The Blue System

  OF ASSASSINS AND ATLAN

  ATTEMPTS on his life. Eternal intrigues. Threats to his reign. The rule of Imperator of Arkon is certainly not one of serenity. His subjects hate him! His ancestors despise him! And now, it appears, there is a new nuisance on the blue horizon: aliens intent on pitting the

  Realm of Arkon against the Solar Empire! Atlan must meet with Perry Rhodan to defeat this malicious plan, this systematically arranged sabotage by–

  Perry Rhodan

  Posbis #99

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  THE BLUE SYSTEM

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  1/ SAD DOG DICTATOR

  WHEN A MAN IS LONELY he has a greater longing than other men for love and affection, for genuine friendship and entertaining diversion.

  And I was very lonely! I was probably the most forlorn and lonely individual in the entire cosmic conglomeration of star cluster M13 in the constellation of Hercules, whose suns and planets—from all reports, at least—belonged to me. I was alone among several billion Arkonides and 500,000 humans from Terra, to whom I had granted permission to come to Arkonide planets in my capacity as Imperator Gonozal VIII and absolute ruler of the stellar empire.

  But even the Terrans had not been able to relieve the situation very much although for months I had been making an effort to loosen up the stiff formalities of the receptions and solemn festivities. Thus far I had failed to break through the ancient traditions of protocol and ceremony in an attempt to interface with the representatives of humanity on a more cordial and unconventional basis.

  For I was the Imperator! And as such I had to comport myself, as my Protocol Chief Drautherb was always reminding me. The preservation of necessary respect was a question of 'royal propriety' which could not be allowed under any circumstances to deteriorate to the disgraceful level of a 'handshaking familiarity' with other intelligences. This policy was also urgently pressed upon me by the officials of the court.

  Royal propriety had also been explained to me as 'representative restraint or reserve' but I wasn't quite sure what was meant by this concept. In my opinion the whole thing contained a contradiction. On the one hand if I were to properly represent the Greater Imperium, then pomp and all related issues were indispensably connected with it. Yet this was somehow incompatible with the idea of 'restraint'. In my estimation this simply called for a combination of modest discretion and unimpeachable deportment.

  At any rate I very soon realized that I could not swim against the current forever. My initial resistance to the prevailing social order on the Arkon planets degenerated into a sort of helpless resignation. If I had been surrounded by a sufficient number of mentally active Arkonides who were still imbued with the old acumen and perception, it would have been possible to change the situation. Then I would most likely have been able to take an 'iron broom' and sweep the palace halls and chambers clean of this rubbish.

  So I was forced to depend upon the few Terrans around me who in turn had their own problems to contend with. All of these things had become an inseparable part of the Empire—the ridiculous splendor of banquets and celebrations, the vacuous and trivial blathering of loafers and fawning psychophants, the groundless hauteur and overbearing attitude of counselors and high-ranking officers of the Fleet. I could not shake them out of their lotus dreaming. More and more my thinking was becoming more valid for the distant Earth than it was for the Arkonide Imperium.

  But to all these difficulties was added still another constant danger. More than once, there had been attempts to get me out of the way by one means or another. Assassination attempts had practically been the order of the day until I took energetic measures and refused to suspend a few death sentences here and there.

  They hated me! As the old Arkonide admiral Atlan from the ruling dynasty of Gonozal, I was as much feared as I was unpopular. I had long since confessed to myself that I was more human than I was Arkonide. My actual and only true friends lived 34,000 light-years away in the Sol System. Perry Rhodan was the First Administrator of the Solar Imperium that he himself had brought into being, and on this man I could rely in the fullest sense of the word.

  He had proved himself worthy of my trust and so I had no plausible reason for standing in the way of humanity's galactic trade and colonial policies. In my secret heart I knew that the golden age of the Arkonides was finally at an end, in spite of all my attempts to regenerate the Empire. And for me it was painful to realize that Perry Rhodan was quite aware of my situation.

