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A nearby intercom console beeped an alert to an incoming transmission. Evazan turned to see the face of Ponda Baba appear in its tiny viewscreen as a voice came with some urgency from the speaker.

“Evazan, someone is at our door!”

“Our door?” the doctor repeated.

“At the sea gate below the castle. Says his aqua-speeder just broke down. Wants to call for a lift from here.”

“So he says,” Evazan replied. “Let’s see him.”

Ponda punched at his own console and the picture on the screen shifted to show a view of the sea gate area. A small ocean-going repulsorlift craft sat at the castle’s single dock. At the massive gate stood a most impressive-looking human male.

He was quite large, with a strapping build, as was evidenced by the body-hugging suit he wore. His chiseled features were handsome, and a thatch of blond hair waved about his well-formed head.

Evazan gazed with great interest upon the man, then he punched console buttons, bringing Ponda’s image back.

“Let him come up,” he ordered. “But only into the foyer. Keep a watch on him.”

“Are you sure that’s smart, Doc?” Ponda inquired.

“Just do it!” Evazan snapped the intercom off and turned to the senator. “You may get to see more than you’d hoped,” he said excitedly. “Today could be the climax of my research!”

He rushed up from the laboratory, the nonplussed senator following. They entered the castle’s huge entrance hall. In the wall beside its main door was set a control panel with a surveillance screen. Ponda Baba was already there, staring at a view of the room beyond the door.

In a small, bare antechamber to the entrance hall, their blond-haired visitor stood waiting patiently.

Evazan peered over Ponda’s shoulder at the man. His eyes lit with an eager glow.

“This one will be perfect!” he said. “What a piece of incredible luck!”

He reached past Ponda to flick a switch on the panel. From the ceiling light in the anteroom a crimson beam shot down, striking the blond man’s head. He went limp instantly, crumpling to the floor.

“You killed him?” the Andoan senator said, aghast.

“Just stunned him,” the doctor replied. He looked to Ponda. “Help me take him downstairs.”

He took hold of the door handle, but a hairy paw came down on his hand to stop him.

“Hold on, Doc,” came Ponda’s harsh voice. “You’re gonna make the transfer to him, aren’t you?”

“He looks as good as any I’ve ever seen,” Evazan admitted. “Why not?”

“No, Doc,” Ponda barked at him. “Me first!”

Evazan regarded his erstwhile partner. “What do you mean?”

“You promised I’d go first. You promised I’d get a body with a good arm. I brought you to my planet, helped you set this up, kept you alive for just that one thing. You cost me my arm on Tatooine. You owe me. It’s time to pay up.”

“How can I do that, Ponda?” he reasoned. “My perfect subject just showed up at my door. He’s here right now!”

“We’re both lucky then, Doc,” Ponda answered. “You got yours. I’ve got mine.”

Realization dawned in the doctor’s face. As one, both of them turned toward the Aqualish senator.

The senator had listened to their dialogue with growing alarm. As they looked to him, his expression grew taut with horror.

“He’s not young,” Evazan commented critically.

“He’s one of the ruling class, though,” Ponda replied. “I get an arm, and I get power, too.”

“You … you can’t mean what I think,” the senator gasped.

“We do,” said the doctor, pulling out his blaster. “Congratulations. You’ll be helping to make a great step for science.” He gestured with the gun. “Get going, please.”

“You can’t do this!” the senator cried as they marched him downstairs to the lab. “What about your financing? Your protection?”

“I won’t need either anymore,” the doctor replied. “I’ll finally be able to acquire a whole new identity. Be free of this scarred face. I can go out of here safe from bounty hunters, and with a secret that can change the galaxy.”

“That’s what you intended from the start, isn’t it?” the other guessed. “Just to help yourself!”

“What else?” said Evazan,