The Bonds of Eternity Read online

  MOBILIZATION ARKON STAR REALM!

  1000 SPACESHIPS. Mostly 'manned' by robots. Battling for supremacy in the overlapping area before the border zone between Einstein Space and the Druuf Universe. A conflict of cosmic proportions–and Perry Rhodan plays a dual role between them.

  And someone–the ghost of a Terran in the body of a monster from the stars–is helping the Administrator of the Solar Empire as the gigantic battle seesaws back and forth, first the Robot Regent of Arkon penetrating the alien universe, then the Druuf ships invading Einstein Space.

  Galactic powers, straining to break—

  Perry Rhodan

  Atlan And Arkon #69

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  The Bonds of Eternity

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  1/ GO TO HADES!

  The planet was 6500 light-years from Earth and it resembled Mercury in some respects such as its gravity which was no more than 0.35G and the characteristic of turning the same hemisphere to the central sun. This created the icy half of night and the super-heated side of day. The extremes of cold as in outer space and burning heat on the glaring surface were separated only by an 80-kilometer-wide twilight zone which was ravaged by incredible storms.

  One look at the sun dispelled any similarity to Mercury. Siamed was a twin star. The glowing red main star was circled by a, green companion and around the center of gravity of these two suns rotated 62 planets with a multitude of moons some of which had moons of their own.

  One of these planets resembled Mercury. It was Hades and it harbored human life although its surface was forbidding and inhospitable and a tremendous distance separated its men from their home on Terra.

  Secretly and hidden far below the surface, powerful energy-beamers had carved huge caves out of the rock. The receiver station of the matter-transmitter spewed out a steady stream of materiel and weapons needed for reinforcements.

  Deep inside the planet Hades a military base was created for Perry Rhodan. This planet was less than a light-hour away from the world of his most intransigent enemies. Hades was the 13th planet of the twin-star system Siamed whose 16th planet was called Druufon.

  Druufon, the power center of the Druufs!

  • • •

  Perry Rhodan looked with an enigmatic expression at the observation screen which revealed the surface above their subterranean abode. He stood in the control center of the base. Somewhere in the background hummed the generators which supplied the necessary energy for the climatizer. The air in the circular room was fresh but not too cool. The smooth metallic floor vibrated very faintly. Farther below in the rock were the workshops of the Swoons. The microtechnicians worked indefatigably on the electronic shield installations. They surrounded the planet with an invisible 5-dimensional cordon which could not be penetrated by disturbances of the time-space continuum and thus made detection by the Druufs impossible. The matter-transmitter also emitted some telltale echoes which now were intercepted and absorbed by the net.

  "I'm aware how agonizing it must be for you, Atlan," Rhodan finally said slowly. "You're concerned over the possibility that the Druufs might become too strong if we don't intervene, if we continue to allow them to destroy the ships of Arkon which attack them. No, please don't say anything yet! Let me finish first, Atlan. The Robot Regent of Arkon, our old friend who refuses to deviate from his set course, is suffering setback after setback. He's continually sending out emergency signals, pleading for our help. Up to now we've ignored his calls for help and let him fight the battle against the Druufs alone. For tactical reasons, Admiral! Another month or two and Arkon will be so weakened that the Druufs can swamp the Arkonide Empire and our Galaxy as well."

  The immortal Atlan stood a little farther back, leaning against the wall. He held his arms crossed over his chest and looked into Rhodan's cool grey eyes in which suddenly a smile began to flicker. The 10,000-year-old Arkonide from a dynasty of rulers that vanished ages ago was disturbed by the calmness of Rhodan. "You're going too far with your game of tactics," he replied in a measured and urgent tone. "I admire the ability of the Terranians to cope with all situations but I'm afraid you underestimate the Druufs. Some day they'll find a way to break the rule of the Regent..."

