"You have overlooked one thing," Stella interrupted, "you are alone now. As you've just confessed, all the aliens carried here with you are dead. There are three of us, we numerically have the upper hand.. If nothing else, it's all over for you now."

Lagruna smiled. "No," he corrected. "You are wrong there. I think you will find that you need me, and I am now on your side. You see I am the only one who knows anything about Tyress. You all know absolutely nothing about it. I may not be a Terran lover, but even if I was an alien like them, which I do consider myself to be, I would join forces with you against that thing." He pointed at Tyress. "I doubt if I could fight it by myself, and you could do absolutely nothing. I suggest that for the duration of our stay on this planet, we forget our differences and join together to fight the common enemy. It is the only way we stand even the slightest chance."

"That's all very well," Des said, "but what happens if we do escape? You have dedicated yourself to wiping out all human beings other than yourself. We might as well stay here and die. At least we'll die with the satisfaction of knowing that we have destroyed you and your evil plan."

Lagruna smiled. "Very brave words," he replied, "but I do not think you really mean that. All Terrans are the same; they will fight on even after all hope is gone, hoping for a miracle. Look," he continued, "I won't say that if we get out of here, all will be forgiven and I'll vanish and leave you alone and everyone will live happily ever after, but I will say this, I'll give you a chance to escape. If you wish, escape to fight me, for I know it will do you no good; my plan will succeed. But by giving you a chance, I will let you escape far outside the Terran Empire to another Galaxy. If you go that distance, I will no longer wish to harm you."

"We will have to discuss this," Stella replied. The three walked out of hearing range of Lagruna. "He's right," Stella said bitterly. "He knows that we will agree with him in the hope that if we do escape we can then foil him, though we all know he'd probably kill us at the earliest opportunity. I don't fancy dying yet, I've got a job to do, a mission to follow, even if its only for a few hours or days."

"I don't want to die yet, either" Des stated, looking at Stella. "I still intend to win the heart of the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Stella gave a slight grimace and turned to the old man. "What about you?" she asked, looking slightly suspicious. "It was your action that got us here and you haven't had much to say on the subject."

There was a somewhat distant look in Hural's eyes as he responded. "For as long as I can remember, I've been scouring space, looking for a Racc transmission point that was affected by Tyress. That's what brought me to your planet. I'd heard there was such a point there." His voice became more animated as he cast his eyes upwards. "At last, I have found my goal. I have found Tyress." He looked back at Des and Stella, shaking his head slightly. "Do what you wish, my friends, but there is no escape, eventually you will understand why."

Stella looked somewhat taken aback by the old man's statement, not sure if he was mentally sound. She went back over to Lagruna. "We will join you," she announced. She didn't mention Hural's 'confession'. "Now you must tell us what you know about this thing up in the sky, Lagruna."

"Very well," he agreed. "The thing appeared many years ago near Racc. They do not know where it came from or what it is, but then it was much smaller, but just as deadly. It went into orbit around their planet, and plundered any spaceship that came anywhere near it, robbing the crews of their minds until they were no more than vegetables. The more ships it plundered, the bigger it grew. Their weapons, not unlike Terran counterparts had no effect on it, and if anything it seemed to thrive on nuclear explosions and radioactive fallout. The Raccs, afraid that the creature would swoop down on the surface of the planet, built a mighty matter transmitter and ferried it up into orbit around Tyress. For some reason their alien minds did not understand remote control as such, and therefore, the brave men aboard all perished; but not before they had activated the control that sent the alien creature along the matter lane for a fraction of a second, stranding it in the middle of nowhere. However, they had overlooked one main point. The thing survived the 'jerk' into the matter lane, and now preys on any creature that happens to be travelling on the wrong frequency."

"Did any of the Raccs ever manage to communicate with this thing?" Hural asked.

Lagruna shook his head. "Not to my knowledge," he replied, "anyone who chanced to go near it was immediately killed."

"Where did this satellite we are on, come from?" Hural enquired.

"There is no mention of it when Tyress was in normal space," Lagruna replied, "and I suspect that it is an offshoot from Tyress. As you can see from the parent's size, it is unlikely that it could get any bigger without collapsing."

"Then it is reasonable to assume that what we are standing on, is the same as what Tyress is composed of," Hural interrupted.

