him I'll take charge of the investigation.
We need an arrest
before Headquarters are told of Practor's death.
Somebody wanted to make very sure of him, eh?
Commissioner Sleer said to touch nothing, sir.
- Sleer's taking charge?
- Yes, sir.
Well, it's a police job, I suppose.
- You searched the apartment?
- Yes, General.
The computer must have let him in.
So the killer is somebody Practor knew.
I'd say that limits the field a bit.
- Where were you when he was killed?
- I had to meet somebody on the concourse.
So the killer could have seen you leave
and knew he was alone.
It's possible, sir.
Of course, you can prove you had this meeting.
That might be difficult.
Why?
Because my meeting was with Hunda, General,
and two off-worlders.
Hunda is a rebel leader.
Yes. He managed to get into the city.
You see, since I arrived here,
I've been coordinating the resistance.
I've kept in contact with all the rebel columns.
This is treason, Leitz.
I could have you shot out of hand.
No, I don't think so.
I was acting
under Commissioner Sleer's instructions
to obtain advanced knowledge of their plans.
You mean you're a double spy.
It was my information which led
to the destruction of their second column.
And Hunda's column
is about to walk into a similar trap.
Go on.
He's planning a raid on the Magnetrix terminal.
At dawn he'll enter the city by the old monorail.
Once his column's inside the tunnel,
all you have to do is blow it in, General.
Blow it in.
That's all I have to do?
Yes, I suppose so.
It'll finish the resistance.
You mentioned two off-worlders at this meeting.
Yes. They're interested in the adaptation drug.
I sent them to the laboratory.
I expect they're dead now.
TARRANT: It's a photocell lock.
Here's a key.
Tarrant, wait. Here's another one.
- What do you make of it?
- It's a Tangran code.
- That's what I thought.
- I wonder...
You just saved our lives.
- That other one must have been booby-trapped.
- Yeah, that was a trick, tiny diffusers.
- Nerve gas?
- I expect so.
Let's just pray there isn't a backup system.
Ladies first.
You're so gallant.
In my hand I have an electrical contact.
If it closes, it will detonate 700 kilos
of glycerol trinitrate. Put your guns away.
Put them away!
Nitroglycerine? It's a bit outdated, isn't it?
It was all I could make with my limited resources.
And it is still a highly effective explosive.
- You're not from the Federation, I gather.
- No.
Your surreptitious entry told me as much.
Who are you?
Where are you from?
Come now, I may be friendlier than you think.
My name is Dayna. This is Tarrant.
We're Federation outlaws.
Yes. Yes, I remember those names.
There was a reward for your capture.
You and your friends have a ship
called the Liberator.
- Am I right?
- We had a ship called the Liberator,
it was destroyed fairly recently.
Memory is one of the few faculties
I have left that still functions perfectly.
My name, by the way, is Forbus.
The inventor of Pylene-50.
Forbus, you weren't really
going to press that contact, were you?
The explosion would have killed you, too.
That would seem a waste at the present time.
When I die,
I should like Commissioner Sleer right beside me.
But you work for Sleer, manufacturing Pylene-50.
I am compelled to work for Sleer.
That inhuman devil is the cause of it.
Sleer is responsible for what you see.
And now, only Sleer keeps me alive.
What happened, what do you mean?
Pylene-50 used homoeopathically
is simply a muscle relaxant.
Sleer discovered that 100 times normal dosage
totally subverts the will,
tried to force me to part with the formula.
I refused.
I didn't understand Sleer's nature then.
Totally callous, savage ambition.
There is a poison called Tincture of Pyrellic.
- Perhaps you've heard of it?
- No.
It is the extract of Pamporanian fungi,
it cripples and eventually kills.
Death is agonising and there is no cure.
I have Pyrellic poisoning.