Friend to Mankind Read online

  Liszog had finished and cleaning process. He got up and joined his two companions. He was the youngest and his body was still growing. "You should have thought of that earlier, Golath," he complained. "You were the one who dragged us into this. It was madness to attempt to steal—"

  Golath slammed his trunk against Liszog's chest. The young Unither reeled from the blow.

  "The plan was good," Golath snarled. "How could I know that there was a second electronic barrier around the camp?"

  Liszog retorted furiously: "You are to blame that we were locked up in this living tomb and exiled from our home! Now we won't be allowed to return unless we can accomplish an extraordinary feat which will benefit all our people. Your idea of capturing an alien spaceship is just as crazy as your burglary plan!"

  The Kaszill put a sudden end to their quarrel. A violent vibration shook the vessel from stern to stern. Golath slid away on his chair and Zerft had to hold onto the console of the rangefinder. "That was the last gasp," Zerft exclaimed after it was over.

  Golath picked himself up again and returned to the rangefinder set. He avoided looking directly at Liszog. "Alright then," he decided. "We'll head for that solar system and take a look around. Perhaps we'll be lucky to find a good spot."

  As if to emphasize his words, a red line flashed across the screen. Liszog, who was about to make a nasty remark, kept his trunk shut. Zerft stamped his feet. Somewhere in the ship was a metallic crash which made the Unithers break out in a cold sweat.

  In a low voice, as if the slightest noise could cause the Kaszill to fall apart, Golath explained: "We've just experienced an ultra-dimensional energy discharge."

  Liszog excitedly rolled in his trunk and Zerft quickly rubbed his hand over the screen as if he could show the phenomenon again with his gesture. "A what?" he inquired with curiosity.

  When it came to questions like these they had to depend on Golath. He was the only one of the deportees who had enough education to understand the instrumentation aboard the Kaszill... barely.

  "An unstable condition in the space-time continuum," Liszog claimed boldly.

  Golath laughed. He got up and walked to the computer, which looked similar to the Terranian electronic brains of the same size. The Unither programmed the positronicon with a sequence of data. Then he waited in front of the computer till it spit out the result on a narrow metal foil which was perforated by a pattern of holes.

  "A what?" Liszog asked again. Golath laughed haughtily as he nonchalantly discarded the metal strip, savoring the experience of the moment. Let those two morons learn how to appreciate him! Without him, he was convinced, they didn't have a ghost of a chance for survival.

  "It was a spaceship," he announced after an effective pause, noticing that Zerft's trunk stiffened.

  "Where is it now?" Liszog inquired fearfully.

  "How big is it?" Zerft asked, motivated by the same feeling, although he was better at concealing his fear.

  Golath refrained from asserting his ego and decided after a few moments to tell the truth. "All I know is that we have registered an unknown ship during a transition. It obviously passed into hyperspace after taking precautionary measures. Fortunately we have tracking instruments aboard the Kaszill which enable us to monitor each disturbance of space. It means that we did not spot the unknown ship directly but only noticed a change of the spatial structure. Therefore it is impossible to determine the size or the destination of the unknown vehicle."

  "In that case we have no reason to get excited about it," Liszog muttered dejectedly. "The discovery won't do anything for us."

  "I wouldn't say that," Golath said. "At least I know at which point in the universe the ship started its transition."

  Zerft thrust his trunk against the observation screen showing a few points of glittering light. "From there," he said.

  Golath felt a bit annoyed that Zerft had stolen the climax of his presentation. "Quite right," he said tartly. "At the time the ship performed its transition it was in the solar system we have chosen as our goal."

  "It probably was an Arkonide ship," Liszog added. "As members of a rebellious colonial nation the Arkonides won't receive us with open arms, I'm afraid."

  "Let's worry about it if and when we get there," Golath said. "Arkonides!" Zerft murmured, his voice full of hate. His eyes glowered and his back stiffened. None of the Unithers could guess that they had spotted a Terranian vessel, the Solar System !