Lagruna nodded. "But why does it have a breathable atmosphere?" he pondered. "It preys on the Racc, why not their atmosphere?"

Hural got down on his knees and began to prod at the surface. He looked at the others with a puzzled expression on his face."

"Have you got a clue?" Stella asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Hural replied. "I really need something sharp." Des picked up a piece of jagged plastic that was laying by his side and handed it to Hural. Lagruna watched them suspiciously, fingering the trigger of his blaster.

"It's okay," Des cursed. "I'm not about to pull a double cross." Hural dug the sharp edge into the surface and dragged the plastic through the ground for a few inches. Then he put his hand in the furrow and felt around for a few seconds. When he pulled his hand out, it was covered with a slightly opaque liquid.

"Have you discovered something?" Lagruna demanded.

"Yes," Hural confessed, "I'm sure that this thing is organic, and in fact not unlike the outer layers of our bodies. What we are standing on is its outer skin. There would appear to be several layers of skin under that, and then probably a large layer of soft tissue. Deep in the centre I think is its nerve centre."

"But this is not doing us any good," Lagruna replied. "I suspected that it was organic anyway. Can you imagine how long it would take us to cut to the centre of this thing. Admittedly it's not anywhere as large as Tyress, but it must be a long way to its centre."

"What's the matter?" Des asked, as he noticed Hural pacing up and down with a puzzled look on his face.

"I've got it," Hural exclaimed. He turned to Lagruna. "What is the power type of one of those alien guns?"

"It is a ray projected not unlike a maser beam," Lagruna explained, a little uneasily. "This blaster I've got is a modified version. The full powered version has a longer barrel."

"That's it," Hural exclaimed. "I knew it looked familiar. It's been bugging me since I first saw it."

"But how is that going to help us?" Lagruna asked.

"A maser beam would cut through this tissue faster than a rouge ship out of Hell," Hural exclaimed. "If we can find one carried here with the wreckage, our troubles will be over - well almost."

"I find your optimism amusing," Lagruna commented. "However, I will concede to admitting that at least one of the alien guards in the room did possess a full powered maser rifle." He smiled, "But was it carried here? If it was, is it still in working order?"

"That," Hural replied, "we will only find out by looking. Standing around talking will get us nowhere!"

They began to sift through the debris that was scattered over many hundred yards, After several minutes searching, Stella pulled something from underneath a motionless alien and held it triumphantly in the air. The others ran over to where she was standing.

"I've found it," she announced. "It still appears to be in working order." She jerked it down, and for a second the barrel pointed straight at Lagruna's face. Then she pointed back in the air. It was all over so quickly that he didn't even have time to move. "I could have destroyed you then,'' Stella said bitterly, "and you wouldn't have stood a chance of defending yourself, or even knowing that I had fired at you. Just remember that if we ever get out of this strange place."

Lagruna smiled nervously. "Of course my dear," he replied. "I shall remember you."

"How does this thing work?" Hural asked, taking it from Stella.

"The beam can be concentrated or diffused by turning the dial at the base," Lagruna explained. "At the moment it is set to fire a fine beam, suitable for your purpose."

"How long will the power last?" Hural asked.

"They will last a month in intensive battle conditions," Lagruna replied, "and the gun looks almost new."

"You'd better all stand back," Hural decided. "I will commence operations here." The others moved back as Hural pointed the gun at the ground a few feet from where he stood. He depressed the firing mechanism, and a blinding beam of light lanced into the ground and a hissing, combined with the smell of burning flesh, filled the air. Hural switched off and walked over to the edge of the hole he'd made. "I seem to have penetrated further than I hoped with the first burst," he mused.

"You must appreciate that whatever this thing is comprised of," Lagruna interrupted, "it is probably bloated beyond its natural size and is not as solid as it might be."

"I'm going down inside," Hural decided.

"No," Des insisted, trying to impress Stella. "I'm the fittest of the party. I will go." Des swung the rifle over his shoulder and began, to descend into the hole that was about seventy five feet deep. After two blasts that lit the hole with light, Des called for the others to follow him at a safe distance, and so their nightmare journey began.

