Posted on August 14, 2021July 1, 2024 by YarriThe Duplication Machine (continued . . .) It is at this point in time that fate intrudes upon our strange story. A Trigan warship, voyaging in thick fog, collided with a passenger liner from Cato. Aaah ! The accursed Trigan is going to ram us ! Stop engines ! The Caton vessel sank with appalling casualties. The mishap was twisted to their own advantage by an extremist party in the Caton senate, who wished to crush the Trigan Empire. I say that it was a deliberate attack upon one of our unarmed passenger liners. How much longer is Cato going to swallow these outrages ? On the day that Cato declared war upon the Trigan Empire, Robi completed certain adjustments to his strange device. And now— to see if it is capable of duplicating me ! Krakkkk-kkkk-kkkk ! . . . As the machine began to work . . . A A A E E E E E A A A G H ! When it was all over, he stepped out and came face-to-face with— himself ! By the stars ! It has worked ! You are me ! And I am you —we are duplicates ! Because you are a duplicate of myself, I can trust you implicitly. Together, we can become the richest and most powerful inhabitants of this planet. Listen, and I will tell you the details of my plan . . . Meanwhile, in a low tavern in the roughest part of Trigan City, the sneak thief who had formerly been Robi’s accomplice was doing business with a pair of cut-throats. All right ! You want us to get rid of this Robi fellow—what are you going to pay us ? How about this ring ?—worth an emperor’s ransom ! Done ! Robi is as good as dead. Later that day . . . There he is —he fits the description of Robi ! Right— let’s get him ! Uuuuh . . . They hurled the limp form of their victim from the highest clifftop near Trigan City. One . . . two . . . Three ! and away he goes ! This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 500 on 14 August 1971.
