Solar Assassins Read online

  Observed head on, the dome was entirely transparent. It gave one the impression that there was no barrier at all between this side of the street and the buildings across from him. But light coming from the sides was partially reflected and above there was a critical angle where total reflection occurred. From there on the dome looked like a silvery half-bubble.

  Mullon knew that the entire unusual structure consisted of energy. It was nothing other than a barrier wall that denied entrance to the most important part of the city as well as the whole Solar Empire unless one could produce some kind of an entry permit. This excluded not only intruders in human form but also bombs or other infernal devices.

  Mullon and Freddy finally got out and crossed the street. Many people were gathered on that side in front of the glittering wall and were amusing themselves by trying to stick their fingers as far as they could into the protective energy barrier.

  Freddy and Mullon joined them. Freddy laughed when Mullon drew his finger back in alarm from the rubbery, invisible obstruction. He tried it again several times and Freddy explained that the actual energy shield was deadly to touch. In consideration of possible danger to tourists, however, an outer repulsion shield was provided at the street level. It was this extra repulsion field that offered the rubbery resilience to finger touching.

  For the first time Mullon revealed a glimpse of his true sentiments when he remarked that it didn't seem worthy of the chiefs of a democratic super power to fortify themselves behind a deadly, impenetrable wall of energy.

  Which served to provoke Freddy. She advised him that Rhodan himself had no need to hide from anybody and that the main purpose of the energy shield was to protect valuable and in some respects irreplaceable equipment which had been stored in the 'Government Quarter'.

  Actually, Freddy appeared to be distressed by Mullon's view, which in turn caused Mullon to be distressed. For how in his whole lifetime could he ever make out with a woman—as he had entertained in his more daring fantasies since yesterday—when he was a True Democrat and for her, apparently, enthusiasm for Rhodan and the structure of the entire Solar Empire that he had built up was practically a love affair.

  However, this small dissension between them was forgotten when a new experience occurred just at the right moment: they happened to reach the edge of the spaceport, which was located outside the city, in time to have a close view of the takeoff of a gigantic EP-Transport ship.

  EP stood for Exterior Planets, which pertained to settlements on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, and the two research stations on Jupiter and Saturn proper. Until now, Mullon had only witnessed such takeoffs on a TV screen. The space giant was spherical in shape and towered 1000 feet above the field. The highly accelerated quanta-particle beams acting as start boosters streamed downward from its equatorial section in a glistening bright curtain of light. Except for the high whine of propulsion engines and the roar of wind created by the action, there was nothing much to hear.

  "It's hard to imagine," murmured Freddy, "that that ponderous big crate will have landed on Jupiter within 30 hours—considering that it doesn't have even the simplest type of trans-light space drive."

  Toward evening, Mullon expressed a special desire to see Lake Goshun at first hand. Freddy drove him there and let herself be talked into a boat excursion. They rented a motorboat for three hours and bought a ready-to-eat supper in a hermetically sealed bag as provisions for the ride.

  Mullon drove the boat far enough out on the inland sea so that the southern shore they had started from disappeared in the glare of the sinking sun on the horizon. Then he cut the engine and reached for the oars. "It's more romantic this way," he smiled.

  Freddy had leaned back deep into the cushions of her backrest and now she looked up at the darkening sky.

  A string of small islands appeared in the gloaming and Mullon headed towards them. He searched out the island that seemed best for a landing and since he was making slow progress he turned on the motor again—also in view of the fact that a boat appeared from the north-east and appeared to have selected the same group of islands as its goal.

  Freddy sat up and observed the strange boat. "That's funny," she muttered. "Who could be running around out here so far from land?"

  Mullon didn't see anything unusual about it but Freddy assured him that normally no one came this far out on the lake. Rental boats seldom came out further than six or seven miles from their service landing.

  "But you and I are out here, aren't we?" argued Mullon. "Why shouldn't somebody else have the same idea?"

  Freddy shook her head. Mullon's argument was not convincing. "I wish I had brought a telescope with me," she said.

  Mullon arrived at the island of his choice ahead of the strangers. With a surge of the engine he drove the boat high into the underbrush on the shore. He helped Freddy out, brought the supper back to the bank and opened it. The food was excellent and Mullon devoured his portion with a healthy appetite. Then he had to get up and light the boat lamps as meanwhile it had become totally dark.

  On the other hand, Freddy did not seem to be able to shake loose from her uneasiness. She only picked at her food while repeatedly watching their surroundings. But the strange boat did not put in an appearance.

  It was difficult to get a conversation started. A bit disgruntled, Mullon finally suggested that they return home and Freddy was willing.

  Mullon launched the boat again and turned it so that the route of their departure would take them between two smaller islands in order to reach open water. Freddy suggested that they extinguish the navigation lights and use the oars but Mullon laughed her out of it. He let the rather old-fashioned motor keep running and guided the puttering boat directly toward the two islands.

  Freddy sat next to him with her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She was tensely on the alert as if to jump overboard at the first sign of danger. Her attitude began to puzzle Mullon. How could the mere sight of a harmless boat set her so much on edge?