The party seemed to travel further and further down into the black, charred, stench filled abyss. Many a time one of the group would lose their grip on the crumbling charred edge and almost slip down into the ever deepening hole. The only light they had to guide them was when Des fired another blast to deepen the hole further. They travelled for so long that they forgot how long they had been going and gave up hope of ever seeing the surface again. Their voyage down into the interior of the strange creature was halted, when Des, who had become almost blind from the light of the maser beam, screamed. The sound was muffled by the strange charred tissue that seemed to absorb sound. A few seconds later, they heard a dull thud followed by a rattle. The first sound they guessed was Des falling onto something, and the other was his maser rifle; but what startled them more than Des' fall was the realisation that the maser gun had hit something metallic!

They groped on down, further and further, forgetting the smoke of the charred flesh that polluted their lungs, and in their eagerness, almost fell to their deaths several times. Finally, Stella who had been leading the rest of the party croaked hoarsely: "I've come to the end. There's nothing for my feet to take hold of. I'm going to jump. I can only hope it's not far." There was a faint thud. Her voice drifted up faintly. "It's not far, so jump. I'm sure that it's metal that I'm standing on!"

The other two followed; they fumbled about in the darkness, and Stella located Des, who had slightly concussed himself in the fall. They decided to stop and rest and all bar Stella quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.

Later, partially refreshed from his slumbers, Lagruna spoke. "It would appear that we have passed through the outer layer of the creature, and have now arrived at its centre. However, this is not natural - this is artificial!"

Hural fired the maser rifle at the surface in a rough circle, He walked over to where the beam had penetrated the floor and gave it a sharp kick. The metal fell inwards, revealing light, which for a moment blinded them all. Stella was the first to regain her sight, and she peered down into the hole, then turned slowly round to face the others, her body illuminated by the light from within.

"There's a corridor down there," she whispered, "and I can see the door to a room." She paused. "The door has writing on it - in Terran!"

There was a complete silence for a moment, then the others edged forward and peered down the hole. They could see a door marked 'PRIVATE'.

"I'm going down," Stella decided, and before anyone could stop her, she slipped through the hole and fell ten or twelve feet to land lightly on her feet. The others followed more cautiously, and Des, whose eyes had been slightly damaged by the light from the maser beam, landed badly and sprained his foot.

Lagruna and Stella began to make their way to the door, which opened to reveal an empty room. The two stepped inside. The only thing in the room was a light that was on. They exchanged puzzled glances and came out and walked down the empty corridor. They agreed they should only turn right when they came to intersecting corridors, in order that they would be able to find their way back to their point of inception. Stella now had possession of the maser rifle and constantly exchanged uneasy glances with Lagruna who was the only other person armed. Each room they investigated was the same as the last, completely empty.

They walked on for what seemed like hours, until near to exhaustion and starvation they finally came back to the point they had started from. They rested for about half an hour, during which time no-one spoke, but all kept looking down the corridor, as if they were expecting someone to appear.

They began their exploratory search again, this time turning left, but each room they explored revealed only the same emptiness. They were on the point of giving up, and laying down to die, when they turned a corner and found themselves confronted by a lift, whose doors were closed. Stella pressed a button, and to her surprise they opened. Like everywhere else, it was empty

They entered the lift, and Stella pressed a button at the base of a control panel, hoping that it would take them down. The lift looked almost unused, and the doors closed. They felt that they were travelling downwards at a great speed, and suddenly the feeling stopped. The doors opened, and they stepped out into a passage much the same as the one they had just left.

But when they entered the nearest room, they found that it was furnished. The fittings in the room appeared to have been only slightly used, but there was evidence of it having been habitated at one time. They examined the room and confirmed that it contained things of Terran origin. Stella looked very worried.

The examination of several other similar rooms finally uncovered a kitchen which contained a large supply of food, sealed for long life. The party ate until they had satisfied their hunger. They were also amazed to find the water supply was still producing fresh, drinkable water. They rested for a short while in the luxurious surroundings of the next room.

Refreshed, they continued their examination. They finally reached a room marked 'Captain & Controllers Cabin'. It was different from the others, larger and more spacious, but still didn't reveal any further information, all these rooms appeared to be for the purpose of relaxation.