  • • •

  After 72 hours terrestrial time, the blunt bow of the Kaszill emerged in the Ufgar system. The flight had been a nightmare of fear and terror for the three Unithers. Midway on the trip the disaster had begun to take its toll. The Kaszill began to disintegrate and shed parts of its hull into space. A large leak had sprung in the rear engineroom which Zerft could not control. Liszog man-aged to close the bulkhead before it became an airless deathtrap. The life of the banished Unithers hung by the proverbial thread.

  However, the Unithers were guided by fate to their goal. Liszog was certain that the vessel would fly apart at the last moment but Golath's and Zerft's elation allayed his pessimistic outlook.

  "The second planet contains oxygen," Golath announced after a thorough investigation with his measuring devices. "That's where we are going to land." He noticed the doubt in Liszog's eyes and emphasized: "If it's the last thing I do with this flying coffin!"

  In his own mind he was far less sure of the landing since he realized only too well that precise navigation of the Kaszill was akin to suicide. However he was loath to show his misgivings for fear that Zerft and Liszog would retract their consent to the landing: which was their only chance for survival.

  The Unithers had no clear idea of what to do after the landing if it turned out to be successful. Too many unforeseen things could happen that would have to be taken into account. Moreover, Golath had little faith in the dependability of the young inexperienced Liszog. If the situation got tough, he would have to rely more on the older Zerft—although he hated his guts. "We will have to fasten our belts," Golath ordered. "I can no longer trust the robot pilot. As soon as the Kaszill touches ground, we will have to get out at once because we have to expect the possibility of an explosion."

  During the following hours Golath steered the vessel with extreme caution. He tried to avoid all unnecessary strain on the ship as well as he could. Zerft had taken his place at the rangefinder and Liszog squatted restlessly between them.

  "On which side are we going to touch down?" Zerft asked. "I would suggest the side where it's night."

  "We are bound to make such a spectacle of ourselves that it won't make a bit of difference where we land," Golath replied. "If this planet is occupied by Arkonides they are sure to detect us anyway. There's nothing we can do about that."

  The energy sensor of the Kaszill solved their problem. As soon as they plunged into the gravitational field of the planet, the needle of the sensitive instrument deflected. "Something is going on down there," the big Unither warned.

  "What?" Liszog asked, his anxiety growing steadily.

  Golath let his trunk dangle in vacillation without taking his eyes off the dial. "The deflection of the needle is not very strong," he observed. "It's possible that there is a power station on this planet. Perhaps they have an automatic beam transmitter. Let's try to pinpoint where the impulse originates."

  "What for?" Liszog shot his question like a pointed arrow.

  "Very simple," Golath snapped, "because that's where I want to land."

  Liszog looked flabbergasted. He snorted and turned to Zerft for help. "We'll run smack into the arms of the people at the power station," Liszog moaned. "They'll shoot us out of the air."

  Golath's trunk lashed out at the squatting Unither, bowling him over. Golath was unable to stomach the constant complaints of the youngster. Unable to disguise his contempt he said in a trenchant tone: "This is a chance we must take. If the Arkonides are down there they are bound to spy us wherever we go. We should use our ad
vantage of surprise! On the other hand, if it is a robot station it would be stupid to come down somewhere in a wild forest where we will be forced to walk for miles."

  Zerft decided the argument in his own direct approach. The other two saw over his broad shoulders that he pointed his trunk to the quivering needle. "There," he bellowed.

  "Hold on!" Golath shouted. His voice was strident and fearful. Multiple belts held his hulking body down on the pneumatic couch but left his hands free to manipulate the controls. Liszog, lying next to him, trembled. His eyes were closed and his hands tightly clamped down on the couch frame. Only Zerft reclined leisurely. He gave the impression of imagining the enjoyment felt during the treatment of a trunk-cleaner.

