A Touch of Eternity Read online

  MISSING: ONE WINDOW

  ONE VERY SPECIAL 'window'–the point of egress from an alien dimension–ceased to be and with its disappearance there vanished the means of return to our own spatima continuum, our own universe of space and time and matter. Perry Rhodan learns whether a man can drown in an 'ocean of time'.

  And the crew of the spaceship Sherbourne –does coincidence, chance, a lucky accident or fate determine the outcome of their adventure in the Other Dimension?

  The lens-field generator and the dread Druufs are all part of the package of those who, like you when you read this breadth taking episode, sense—

  Perry Rhodan

  Atlan And Arkon #57

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  A Touch of Eternity

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  1/ OPERATION: OTHER WORLD

  THE MYSTERIOUS CURTAIN. Of time. It swept inexorably over Tats-Tor and like a giant invisible vacuum sucked up all organic life, leaving in its wake an empty world: cities intact but uninhabited by any form of life. The men and women who had breathed, lived, loved and striven there to realize their individual destinies, were missing from the planet. They were not dead or destroyed but they no longer existed in the normal scheme of things: they existed now in another time dimension.

  The star Morag was 7132 light-years from Earth. For a period of five millenniums its second planet, Tats-Tor, had been colonized and settled by Arkonides. They made their living as exporters of valuable raw materials and through general commerce with the peoples of the Arkonide Empire, which was governed by a gigantic positronic Brain.

  Perry Rhodan had a very special reason for landing on Tats-Tor: to organize a Time Expedition under the leadership of Lt. Marcel Rous. Here it was that the expedition had disappeared into an enigmatic... nothingness.

  That had been in January, more than seven months ago—January in the year 2041.

  So now on the 16th of July, Perry Rhodan was returning to Tats-Tor for the third time. As the depopulated planet began to emerge on the viewscreens of the mighty spaceship Drusus , its commander's thoughts returned to his first two visits to this distant world. Unfortunately they had been fruitless and barren of hope for the members of the ill-fated expedition.

  13 January 2041: for 10 days there had not been the slightest trace of the time expedition. Lt. Rous and his five companions had penetrated the circular field window produced by his energy lens generator and had just entered the alien time dimension when the frontal overlap of the two planes of existence had rolled over Tats-Tor and lapped up all life there like a ravenous giant. Contrary to expectations, Marcel Rous did not return.

  Rhodan landed on Tats-Tor in the super battleship Drusus , a spherical spaceship measuring a mile in diameter. After some searching he found the deserted Gazelle, in which the energy lens generator had been installed.

  With the help of this ingeniously constructed apparatus it was possible to penetrate the other time-plane at the moment of overlap without losing one's own time relationship. The critically different time-ratio of the other plane had not the slightest effect on a person coming through the energy lens.

  The normal universe was being traversed by an alien time-plane. At every location where a direct interface of intercepting planes occurred, any organic life disappeared. The most monstrous menace ever known was threatening all life in the Milky Way.

  It was with very mixed feelings that Rhodan, Reginald Bell and a few of the Mutant corps approached the Gazelle where it stood lonely and deserted in the middle of the desert. Other than themselves there was no life left on this world, not even the smallest insect that crawled, the lowliest worm. The time curtain had swept everything with it except lifeless matter and plants. Oddly, there was a definite indication that a difference between fauna and flora was recognized by the natural laws of the other time dimension.

  Reginald Bell cleared his throat unobtrusively and attempted to conceal his anxiety. Under no circumstances must the others know that he was fearful or apprehensive.

  However his voice was slightly strained when he spoke: "They have—uh—disappeared since 10 days ago. If they went into that other time plane through the energy ring, then why haven't they come back?"

  Rhodan glanced askance at him briefly while continuing calmly. "We came here to find an answer to that question, Bell. I have a feeling that there could be a hundred answers—but it's going to be our job to discover the right one. Well, there's the Gazelle." He pointed to the long-range reconnaissance flier, a disc that was 100 feet in diameter and 60 feet high. It was still about 200 yards away. "In its control room are the controls for the energy-ring generator. We'll soon find out what's the matter with it."

  "What can be wrong with it?" grumbled Bell in a welter of uncertainties.

  Rhodan didn't look at him when he replied: "There's actually nothing that can't go out of commission..."

  Bell fell into a stubborn silence the rest of the way.

  The outer lock was open and they were able to enter the small spaceship without hindrance. Slightly more than a half mile away towered the mighty shape of the Drusus. At the slightest sign of danger the giant's guns would open fire.

  But nothing occurred as Perry Rhodan and his companions passed through the airlock of the Gazelle and moved onward to the control room. It didn't take long to find a very graphic answer to their question but it was by no means a satisfactory one.

  The cooled droplets of melted metal on the smooth deck of the control room said enough but Rhodan was never satisfied with halfway answers. He attempted personally to get the equipment into operation but he soon had to realize how futile his efforts were.

  The energy-ring generator of the Gazelle was knocked out, completely ruined for all time. The coils were burned through and the conductors were melted. Under the circumstances the thought of repairing it was hopeless.

  "At least now we know the actual facts," murmured Bell.