It was Lagruna who found a door set into the wall, which opened to reveal a travallator that began to move. The others followed Lagruna as he stepped onto it. It carried them down to a level below which the lift went. They emerged into a vast room, and could see a mighty atomic reactor amongst the huge banks of machinery. In one half of the room was a massive intricate control board. Around this panel lay a scattered mass of human remains, now only dry, crumbling skeletons, but recognisable as human in origin.

"What is all this?" Des asked in horror. "What does it all mean?"

Stella stepped forward and began to examine the vast control panel that still appeared to be operating. "I thought I had seen something like this before," she said. "I'm almost certain that I know what this is."

"What?" Des asked, peering through his damaged eyes.

"Give me a little more time," Stella replied. "I must find the log files. Although on stand-by, the whole complex appears to still be automatically functioning." They watched patiently, as she sat down at the control panel and studied it for a long time.

"It looks like some sort of space station," Lagruna remarked.

Stella finally found the series of controls she required and began to activate them. A screen lit up with data which she studied intently as it scrolled across the screen. Then addressed the others . "My guess is confirmed from this copy of the log. Most of the information at the beginning is routine flight data. The same goes for the end. The interesting part seems to be in the middle. What exactly happened, I'm not yet sure, but I can reveal that we are on the RT 2. Unless you were like me and engaged in the Terran Secret Service, it would mean nothing to you, for this was a top secret device. It was designed to be used only in the event of a full scale war. You see Earth had prepared itself for an attack by the Raccs. The RT1 and RT 2 were huge space stations that would orbit the edge of the Terran Empire. In the event of potential failure in any ensuing war, Terran command would authorise the stations to unleash their ultimate death ray, right at the heart of the Racc's home planet."

"Both stations were lost on their first test flight. I hope that this log will explain what happened." She read quickly through the text that the computer had displayed. After a few minutes she spoke again. "It would appear that an unknown force captured these stations and ensnared them. We can assume it was Tyress. The creature appears to have reproduced itself, splitting into two. One assumes the RT1 is embedded in the larger creature, the original Tyress." She paused. "The fact that none of the crew have survived, suggests that we are likely to be in great danger here as well." "This could explain why the atmosphere on the surface was breathable," Lagruna mused. "For some strange alien logic, it duplicated the air of its captive."

"So what are we going to do?" Des asked.

"I think the answer is obvious," Lagruna replied. "This station still appears to be operational and is armed with Earth's finest weapons. Use them to blast this creature and Tyress to bits, it can only be their force that hold us here in the matter travel lanes. We should then be released and returned to our point of inception."

"But what if the station is destroyed," Hural interjected.

Lagruna shrugged. "As long as we survive, what does it matter?"

"You'd like to see one of Earth's most powerful weapons decommissioned wouldn't you?" Des stated.

Stella suddenly looked up. "I've just located the data on the crew," she exclaimed. "The Captain's name was Hural!"

The old man looked uneasy.

"You?" Des queried. "You escaped and wanted to get back here, after all these years. No wonder you've been evasive since we got here!"

"Captain Martha Hural," the old spacer replied quietly. "My wife. Lost in action." He paused. "We were talking on a personal link when the thing attacked, she gave me brief details before we lost contact. I never gave up searching, hoping ....... but I guess now I have."

"We'll be able to identify all the remains when we get back," Stella said sombrely.

"So we are going back?" Lagruna queried. "We will activate the death ray?"

"Already done," Stella stated. "There are times for discussion and there are times for action. The ray has powered up and will soon be cutting through the creature in a wide arc any second." Suddenly, they were all thrown sideways as the station jerked violently. A few moments later, the motioned ceased. Stella's brow frowned. "This can't be..." she muttered.

"I think it can," Lagruna smirked, now holding both blasters. "You see," he continued, "When the station was freed from Tyress and it travelled along the matter band, it was not returned to the point of its inception, but to where all random journeys are drawn - Racc! I am in contact with the receiving station now, a welcoming committee is being arranged for you."

"You've tricked us," Stella cursed.

"Of course," Lagruna confirmed, "such is the fate of all inferior beings. But does it matter where you die?" he sneered, "for die you will, just as soon as you've served your purpose, and that won't be long now!"

Stella looked contemptuously at Lagruna. "I should have known better than to trust you even a little bit," she cursed. But I shall never tell you anything that will help you."