  Golath performed the braking manoeuvre. The Kaszill entered the atmosphere of the planet and the ship began to vibrate and groan tremendously under the strain. Joints were torn apart and rivets sheared off but the vessel still held together. The Unithers cowered helplessly on their couches as Golath held a firm grip on the steering controls. He thought many times that the ship would fail to react. At a slight angle, almost tangential to the surface, Golath steered the Kaszill in the new path. Just when he began to breathe easier, one of his engines abruptly stopped. The vessel was jerked around, whined in protest and began to spin. Grunting under the sudden change of his equilibrium, Golath tried to restore the balance of the ship. Even Zerft lost some of his impassive composure and looked apprehensively at the pilot. Only a blur swept across the panoramic picture screen. Liszog whimpered uncontrollably.

  Golath decided to try a desperate manoeuvre. He cut off all remaining engines for a few seconds and the Kaszill kept going by its own momentum. When it was on the verge of nose-diving, he gave the three engines at the rear, which were still intact, a sudden burst of power. The acceleration caused the ship to race toward the ground. Now Golath applied the full braking power. The Kaszill shrieked under the excessive stress.

  The ship is breaking up! Golath thought in horror. He shut his eyes. When he opened them again the ship was still hurtling through the air—a chunk of glowing metal going through hell. He screamed hoarsely and looked at the altimeter. What he saw brought the sweat to his brow. Only 4,000 meters above the ground, the Kaszill still had such an enormous velocity that it could not stop before it was smashed to bits upon impact. Golath had only one possibility left. Somehow he had to gain more height again. There was no time to check whether he had reached the intended landing area or had overshot it already. Golath became nauseated as the ship roared and screamed. With trembling fingers he manipulated the controls and the ship finally responded sluggishly so that he was able to push it up to 5,000 meters.

  "How much longer?" Zerft inquired coolly. His terse tones could not have been more controlled if he merely waited for a boiling drink of Grats at the Kallasto Hotel of Unith.

  The ship gradually lost its speed. Golath realized that he could not keep it up much longer at the present altitude. He had to descend for a landing! He switched on three additional observation screens. There were only clouds in sight. Eventually darker regions emerged which were presumably large forests. Something blue flashed across the screen. Golath had the impression that it was a lake. He attempted to fly in a spiral. Then the clouds disappeared from the screen as if swept away by a gigantic hand. The ground was a greybrown sheet. Suddenly all was quiet.

  "Now!" he shrieked as everything exploded in a flash of fire, smoke and dust as the ship crashed into the alien soil.

  • • •

  The first feeling Golath experienced afterwards was amazement that he was still alive and the second was an irritation that his trunk was dirty and clogged. Then he opened his eyes.

  His chest was covered by the glass of the broken picture screens. But his tough Unitherian skin was unmarked. Dust and dirt settled all around him. Then he remembered his companions. The youthful Zerft stood in front of the instrument console trying to find out which were still in working condition. Irate that nobody had bothered to help him, Golath removed the belts from his body.

  Now he saw Liszog, too. The youth was stretched out under the trunk-cleaner which had weathered the crash without damage.

  "There you are," Zerft said lackadaisically when Golath came over to check the instruments. Golath frowned in cold fury. His right shoulder ached and he had a burning pain in his trunk. He glanced impatiently at Liszog but said nothing because the cleaning of the trunk was considered to be something of a ritual and it would have been bad manners to interrupt another person during the procedure. It was a taboo which was observed by all Unithers. Even under these conditions. Therefore he turned to Zerft.

  "It could have been much worse," Zerft commented. "We're still alive and most of our instruments are still functioning."

  "We have to get out of the Kaszill nonetheless," Golath stated gruffly. "The danger of an explosion is not yet over."

  Zerft smiled a little as he folded his arms and let his trunk hang over them. "Of course you can go outside if you like," he said.

  Golath took a step back. "What do you mean?" he asked.

  With his typical bland expression Zerft proclaimed, "It means that I have taken over the leadership of this group as of now. The Kaszill is almost completely demolished. We don't need you any more, Golath. I have already talked to Liszog. about it while you were still unconscious. It's alright with him that I make the decisions from now on."

