Old Peric entered the royal apartments in search of his master, Trigo. He stared in alarm to see the Emperor snarling orders to an officer. The Trigan air fleet will take off at dawn tomorrow and bomb the country of Daveli! . . . Understood? Yes, Imperial Majesty! King Kassar of Hericon also gave his orders. Admiral! . . . You will take the Hericon sea fleet to sea at sunset and bombard the cities on the southern coastline of Victris! Peric met the wild eyes of the man he believed to be the Emperor of the Trigans. Trigo . . . my emperor . . . old friend . . . what does this mean? It means, Peric, that Kassar and I will be masters of the planet Elekton within a very few days! The old man left the apartment, his mind in a whirl . . . It can’t be true . . . it can’t . . . and yet . . . Returning to his study, Peric found Janno raising himself, dizzily, to his feet. That drink you gave me . . . it was . . . drugged . . . Yes, my young friend . . . I thought you were deranged in your mind . . . but now . . . You mean. . . you believe me now . . . about Trigo and the other two? Peric told Janno what he had seen and heard. The man I saw was not Trigo! . . . Some alien and evil intelligence is directing his mind and his body. I know it well enough . . . for a short while I was taken over by one of those fiends! Peric crossed to a window which commanded a view of the harbour. What are we going to do? What can we do? . . . It is already too late . . . look!In the glowing light of Elekton’s setting suns, the vast sea fleet of Hericon was leaving harbour on its mission of destruction. Where . . . where are they going? To conquer Victris . . . and the Trigan air fleet takes off at dawn to destroy our friends of Daveli! And then Peric and Janno heard the tramp of booted feet in the garden outside. That’s the door! Janno felt a sudden shock of fear, which he instantly quenched. They’re looking for me! . . . Give me a sword, old friend . . . let me die fighting, like a Trigan! But Peric had no sword . . . and it was with a heavy candlestick in his hand that young Janno faced the armed men. Right! . . . Come and get me!
This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 296 on 16 September 1967.