"I don't think you will have any say in the matter," he explained. "It is impossible to close your subconscious mind to the Racc thought reading machines. As soon as we have investigated your memories and extracted any relevant information, I shall be able to kill you all and proceed with my plan to destroy the Terran Empire for once and for all. Now get out, the sooner I've got rid of you all the better." He ushered them towards the door and through the station until they came to an exit. They donned space suits, as the atmosphere of Racc was not safe to humans.

As they emerged from the station, they found the it had been completely ringed by Raccs, holding blasters ready to fire. They eyed the party suspiciously as they walked down the gangway, then one of the higher ranking Racc soldiers recognised Lagruna, and donning a translator mask, ran forward to greet him.

"We feared you had been destroyed," he said.

"I will explain all later," he replied. "As you can see, I have brought a group of highly dangerous Terrans with me. I wish to have their minds investigated. As soon as this task has been completed, they are to be destroyed, a task which I will personally undertake. Is that understood?"

The Racc commander added. "It shall be so," he replied. He removed the mask and gurgled orders at his men, who closed in around the Terrans and marched them off to a carrier type vehicle.

They travelled in darkness inside the machine for a short distance, in silence. Des felt that this time, the game had come to an end and nothing could save them now. The vehicle jerked to a halt and they were pulled out and marched to a small room where only Lagruna and two high ranking Raccs stood. Stella was grabbed and forced into a seat while Lagruna kept the others covered. They lowered a bowl over the girls head, and were about to activate the machinery, when a nearby viewer lit up showing a frenzied Racc gurgling in a distressed state.

"What is happening?" Lagruna demanded.

"There is some strange disturbance happening in the area of the space station," one of the aliens replied. "What sort of strange thing?" Lagruna asked, looking worried.

"A strange growth," the alien replied. "It's appearing on the hull of the space station. A pink fleshy substance."

Lagruna, who had not put on the gloves that went with his space suit, scratched his hand as if something was biting it. He glanced down and then gasped in horror. There was something growing on his hand which looked like a pink wart. All eyes turned towards him, as he stood still like a statue. The thing was visibly growing before their eyes. He dropped his gun to the floor as the two aliens began to edge away towards the door, looks of horror on their faces. Hural rushed forward and picked up the gun in a gloved hand as Lagruna collapsed, all life having appeared to have vanished from his body. Des released Stella from her seat.

A blast above the door from Hural's blaster halted the aliens who were about to vanish from the room. Stella leapt out of her seat, a plan forming in her mind. She looked with horror at what was once Lagruna and was now only a bloated mass of flesh. "Blast it," she ordered Hural. She motioned for the aliens to switch on their translator masks.

She pointed at what was now a charred mass on the floor. "You know about Tyress," she stated, "it is now in our power. Unless you reveal where the store of bacteria is that you intend to destroy the Terran Empire with, we shall allow Tyress to breed until it envelopes your whole planet. We do not wish to make war with you; leave us alone in peace, and we shall not interfere with you."

The aliens looked uneasily at the blackened mass on the floor. "Very well," they agreed, "the whole store of bacteria is kept near here. In fact, in the next building."

"I see," Stella nodded. She walked over to Hural and took the gun from his hand, and blasted the two aliens. "This is no time for sentiment," she said. "If you haven't guessed, it appears that we might have escaped from Tyress's hatchling, but part of it has come with us. We need to get off this planet fast, as I suspect it is about to be enveloped. At least the Racc bacteria will perish along with their home world. With their base and major weapon destroyed, the chances of them launching an attack against Earth will now be very sleight. However, it's not all good news, I can't emphasise the danger enough. The chances of us not being infected must be minimal, and if it penetrates our suits, were as good as dead. God only knows what it's like outside, but something tells me it's going to be pretty grim."

They stripped the two aliens of their weapons, and made their way down the corridor. A Racc soldier rushed past them making no attempt to stop them. Instead, he was screaming in a high pitched whine. As they emerged from the building, they stopped in their tracks. All around in the strange alien city, people were running in terror. The sky was filled with drifting globes of pink flesh. From all the buildings, pink growths were clinging to the walls.

