The Guardians Read online

  OUT OF THE BLUE

  THE WHISTLERS

  Interplanetary invaders dropping out of the skies of Grautier from its neighbor world to menace the 8000 men and women exiled from Earth and struggling to create a new life far from the interstellar routes of space traffic... and far from any outside help.

  Grautier, a grey beast of a world whose inhabitants have so far been found to include a semi-intelligent race of monkeys–the Mungos–and strange Blue Dwarfs endowed with amazing parapsychological and paramechanical powers.

  It's an unsettling time for the settlers as they focused to defend themselves against the...Whistlers.

  A mysterious young man from Earth–Chellish–has strict orders from Perry Rhodan himself regarding the Grautierians. Learn his role as one of—

  Perry Rhodan

  Atlan And Arkon #58

  —————————————————

  The Guardians

  —————————————————

  1/ KHEK-KHEK-KHEK!

  THE LAST MISTAKE he would make in his life: it could easily result from the slightest error made at this time. The situation was that ticklish, Mullon realized. He couldn't afford to run any risks. So he kept Chellish's pistol even though Chellish had been quite friendly and even-tempered for the past few days, seemingly anxious to be helpful, so that Mullon was tempted to believe that Chellish's presence might even be a valuable addition to the little expedition.

  They had moved into the tents again, the ones they had once abandoned when the blue dwarfs had transported them across the jungle to the vicinity of Greenwich. Chellish had taken Pashen's place. They had picked him up a few hours after Mullon, Freddy and Milligan had been brought from the river to their dwelling mound in the jungle.

  Mullon presently spent a portion of his time trying to improve the possibilities of communication with the dwarfs. He held daily conversations—if that was the right word for it—with a few of the dwarfs and tried for hours to comprehend the meaning of their play of colors, to get an inkling of the purport of the sibilant sounds they produced. He realized, much to his regret, he would never be able to employ that third method of communication: telepathy.

  Nevertheless, bit by bit, he made small progress in learning the significance of the color combinations and the distinctive sounds. He was proud of a major accomplishment when one of the dwarfs touched the ground with his plastic body and wrote the word YES in the sand while making an equivalent noise and displaying the corresponding color tone expressing the word in his language.

  In time Mullon managed to establish a common strategy with the dwarfs against Hollander's machinations although the existence of such a plan was no guarantee that the creatures would abide by it when the situation became critical. There were far too many sources of misunderstanding between man and dwarf to do more than plot the general outline of a plan. Mullon considered it a considerable accomplishment that both sides at least knew what they were talking about.

  Mullon was racking his brains trying to anticipate Hollander's intentions. He knew from Milligan, who had interrogated one of Hollander's guards, that he first waited for Freddy's and Milligan's return from the jungle. Now that he knew that at least Milligan had reached the vicinity of Greenwich, Hollander would presumably try to capture Milligan and Freddy. Mullon didn't believe Hollander could succeed but, in view of Hollander's perseverance, he expected him to show up at their retreat one of these days. The blue dwarfs constituted too much of a problem to Hollander for them to be ignored indefinitely.

  Hollander was most likely to send an investigating team first to their compound in an effort to make contact with the dwarfs. If he were encouraged by the result of his initial feelers, he would probably take the next step and dispatch as many helicopters as possible to the dwarfs in order to impose his will on them. He was not averse to the use of force.

  In Mullon's opinion this would be the most logical way for Hollander to proceed. His own defense plan was conceived with the assumption in mind that Hollander would act according to Mullon's expectations and Mullon considered this to be taking a calculated risk.

  • • •

  "Do you hear it?" Chellish asked.

  "Yes," Mullon confirmed. "A copter."

  Chellish got up. "I guess we better go to our bunkers."

  As Chellish was leaving, Mullon called him back. "Wait a minute, Chellish!"

  Chellish stopped and turned around. The buzzing noise of the helicopter grew louder. Mullon put his hand in his pocket and offered Chellish the pistol which he had taken away from him at the bank of the river. "Take it," he said. "It might come in handy in case something goes wrong."

