I AM FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO EXPEL ALL OF THE CARBON DIOXIDE FROM YOUR

CABIN AS THERE APPEARS TO BE AN EXCESS OF SIGHING GOING ON.

Kwait sat up. “Ah. It shows does it?”

YES DOCTOR. DID YOU ENJOY THE KISS?

“That’s a bit personal, isn’t it?”

IT SEEMS NORMAL DURING A RENDEZVOUS OF THIS NATURE.

“Is there anything you don’t see, Marshia?”

VERY LITTLE, DOCTOR.

*

It took ten ship days to fix all the minor problems and get Marshia one hundred per cent operational. Rex had trouble convincing a reluctant Commander Dan Bwagon that she should be aboard Marshia when they left for Lodsa and the USO . Agreed, Lodsa was way out of their jurisdiction and she would only be there as an observer. But you never know,she might be able to pick up a nice present for Mrs Bwagon or even one for Dan’s secretary Sonia!

Bwagoncontacted Phoenix saying he thought it imperative Rex have a place on board. Phoenix had already been briefed by Streemly so there was no problem.

The hop to within one light hour of Lodsa was done on automatic, much to the relief of the entire crew. Phoenix still insisted on flamboyantly pressing a large red button. A button connected to nothing more than a light which turned red. The light turned green even before Phoenix could remove his finger, indicating they had completed the hop.

Scans of Lodsa and the surrounding area showed that the USO was heavily defended. USOCity on the surface was enclosed in an electromagnetic dome. As far as Marshia and her capabilities were concerned it could have been papier-mâché. Camps full of ground troops and artillery surrounded the city.

Space-Air combat craft patrolled the skies and two geostationary battle platforms orbited directly above.

A small moon orbiting Lodsa held a battalion of space troopers and fighter craft which were on constant patrol to and from the battle platforms.

Rex stood in the control room marvelling at the ease with which Marshia scanned and analysed one of the most heavily defended regions in the Nebula. She had only heard rumours about the battalion on Lodsa’s moon and was sure the fighter craft were supposed to be invisible to all known scanners. If Marshia’s defences and weapons were half as good as her scanning capability she was easily ten times more powerful than anything else in the known universe. Rex was glad Marshia was on her side. But she wondered about Captain Phoenix. Should someone as seemingly immature and soft be in command of such destructive power?

“Marshia?”Captain Phoenix’s voice cut through Rex’s thoughts making her jump. “Find out as much as you can from here could you, please.”

YES, CAPTAIN.

“We need to know as much as possible before proceeding. Things could get rather delicate,” said Phoenix. He turned to Rex. “Is there anything you can tell us, Captain Rex?”

“I can just tell you all I know,” she said. “ USOCity: encased in an impenetrable dome, home of the USO buildings plus accommodation for out-world representatives. Locals and civil servants plus some military personnel also live under the dome. The whole planet is heavily defended and is for all intents and purposes impossible to penetrate.

“Out-world representatives for over one thousand different life forms are permanently gathered here. They seem to spend most of their time fighting over mineral rights and inventing new taxes. From time to time they’ll act as referees in any disputes that flare up.”

“How would you recommend we go about finding if Django Twip is here?” asked Phoenix.

“Difficult ...” said Rex thoughtfully.

“Clearly,” said West butting in, “this is where my expertise comes to the fore. We are, are we not, delegates from another world?” No one disagreed with him as he started to pace around the control room. “Then it is simplicity itself. I, as chief emissary of the Two Moon Presidiums, shall contact the SOU ...”

“ USO.”Apricot corrected him.“United Species Organisation.”

“...whatever ,” said West dismissively. “I shall contact the USO saying we are a major species which, up till now, has not been properly represented by the USO and I am here to champion the rights of humans everywhere. I will then become a USO representative and be in a much stronger position to find out about Django Twip.”

“Or I,” said Bev stepping forward, “could be ported, in disguise of course, into USO City, and, working under cover of course, insinuate myself into the USO building, get a job perhaps, and collate as much information as possible to be relayed back to Marshia for analysis.” Bev looked triumphant. OR I COULD ASK.

“Nice one Marshia,” said Phoenix. “Go ahead. We’ll listen in.”