  "It means they would take care of the job for us," Rhodan broke in, grinning openly. "But your apprehension is unfounded. I'd never let it come to that. If the Druufs try to leave their own space to penetrate the Galaxy they can do it only through the transition funnel which exists between their time-plane and ours and which moves at 50% speol through the Galaxy—who knows how much longer? But Arkon has sent an armada to guard this gap in the universe and it does the work for us too. This leads to the incontestable conclusion that both the Druufs and the robot-fleet of Arkon are doing a yeoman's service for us. What more do you want?"

  "You must not weaken the Regent excessively," Atlan warned. "The Druufs are much more vicious enemies of ours!"

  He was perfectly right and Rhodan knew it. Yet when the opportunity occurred and the transition through a split between the two world systems could be accomplished without special technical means, Rhodan decided to sit tight as the warships of the Druufs and the Arkonides clashed with each other.

  Terra's battle fleet waited unnoticed by the adversaries and Rhodan simply watched how they pummeled one another.

  "We'll soon have to respond to the Regent's request for assistance," Rhodan said.

  Atlan sighed with relief. "If we support Arkon in its fight with the transgressors, the Robot Brain that rules Arkon won't be able to deny us an honest defense treaty. Together we can defeat the Druufs."

  Rhodan gave no answer. He glanced at the door through which a man entered. He wore the pale-green uniform of the Solar Imperium's Spacefleet. "Sir, the Drusus is ready to start," he reported.

  "Very good, Lt. Potkin," Rhodan acknowledged. "I'll take off with Atlan and several mutants on a reconnaissance flight to Druufon. We'll be back in a few hours." Then with a brief glance at Atlan: "Coming, Admiral?"

  Atlan had held the rank of an admiral in the Arkonide spacefleet 10,000 years ago before he attained immortality and retreated from time to time to a pressure sphere at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to await the era when mankind reached the stage of reaching for the stars. He had allied himself with Rhodan when he learned that the Galactic Empire was no longer ruled by true Arkonides but by a gigantic robot-brain.

  "I'm ready!" Atlan responded.

  • • •

  The Drusus, a spherical spaceship measuring 1½ kilometers in diameter, glided out of the subterranean hangar and raced up into the black sky of Hades. Due to the thin atmosphere the twin suns and stars were shining simultaneously. Storms of unbelievable force swept wildly across the rugged landscape, seeking to equalize the pressure differential between the two hostile hemispheres of the planet.

  Lt.-Col. Sikerman sat rigidly at the controls of the gigantic ship and steered it firmly out into space following the computed course of transition. They wanted to reach the immediate vicinity of Druufon in a short jump.

  The flight didn't merely serve the purpose of reconnaissance. Rhodan's main intention was to make an attempt to establish contact again with the unknown helper who lived among the Druufs without being one of them.

  It had been a very strange story. Their brains had received telepathic impulses when they visited Druufon. There was no doubt that they came from the body of a Druuf. But this particular Druuf, the chief physicist of his race, knew nothing about it. So there had to be two psyches in his body.

  The mouse-beaver Pucky, Rhodan's most efficient para, had faced the Druuf and tried to solve the secret but had failed. Even the energy be
ing from the Tatlira system that had been discovered by Sgt. Harnahan 60 years ago could offer no explanation.

  I don't know who I am,the mysterious helper had signaled. But I know you, Perry Rhodan! I have no body and have wandered since, time immemorial from world to world and from race to race to find what I lost years or thousands of years ago. I have seen the beginning of time and witnessed the horror of the final end. All suns burned out and extinguished. And with them life extinguished too...

  "How do you know me?" Rhodan had asked.

  I don't know—I don't know!

  And then all thought-impulses ceased abruptly and the attempts to make contact again failed after one last warning: Leave the system of the Druufs! I'll get in touch with you again...

  Rhodan fell silent when they later discussed who the mysterious being that had talked to them by telepathy might be. He knew there was no answer.

  Rhodan kept his own guess carefully to himself because it was more than fantastic. It bordered on sheer madness.

  Sikerman, Commander of the Drusus, announced undeterred: "Transition in 10 seconds, sir."