  Now I had called for his help again after having had to turn to him only two months before. An unknown power had attacked the Arkonide Empire as well as the Earth. Very unusual technology had been demonstrated which convinced me that the boundless arrogance of the still mentally active Arkonides was highly inappropriate.

  Actually I was pleased that Perry Rhodan specifically had been involved since many Arkonides still considered him to be a barbarian. He had been able to prove that we were nothing more than degenerating colonial descendants of a great race of people who had sent the ancestors of the present Arkonides into the depths of the void some 20,000 years ago.

  This was a fact which I had only learned a few months before. As a result, my position as Imperator of the realm had become more important and responsible. But something had happened that we Arkonides would never have permitted ourselves to imagine. In the center of the galaxy there was a race of people who treated us with as much arrogance as we had been accustomed to treating other intelligences until now. Naturally, Rhodan had not been able to resist pointing this out to me, with appropriate sarcasm.

  He couldn't offend me any more with such remarks but the 'Barbarian's' explanation had caused other Arkonides to turn visibly pale. It was too humiliating for them to think that the members of their mother race should consider them to be degenerated colonial descendants with outmoded customs.

  Such was the situation on the Crystal Planet of the Arkon Empire when the linear drive major class Terran battleship Ironduke burned a glowing contrail into the atmosphere and prepared to make a landing at the imperial spaceport.

  • • •

  The sky seemed to burst into flames. The white sun of Arkon paled in the piercing jet glare of the 800-meter giant as it spread out its landing struts and lowered toward the plasteel pavement. The Ironduke was a Terran battleship of the Stardust class. Under casual observation it did not appear to be much different from other ships of this type but I knew that its mighty spherical hull contained machines and propulsion equipment with which nothing on Arkon could be compared.

  With his usual succinctness, Rhodan had advised me over hypercom that this time he'd make his appearance in the first mass-production model, whereas two months prior he had shown me a heavy cruiser that had been equipped experimentally with the linear drive system. Ironduke was what he had chosen to call this wonder ship of the void. The name recalled to mind my long years of wandering through the historical periods of Earth's development. As always I felt the pulsation of the small cell activator against my chest, the mysterious device that had kept me young and healthy for thousands of years. How long would this condition prevail? I knew not when my hour would come, especially considering the hatred and bigoted ignorance that surrounded me.

  So it was with a mixture of bitterness and nostalgia that I watched the precise manoeuvres of the Ironduke as its tremendous mass was brought gently to the ground in a perfect landing. The officers and officials in my retinue ducked quickly behind the armorplated buffers which had been provided for their protection. Owing to my own special equipment I preferred to stand alone on the broad landing strip and let the vessel's searing hot shockwaves bounce off my supercharged protective s
creen.

  I listened to the high-pitched hum of the miniature reactor that was encased in my backpack along with a number of other devices. After having averted the attack of the so-called Akons, who were otherwise known as the pre-Arkonides, I had finally decided to carry a personal screen projector kit. After all, the choice of weapons was not inconsiderable among my seemingly uncountable enemies. And thus I joined the ranks of those few unenviable persons in galactic history who had to fear for life and health both night and day.

  Only just recently somebody had reprogrammed one of the combat robots of the palace guard and the metal Colossus had attempted to shoot me down but this was only one of many variations that had been tried. I would not and could not understand why there was such a stubborn persistence about these attempts to get me out of the way. There had always been ambitious and envious Arkonides but actual cutthroats and murderous assassins had not been too prevalent in the history of the Greater Imperium.

  Ever since it had become known that there was a strong possibility of our being the descendants of a race that was far more powerful than we, even long before the expansions of Arkonide power, apparently a number of resistance groups had gotten together some wild ideas. Whatever their new confused objectives might be I was probably more of a stumbling block to their plans than ever before. But I had no intention of bowing to the will of these unknown factions in their attempts to rescue the pitiable remains of our former glory and greatness.