  Rhodan nodded. "A small consolation, I'm afraid, because it's not any help to the members of our vanished time-expedition. How are we going to get them out of their time prison?"

  "We build another generator," suggested one of the mutants.

  "Quite right," Rhodan agreed. "There's no other alternative. But in that case we've got to return to the Earth. Only the research center in Terrania has the means to complete such a project. Let's hope that in the meantime Rous and his crew don't lose their courage or hope."

  Bell stared pensively at the blank viewscreen of the Gazelle. "If they just don't lose too much time in the process..."

  Rhodan shook his head. "Or we, either," he said and without further ado left the small spaceship. He knew that they couldn't accomplish anything more here without losing valuable hours and days.

  And so it was that Perry Rhodan returned a second time a few weeks later and landed on Tats-Tor, this time with a very large and powerful energy-ring generator on board.

  • • •

  They required an entire day to erect the equipment on the desert next to the Gazelle. The technicians who had come along from the Earth were very confident that their newest creation would function. Rhodan and Bell hoped they were right.

  And also Pucky, of course, who had been permitted to come along this time. The mouse-beaver waddled gravely along behind the two men, his ears sticking straight up and his broad beaver's tail lending him both guidance and support. In his brown hound-dog eyes was a faint glimmer of despair but the intelligent animal maintained an outward appearance that led none to suspect his inner feelings.

  Moreover, Pucky was really much more than a mere animal. As a member of the Mutant Corps he was endowed with at least three parapsychological f
aculties and no one was quite sure whether other gifts of this nature were not slumbering within him also. At any rate, he was a telepath, a psychokinesist and a teleporter all in one package, besides being able to speak a number of languages with perfect fluency. And he possessed an IQ level that many humans might have envied.

  Pucky walked in an upright position, measuring about three feet in height. He was a cross between mouse and beaver but comported himself in a completely human manner, although for the most part he chose to skip the matter of clothing. His rust-brown furry pelt seemed to be fully adequate for his needs.

  Rhodan came to a halt when he reached the technicians, who had set up their equipment directly alongside the deserted Gazelle. The projectors were turned in the same direction that the ruined generator had been pointing toward. Barring anything unforeseen, an activation of the machine should now produce the circular ring of light which would form a doorway into the other time dimension.

  "Are you ready?" Rhodan inquired of the head engineer as he indicated the complicated apparatus. "When can we make the first try?"

  "As soon as we hook up the main conduits to the power generators on board the Drusus , sir. The energy-ring generator requires a lot of energy for building up its time-field."

  Rhodan nodded and turned around. "I'm going through myself. Pucky and the mutants will accompany me. Bell will stay behind and take over the command in case anything goes wrong..."

  "Wrong...?" inquired Pucky in his sharp, squeaky voice. "What could go wrong?"

  "Whatever, Pucky—we have to take the risk," Rhodan explained calmly. "That's what Lt. Rous did and he's vanished; but at least we know the reason why. Without a generator there isn't any way back. But this equipment here isn't going to break down. Our technicians will see to that. So we'll be able to return at any time." He turned once more to the scientists. "When will you be all set?"

  "In one hour, sir."

  • • •

  The sun Morag had only moved a short distance and now stood high in the sky. The desert of Tats-Tor lay deserted and dead under its scorching rays, giving mute testimony to the lifelessness of a world swept by the curtain of alien time.

  Rhodan adjusted the impulse beamer in his belt and took a last look at his companions before starting the dangerous journey. Beside him Pucky seemed to tremble with impatience but Rhodan sensed his small friend's inner apprehension before the unknown. However brave and spirited the little mouse-beaver might be, the alien time dimension was something he couldn't quite grasp in its concept—and so he was instinctively afraid of it.

  "We will stay together," said Rhodan while placing his right hand on Pucky's shoulder. "As soon as we have climbed through the forcefield window I want you to put out your telepathic tendrils so that we can trace Lt. Rous as quickly as possible. John Marshall will handle the radio. I'll keep a lookout for any possible surprises from the unknown enemy but we already know that events occurring behind that time curtain take about 72,000 times longer to happen. So in that sense we really won't have to fear any enemy action." He gave a sign to the technicians. "We are ready, gentlemen."

  Bell stood to one side and strove to maintain an air of indifference. Within him raged a veritable storm of feelings, however. Naturally he was glad he didn't have to go along on the expedition. He had no fear of flesh and blood enemies but to penetrate into an alien, unknown environment was a hazardous venture which required more than raw courage alone.

  Nevertheless he would have liked to go along. The call of adventure was always irresistible.

  Then on the other hand...

  He did not finish his counter-argument because the telepathic mouse-beaver suddenly turned to him. "You don't know what you want, do you, Fatso?" Of course Bell wasn't fat in the least, being at the most what might be referred to as thickset, but Pucky loved a bit of exaggeration when it came to ribbing his bosom pal. "First you're glad that somebody else is going to pull the castanets out of that other time plane and then you're stewing over not being along when we singe our paws. If you're a good boy, I'll bring you back a clock from the other side. Since it is 72,000 times slower than yours, you can gauge yourself to it when you're off duty."

