Posted on July 12, 2025July 15, 2025 by YarriThe Man with a Mission (continued . . .) Instants later, Lukaz Rann was toppling headlong down a steep slope. I’ve got to find something to hang on to . . . before the impact ! As the slope came to an abrupt end, his fingers scrabbled and held. High above him, dawn light showed through a small window. So that’s the fate which Vallu has in store for unwanted visitors ! The rocketeer set off on the most tortuous climb of his life, with freedom as the prize and a hideous fate the reward for failure. Is it possible to climb that far ? Safe in his belief that the intruder had met his end, the scientist Vallu had gone to his laboratory. With him was his assistant. To think, master, that this single bomb could destroy an area ten times the size of Tharv City. When are we going to put it to the test ? There is only one way to test it properly. But, regrettably, we are not at war with anybody at the moment. War will come, soon enough. Meanwhile, we have time to go over our calculations, just in case. Master, you don’t really believe that nonsense of Peric’s . . . That our bomb could destroy the entire planet ? Of course not, you young fool. All the same, there’s no harm in making quite sure. I am going to Tharv City for a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee. While I’m gone, start checking through the calculations again. One day, someone’s going to discover that Vallu’s reputation is founded entirely on my inventions ! Check the calculations again, indeed. My calculations don’t need to be checked ! Vallu’s Daveli driver waited for his master, unaware of a figure emerging from a window behind him. Presently, the scientist set off for the capital, watched over by his airborne body-guard. Suddenly, without warning, the driver swung the vehicle down a narrow turning that led to the cliffs. Hey ! Something’s gone wrong ! Red alert ! This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 704 on 12 July 1975.