  Suddenly the islands were upon them. Mullon had to be careful in his navigation between them. He leaned over the gunwale to his left in order to watch the narrow water passage.

  In the same instant something whistled past him and plocked into something nearby. Mullon started and turned to see Freddy's fear-widened eyes as she sank to her side. Sticking out of her plastic leather jacket was a feathered dart.

  "Watch out!" she gasped with her last breath. "Ceph..." Then she lapsed into unconsciousness.

  At the same moment the boat struck an obstacle. Mullon, who was half raised up to keep a lookout for his unseen opponent, was thrown straight across the seat. He felt the boat spinning and driving itself harder against the obstruction with every turn of the propeller.

  He tried to get up and take hold of the rudder again but he had no sooner raised up on the armrest than he felt the same, strange prick of pain in his neck as he had on the previous night. The pain spread out and immersed his entire body in dull lethargy. The last thing he heard was a sudden wild roaring of the motor—then the darkness and the stillness around him was complete.

  • • •

  He was already familiar with the sensations he experienced when he regained consciousness. His eyes felt swollen and were difficult to open. The light that greeted them was too bright.

  Mullon forced himself to keep his lids open as he looked about. His first realization was that he sat on a chair with his arms and legs bound to the back of it and the under supports. A few feet away from him he saw Freddy, who was tied up in the same manner, and she still appeared to be unconscious since her head lay to one side on her shoulder. He was relieved to note that she was breathing deeply.

  To the extent that the dull pain permitted, he turned his head to the left and made out at some distance a large, dark curtain hanging on the wall—apparently to cover a window. Not far from the curtain was a small table surrounded by a row of comfortable chairs. In one of these sat a man, legs crossed and in one hand holding a thermo-beame
r.

  The man inspected Mullon with some impertinence, then stood up, yawning. "Well, finally!" he mumbled. "It's pretty boring to have to sit around and wait for somebody who's too weak to even open his eyes."

  Whereupon the man went swiftly through a doorway that Mullon had not previously noticed.

  Mullon waited patiently and sought to get rid of the unpleasant pain in his skull and in his limbs. His patience was not put to the test for very long. The guard with the raygun came back in the company of a second man. The newcomer might have been about 30 years old—in fact the same age as Mullon himself.

  The guard went back to his chair while the smaller man came and stood over Mullon.

  "You are Horace O. Mullon from Seattle, in the government region of North America, and you have been in Terrania since yesterday morning. In Seattle you are chief of an organization known as the True Democrats. The True Democrats have as their objective the overthrow of the present government and the establishment of a democratic regime. You yourself have come to Terrania to assassinate Rhodan. Will you admit these facts or do you have to be brainwashed?"

  In spite of his pain, Mullon's brain worked feverishly but clearly. Who was this man? An officer of the Secret Service? Hardly, since otherwise he and his men wouldn't have to be so secretive about taking him prisoner, they would have merely disposed of him. So who was he?

  Mullon couldn't figure it out. But it sufficed for him to know that he had not fallen into the hands of the secret police. That meant that the mental manipulation threat was merely a bluff, since nobody outside of the Secret Service possessed the equipment necessary for brainwashing.

  "You're out of your head," replied Mullon with new boldness. "Who knows who it is you've mistaken me for? I demand to be set free at once and as soon as I'm out of here I'm going to see to it that you and your bushwhackers are taken care of!"

  The little man grinned cynically. "You probably think that's being pretty smart, don't you? How silly would we have to be to let you go free, just to give you a chance to get even?"

  Score one in my favor, exulted Mullon secretly. If this fellow is afraid I might swear out a complaint against him, then he really isn't a secret police agent!

  "Your name isn't Mullon?" asked the small man. "You don't come from Seattle?"

  "Of course my name is Mullon and naturally I come from Seattle!" blustered Mullon. "But not even in my worst nightmares have I ever thought of killing Rhodan!"

  The little man nodded. "Too bad," he said softly.

  In his astonishment, Mullon widened his eyes and it pained him. "Too bad...?" he repeated.

  The other nodded again. "Yes, it's regrettable. My name is Hollander. Ever heard of me?"

  Mullon shook his head. "No, never."

  Hollander smiled sympathetically. "How can we hope to better the world when we don't know other people who have the same goals? Have you ever heard anything about the Nature Philosophers?"

  "Yes, it's a sect that preaches a return to Nature ethic," replied Mullon after some mental searching.

  Hollander shook his head. "That is not quite an adequate description. We are the Nature Philosophers and we do not advocate a return to nature at all in the sense of the old Rousseau ideas. But we are here in Terrania for the same purpose you are! So now will you loosen up and start talking?"

  Mullon sneered. "You know, Hollander, if you want to trip me up you'll have to do better than that!"

  Hollander appeared to have expected this reaction. He looked at Mullon seriously and said: "Don't worry, we can prove our intentions. But hopefully you can understand that you'll be a dead man once you see this proof and, in spite of it, refuse to work with us."

  Mullon nodded mechanically. "Very well. Why don't you begin?"

