'Bomb!' gasped The Journalist.

'You're a bomb?' said Dan.

'No!' Lucy felt she had to explain. 'The, this is Dan. Dan, this is The.'

Dan blinked a few times.

'There's a bomb on board! It's about to go off!' The Journalist managed to get out. 'We've got to get to the life-boats!'

'They're in First Class!' explained Lucy. 'Naturally.'

'Now that is outrageous!' Dan received this new ammunition gratefully and turned on the Deskbot. 'If I tell the Travel Association that, they'll blacklist your whole flicking fleet forever!' Wow! That was some threat. Dan knew, they'd had it levelled against the Top Ten Travel Co. Inc. countless times.

The Deskbot tapped its fingers on the desk and gazed up at the ceiling.

'D'you hear?' exclaimed Dan. 'I'll close this whole goddamned company down!'

'Listen you Dumbbot!' The Journalist had grabbed the Deskbot by its scrawny stand. 'This is a matter of life and death! There's a bomb about to go off in. He checked his watch. 'In ten edoes! Pangalin!'

'How long's that?' asked Dan, but The Journalist wasn't listening. He was too busy shaking the robot.

Suddenly there was a crack and a flash and all the lights went off for an instant.

'Hey!' cried everyone, and the lights came on again - although there was no cause and effect between the shout of 'Hey!' and the recommencement of illumination,

'I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do unless you have a Galactic Gold Credit Card,' replied the robot in a simulated strangled voice.

'Pangalin!' repeated The Journalist.

'Please mind your language,' croaked the Deskbot. 'Don't you have a credit card, The?' asked Lucy - appalled to think her new friend might be not the most solvent character on Blerontin.

'Not a Galactic Gold!' he said.

'Who is this?' Dan had switched back to 'Indignation Mode'.

'You've got to earn over seven pnedes a week to get one of those beauties!' The Journalist was still trying to strangle the Deskbot.