They quickly made their way to the next building, blasting ahead of them at the ground that was beginning to sprout tiny pink growths. "This planet is doomed," Des sobbed. "Let's try and find a spaceship and escape." Suddenly the ground to their left cracked and a huge pink mass forced its way up from under the ground. The buildings around them began to break apart, showering debris all around them. They ran through the streets which were now deserted save for the occasional body of an alien that had been touched by the fungus and was slowly being eaten away.

"Where have all the Racc gone?" Hural asked. Stella skidded to a halt. "What's wrong?" Hural asked.

"Did you notice that all the Raccs who weren't contaminated by the fungus were running in the same direction?" Stella asked.

"You think they've got some sort of central hideout for emergencies," Hural replied.

Stella shook her head. "No," she replied. "It's better than that. I remember now, I studied Racc culture as part of my training. In event of a catastrophe or invasion, they had a plan to evacuate the complete population of the planet in a very short time."

"That sounds a little fantastic," Hural replied. "You can't evacuate a whole planet, it's just not possible. Think of all the skill and organisation you'd need. No, I don't really believe that. In all my days in space, I've never heard of anything on that scale even being considered."

Any other words the old man was going to say were drowned in a mighty roar that rose above everything else. The ground on which they stood shuddered. They watched in fascination as a mighty fleet of ships rose into the air, their tail jets blasting huge gouts of fire that almost blinded the Terrans as they watched. For a few minutes the sky was alight with rocket flames as countless numbers of ships took off. They were so many that they were impossible to count.

"It can't be true," Hural breathed, "not in such a short time. It's impossible."

"We are not dealing with humans," Stella reminded him. "These are the Racc, they have built a huge empire. Why do you think Earth spent such a vast amount of money building the RT1 and 2? In an all-out war, it was calculated we could only beat the Racc with our superior numbers."

"At least we know where the spaceport is," Des interrupted. "I suggest that we go there at full speed. It's just possible there may be a spaceship or two left which we can escape in." As he finished speaking, he leapt out of the way as a lump of pink fungus drifted down out of the sky, almost brushing his space helmet.

They made their way, as fast as their spacesuits would allow, through the now deserted town. They had little time to spend gazing at the strange shaped buildings of this weird alien city. Their whole time was taken up by avoiding contact with any of the pink fungus, that was now almost everywhere. Whole buildings, covered with the strange organism, were cracking apart and toppling over as the fungus forced its way out, or crushed its way in. The ground was so littered with pink blobs that they had to blast a path before themselves to make any progress.

Ten minutes walking brought them to the spaceport. They paused at the entrance for a few seconds and looked to their far left, at the matter receiver centre. What had once been there was now a huge pulsating mass that throbbed with a strange life force, as it ejected a continuous stream of pink growths into the air.

They looked into the spaceport that was scattered with debris from the obviously hurried take-off. There were several ships near them, which were all covered with pink fungus. They blasted a path to a ship that appeared to be unscathed, and they hastily boarded it and sealed the air-lock.

"We've a long way to go," Des muttered weakly.

"Does anyone know how to control one of these things?" Hural asked.

"I have a basic idea." Stella replied. "It was another of those things I was taught on my training course."

"We ought to give the hull an extensive check., Hural warned. "If we've got any of that pink stuff on it -"

"We can't waste time," Stella decided. "we'll have to risk it." They followed her through to the control room.

"The trouble is," Stella said, as they entered the control area, "the Racc have still not advanced very far with regard to remote control. All of their ships are guided manually. That isn't going to make our task any easier." She began to stare at the banks of controls studying them very carefully.

"Can you make it go?" Des asked nervously.

"It's slightly modified from the model I used in training," Stella confessed. She sat down at the controls. "I think this is what we want," she decided. "Get into seats," she ordered, as a dull roar began to boom from the bottom of the ship. The pressure in the cabin began to build up as the ship rose from the spaceport. After a few minutes of jerky travelling, she turned to face the others. "We're in orbit," she announced. She looked grim. "Now all the hell we've got to do is find our way home under manual control!"

"Look," Hural exclaimed, pointing at a group of glowing lights on the scanner, "that must be the Racc evacuation fleet." He paused. "They're fighting amongst themselves," he exclaimed. "Have they gone mad?"

"No," Stella replied sombrely. "I don't think so." She increased magnification. "They're blasting the ships with fungus growing on them."