  • • •

  Approximately at this same time, inside the giant energy shield, the great positronicon in the computer centre of the capital city spit out a red plastic information strip. The color signified Top Priority, which was equivalent to an alert. All computer outputs in red were placed immediately before Rhodan himself or his closest subordinate.

  The whole process was automatic. A chromatic selector registered the color of the strip and channeled it into the proper conduit. A few seconds later, Rhodan held it in his hand. He chucked it into the code reader and projected the textual image onto the wall beside his worktable.

  The message read:2 rival insurrectionist groups are active at present in Terrania. Involved are the Nature Philosophers, who comprise a 15 man team and have rented offices in the downtown area, and the Union of True Democrats principally located on the West Coast of the North American continent, whose chief, Horace O. Mullon, has come to Terrania intending to set up operations designed to assassinate the Administrator. Another 20 members of the Union are standing by in Tientsin, waiting to be called to Terrania.

  There is no doubt that both groups have a common goal: destruction of the present order. No details concerning further objectives are available at this time. The motives behind the negotiations of the Nature Philosophers and the True Democrats are known.

  Precautionary measures for the protection of the Administrator and the institutions of the Solar Empire have been taken. Further information will follow at regular intervals over this channel. End of message.

  Perry Rhodan shut off the projector and leaned far back in his comfortable posture chair. Whether or not the message had made any impression on him was not discernible.

  After awhile he leaned forward and pressed a button on the wide keyboard that was built into the edge of his table. The compact video-intercom in the centre of the table lit up and revealed the round face of a man with stubbly, sandy-red hair. He appeared to be a generally good-natured type even though at the moment he frowned rather darkly into the camera.

  "Hello there, Mr. Minister!" Rhodan greeted him. "Why don't you come on into the office—I have something for you."

  The man nodded. The vid-screen darkened and two minutes later the subject himself stood in the doorway of Rhodan's spacious workroom.

  "You do your job justice, Bell," Rhodan kidded him. "You look just like a Minister of Security is supposed to with that worried frown on your face."

  Reginald Bell was Rhodan's old comrade-in-arms. He waved off the levity with a gesture of urgency. "Some of the reports we've been getting lately aren't anything to be cheerful about," he replied.

  "Okay," said Rhodan. "Sit down and tell me what your plans are."

  Bell sat down and opened his hands with a shrug. "We wait, we pick them up at the proper time, give them the brainwash to find out the names of all their cohorts, remand them to the courts, get a judgment against them—and out!"

  Rhodan appeared to be in agreement with the procedure. "And what kind of a sentence do you think the court will pass on them?"

  Bell made a vague motion with his right hand. "Penitentiary... labor camp."

  "No."

  Bell leaned forward, startled "What do you mean, no? Are you going to prescribe a sentence for the judge?"

  Rhodan shook his head. "The Government will present a legal bill to the Solar Council. The Solar Council will adopt the measure at once because there is actually a hole in our penal system that it will serve to close—and it's especially applicable to underground movements, revolutionaries and that sort of people..."

  "Oh? And what kind of punishment is it?"

  Rhodan smiled indulgently. "Have you forgotten it so soon, Bell? We had a discussion about it not too long ago..."

  3/ OF RAYGUNS & RHODAN

  Mullon had been presented with the proof.

  He himself knew a few people by name who were said to be Nature Philosophers. He hadn't paid them much heed because he had more or less considered the movement to be a weird organization of skons (Some kind of nuts). But now those names came in handy.

  One of the men Mullon knew lived in Portland, Oregon. Hollander set up a videophone connection with him. The man in Portland, named Pattern, apparen
tly recognized his 'chief' immediately. He also described the objectives of the Nature Philosophers, to the extent that was advisable for a member to do so over a public v'phone connection.

  Already half-convinced, Mullon recalled the name of a second man. He was put in touch with this man, also, and received the, same information. Since he thought it was impossible for Hollander to have cued these men beforehand, he was finally satisfied.

  "Alright. It looks as though we all have a common objective. Where do we go from here?"

  Hollander smiled cryptically and indicated Freddy behind him. Although she had been untied and was conscious by now, the armed guard stood watch over her. She had overheard a part of the conversation, and especially the 2-seephone interviews.

  "What about the girl?" Hollander wanted to know. "Wouldn't it be better to get rid of her?"

  "Why don't you leave Freddy out of this and let her go? I'm certain she won't make trouble."

  But Hollander was against the idea. Cynicism seemed to be a part of his character. "I'd be a great revolutionary if I looped the rope around my own neck," he said. "Loy, take her out of here!"

  The guard took Freddy out of the room. Mullon tried to give her an encouraging signal but she didn't even look at him.

  "Let's get down to business," said Hollander. "After the overthrow happens, a big factor is going to be who took the first initiative. So the one who takes care of Rhodan is going to be in the driver's seat and the Nature Philosophers aren't going to miss out on that. You can understand that here in Terrania we have the more favorable position. So now you'll just stay quietly in the background and watch us handle the Rhodan situation, right?"