The Secret of the Time Vault Read online

  Perry Rhodan

  The Third Power #6

  The Secret of

  the Time Vault

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  The Secret of the Time Vault

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  1/ RHODAN "CONQUERS" GALACTO-CITY

  The Gigantic spaceshere was hurtling across the orbital plane of the forty-second planet of the sun Vega. It went into the faster-than-light drive and set course for the planet Earth, twenty-seven light-years distant.

  And then-it happened.

  The huge ship, in an instant, became invisible. It simply dissolved, dematerialized, disappeared as if it had never existed. Such is the transition from the fourth into the fifth dimension.

  But no four-dimensional body can consciously exist inside fifth-dimensional space, in which neither three-dimensional measuring scales nor chronological calibrations have any meaning. The body ceases to be matter subject to the laws of the space-time continuum. It becomes timeless.

  Nevertheless, it exists!

  Thus the colossal spacecraft eight hundred yards in diameter, continued to exist, but in another form. So did its passengers.

  Perry Rhodan's mind was filled with serious doubts as he issued the order for the hyperspace jump via the automatically guided electronic brain, for, after all, he was unfamiliar with the ship. It was an alien craft, captured in another solar system, wrested from the Topides, a non-human race, who in turn had seized the spacesphere from its original owners, the Arkonides - legendary rulers of the universe. Fortunately, the ship's technical design resembled that of the disabled Good Hope, the ship that had brought Rhodan into this sector of the universe, where he had become embroiled in a series of battles with the lizard-like Topides.

  Rhodan realized the risk that lay in attempting transition to Earth with an unfamiliar and undermanned ship. However, he had no alternative, if he wanted to help the inhabitants of Ferrol, the eighth Vegan planet, in their fight to rid themselves of the invaders of their world Unaided, the Ferrons were simply incapable of overcoming the inimitable Topides.

  Such was the motivating force behind Rhodan's daring decision to risk the hyperspace jump which might well mean death and the end of all his plans for mankind and the universe entire.

  There was but a single entity aboard the Stardust II, as Rhodan privately thought of the conquered vessel, that could consciously experience the jump through space and time: the positronic brain. It automatically stored all sensory impressions of the dematerialized crew, retaining the information for future use. Additionally, the positronic brain took care to activate the robot crew as soon as rematerialization took place, so that the robots" human charges would be guarded from any possible harm.

  To Rhodan, no time seemed to have passed from the moment the spacesphere began its hyperspace jump. But a tremendous pain raged throughout his body. He felt as if he were about to be torn apart and was completely incapable of so much as moving a finger.

  His friend Reginald Bell, companion of lunar adventures a few years earlier, was lying on the other side of the command center, moaning softly, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling.

  The door opened silently and a human shape entered the command center, glistening metallically in the subdued light. It was one of the special robots which, having been ordered to do so by the positronic brain, now obeyed the new masters of the spaceship without hesitation. Gently it applied self-acting injection patches to its human charges.

  Perry Rhodan's intense pain subsided instantly. He sat up and regarded the automatic calendar. Some time had passed, of course, but the calendar had been adjusted to Earth time. A short span - but during it they had traveled twenty-seven light-years!

  Suddenly Rhodan realized that the two shipwrecked Arkonides natives, Khrest and Thora, could now return to Arkon whenever they pleased, even though their home planet was more than 32,000 light-years distant from Earth. All along they had been eager to do so, but Rhodan had so far skilfully thwarted their attempts, for Earth's exact location in the universe had to be kept a secret at all costs. Mankind was not yet ready to become a decisive factor in cosmic politics, therefore it was wiser to keep out of it until the time was ripe.

  Bell sat up slowly, then swung his legs over the edge of his couch onto the floor, whose covering, like the rest of the spaceship, seemed somehow to have mysteriously withstood thousands of years of use. Bell yawned.

  "I've slept an eternity, but I'm tireder than I was before. Did it work all right?"

