the Doctor by the hand and pulled him towards the. door.
'Come on!' cried the Doctor.
'Where to?' asked Hardin.
'Ask our scaly friend.'
The creature led the Doctor out of the laboratory, along the corridor and into the elevator. The other two followed closely on his heels. The creature took the elevator up three levels and then led them down another corridor.
'This leads to the boardroom,' complained Hardin.
The Doctor nodded. He was too out of breath to speak.
Hardin held Romana back for a moment. 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' he whispered. 'How do you know we can trust this lizard?'
'He saved my life,' said Romana. 'That's good enough for me.'
Â
'Did he?'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, you don't actually know what he was doing in the Image Chamber of the generator in the first place. Do you?'
Before Romana could formulate a reply the creature flung open the boardroom door.
Pangol and Brock looked up, startled.
The creature moved with extraordinary speed. Before anyone else had time to react he launched himself into the attack. He seized the Terran accountant, grappled him to the floor, and-to everyone's horror - forced one clawlike hand down his throat.
Brock's screams were swiftly stifled.
8. The Foamasi
The whole attack was so swift, so merciless, that no one had a chance to go to Brock's aid. Nor was anyone prepared for what happened next.
With a triumphant cacophany of whistles and clicks the creature held something aloft. Something small and oval in shape. Something he had removed from Brock's throat. Something which he proceeded to swallow himself.
The whistles and clicks suddenly died.
A voice said: 'Now at last I can speak to you.'
It was the creature.
Romana knelt beside the Terran accountant, who lay half-unconscious on the floor. 'Are you all right?' she asked.
His lips moved, but no words came.
'Mr Brock.'
Then something very strange happened. When Brock tried to speak, all that emerged was a series of whistles and clicks.
'It's all done by voice synthesizer,' explained the creature. 'Without his, our friend here cannot make himself understood.'
Mena sounded bewildered, 'Are you saying that Mr Brock has some sort of speech defect?' she asked.
'This isn't the real Brock,' replied the creature. With one knee on the chest of the recumbent Terran, he was tugging at the skin at the base of the neck. 'You'll find that the real Brock is alive and well and still living on Terra. In fact, he never left there.'
'But that's impossible.'
'Check, if you don't believe me.'
'I don't understand,' protested Mena. 'We've had dealings with Brock for the past ten years. I tell you that is him.'
There was a tearing sound.
'This,' said the creature, 'is the real face of the thing that you thought was Brock.'
With a gesture the creature ripped away the face of the accountant. The face came away like a mask. Underneath they could see green scaly skin and the features of something that resembled a lizard. '
'These flesh suits are amazing. Accurate to a micron. Believe me, even Brock's own mother wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between , the real man and what inhabited this suit!'
The creature deftly skinned the recumbent figure, removing the humanoid envelope that had formed such an impenetrable disguise for the green scaly creature beneath.
'On my planet flesh suits were banned years ago,' observed the creature. He fastened the false Brock's clawlike hands together with what looked like a strip of double-sided adhesive tape. 'Of course, there are still craftsmen who, for a price, will make one of these suits for you. But you will have to pay through the nose for it.'
Casually he rolled up the Brock skin, like a pair of old overalls.
Romana touched the skin. It still felt warm and soft as if it were made from incredibly fine suede.
'Originally these suits were designed for the professional assassins' market,' he went on. 'The idea was that, dressed in the guise of your victim's
'Come on!' cried the Doctor.
'Where to?' asked Hardin.
'Ask our scaly friend.'
The creature led the Doctor out of the laboratory, along the corridor and into the elevator. The other two followed closely on his heels. The creature took the elevator up three levels and then led them down another corridor.
'This leads to the boardroom,' complained Hardin.
The Doctor nodded. He was too out of breath to speak.
Hardin held Romana back for a moment. 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' he whispered. 'How do you know we can trust this lizard?'
'He saved my life,' said Romana. 'That's good enough for me.'
Â
'Did he?'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, you don't actually know what he was doing in the Image Chamber of the generator in the first place. Do you?'
Before Romana could formulate a reply the creature flung open the boardroom door.
Pangol and Brock looked up, startled.
The creature moved with extraordinary speed. Before anyone else had time to react he launched himself into the attack. He seized the Terran accountant, grappled him to the floor, and-to everyone's horror - forced one clawlike hand down his throat.
Brock's screams were swiftly stifled.
8. The Foamasi
The whole attack was so swift, so merciless, that no one had a chance to go to Brock's aid. Nor was anyone prepared for what happened next.
With a triumphant cacophany of whistles and clicks the creature held something aloft. Something small and oval in shape. Something he had removed from Brock's throat. Something which he proceeded to swallow himself.
The whistles and clicks suddenly died.
A voice said: 'Now at last I can speak to you.'
It was the creature.
Romana knelt beside the Terran accountant, who lay half-unconscious on the floor. 'Are you all right?' she asked.
His lips moved, but no words came.
'Mr Brock.'
Then something very strange happened. When Brock tried to speak, all that emerged was a series of whistles and clicks.
'It's all done by voice synthesizer,' explained the creature. 'Without his, our friend here cannot make himself understood.'
Mena sounded bewildered, 'Are you saying that Mr Brock has some sort of speech defect?' she asked.
'This isn't the real Brock,' replied the creature. With one knee on the chest of the recumbent Terran, he was tugging at the skin at the base of the neck. 'You'll find that the real Brock is alive and well and still living on Terra. In fact, he never left there.'
'But that's impossible.'
'Check, if you don't believe me.'
'I don't understand,' protested Mena. 'We've had dealings with Brock for the past ten years. I tell you that is him.'
There was a tearing sound.
'This,' said the creature, 'is the real face of the thing that you thought was Brock.'
With a gesture the creature ripped away the face of the accountant. The face came away like a mask. Underneath they could see green scaly skin and the features of something that resembled a lizard. '
'These flesh suits are amazing. Accurate to a micron. Believe me, even Brock's own mother wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between , the real man and what inhabited this suit!'
The creature deftly skinned the recumbent figure, removing the humanoid envelope that had formed such an impenetrable disguise for the green scaly creature beneath.
'On my planet flesh suits were banned years ago,' observed the creature. He fastened the false Brock's clawlike hands together with what looked like a strip of double-sided adhesive tape. 'Of course, there are still craftsmen who, for a price, will make one of these suits for you. But you will have to pay through the nose for it.'
Casually he rolled up the Brock skin, like a pair of old overalls.
Romana touched the skin. It still felt warm and soft as if it were made from incredibly fine suede.
'Originally these suits were designed for the professional assassins' market,' he went on. 'The idea was that, dressed in the guise of your victim's
Similar Books
![Hard and Easy [High-Country Shifters 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)](https://fs.ageofbook.com/601893/thumbs/152x264/hard-and-easy-high-country-shifters-5-siren-publishing-menage-everlasting.png)