  Before Bell could find the appropriate words for a retort the head engineer turned on the power switch. With a muffled hum the magnetic fields built up which were to warp an opening in the time barrier. This opening, or window, would reveal itself in the form of a faintly shimmering ring of light.

  But then the expected effect failed to materialize. In spite of the fact that the solidly anchored apparatus vibrated energetically and the fields increased their humming sound, the light-ring refused to appear.

  The engineer shook his head in bewilderment as he watched the wavering needles on his meter panel. Rhodan stepped closer to him and shouted above the noise of the field generator. "What's happening? Is the field building up or not...?"

  "It's building," confirmed the engineer in puzzlement without taking his eyes from the meters. "I can't see anything wrong. Everything is operating exactly as it was designed to do and actually the light-ring should be visible by now. I don't understand..."

  In fact, nobody understood it for a good six months after that. At first the disappointment was almost a crushing blow. They kept looking for an error in the ring-field generator itself until somebody in the research center in Terrania was sharp enough to think of looking elsewhere for the missing factor.

  Namely, in the governing circumstances on Tats-Tor!

  It had been a hard blow for Rhodan in the meantime to have to assume with an overwhelming certainty that Lt. Rous' time-expedition was lost for good.

  But three months following the foregoing events chief physicist Erb of the electronics department stepped into his office far above the streets of Terrania.

  Rhodan had just concluded a conversation with the Administrator of Venus and cut off the connection. The viewscreen faded out. Not particularly interested in this visit, he offered the physicist a chair across from him. He was expecting this to be another routine report.

  "What can I do for you?" he said by way of opening the conversation but actually his thoughts were elsewhere. The settlers on Venus were asking for more administrative freedom and he didn't see why it should be denied them. In addition, there was the fact that...

  "I believe," said Erb, "that I finally know why the energy-ring generator didn't function that time on Tats-Tor."

  With an involuntary start, Rhodan forgot Venus and leaned forward, focusing his attention on the physicist. "Tats-Tor! The lost expedition...! I've given up all hope of ever being able to help Rous. Erb, don't stir up false hopes in me." He waved a hand as though to brush his own remark away. "That's nonsense, of course. Don't mind me, Erb. It's better that I listen to you, instead. Tell me what you've found out. The smallest detail is important if it can be of help to our people."

  The physicist, an exceptionally congenial man with premature grey hair, smiled in some embarrassment. There was a look of something like helplessness in his eyes but Rhodan knew his people. It was an impression that could be deceptive. Erb was one of the most capable professionals in the field of electronic engineering and electro-physics. "Actually it wasn't I who found the answer, it was Gustav 6."

  "Gustav 6?"

  "Yes, that's what we call the positronic brain in our department. Naturally it doesn't have the capacity of the big computers on the ships or the one on Venus but it has given us very good service. So I submitted all of our information to Gustav 6 that I could dig up concerning the problem of the other time-plane, much of which I'll confess has been only blind guesswork. After putting a series of inquiries to him, the answers emerged and crystallized. Our spot-checks and samplings of the data proved their validity. There doesn't seem to be any possibility of error, sir."

  For Rhodan, all other problems of the Solar Empire were forgotten. After three months of relative peace and quiet the specter loomed before him again—the dread apparition of the othe
r time-plane, sweeping slowly through the normal universe and bringing disaster and destruction wherever the interface of dimensions occurred.

  "Continue, Erb. What answers did you find?"

  The physicist's smile faded, to be replaced by an unusually stern expression. His eyes met Rhodan's in unabashed concentration. "At first I wanted to know whether or not the energy-ring generator we had constructed was in perfect working order, since it had let us down so miserably on Tats-Tor. The computer confirmed absolutely that we had not made any errors and that the machine was flawlessly put together. According to that, it also had to operate without a flaw. But it still didn't function! Therefore, the mistake had to lie somewhere else than in the machine itself."

  Rhodan only nodded, refraining from an interruption even when the physicist made a slight pause. After a few moments, Erb continued: "So naturally I did look elsewhere, admittedly with Gustav's help. The results still gave us a probability factor of 97% that an error didn't even exist."

  "None at all?" muttered Rhodan in some amazement. "Just what do you mean?"

  "Well of course a kind of error was involved but only of a very theoretical nature, sir. It was a mistake on our part to assume that the relationships before an overlapping of time dimensions were the same as after such an occurrence."

  Rhodan gazed steadily at Erb. There was a slight quiver at the corners of his eyes. "Go over that again, will you, please?"

  Erb obliged him and then waited expectantly. Had Rhodan already arrived at the same conclusion during recent days? It was only logical in view of their mutual train of thoughts.

  Rhodan spoke slowly and carefully. "So you would say that we have to build a ring-field generator that would fit the altered relationships? In other words, a generator that would even be effective long after a time-front has swept over any given world..."

  Erb nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is the problem! And Gustav 6 has specifically calculated that a transfer into the other time-plane is only possible when a dimensional interface has already occurred. That is, either during or after an overlap. However, if a considerable time has passed following an overlap, a penetration into the other time will not be possible with our present generator. Further: prior to a time-plane interface, it's totally impossible to enter the other continuum."