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  The videoscreens had gone blank. Bell stood up, offering Rhodan his seat. Rhodan, however, showed no great desire yet to resume his post as Administrator of the Solar Imperium.

  "We've earned a day off, I think," he said. "I'm afraid you'll just have to hold out until tomorrow."

  Bell watched the group leave and his face showed agitation as he said: "Pucky could at least stop by to say 'hi' to me, Perry."

  At the door, Rhodan turned and smiled cryptically. "I'll tell him, Reg. He can use the opportunity to introduce his new friend to you."

  As Bell looked on, the door closed as the others stepped out into the hall. Then he bent to the task of taking care of the current business of government. It was all trivia with which he need not have bothered but Bell felt a need to keep busy...

  There was a noise at the door.

  Bell looked up and noticed the knob turn and the door open a crack. Why didn't this guy—who was almost certainly bringing him more work—knock first?

  Or was it Pucky?

  No, it wasn’t .

  Bell rose slowly out of his chair and felt his hair rise on end. Of course he had not brought any weapons with him into the office—who would have thought that wild tiger would be running around loose?

  Tigers?

  It was the biggest animal Bell had ever seen—or so it seemed to him, seeing it come into the room unexpectedly. The beast opened the door the rest of the way and walked in. Tail flicking back and forth, purring comfortably, it padded up to Bell—rigid in fear—not letting him out of its eyes. Bell did not take the time or trouble to look closer at those eyes—otherwise he might have noticed something.

  The tiger—or whatever it was—stopped and seemed about to prepare for a pounce. It continued to purr. Bell did not dare move for fear of alarming the beast unnecessarily.

  How had the animal gotten in? It was impossible...

  Now the tiger stretched and rumbled happily, seeming to suggest the corpulent Bell had just the right dimensions for its supper.

  Then it lay down on the carpet at Bell's nervous feet, curled up, yawned once heartily... and closed its huge eyes. It seemed to have no more interest in its prey.

  Bell started to heave a sigh of relief—then quickly guarded his mouth, lest the noise awaken the frightening apparition.

  Outside the room, another sound. Bell froze as he envisioned the possibility: the maneater's mate, coming for her share? But, no—it was only Pucky. The mouse-beaver waddled around the corner, fully erect and grinning shamelessly as he strutted into the room.

  "Well, old boy, have you made friends with Kittikat yet?"

  Bell stood motionless. "Kittikat?! You mean this... this... beast on the floor? You've gone crazy, mouse!"

  "Watch your tongue, Chubby, or I might instruct somebody to bite it off! Kittikat's no ordinary beast—he's my friend. Kitti, show Mr. Bell your cute little teeth and your freshly manicured claws. Or should I say kitticured?" It was perhaps the first time Pucky had ever punned. Was he taking on still another bad human trait?

  Without opening his somnolent eyes wider, Kittikat parted his jaws to let Bell observe his teeth. They looked like a matched set of stalactites and stalagmites. The sharp claws did not look any less menacing.

  "Well, Reggie, what do you say? Shall I have Kittikat tickle you?"

  "Is he tame?" was all Bell could hoarsely manage.

  "Oh, perfectly—when I want him to be." Pucky's incisor tooth flashed malevolently. "But if you don't behave yourself from now on, I'll sic him on you. In the place where I got him, he once dined on three men your size at one sitting." He paused for dramatic emphasis, then continued: "And that, I might add, was right after lunch."

  For the first time Bell felt relieved. The worst danger was over. If the tiger belonged to Pucky, things were only half as bad as he had imagined. "Of course he's intended for our zoo?" he ventured.

  "Zoo?!" Pucky's tail shot up like an exclamation remark. "Kittikat in a zoo? If that happens I'll make sure you're the main course at his first feeding time!" He bent over the great cat and solicitously stroked its back. "Humans are all alike, Kit. They think that what doesn't look like them belongs in a zoo. Better if in the beginning humans had been put in zoos and animals allowed to move freely about—we animals would all have been saved a lot of trouble."

  Kittikat purred in agreement.

  "I've got work to do," Bell said timidly.

  Pucky gave him a scornful look. "Alright," he said patronizingly. "Kittikat, let's go. Humans are stupid creatures and, well, Reggie is after all only human."

  The tiger cat rose to all fours and followed Pucky obediently. Bell sank back into his chair. "See you later, overweight human!" Pucky called insolently. "Now that I have such an influential friend, we'll be able to reason with you in the future. I'm going to introduce Kit to the others."

  Bell stared after the retreating figures, then the closed door. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! I'd like to take a cat-o'-9-tails to—"

  At that moment Pucky materialized on the desk directly before his eyes. "Yes?" he chirruped. "You were saying?"

  "Er, that I think I'll take a catnap... nine winks," he cast a furtive glance at the door. It was open a crack and Kittikat's whiskers poked in.

  "Oh, really?" Pucky chided. "Don't forget I'm a telepath. Hm? Nothing to say, eh?"

  Outside the door, Kit coughed impatiently.

  Bell remained silent. It seemed the cat had his tongue.

  THE DEAD LIVE

  Copyright © Ace Books 1974

  Ace Publishing Corporation

  All Rights Reserved

  THE SHIP OF THINGS TO COME

  DANGEROUSLY CLOSE.

  That point in time so long secretly feared by Perry Rhodan is now perilously near for the Robot Brain of Arkon has been informed that the apparent destruction of Sol Planet 3 and its leader, Perry Rhodan—both were but an ingeniously planned deception.

  The Positronicon of Arkon now knows, inside its incredibly complicated circuitry & information banks, that the Earth lives. Perry Rhodan lives. The inevitable result: the time for a test of strength between Arkon and the Solar Empire is at hand. Is the young empire of the Terranians strong enough to defend itself against the might of the ancient Arkon menace?

  As if this were not enough, Perry Rhodan has still other worries: recently on Earth certain restive elements have become active again and are working toward the overthrow of the prevailing order of science & sanity.

  These disruptive elements are the—

  SOLAR ASSASSINS

  by Kurt Mahr