  Chellish raised his eyebrows and hesitated for a moment. Then he took the weapon and stuck it under his wide belt. "Thank you," he replied simply. "You're a green grape (Newly evolved slang replacing "Good Egg"), Mullon."

  Freddy and Milligan came out of their tents when they heard the noise of the helicopter.

  "They're at it again," Mullon warned.

  Milligan trudged up the mound and entered the highest of the entrances which led down to the living quarters and workrooms of the dwarfs. Through a passage he went a little farther in the knoll till he reached a small excavation on the slope of the hill which was covered by brush. The hole was shielded from the outside by a plastic sheet and a wall of soil so that only a narrow eye-slit was left open. A ladder made of rough wood provided access to the hole from the passageway.

  Four such hide-outs with separate entrances had been built in the past few days with the assistance of the dwarfs. Mullon had arranged them in a pattern that would enable them to keep the helicopter in view by at least one of the secret observers at any one time.

  Only five minutes after Chellish had noticed the sound of the helicopter for the first time Mullon and his three people had disappeared and there was no sign left to indicate that humans had lived there just now.

  The whir of the helicopter came closer. Mullon saw the shadow of the big machine flit across the sunlit knoll, disappear to the left and return again. For the next 15 minutes the din of the flying machine swelled tip and down. Then it abated almost totally, only to whine again a few seconds later.

  They came from the north, Mullon observed. The shadow touched the slope again. But this time it didn't disappear. After awhile the noise of the little jets rotating the blades died down and somebody shouted: "Keep your eyes open, Dwight, and come back immediately if something looks off-kilter (Fishy)."

  Mullon perked up his ears. He recognized the voice. It was Pashen—the man who had shot him. He heard steps in the grass and saw a pair of boots close to his eye-slot. The man whom Pashen had called Dwight paused a few seconds as if undecided. Then he shouted upward: "Nobody here! I'm going to take a look at the tents."

  He walked down the slope and Mullon got a good look at him. He watched him going into Chellish's tent. After investigating it he came out again and made a reassuring gesture in Pashen's direction.

  He searched the other tents one by one but seemed to find nothing to arouse his suspicion. Finally he walked to one of the entrances to the hill.

  Mullon became a little nervous. This was the moment when, according to his plan, the dwarfs were supposed to appear on the scene. Dwight was not allowed to pass through the entrance.

  After a few tense moments about 30 dwarfs emerged from one of the other shafts and rushed toward the intruder. They surrounded him and began their strange floating dance.

  Dwight was obviously taken by surprise and frightened. He drew his gun and aimed it at the dwarfs. Mullon saw to his horror that it was a small disintegrator which Hollander had taken away from the crew of the Adventurous.

  However at this moment Pashen
shouted from above: "Lay off, Dwight! They're not going to do anything to you."

  Reluctantly, Dwight put back his weapon. He bent down and tried to grab one of the dwarfs. The dwarf first eluded him, then came closer again and danced over Dwight's hand without being caught.

  "Wait!" Pashen called. "I'm coming down."

  Mullon knew what he had in mind. The dwarfs already had met Pashen and he surmised that they had knowledge of his cowardly attack on Mullon. He wanted to try out how the dwarfs reacted toward him.

  Pashen passed close in front of his hideout. Through his slot he could see Pashen appear gradually. First his boots, then his legs, his arms and shoulders, his head—

  Suddenly Mullon shuddered. Pashen carried something on his arm. Mullon could see only a little bit of the light, grey-white far. As Pashen walked down the hill, the fur began to move and climb up on Pashen's arm. A small hairy face peered over Pashen's shoulder in the direction of Mullon's eye-slot. "Khek... khek... khek..." the little creature squealed excitedly.

  But Pashen paid no attention.

  A mungo, Mullon realized with dismay. He brought a mungo with him and if he weren't so dumb, he would already know that we're in the neighborhood.