  Rhodan nodded. "Yes, the transition has worked fine ... so far, at least. We have to check our position first, though, then we'll know for sure. I had instructed the positronic brain to let us rematerialize near the orbit of Pluto."

  "Shouldn't we see how the others are getting on?" Bell asked.

  "That won't be necessary," replied Rhodan, and got up after the robots had left the room. "The robot nurses will take care of them much better than we can. Besides, why shouldn't they make it if we did?"

  The visiscreen above the control panel lit up. Slowly the colors fell into a pattern and then turned into 3-D pictures. The brightly flaming star to the left side in front of the craft's nose was the sun, Bell and Rhodan recognized. Directly before them floated a weakly glowing celestial body, covered by a whitish icy layer ... Pluto.

  The hyperspace jump had been a success!

  "Our Pluto base crew doesn't know our new ship yet," said Rhodan. "You'd better inform them at once. They might already have located us with their spacewarp sensors, or even have given the alarm."

  The spacewarp sensors were an invention of the Arkonides. They reacted over great distances to any vibrations in the four-dimensional space-time structure and could pinpoint their location. Each hyperspace jump caused such a tremor, which propagated itself faster than light and without any loss of time. Gravitation, as the Arkonides had known for thousands of years, was nothing but " five-dimensional energy radiation, which needed no time to displace itself through space.

  Bell went to the transmitter to call Pluto. He used a simple set rather than the hyperwave transmitter. He wanted to make sure no unauthorized listeners somewhere light-years away would intercept his message. Fortunately for Rhodan and his men the post on Pluto had not yet relayed the news about the strange spaceship. Bell breathed a sigh of relief. He reminded the men on Pluto to remain on the lookout for any approaching spacecraft and to notify Galacto-City at once.

  "We should warn Earth of our coming," suggested Rhodan. "Otherwise they might send a reception committee to greet us. The new space fleet should be completed by now. They might be overwhelmed at the sight of this giant of a ship. After all, our Good Hope had a diameter of only a hundred and eighty feet, just like the other twelve auxiliary vessels we have here on board with us. Use the hyperwave transmitter, but pinpoint the beam so that it can be received only in Galacto-City."

  With the help of the faster-than-light hyperwaves, communication with Terra was established within a few seconds. Galacto-City, Rhodan's power center on Earth, came on; but before the radio officer on duty could say anything, Bell ordered: "Switch off your transmitter at once. Don't broadcast with hyperwaves! Now here in brief are the instructions for your commanding officer: The Good Hope was lost in the Vega system in a space battle between the Ferrons, our allies from the eighth planet Ferrol, and the invaders from the Topid system, a double sun more than eight hundred light-years from Earth. We won and captured a gigantic spacesphere of Arkonide origin. The Topides and the Arkonides have been at war for thousands of years. The lizard-like Topidian race rules over three smaller solar systems at the rim of the Arkonide galactic empire. The Topi
des intercepted the distress signal of the wrecked Arkonide space cruiser on our moon and wanted to attack Earth. But due to some miscalculations they landed in the gigantic system of the Vega sun. We arrived there just in time to join the battle. This will explain why we aren't returning with the Good Hope.

  "You must inform all nations of our impending arrival. We'll be landing in Galacto-City in about four hours. Our spacecraft has a diameter of three thousand feet and is spherical. In order to avoid panic breaking out among the peoples of the world you must inform them that this giant is not part of an invading alien fleet but the new battleship of the Third Power. End of message. Over and out."

  In the meantime a man had come into the command center. He was tall and gave the impression of being young and resilient despite his obvious advanced age. Snow-white hair crowned his unusually high forehead under which peered out a pair of bright, almost golden eyes. Khrest, the last descendant of the ruling dynasty on Arkon, the center of a distant star realm, who had been forced to a crash landing on the Earth's moon several years ago, and who since that time had become Rhodan's ally, seemed to have gone through the hyperjump with ease. He smiled briefly.