As they watched, another ship was blasted out of the sky as it bulged outwards. They watched for several more minutes and other ships were destroyed, They turned the scanner back in the direction of Racc. What they saw made even the old, experienced spaceman Hural, gape with disbelief. The planet was visibly growing in size with every second that passed, and it was beginning to pulsate like Tyress had done. "Nothing can grow that fast," he breathed in disbelief. "It's against the laws of nature."

Stella switched the scanner back to the Racc fleet. She tried adjusting the focus, a frown on her face.

"What's the matter?" Hural asked.

Stella pointing at the screen, "I thought I'd lost focus, they're all fuzzy and distorted......"

"The whole population of Racc destroyed," Des gasped in horror.

"I doubt if more than a fraction of the population was in those ships," Stella replied, regaining her voice. "Don't forget that the Racc have the power of matter transmission. It was only Tyress, that restricted them. In an emergency, most of them would have transported themselves in that manner, though whether they took the pink fungus with them before it over-ran their transmitter station, only time will tell." She looked more perplexed. "What worries me more, is why should we be any different to them."

"What do you mean?" Hural asked.

"If all their ships have fallen foul to the fungus, why hasn't this one?" She looked down at the controls. "Something's gone wrong with the drive," she announced, "I've got to shut it down, it's overheating. Something is blocking the cooling system!"

"We're still prisoners of the dream star," Hural stated quietly. "There is no escape."

"You give up too easily," Stella assured him. "I've got out of tighter situations than this." She looked down at the scanner. "There's a planet to our left," she continued. "I suggest that we take the escape capsule and effect a landing down there." She uttered a curse. "We're caught up in some sort of force field. We're being pulled back towards what was Racc."

"No," Hural muttered, "We're being pulled WITH Racc. What had once been the planet was now visibly moving against the background of twinkling stars.

"Look at it's acceleration," Hural gasped.

"And ours," Stella added. "We're already travelling at roughly a quarter the speed of light."

They travelled on, their speed increasing. At first they watched the stars shoot by faster and faster until they became mere blurs, then they vanished all together. They passed the speed of light, emerging beyond the Galaxy itself.

"We've stopped," Stella breathed. "I think it's trying to do what we were, orient itself to find its way home. The creature began to move again, carrying them and many other pieces of space debris behind it. They watched in awe as their Galaxy slowly began to diminish in size, then everything vanished as they passed the speed of light once more.

The Universe came back into perspective as the creature finally slowed down.

"I think we may be in an area of the Universe whose light has yet to reach Earth," Stella said sombrely.

"There's something ahead," Hural observed. They all looked in the scanner. Whatever it was, it was was bigger than their Galaxy; impossibly large.

"It's too large to measure," Stella breathed. She tried to take further readings but gave up.

The air in their spacesuits was now virtually unbreathable and the atmosphere generated by the ship was suitable only for Racc consumption. The Terrans were not able to survive in the same wide range of atmospheres that the Racc could achieve.

Des looked at Stella drowsily. "I really do love you," he breathed, "I meant what I said. Please, lets remove our helmets and die with a kiss..."

Stella looked impassively as Des passed into unconsciousness. "I can't give up," she sighed, "as long as there's a chance, I must get back, it's my duty."

Hural wheezed, pointing weakly at the scanner. "It's home," he gasped. "it's back in the bosom of its family. The dream star....... We never did escape. We're still prisoners of the dream star."

Stella slowly nodded her head, as Hural lay back and closed his eyes, "If we had returned home," she whispered to Hural, no longer sure he could hear her; "if we had escaped, we would still have been prisoners of our own dream stars. Love, like Des. Duty, like me. You, your quest for your wife. Whatever your own dream star is, you're a prisoner of it all your life, until it finally envelopes you." She was so drowsy, she closed her eyes. She began to slip into unconsciousness, but jerked back. She must stay awake. She must. Must, but knew she couldn't. It was over this time. She wondered why the fungus had spared them, against all others.

She staggered over to Des' inert body and with an effort, removed his helmet. Taking one last gasp of the stale air in her suit, she removed her own helmet. She was able to plant one gentle kiss on his forehead, before she began to choke in the alien atmosphere, as her tortured lungs filled with the noxious gases of the Racc air.

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