  The mungos, a semi-intelligent race of monkeys living in the high mountains, had a sixth sense that warned them of dangers. The word 'khek' signified 'enemy' or 'bad' or 'danger'.

  But Pashen didn't seem to be familiar with the language of the mungos. He finally took notice of the little monkey's excitement and rapped him sharply on the back with the flat of his hand. The monkey uttered a wailing sound and hid in his elbow.

  Mullon sighed in relief. The momentary danger had passed. Pashen continued down the hill without heeding the mungo's warning. He stopped outside the circle of dwarfs weaving around Dwight and waited.

  The group of dwarfs divided and a second dancing circle formed around Pashen. Pashen was apparently pleased. He knew the dwarfs since the day they had captured Mullon's entire expedition, including himself, and he realized that the dance was a friendly gesture.

  For awhile he remained still. Then he called to Dwight: "Let's fly back! This is all we wanted to know."

  Dwight stepped out of the swirling ring of dancers and marched up the hill again together with Pashen. For a second time they passed Mullon's den and the mungo showed once more signs of anxiety. He crept up on Pashen's arm and screeched: "Khek-khek-khek..." till Pashen slapped him once more on the back, making him wince in pain.

  Soon the jets of the gyrocopter started up again. Mullon heard the machine lift off and fly away with whirling blades. Pashen seemed to be in a hurry. The noise faded away in less than a minute.

  Mullon climbed down the ladder. When he reached the exit of the shaft, Chellish was already waiting for him. He greeted him with the question: "Seems we've overlooked something, doesn't it?"

  Mullon nodded. "Yes, the mungos. We didn't expect Hollander to make use of them."

  Milligan and Freddy joined them. "What next?" Freddy inquired.

  Mullon shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't much we can do. We'll have to go far enough away that the monkeys can't detect us when Hollander comes with his men."

  "Why?" Milligan asked. "Pashen didn't notice a thing."

  "Do you think everybody is as stupid as Pashen?" Mullon countered. "If I know Hollander he'll pay close attention to the behavior of the mungos and if he notices a suspicious sign we can start all over again."

  Freddy was disappointed. She was the one who had first discovered the mungos. She had spent considerable time with them and tried to learn their language.

  Mullon consoled her. "The monkeys are not like humans, if that's what you believe. They can't differentiate between good and evil in our sense. They protect those with whom they happen to be. The mungo sensed that I was a danger to Pashen and he attempted to warn him. We're lucky that Pashen ignored the monkey."

  Mullon began to explain to the blue dwarfs that he had to change his plan and he managed to get the idea across with amazing speed, judging by their quick reactions. He got the impression that the mungos were not unknown to the dwarfs and they seemed to grasp the fact that the presence of the monkeys jeopardized Mullon's and his friends' safety and that this was the reason they were unable to remain near the mound when the jetcopter returned.

  The dwarfs transported Mullon and his companions 20 kilometers farther west in the jungle. This was done by the usual method. As many dwarfs as were required to create an antigrav field of sufficient magnitude by the radiation from their bodies floated down from the hill and carried the four Earthlings on the waves of their field, so to speak, high over the treetops of the jungle.

  The place they had picked for the landing was a clearing between the trees. There was a dense growth of bushes and shrubs but no trees.

  Mullon was prepared to wait a few hours.

  • • •

  They heard the helicopter come and go eight times. If one figured that the machine carried five men at the most, Hollander's strike force consisted of no more than 40 men.

  Shortly after noon the helicopter returned for the ninth time and this time it didn't fly back.

  "In the worst case we'll have 45 men against us," Mullon commented. "That's a lot."

  Chellish waved his hand. "The 45 men don't worry me as much as Hollander himself. He's the only important man When we capture him we won't have to be afraid of the others.

  "Maybe you're right," Mullon replied, "but we better not count on it."

