Short Circuit (comic story)

Short Circuit was a comic story in the K9 book The Essential Book of K9. It was written by Paul M. Tams. The original character visuals were provided by Lee Adams.

Plot
Someday K9 is free falling in space and awaiting any passing vessels that having being accused of being a stowaway on the flagship of the Trodos Empire. He enters a space ship of which he thinks is a trader ship. However, it turns out to be a Sporraxx space ship.

The Sporraxx imprison K9 when they realise that his general reference capacity is far beyond any computer that they have ever come across. Then they try to extract his memory core. K9 wants to distract them by referencing totally useless information. He tries to fight the Sporraxx back but they get deeper and deeper into his memory core. Memories that K9 assumed to be erased are slowly coming back and the Sporraxx get to know more and more about K9's past. They get information about Earth and want to maraud the planet.

Then they reprogram K9 to protect a device, which turns out to be a small spherical marauder bomb, that would destroy Earth. However K9 is able to break free of their control, because deep in his memories a sense of right and wrong prevailed. He takes the bomb back into the Sporraxx space ship which explodes.

Characters

 * K9 Mark 2
 * Sporraxx

Worldbuilding

 * The Sporraxx want to extract K9's memory core. K9 tries to distract them by referencing: manuals on Trigellan goat herding, the 19th century straker census' and the tax return systems of the Jixens.
 * K9 refers to Alistair Gryffen, Starkey, Jorjie Turner, June Turner and Darius Pike, remembering their adventures.
 * K9 remembers Gryffen Manor.
 * K9 remembers himself before his transformation.
 * K9 is free falling in space and awaiting any passing vessels that having being accused of being a sto-away on the flagship of the Trodos Empire.

Continuity

 * K9 has already told Starkey, Jorjie Turner and Darius Pike about the Sporraxx, the scariest creatures in the universe. (TV: The Fall of the House of Gryffen)