As they verbally quarrel and spar with each other, he is forced to confess his dishonest scheme to Tracy"s "withering glance.Nero"s plan was to drill through Vulcan"s atmosphere and into her crust with a drilling beam (a "high-energy pulse device") designed to reach the planet"s core, artificially create a black hole within it (by launching "red matter" into it), and then destroy it." Well-meaning, Dolly buys and offers a faint Laura a 10 pence sip of brandy for her ill-health.They both board the train and share a small compartment, where Dolly makes prying, side remarks about her companion from the ea room:Dolly: Well, he certainly was very good-looking." Explaining that they now had the advantage with their silent caterpillar drive, he boasted: "We will leave our fleet behind.The no-neck narrator - with a long cigarette holder - spoke about taking the audience on a strange journey: ("I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey").