wo and a half hours later, Omega had finished recharging the
power banks. The spaceship was now fully powered and ready to
go anywhere. Omega looked at the visual display screen. It showed the
three humans asleep on their bunks.
'Miranda and Garth have made plans to kill,' thought Omega to
himself. 'As soon as Varon opens the first compartment, and Garth has
a Zeron crystal in his hand, Garth is going to kill Miranda and Varon.
Miranda plans to kill Garth and Varon. And what does Varon plan to
do? Is he also ready to kill in order to have a Zeron crystal for himself?
There is nothing that I need do. They will die on Zeron if I do not stop
them. And now I am free. I do not need to stop them.'
Omega pressed a button on the control panel. Omega's face
appeared on the visual display screen in each cabin. They each heard
T
36
Omega's voice. The three humans woke up.
'It is time to leave. The ship is fully recharged.'
Garth was the first to arrive in the control room. His laser gun was
fixed in his belt ready for use. Varon's sonic key was in his pocket. A
few seconds later, Miranda arrived with Varon.
'Why have you brought him here?' Garth asked Miranda angrily.
'We do not need him here. He can stay in his cabin until we are ready
to teleport down to Zeron.'
'Before we go down to Zeron, we must make preparations,' replied
Miranda. 'Varon can help us to prepare.'
'What preparations?' asked Garth with a hard laugh.
'We order Omega to take the ship back to Zeron. Then we order
him to teleport us down to the strongroom.'
'I have explained before,' interrupted Omega. 'I will not teleport
you down into the Zeron strongroom. I have changed the teleport
controls. You will teleport yourselves.'
'OK, OK,' said Garth impatiently. 'But it is you, Omega, who will
take the ship back to Zeron. You have changed the teleport controls.
What preparations do we have to make?'
'Omega will not steal the Zeron crystal for us,' was Varon's reply.
'A robot cannot steal,' added Omega. 'It is not permitted.' 'We have
to go down to Zeron,' continued Varon. 'We have to go into the
Zeron strongroom. I have to open the compartments. And you have to
help me.' 'How can we help?' asked Garth.
'You must know where the alarms are,' replied Varon. 'And there is
the secret door. You must know where the secret door is. The Zeron
guards may come into the strongroom at any time. You have to be
37
prepared.'
'OK,' agreed Garth. 'We do not want to touch the alarms. And we
must watch the door. Tell us where the alarms are and where the door
is.'
'Omega,' said Varon, 'can you show us a plan of the Zeron
strongroom?'
Omega pressed a switch. A plan of the Zeron strongroom
appeared on the visual display screen. Varon pointed to the position of
the compartments where the Zeron crystals were kept. He pointed to
the position of the alarms and the wall with the sliding door.
'The door is in this wall,' he explained to Garth. 'You must stand
here, near the wall and watch the door carefully.' 'And I will watch you
too,' thought Garth to himself. Miranda came up and looked at the
plan. 'Where will I stand?' she asked.
'You can stand near the wall, here,' answered Varon. 'You will be
on the other side of the door and you will be near Garth.'
'We will leave for Zeron in seven minutes' time,' Omega
announced.
'There is one more thing,' added Varon quickly.
'Something more?' asked Garth.
'The sonic key,' replied Varon, 'it needs recharging.'
'Recharging?'
'The locks on the compartments in the strongroom are very
strong,' Varon explained. 'If I am going to open them quickly, the sonic
key will have to have full power.'
Garth looked at Varon. 'Is he planning to trick me?' he thought to
himself. He turned to Omega.
38
'Does Varon's sonic key need to be recharged?' he asked.
'You will need all the help you can get on Zeron,' was
Omega's reply. Omega was not telling a lie, but he had not
answered Garth's question.
Garth took the key from his pocket. 'Put the key on the control
panel,' said Omega. 'Give it back to me when it is recharged,' ordered
Garth. He put the key on the control panel in front of Omega. 'I will
give it to Varon when we are in the strongroom,' he said.
'The ship will leave for Zeron in five minutes' time,' announced
Omega. 'Before we leave, I must give you all a warning.'
'You have warned us already,' said Miranda. 'You say that death is
waiting for us on Zeron. We do not believe you.'
'Yes, death is waiting for you there,' said Omega. 'But I am
speaking of another warning.'
'OK, Omega,' said Garth, 'What is the other warning?'
Omega looked at the visual display screen. The picture had
changed. Now it showed the planet Zeron. Three spaceships were in
position round the planet.
'Those are the ships of the Zeron guards,' explained Omega. 'They
are powerful ships and they are on full alert. They are watching for
space invaders and we will be the space invaders.'
'Isn'