"Lt. Ellis!" Marc Bradley's voice echoed in strident tones through Moonbase control.

"Yes, Marc? What is it?"

"There's ... there's an alien in the interceptor bay!"

"What?!"

"It's ... It's doing something to the Interceptors ... They! I can see two of them."

"Marc, are they short and yellow?"

Bradley stared at the mic for a moment. Was that laughter touching her voice? "Yes," he confirmed doubtfully.

"It's all right, Marc. They're new techs."

"What?" Did he sound as dumbfounded as he thought?

"They're new techs. They're ... not aliens." Gay shut off her mic for a moment to allow her laughter to come out.

Nina and Joan regarded her for a moment before smiling themselves. The minions were new to Moonbase. Technically, they were new to SHADO. No one knew exactly where they'd come from, but since Commander Straker was taking them in stride, so was everyone else.

Gay opened the mic again. "It's all right. They really are the new techs. Commander Straker and Dr. Jackson made contact with them a few months ago. We're not entirely certain how they became technologically advanced, but they seem to be brilliant and have helped Col. Lake make some improvements. The Commander wanted to see how they fare here and whether they will be as helpful here as they are at HQ. You could introduce yourself if you like. I believe the crew on now is Gunther, Eddie and Paul."

She was not going to laugh.

"Oh. Good then. I'll … do that." Marc replaced the hand set and took a look through the window at the creatures. He'd introduce himself when they came back in.