  The shockwave subsided. In the ensuing silence all that could be heard was the dying whine of the Ironduke's engines.

  Moku, my frisky pet Boxer, came barking toward me, but she stopped just short of my defense screen since she had learned of its dangers through past experience. Sitting there like a pitiable beggar, she whined and lifted her right forepaw as though to knock on a door, pleading with me to let her inside. She was a present from Rhodan. He had sent the wonderful animal to me in a courier ship along with a note that said it all: the love and devotion of a Terran dog was more genuine and to be valued more than the testimonies of fidelity from 100,000 Arkonides.

  Moku kept up her pleadings. She seemed to know who had arrived in the great ship. I couldn't look into her moist brown eyes without feeling tempted to open the defense screen. As usual she would snuggle close enough against me so that I might close the screen again without endangering her.

  I glanced around me swiftly. Rank upon rank the 500 robots of the guard stood in front of me because of course the First Administrator of a friendly major power had to be received with military honors. The guard regiment of the 3-eyed Naats had also put in an appearance. The stentorian voice of their commanding officer was just ringing out over the field. Behind me had gathered several officials of the Court and more than 10 officers of the Fleet. While I merely wore a plain service uniform, out of pure spite, and whereas I displayed only a minimum of insignia such as the inconspicuous symbols of my imperial rank and the medal of my family house, these gentlemen had come forth in full-dress regalia. The scientists of the High Council were decked out in white, red and violet, and of course the officers were in the full brass parade uniforms of the Fleet.

  Knowing Perry Rhodan as I did, I knew he would only acknowledge this sumptuous display of precious metals, iridescent materials and scintillating orders of merit with a characteristic frown. Personally I had very seldom ever seen him in anything but the simply tailored battle suit such as was always worn on board the warships.

  Moku's howls were heart wrenching. Even an Arkonide Imperator could not remain insensitive to the pleading look of such an animal—at least not I.

  "Alright, come on then!" I called to her, and I switched off the screen.

  With a joyful bark, Moku prepared to greet me with her usual leap into my arms, which would end with her licking my ear. It felt good to sense in even an animal such a genuine affection. I braced myself and opened my arms to receive her, when suddenly I heard a sharp report close behind me.

  A white hot energy discharge shot past my chest so closely that the synthetic fabric of my uniform began to smoke. Moku was struck in midair by the thermobeam and the powerful impact knocked her sideways with such violence that I heard her body strike the ground with an audible thud. The dog remained motionless, apparently killed instantly.

  Aflame with anger I whirled around and as I struck my holster release the weapon sprang ready into my

  hand while I simultaneously hit the wide activator buckle of my auto-defense system. The screen immediately snapped back into place.

  "Lloyd!" I yelled in amazement and my weapon hand jerked upward.

  Fellmer Lloyd, a Terran member of the special Mutant Corps, still held the beamer in his hand, staring at me without expression. As a Terran liaison officer on Arkon he had advised his top Chief of the frequency of attempts against my life and only four weeks prior to this he had been assigned to me as my personal bodyguard. But now he had fired at me himself in the moment when my screen was down.

  Fired atme ...?

  My logic sector became painfully active: "Fool!Do you think he'd miss you at this close range if he'd meant to kill you?"

  Under the compelling impulses of my activated extra-brain I pulled myself together. Involuntarily I lowered my weapon. My finger relaxed on the trigger.

  Muscular and dark-haired, Fellmer Lloyd kept staring at me as he finally drawled out: "Sir, I beg your forgiveness. I only noticed the small barb when Moku started to jump at you."

  "Barb?" I stammered, bewildered.

  "That's right, sir. You know I'm quite familiar with the brain-wave impulses of your dog. When she jumped from the aircar of your serving robot I sensed something like pain and distress—and something else that I couldn't quite define. The animal was desperate or it was being goaded by something. Moku wasn't herself. Her instinct was to go to you right away for help, to let you know that she was in pain. But somebody had counted on that, sir! Whoever it was also knew that you would not have the heart to keep your screen closed under the circumstances. I almost waited too long, sir. You must believe me—there was no other way to stop her. I had to shoot."

