Story continued from DOCTOR STRANGE: THE BEST DEFENSE.
Galactus hungers and awaits the return of the Silver Surfer
then he sees something bizarre cross his path: the Train....
A disguised Silver Surfer walks a desert world that lies in
Galactus' path. He comes upon a place where Humans working for Roxxon
Corporation have battled Centaurian bandits; he learns this from a gravely wounded
Human; he applies aid and follows the tracks in the sand. Not far away, a
Centaurian boy, Goldie, sole survivor of the gang, lugs a heavy piece of loot
from Roxxon, recalling his mean father's advice to earn his keep. He arrives at
the cave rendezvous where a Human and a lizard man await; they try to take the
package from him, a fight ensues, the Human stabs the lizard man in the back
and takes off with the package, as the dying lizard man collapses on Goldie,
pinning him to the ground. A mother and daughter passing by pull Goldie out
from under the dead man and he knocks them down and pursues to Human to the
marketplace....
In the market square, an alien named Scab Tongue, who owns
the last spaceship on the planet, is demanding exorbitant prices to rescue
people from the doomed world; most wealth would have no value on any other
world, so many are turned away. The Human offers the Roxxon package as his fare
off the world but Scab Tongue rejects it as Earth junk. Goldie arrives to claim
the package and demand a way off the planet. Silver Surfer arrives and counsels
restraint as the way to resolve the problem. Goldie and the Human fight over
the package and the Surfer has seen enough, he hurls his metal cylinder (it's
his surfboard in disguise) and it swoops over the marketplace subduing all of
the bad guys, while Surfer protects the boy. Surfer reveals himself to the
crowd, starting a panic because everyone knows what the arrival of the Herald
of Galactus means....
A flashback shows why Surfer is on this world: Galactus had
him verify the existence of the Train, a deadly vehicle crossing the cosmos,
breaking own the universe into its fuel, leaving ruined worlds in its path.
None who remain are worth saving. Silver Surfer balks at this judgment so
Galactus proposes that Surfer visit these worlds and if he finds life worth
saving, Galactus will postpone his meal, though it may lead to his being too
weak to battle the Train. So the Surfer went to this planet...
...where the Human and the Centaurian boy are still fighting
over the package. Goldie commands two arrows to pierce the Roxxon man through
the heart, killing him. The Surfer tried to stop him but only sees into
Goldie's past, understanding that this boy is no more innocent than the adults.
Galactus arrives and Goldie chooses to remain on the planet, hunting down his
mean father. He also sees into the Surfer's heart and knows that he is not
innocent, blaming others for his own choices. Surfer suggests that Goldie
merely sees his own reflection....
On a tiny asteroid, Silver Surfer ponders the mysteries of
morality and power and has a vision of the Defenders, the Train, and the man in
the ghost costume. Seeing that the Earth is in the path of the Train, he
summons his board—which zooms past him and away into the cosmos....
Story continued in THE DEFENDERS: THE BEST DEFENSE