cylinders, and air purifier."
27 "My children will help your people," agreed the droid, "but I would
advise you to hurry. The others are due back any time, and I do not
know how they would accept your presence."
28 The eyes of everyone in the party widened in response to the droid's
statement. "What others?" asked Morn.
29 "The others," repeated the droid, "that visit this system every
year, I believe to harvest and plant crops. If they maintain their
usual schedule, they should appear any time. I do not think they are
friendly. I suspected they were rebels but they broadcasted
no codes I was programmed to respond to. So I did not dare initiate a
contact. That is why I shut down the emergency beacon, when they first
appeared. I have many pictures
of them, if you would like to see. I can show you up on the command
deck."
30 "I definitely want to see!" assured Morn. He turned to the Doctor.
"I'm going up to the command deck. As soon as you're ready to give me a
full report, come up."
31 The Doctor nodded, and muttered "Yes, sir." Reentering the elevator
they went up to the top level and emerged on the command deck. The
droid activated the equipment and the computer began to show pictures
of several vessels flying in formation. One was the size of a
battleship, two others would have been equal to Morn's vessel. Four
others were destroyers, definitely. Six more appeared to be cargo
vessels carrying pods.
32 "Do all these ships come every time?" asked Morn.
33 "The same number of warships always comes," the droid answered. "The
number of cargo ships varies from year to year."
34 There was no doubt in Morn's mind they were Hashon hold outs, and if
they spotted him there wouldn't be any question they'd attack!
Especially if this planet was one of their food stations, they would
try to protect their