  "With this ship alone the Topides should have been able to conquer the solar system," he remarked in the Arkonide language, which Rhodan and Bell could understand thanks to their hypno-training. "We were fortunate to seize the spacesphere without damaging it."

  "Even atom bombs can sometimes do some good," interjected Bell dryly.

  Khrest looked at him in surprise.

  "I don't get you."

  "Would there be any mutants without those early atom bomb explosions? Mutants who can read thoughts and are capable of jumping halfway around the world? Would there be any human beings who possess telekinetic powers? Or to put it differently: would we even have become aware without those detonations what abilities have been slumbering in our brains for thousands of years, talents that suddenly have come to life? We have eighteen of these mutants as allies, and without their help we'd probably not be sitting in this spaceship here."

  Khrest smiled again. This time with more amusement.

  "The logic of your argument is overwhelming. I submit without protest." Then suddenly serious, Khrest added: "I only hope that your argument will remain as valid in more important matters. so far we have not totally defeated our Topide enemies in the Vega system, don't forget that, my friend. It's only a hop, skip and jump, as you humans would say, from here to Earth. Unless we return in time ..."

  "No need to worry about that, Khrest," interrupted Rhodan with a slight smile. "I've sent at least five messages from Vega to Earth, and all have been received in Galacto-City. I'm convinced all my instructions have been carried out: As soon as we land on Earth we'll find a well-trained crew ready waiting for us, to man the Stardust II. In addition to that we'll have at our disposal fighter squadrons of F.T.L. mini-spaceships, ready for battle. It will take but a few days or weeks at most to chase the Topides to the end of the universe."

  "Let's hope you're not too optimistic." The cool voice spoke from the direction of the entrance. Nobody had noticed when Thora, the former female commander of the Arkonide expedition that had foundered on the moon, had come into the room. She too was tall and had whitish hair that contrasted strangely with the delicate tan of her lovely complexion. Her eyes were shining golden-red and flashed in a mixture of icy contempt and quiet admiration. It was just this strange mélange of her feelings that continuously attracted Perry Rhodan to this beautiful alien woman.

  They had grown closer during the past few years since first they met. Yet they had never been completely able to bridge the abyss that time and space had created between them. Millennia of decades and more than 30,000 light-years lay between them. But Rhodan already felt appreciative that she had come to regard humanity as thinking beings and no longer wild primitives that should be destroyed, as she had done at first. However, Rhodan recognized the new danger that lurked behind that beautiful face. Thora had become their ally for one reason only: the Earthlings were supposed to assist her in finding a way to return to her home planet Arkon. And this moment she had so longed for had now arrived, for the Stardust II, the Arkonide battleship Rhodan had captured from the enemy, was the spaceship that could carry her back to Arkon.

  "I doubt that I'm overly optimistic, Thora," Rhodan replied calmly, looking straight into her reddish-golden eyes. "Certainly, I admit that I was quite worried before we dared the hyperjump through the fifth dimension. But we succeeded. And we shall return via the same route, but this time well armed. The Topides won't find an opportunity to attack Earth. They don't even know where Earth is located in the universe."

  "Still, you must admit that you're in a bad spot," she said with an odd lurking note in her otherwise melodious voice. "Mankind has hardly ventured out into space and you encounter undreamt-of obstacles. In the course of a few years you've already met four extraterrestrial intelligent races. You managed to ward off a dangerous invasion of your home planet only with the help of our powerful weapons. And now Vega! For the first time, Earthlings interfere with interstellar affairs and enter an area that so far belonged exclusively to the Arkonides. Do you think that is right of you?"

  "Of course I think we're right to act this way. I wonder what the degenerate Arkonide race would have done in my place? You weren't even capable of lifting your crash-landed cruiser off the moon again! We had to come to your assistance, Earthlings that had for the first time reached the moon in a liquid fuel driven primitive rocket. Don't forget that when you speak of the present conditions. If we hadn't rescued you from the moon you probably would still be sitting there whiling the time away by watching senseless abstract patterns on a picture screen."

