Flash Gordon 3 - The Space Circus by Alex Raymond Read Free Book Online Page A

at the white metal walls. “Antiseptic,” he pronounced as he approached the EII computer he wanted.
    The computer was a compact one with a white face built into one of the walls of the large computer wing. When he was ten feet from it, a wall panel slid open to allow what appeared to be an attractive young blonde girl to step into the room. To the perceptive Zarkov, it was immediately evident that this was an android.
    “Good day,” the pretty blonde mechanical girl said in her pleasant, slightly husky voice. “My name is Jackie, and I’m hostess for this area of the Earth Interstellar Intelligence building. May I assist you?”
    “Be gone,” bellowed the bushy doctor. He continued on toward the computer.
    “Beg pardon, sir?”
    “Scram,” said Zarkov. “Get back into your wall.”
    “Won’t you need, sir, some help in operating this computer?” the attractive android asked. “They can be quite tricky.”
    “Nothing is too tricky for Zarkov,” he assured the blonde mechanism. “Go away.”
    “Well, at least let me get you a cup of pseudocoffee or perhaps—”
    “Nothing.” Dr. Zarkov halted in front of the computer of his choice, then thumped it hard with his fist. “Wake up and let’s get to work.”
    Tiny lights here and there on the computer’s face began to light up. “At your service, sir.”
    “Or possibly a soydonut?” inquired the android hostess. “We have them today frosted with imitation maple frosting, synthetic nearcheese spread on artificial sunflower honey. Personally I’d recommend the nearcheese.”
    Snorting, Zarkov took hold of the android by elbow and knee and deposited her in the cubicle from whence she’d come. “Gadgets,” he muttered, “too many useless gadgets.”
    “I hope your condemnation doesn’t extend to me,” said the computer.
    “We’ll see.” Zarkov tugged a handful of notes out of a pocket.
    Several hours later, a door to the rear of Zarkov whirred open. “No donuts,” boomed the doctor, not looking around.
    “I don’t have any with me anyway,” said Dale, approaching him. “But it might not be a bad idea for you to have something to eat, Doc.”
    Zarkov had the sleeves of his worksuit rolled up. He turned and frowned at the dark-haired girl. “I left you elsewhere,” he said.
    “Yes” she conceded. “I got impatient, then decided to come along here and see if you’d found out anything.”
    “We’ve been going great guns,” said the computer out of its voice box.
    “I talked to Agent Cox and he sent me down here,” continued Dale. “Apparently, there’s no new information about Flash.”
    “Not until I finish wringing what I have to out of this gadget.”
    “I was hoping, well, that possibly you were wrong. That Flash would turn up someplace on Earth, after all.”
    Zarkov put a knobby hand on her shoulder. “You can’t help hoping for the best, Dale,” he told her. “But you have to keep in mind that Zarkov is never wrong. Flash has been taken to another planet.”
    Inclining her head toward the computer the doctor had been working with, she asked, “Have you found out anything as to what planet it might be?”
    “Gradually,” boomed Zarkov, “I’ve been able to extract what I want to know out of this verbose contraption here.”
    “I was designed to be thorough,” said the computer in its defense. “If you insist upon skimming and skipping over the pertinent descriptions of flora, fauna, and terrain of each specific planet, you cannot expect precise results.”
    “Purple prose,” said Zarkov. “This thing is stuffed chock-full of the most highfalutin jargon.” He drilled into his thick tangled beard with the end of his electric pencil. “I’ve been able, in spite of the difficulties, to narrow my list down.”
    “Then you know where Flash is?” the girl asked hopefully.
    “Right now,” said the doctor, “I’m ninety percent certain Flash was picked up by a craft hailing from the remote planet, Mesmo. A