  Nobody answered. Rhodan looked at the observation screen where the planet Druufon would emerge after the hyperjump. It was a world twice the size of Earth with a breathable atmosphere and a gravity nearly double Terra's magnitude. There were 21 moons circling Druufon.

  Transition and Druufon!

  The planet was less than a light-minute away. The Drusus quickly reduced its velocity and went into orbit around Druufon, relying on its protective screen to ward off any attack by the Druufs.

  But the Druufs had other troubles to worry about. They were busy repulsing the persistent attacks by the Robot Regent of Arkon, which had become weaker but never stopped. Fewer and fewer robot ships succeeded in running the blockade of the Druufs' time-plane and most were destroyed by the defenders.

  The Drusus followed its course unnoticed. And if it was noticed, it remained unmolested since the Druufs knew that Rhodan's ship would not attack them.

  Pucky lolled on the couch in the Command Center. He sat on his hindlegs with his back against the wall, his wide beaver tail resting at his side. His eyes were half-closed and he listened inwardly. Nobody disturbed him because they all knew he was trying to make telepathic contact with the unknown helper.

  Harno, the spherical being from Tatlira, hovered at the ceiling. His amazing capabilities forever posed new puzzles and nobody had made an adequate effort to solve them. Harno, who had adopted that name in memory of his first human friend Sgt. Harnahan, was a five-million-year old being that—according to his explanation—consisted of time and energy. He communicated by telepathy and acted as a televisor. He was able to depict each spot of the universe of his spherical surface.

  Rhodan shook off the pain which every transition caused. He gazed pensively at Atlan, who sat together with the telepath John Marshall at the other side of the Command Center and watched the observation screen too.

  "Harno, can you see Onot?"

  Onot was the name of the chief physicist in whose body the unknown helper lived. The answer came in the form of silent impulses which could also be understood by non-telepaths: I see Onot. But he thinks like Onot.

  "Show him to us," Rhodan told him.

  Harno, up to now a black ball the size of an apple, slowly floated lower and grew larger till he reached a diameter of ½ meter. But not only his size but also his color changed. Instead of the faint sheen of his black surface it now shimmered milky white like a picture screen.

  Colorful reflexes suddenly flitted across the screen and began to form a clear picture. It showed what was taking place one light-minute away.

  Several Druufs moved slowly and clumsily back and forth between huge technical installations. The generators and other aggregates formed regular corridors in the large hall which—as Rhodan knew—was located deep inside the planet Druufon.

  The Druufs were ungainly creatures and they seemed to move only at half-speed. Yet their motions appeared to be quite natural in their own time-plane. They were almost three meters tall, had spherical heads with four eyes and a triangular mouth. They had neither ears nor noses and lacked hair as well. Their leathery skin was smooth and seemed to be thick. They communicated with each other by organic transmitters and receivers. By using complicated translators it was possible to conduct conversations between the Druufs and the Terrans.

  The Druufs in Harno's picture apparently were engaged in an important task. They followed the instructions of a particularly robust specimen who stood on a raised platform before a switch panel from where he gave his directions.

  "What's going on?" Rhodan inquired.

  "I can't quite figure it out," Pucky answered, "but I know the instrument which they're manipulating. It's a generator which produces the time-freezing field. It'll be their most formidable weapon—once they can put it into action."

  "The time-freezer...!" Rhodan contemplated. "It's still in the developing stage and can't influence the present situation decisively. That's why I'm against destroying it. Who knows how we can benefit from it ourselves?"

  Pucky concentrated his mind again in his effort to receive the thoughts of the distant Druufs. Without his knowledge Harno helped him with the job by reinforcing the incoming impulses.

  "They're about to perform crucial experiments. These Druufs are all scientists and don't pay attention to the daily life on the surface and in the realm of their system. They're concerned with different matters although they're aware that their work serves military purposes. However they know no other way to satisfy their scientific curiosity."