  Khrest stepped over to Thora and put his hand on her shoulder.

  "You shouldn't talk this way, Thora. We and Rhodan are friends, allies in a battle against a hostile world. He's helped us the same way we helped him. If ever we see Arkon again one day, we'll have to thank him for it."

  For a moment Thora stood motionless next to the entrance, then she lowered her eyes. As many a time previously she gave up the fight against Rhodan. This man's will was stronger than hers. But it was not only the power of logical reasoning that told her so; there was something else besides.

  They had long since crossed Saturn's orbit. Jupiter became visible at the side and soon disappeared behind them. But not until they had reached the orbital path of the planet Mars did the Stardust II diminish her speed. Perry Rhodan prepared the ship for a landing on Earth.

  The first radio messages were exchanged. Colonel Freyt, who had been in charge of the Third Power's affairs during Perry Rhodan's absence, confirmed the receipt of the hyperwave communication from the Vega system and announced that all orders had been followed.

  For an instant Rhodan's and Thora's eyes met. He exchanged a friendly smile with her, without displaying the triumph he felt inside. Reginald Bell was far less considerate.

  "Haven't I always told you that nothing could possibly go wrong?" he said with a great deal of self-assurance, and patted his friend Perry on the back. "Do you want me to take charge of the landing procedures!"

  "Yes, take care of everything," answered Rhodan in an absentminded way. For his thoughts were already preoccupied with what would await them upon their arrival on Earth.

  Galacto-City was filled with intense activity.

  At the shores of the Goshun-Saltlake, in the middle of the Gobi Desert, had risen the gigantic metropolis of Rhodan's mighty domain. His territory was hermetically sealed off from the outside world. It formed a square whose sides were each 120 miles long. In its very center reposed the invisible energy dome which was fed by the inexhaustible Arkonide reactors. Below the center of the energy screen was the heart of the new realm, the gigantic positronic brain. Outside, strictly separated from the administrative and living quarters, stretched the long sheds of industrial plants where 50,000 specialists were busy at work. If their number h
ad not been supplemented by an army of work robots, the extensive installations would have needed at least 500,000 workmen. Altogether 230,000 carefully screened inhabitants called Galacto-City their home.

  Beyond the residential area were two regular airports in addition to a spaceport, all heavily guarded by robot troops. Three space-fighter squadrons, built on Earth, stood ready for battle: altogether one hundred and sixty-two ultra-modem fighter machines.

  As the gigantic sphere appeared in the sky, even those who knew of its existence felt their hearts skip a beat. At first they noticed only a small ball that quickly grew in size. But the sphere kept getting bigger until the sun was blacked out by this new celestial body. The shadow of the Arkonide cruiser fell over Galacto-City.

  The craft floated for several seconds above the energy dome before it began to drift off slowly as if it were a child's balloon. It disappeared below the horizon in order to touch down at the spaceport.

  Perry Rhodan was the first to leave the spacesphere. He saw a man come toward him who was as tall and lean as Rhodan himself. He was dark-haired and approximately thirty-seven years old. Sharp lines marked his face, but some of these wrinkles revealed clearly his great sense of humor. He came to a halt in front of Rhodan, extending a hand in a friendly greeting.

  "Welcome back to good old Terra! we're happy to have you with us here again!"

  "Thank you, Colonel Freyt!" Rhodan smiled, grasping his friend's hand with a firm shake. "I'm afraid, though, I'll stay here for only a short time."

  Freyt could not conceal his consternation.

  "I don't understand ..."

  Rhodan turned around and pointed at the gigantic structure made of unknown metal alloys towering up into the sky like a skyscraper.

  "And you don't ask me what this is, Freyt? I really admire your self-control."

  The lines in the former officer's face seemed to grow deeper.