doing much harm. A blunderbuss blows them to bits.'

He looked severely at his two companions. 'May I remind you both that we don't want to kill this particular Rutan. We want to persuade it to share some valuable information with us.'

'I might try to get hold of a blunderbuss though,' said Chris. 'Just in case I need it purely in self-defence, mind you.'

'The point is,' said the Doctor, 'it sounds as if our Rutan friend let's keep calling him Karne may be in a pretty bad way.'

'He was looking pretty feeble when he left the s.p.a.ceport on Megerra,' said Roz.

'I wonder why he reverted to the Sakis shape?' said Chris.

'You'd expect him to kill again, if only to get a new form.'

'He may not have felt strong enough,' said the Doctor.

'Easier to revert to a form he'd used. You're sure he caught the shuttle before you?'

'Oh yes,' said Roz. 'What's more he arrived here too. Went straight to the transport office and started enquiring about leaving again. They said he looked dreadful, really ill.'

'And where did he go?'

'That's just it, he didn't,' said Chris. 'Not before we arrived anyway, there were no ships leaving. We started hunting for him as soon as we got here, but he'd just disappeared.'

'We searched the whole place,' said Roz. 'Not a sign of him.'

'Then ships started arriving and leaving,' said Chris. 'We checked every departure, but he must have got past us somehow. We thought he must have changed shape again but from what you say, that's unlikely. And there were no deaths reported, and no more robberies.'

The Doctor stared into his beer. 'But you're sure he was here when you arrived?'

Roz nodded. 'Must have been, there were no departures between the two shuttles.'

'Well, only the s.p.a.ce yacht,' said Chris.

'What s.p.a.ce yacht?'

'Something called Tiger Moth Tiger Moth,' said Roz. 'Solar yacht on a shakedown cruise to Station Beta. But they don't take pa.s.sengers, we checked.'

'I wouldn't mind betting that they took this one,' said the Doctor. 'He knew you were close behind him, he'd have been desperate to get away, on the first available ship on the first available ship. If they wouldn't take him as a pa.s.senger he'll have stowed away.

Either that or subst.i.tuted himself for one of the crew.'

'If he did the copying here there'll be a body around,' said Roz. 'We'll have to search for it, then we'll know his new shape.'

'We must get a message to Tiger Moth Tiger Moth as well,' said Chris. as well,' said Chris.