  Golath's eyes flared crimson. He felt a fierce rage well up in him. Only the brute force embodied in Zerft's powerful torso kept him from assaulting the usurper. Finally his calm reason gained the upper hand. "Very well," he said icily. "What do you propose we do?"

  Zerft was taken aback by his quick victory. He kept studying the array of gadgets before he replied. "We will keep the Kaszill as our base of operations. We can start the necessary investigations from here. First we will go in the direction in which the power station should be located. Unfortunately our energy sensor was knocked out so we will have an intensive search. We will take our weapons with us for security. I have already spot-checked a little around the ship in the meantime. Not far from here is a big lake. It will be best if we walk along its shore."

  It was a long speech for Zerft. Liszog had finished the cleaning of his trunk. Golath, who wanted to take his place, was shoved aside by Zerft. "I believe it's my turn now," he said ominously.

  "I hope we keep the same order—especially when it will be our turn to die," Golath replied grimly.

  It was a declaration of war no Unither could misunderstand.

  • • •

  The Kaszill had ploughed up the ground for a length of almost 100 meters before it came to rest near the edge of a primeval forest. The vessel was split in to two pieces and the rear half where the engines were located was totally destroyed.

  This condemned the three Unithers to a permanent exile on the planet. They could consider themselves lucky that they had landed in an atmosphere of oxygen more or less suited to their requirements.

  The Kaszill, or what was left of it, had crashed at a spot about halfway between the forest and the lake whose shore was visible on the horizon as a dark line.

  Judging from the position of the sun, Golath figured that it must be early morning. When they left the Kaszill their faces were caressed by a pleasant breeze of fresh air. Golath stretched his limbs in the sun and inhaled deeply. It still made him shudder when he thought of the foul air they had to breathe in the Kaszill.

  Now the air in the ship was good again and they could always return to it. As far as that goes, Zerft's suggestion wasn't so bad. At least they would be able to avail themselves of the trunk-cleaner apparatus at regular intervals. He was glad that they would not have to fall back on the primitive method of their ancestors which was to clean their trunks with leaves wound around a stick. This old-fashioned mode of cleaning was considered as rather distasteful by the new generation of Unithers.

  "We'll climb down to the shoreline," Zerft's voice int
errupted his train of thought. "It's advisable that we get back before dark. "He tucked his thermo-beamer away and waved the others to proceed. Liszog raised his trunk as a sign that he was ready and Golath contented himself to grunt.

  The strange group shambled off. Golath was the first to reach the steep slope at the shore of the lake. He was about to climb down when Liszog called out excitedly. The young Unither stretched out his hand and pointed to the ground. "The land is burned up over there," he reported excitedly.

  Golath recognized the darkened area. Zerft gave his nod and they all ran to the mysterious spot. Grass and bushes were either burned up or seared in a precise circle. It seemed odd that inside the circle most of the plants were undamaged.

  "Obviously this was anything but a natural fire," Zerft observed. He bent down and pulled out a half-burned clump with his trunk. "What do you think of it, Golath?"

  Golath, whose sharp eyes had already discovered other clues, replied harshly: "There was a spaceship standing here. You can still see the impressions of the support legs. It was probably an Arkonide vessel."

  "What makes you think so?" Liszog asked apprehensively.

  "The arrangement of the support legs and the pattern of the grass fire," Golath explained eagerly. He wanted to show the youth that he was more capable than Zerft to guide them through their calamity.

  Zerft, who had run to the rim of the incline, shouted something in an excited voice which was very unusual for him. "Look down there," he directed his companions.

  Golath leaned forward. He heard Liszog utter a cry. "A house!" Golath exclaimed jubilantly. "And a little spaceship."

  They all looked down and Liszog whispered: "There doesn't seem to be anybody around."

  "Yes there is," Zerft contradicted. "There are two combat robots around the other side of the house. Come, I'll show you!" He pulled Golath and Liszog over a little distance. "You can see them from here."