Category: Tharvs

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The Green Fog (continued . . .)

















	














The fungus grew—and grew! Presently, the older buildings began to collapse under the tremendous weight.

The whole city is falling down!

The green scourge even penetrated the interior of buildings. Within days, the Imperial Archives—nerve centre of the Trigan administration—was a shambles.

We can’t go on! This green stuff is everywhere!

The Imperial Council met in a state of panic.

Government has become impossible in the city!

Tharv is certain to invade us, knowing our weakness!

There are food riots in the streets!

Be silent!

The Emperor Trigo’s voice was calm and commanding.

The city will be evacuated immediately. The capital of the empire will be removed to the town of Vorgpass till the . . . emergency . . . is over.

News that the city was to be abandoned to the green fungus sent a wave of despair through the population. Grim-faced and silent, they took what belongings they could carry and filed out through the green-carpeted streets.

The voice of Uruz the blind beggar sounded like a knell of doom.

I told them, but they wouldn’t listen! I warned them that evil had been done!
























	














But, before the evacuation could be completed, it happened again.

The green fog! It’s come back!

Swirling over the fungus-hung rooftops glided the sinister green cloud.

Aaaaaaagh!

The green blindness enveloped the city, for the rest of that day and the day after.

I can’t take any more! I think I shall go mad!

It must end . . . mustn’t it?

The green fog cleared as quickly as it had come. And the weary and frightened people looked about them.

The fungus has gone!

Thank the stars!

But, as the great scientist Peric commented . . .

Not completely gone, as you see. It is as if someone had come along and cut off the fruit of the growth, to allow for more growth!

What are you suggesting?

I hardly know, Imperial Majesty! But I think we must send for Uruz the blind beggar again. I suggest we listen to him more patiently than we did before.

So Uruz was once more summoned to appear before the Imperial Council of the empire. But this time he was treated with respect.

Now, Uruz, if you will be so kind as to repeat to the council everything you heard and sensed while the green fog was enveloping the city.

The top people of the empire hung on the words of a blind beggar!

This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 734 on 7 February 1976.

 
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The Man with a Mission (continued . . .)

















	
















	
	Lukaz Rann brought Vallu’s vehicle to a jarring
	halt at the cliff edge and rasped an order.

	
	Get out !

	
	Vallu’s bodyguards were
	closing in fast.

	
	Jump !

	
	Please ! Spare me !
	I’ll make you rich.
	Anything can be
	yours, if only . . .

	
	The great rocketeer thrust his
	victim over the abyss and
	followed after.

	
	Eeeeeeeeeeghh !

	
	Lukaz Rann struck the
	water and sank deeply.

	
	Vallu’s been knocked unconscious.
	I must get him to the surface
	before he drowns. I’d hate
	anything to happen to him !

	
	The bodyguards criss-crossed the area
	where the two had disappeared.

	
	No sign of
	them. They must
	have perished.

	
	But the intrepid rocketeer was alive,
	and supporting his half-drowned captive.

	
	They think
	it’s hopeless,
	and are giving
	up the search.


























	
















	
	That night, a Trigan fishing boat approached the cliffs,
	as Lukaz Rann had previously arranged.

	
	Well done,
	lads. Now
	let’s get
	out of here.

	
	Morning found the rocketeer back
	in his Vorg castle, with his second
	victim imprisoned in a dungeon.

	
	With so little time left to him, Lukaz Rann took
	up the next dossier without any delay.

	
	And now, another
	creature whose dis-
	appearance will
	sweeten the air
	of the whole
	planet . . . Yackrass !

	
	Yackrass was a rabble-rousing Trigan politician. He was also the highest paid
	performer on the Trigan audivision network. An estimated fifty million viewers
	switched on his weekly programme.

	
	Mustn’t miss old
	Yackrass. He’s always
	good for a bit of
	excitement.

	
	Yackrass’s technique was to play upon the public’s fears
	and prejudices. Currently, he was blazing a campaign
	of XENOPHOBIA—the hatred of foreigners.

	
	Fellow-citizens ! Do you realise
	that there are over half a million
	foreign nationals residing here ?
	Taking all the best jobs ! Treating
	us like second class citizens !

	
	How much longer are
	we going to tolerate
	this pollution in
	our midst ?

	
	Following Yackrass’s outburst, innocent and law-abiding foreigners—Catons, Lokans, Tharvians,
	and others—were mobbed in the streets and their properties destroyed.

	
	Down with
	the outsiders !

	
	Trigan for
	the Trigans !

	
	Yackrass had cause for self-congratulation. That
	very day, he had landed a new audivision contract
	at double his usual fee.

	
	By all the
	stars, you’re a
	clever fellow,
	my dear
	Yackrass.

	
	But retribution was
	at hand for
	the spreader of hatred.

This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 705 on 19 July 1975.

 
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The Man with a Mission (continued . . .)

















	
















	
	The probing finger of light played
	upon Lukaz Rann. It was immediately
	followed by a hail of projectiles.

	
	The Daveli guard came
	at him, gun blazing.

	
	Lukaz Rann had only
	one chance of survival—
	to risk all in a death-
	defying leap.

	
	He connected and hung on !

	
	Roaring out of control,
	the jet-pack carried
	the two battling figures
	up over the edge of
	the cliff.

	
	Lukaz Rann felt his opponent go limp from a
	lucky blow. He reached and switched off the
	jet-pack and they fell, locked together.


























	
















	
	As he rolled clear and
	picked himself up, the
	intrepid rocketeer heard
	more jet-pack engines.

	
	They must have
	heard the shots !

	
	Two more airborne Daveli bodyguards
	zipped out of the darkness.

	
	Do you see
	anything ?

	
	A figure
	lying over
	there !

	
	By the time the newcomers
	had found their stricken
	comrade, Lukaz Rann had
	reached the building that
	housed the evil genius
	of Tharv.

	
	And now
	to deal
	with Vallu.

	
	The sound of the shots
	had awakened Vallu,
	who had leapt from his
	bed and was scanning
	the audivision screens
	that gave him a view of
	every part of his abode.

	
	Is it an intruder ?
	What are those
	guards doing ? Are
	they protecting
	me properly ?

	
	And then, he saw. . .

	
	The intruder !

	
	Lukaz Rann trod silently
	through the building, all
	unaware that his every move
	was being watched by his
	intended quarry.

	
	Suddenly . . .

	
	Aaaaaaaaagh !

This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 703 on 5 July 1975.