  One hour later the first group of dwarfs dropped in. They abandoned their dwellings in the mound, following the agreed on scheme. Waiting in the clearance, they were joined within the next two hours by about 900 of the 1,000 dwarfs who inhabited the mound.

  After awhile they could hear the gyrocopter take off again. Instead of flying west as it had done before, it began to circle over the jungle. No doubt Hollander had noticed the departure of the dwarfs and had begun to search for them.

  Mullon gave the blue dwarfs the pre-arranged signal. A group of them rose from the bushes and floated above the treetops, radiating an iridescent blue in the bright sun.

  The helicopter responded at once. Mullon heard the noise of the rotating blades whipping the air as it came closer. The dwarfs sailed west across the jungle and the helicopter followed them without paying attention to the small clearance from which the dwarfs had emerged.

  A bit later the helicopter pilot seemed to have determined to his satisfaction in which direction the dwarfs traveled. He made a tight turn and flew eastward toward the mound of dwellings.

  Mullon was pleased. "They'll have to make a decision," he predicted. "I think Hollander considers the dwarfs important enough to pursue them."

  • • •

  Hollander was so absorbed in inspecting the interesting details of the mound, with its numerous entrances, subterranean rooms with unusual lighting and odd utensils that he failed to notice that several groups of the blue dwarfs had stolen away.

  The guards posted on the summit of the hill near the helicopter had noticed the blue dwarfs heading for the jungle but had attached no importance to their flight.

  Their attitude was changed quickly the moment Hollander emerged again in the broad daylight. He had wondered why there were hardly any dwarfs present in the rooms under the ground and assumed that they had assembled on the slope of the hill. When he didn't find them there either, he became suspicious. He lambasted the sentries with some harsh epithets after they reported their observation. Then he ordered Pashen and Dwight to take the helicopter and find the dwarfs. After they had picked up their trail as Mullon had hoped, they returned to the mound.

  "They're moving in a westerly direction, sir," Pashen reported.

  "All of them?"

  "We saw only about 100 of them. They normally travel along the ground but we couldn't see them through the foliage."

  "How fast did they move?"

  "Fairly slow, sir. No more than 10 kilometers p
er hour.

  "This is too fast to catch up with them on foot," Hollander snapped. "We've got to chase them by helicopter."

  "I beg your pardon, sir," Pashen demurred. "Wouldn't it be better to wait here till they come back to their mound?"

  "No, it wouldn't be better," Hollander replied gruffly. "They're going west and therefore must be heading for Greenwich. Milligan is somewhere in the vicinity of Greenwich and he had ample time to befriend the dwarfs. Perhaps he has already persuaded them to launch an attack against our men in Greenwich while we're standing around here doing nothing. No, we must go after them immediately. Put the few who still are in the mound under arrest at once. You'll be in charge here while I'm gone. Is that clear?"

  A few minutes later Hollander took off in the helicopter. He had picked two men to accompany him and he took one of the mungos along. One man piloted the machine while he and the other kept a sharp lookout. At the same time he carefully observed the reactions of the scared little monkey.

  They passed the clearance in the forest, which had been accurately described by Pashen, and continued to fly west. Soon they detected some scintillating color patches and overtook a bevy of dwarfs gliding with moderate speed over the roof of leaves in the same direction. They seemed to take no notice of the vrooming whirlybird.

  "We must stop them," Hollander muttered. "Pashen was right. Most of them seem to make their way down there between the trees." Turning to his pilot, he added: "Try to find another place where we can land. There ought to be another open space somewhere."

  • • •

  Mullon watched the helicopter cross the clearance for the second time. It disappeared going west. The noise of the engine didn't fade away in the distance, instead it ceased abruptly. Hollander had landed. Mullon's scheme was completed step by step.

  Freddy, Chellish and Milligan took off with a team of 150 dwarfs. They glided over the trees, following the path of Hollander's helicopter. Mullon waited a little while longer in the clearance before he had 70 dwarfs transport him in a southwesterly direction.