  "This is a very familiar alibi," Atlan murmured in the background. "Wasn't this the favorite excuse of your first atomic scientists too, barbarian?"

  "You're right, Admiral," Rhodan admitted. "However if I judge this matter correctly, this attitude is less objectionable than that of scientists who openly admit to work only for war because the results of their research can have no other purpose."

  "That's just the way it is on Arkon," Atlan agreed, conceding defeat. "I'm inclined to believe you're right."

  "That stout Druuf is Onot," Pucky revealed. "I can read his thoughts clearly. But he thinks only about his invention and is therefore not identical with our friend at the moment."

  "That's what I was afraid of," Rhodan replied. "However I must confess I held some hope that the irradiation of the time-field would have some effect. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case."

  The heretofore taciturn Lt.-Col. Sikerman was about to say something when he was distracted by the blinking of a red lamp. He mechanically reached for the switch to make connection with the radio center.

  The voice of Lt. David Stern, Chief Radio Officer of the Drusus on this mission, came through. "A secret message for Perry Rhodan, sir. By hyperradio in code."

  Sikerman stared for a moment hesitantly at the loudspeaker and the red light before turning his head toward Rhodan. His face was a question mark.

  Rhodan perked up in his seat. His hand moved next to Sikerman's and depressed a button. "Lt. Stern, take the message down on tape! Don't try to decode it. I'll be there in a minute. OK?"

  "Yes sir," came the reply in a tone which clearly revealed Lt. Stern's lack of understanding.

  Pucky looked at Rhodan. "What do they want?" The mouse-beaver knew that the hyperradio message could only come from Grautier—the stronghold which was 22 light-years away—or from Terra. "I'm really curious about it."

  Rhodan was also wondering but he didn't show it. "Keep an eye on Onot," he said to Pucky, Harno and Marshall. Then he turned to Atlan and added: "I'll go and find out what it's all about."

  Atlan slumped back in his chair. The implied hint to stay behind was too obvious to be overlooked. He followed Rhodan with his eyes. Did Rhodan expect a message?

  About a fortnight ago Rhodan had dropped some remark in a reference to the mysterious ally who lived in a Druuf. This restless soul—or whatever it was—vexed Atlan
considerably. At any rate it had aroused his burning interest.

  What exactly was it that Rhodan had said at the time?I believe I know who our friend is...

  Atlan pondered this remark a long time. Whom could Rhodan have meant? There was nobody in the Mutant Corps who had roamed—incorporeal—for thousands of years through eternity. He was not aware that anyone was missing.

  Atlan's anxiety grew more and more so that he was unable to concentrate on the more important business at hand. Harno had become smaller and black again. He slowly ascended to the ceiling where he remained waiting further developments.

  Pucky kept monitoring Onot but he simultaneously followed Rhodan who entered the radio room and began to talk with David Stern. But then Rhodan's thought impulses were suddenly interrupted. He had shielded his mind because he expected Pucky to listen in.

  The mouse-beaver grunted in disappointment. He concentrated his mind again on the Druufs and consoled himself, that he would learn soon enough what Rhodan's titillating news was about.

  After five minutes Rhodan returned to the Command Center. His face looked thoughtful and there was a strange shimmer in his grey eyes. He acted evasive when Atlan sought his gaze.

  But Pucky asked a direct question: "What kind of a message did you receive? Did it come from Grautier?"

  Rhodan shook his head but gave no answer.

  "So it must've come from Earth."

  Rhodan nodded.

  "Is something wrong?" Pucky persisted, vainly trying to pierce Rhodan's thought-block.

  "You might as well give up trying so hard, Pucky," Rhodan shook his head. "You'll never find anything out that way if I don't want to. The message was in a code which is unknown to anyone but myself—and of course to our man Mercant at the other end of the hyperradio on Terra."

  "Mercant?" Pucky puffed, surprised. Allan D. Mercant was the counter-intelligence chief of the Solar Security Service. When he sent a message it must be of serious importance and if Rhodan didn't want to talk about it he probably had good reasons.