  I stood there in a momentary daze. I looked back and forth from the mutant and my frightened retinue to the body of the dead Boxer. Several of the officers had drawn their weapons but were now uncertain. They replaced their guns in their holsters.

  "What barb!" I gasped. "What in the devil are you talking about?"

  "His Administrative Excellence is approaching, Your Grace!" I heard Truk Drautherb whispering to me with a note of despair. "Your Highness—the reception...!"

  I gave the babbling court dandy an imperious shove to one side. A car stopped behind me and I could hear its motor humming but I did not look back. Against the warnings of my extra-brain I again shut off my personal screen. I had to examine the one best friend I had on Arkon.Too bad for you, Fellmer Lloyd —I thought—if your story doesn't check out!

  A cold, commanding voice rang out. "Mahut Sikhra, the Imperator is unprotected. Do something!"

  "Commandos!" came another voice in the same note of alarm. "Weapons at ready—spread, out! If anybody reaches for a weapon, fire without warning!"

  "Regardless of who it is!" added the first one who had spoken.

  I was aware of the muffled stamping of elastic boots. The lofty lords in my own retinue had become paler if possible but I still didn't look back. I sanctioned the action of the newcomer, who must have seen the beam shot and noted its consequences.

  As I kneeled beside the dog, Fellmer Lloyd was beside me. Gingerly he lifted up the still-undamaged head of the animal and opened its jaws. With still greater caution he shoved the tongue to one side and then I saw it myself. Beneath the tongue a finger-long needle-sharp barb had been fastened with some instant adhesive material. It was apparently the same type of bioplastic that was used in surgery for sealing incisions without leaving a sear.

  If Moku had greeted me in her usual manner I would undoubtedly have been wounded b
y the point of the barb. I stared in stupefaction at the most treacherous murder device I had ever seen in my life. Somebody had been fiendishly clever. They had counted on my affection for Moku and had used the innocent creature as the carrier of a frightful weapon.

  The commanding voice spoke behind me again. "Well try to analyze the poison on that barb, Atlan. Stand up, old friend. Lloyd really had to shoot. The dog wouldn't have lived much longer, anyway."

  Somebody grasped my shaking shoulders and drew me to my feet. When I finally turned around I looked into Rhodan's familiar grey eyes, which were cold and hostile until they met mine. Perry Rhodan was one of the few men I had ever seen who seemed able to smile with his eyes. At least I thought I could physically sense the sudden glow of warmth I saw in them.

  Only a few meters away were about 30 of his special commandos. All of them tall, well-trained figures of men. These were the types of fighting men that I, the Imperator of the Arkonide Imperium, was forced to do without. On all the planets of the Empire there was not one soldier to equal them in quality.

  The gentlemen of my retinue were staring into the shimmering field muzzles of the Terran energy weapons with a mixture of fear and anger. Rhodan had not hesitated a moment to threaten the dignitaries of my court—thus he knew very well how much my life was endangered.

  I looked down at the dog's lifeless body. In accordance with Arkon laws it would have to be incinerated in a thermal chamber and the ashes disintegrated. There had never been graveyards here. I tore my gaze away as Fellmer Lloyd picked up Moku in his arms and carried her over to my waiting aircar. I knew that he would take care of the necessary details.

  "There is no doubt that he saved my life," I told Rhodan quietly, and I strove to think only of the present. I was forced to forget Moku's faithful little face in which her feelings had always been so clearly expressed.

  Rhodan was also a lover of animals but he was tactful enough to avoid superfluous remarks. Maybe someone else would have tried to remind me that although it was regrettable, after all it was 'only' a dog. At the moment I don't think I would have been able to take such a comment without losing control of myself.