The Venus Trap Read online

  Raskujan barely managed to keep his composure. "As a former officer you know as well as I do how demoralizing your men would have been for my troops. I had no other choice than to draw a line between us. My regiment has nothing in common any more than your division." Tomisenkow made such a derisive gesture that Raskujan was hard put to control his anger.

  "Don't try to outsmart me," Tomisenkow interjected. "You forget that you were serving in my company. I've known you for years. Even as a young lieutenant you tried to show off whenever you had a chance. No, Raskujan, you can't get away with it as easy as that. You thought that you had the opportunity here on Venus to play the big chief. The only one who could have spoiled it for you was I, who outrank you. That's why you pulled a fast one and tried to eliminate me."

  Raskujan had jumped up. It took a long time before he found his tongue again. "That's... that's... you're forgetting that you're my..."

  At this point the buzzing of a radio set interrupted Raskujan's stammering. He turned around and hit the button of the receiver with the palm of his hand.

  "An unusual flash of light has been observed, sir," the monitor reported quickly. "Direction 180 degrees, distance approximately 150 miles."

  Raskujan raised his eyebrows. "Describe it to me!" he demanded.

  "It resembled a cone of light from three searchlights, sir," the observer answered. "However the intensity of the light exceeded ordinary searchlights."

  "How many times did you notice this effect?"

  "Only once, sir!"

  "Alright!"

  The report was ended. Raskujan made another connection. A raspy voice answered.

  "Take two of your helicopters, Captain," Raskujan ordered, "and search the ocean. Determine the direction where the strange light came from through the observation post. I want to know what it is." The captain affirmed the order. Raskujan switched off the transmitter and turned back to Tomisenkow. Tomisenkow smiled.

  "What's there to grin about?" Raskujan asked gruffly.

  "I think," Tomisenkow said softy, savoring the effect his words had on Raskujan, "there's somebody on your heels who will teach a shabby colonel how to behave on Venus."

  • • •

  The swishing noise rose to a roar as the flying reptile swooped down. Rhodan stood slanted against the edge of the boat and stared in the direction of the sound. He saw only a giant shadow which passed with incredible speed over the boat and disappeared again in the dark.

  The sound became more distant and weaker. It remained for a few seconds at the same level, then swelled up again.

  Rhodan wondered how much of a risk he could take. It was impossible to know on which one of its passes the winged lizard would attack. Perhaps it wouldn't. But it would be too late to shoot at it if it had one of the three in its claws.

  The droning grew louder.

  "Fire when it flies over us," Rhodan called decisively.

  They raised the barrels of their weapons in the direction of the predator. The menacing noise kept growing until their ears droned.

  And then It appeared again.

  A black shadow in the grey darkness, larger than before but of ill-defined shape. Rhodan followed the shadow with the barrel of his impulse-beamer and as the lizard hovered above the boat he ordered: "Fire!"

  Brilliant white-blue flashes of concentrated heat rays shot from the funnel-shaped muzzles of the barrels, illuminating for a fraction of a second the horrible body of the aerial lizard covered with a leathery skin and consuming it with its full power.

  The savage scream uttered by the beast must have been audible for miles around. But it didn't last long. A few hundred thousand megawatts of thermal energy killed the reptile and it fell burning into the ocean. Rhodan dropped his weapon and grabbed the rudder. He cut straight through the huge frontal wave thrown up by the impact of the behemoth, then pushed the rudder hard to the side and steered in a wide curve to the east.

  After 20 minutes Rhodan put the boat on the original course again. Moving the rudder around, done by habit with his right arm, caused the injury in his shoulder to hurt again. He cursed his helplessness and wished he had his Arkonide medicaments on hand. It would have taken no more than a few hours to put him back in shape.

  Son Okura still sat at the bow scanning northward. Only Marshall seemed to assume that the worse danger had been overcome by the extermination of the flying lizard. He was lying in the center of the boat with his arms folded under his head.

  "Don't be lazy, man. Better get up!" Rhodan said. "We'll soon be real busy." Marshal was frightened. "What's up now?" he asked gloomily.

  "The light effects are inseparable from the heat emission of thermal weapons and they can be seen for 300 miles in clear weather," Rhodan pointed out. "You can figure out what that means." Marshall got up with a sigh. "Well," he murmured, "and what can we do if your expectations materialize?"

  Rhodan grinned. "Keep shooting," he answered dryly.

  • • •

  The captain dispatched by Raskujan with two helicopters had little trouble locating the lifeboat which was quite conspicuous.

  From a distance of 50 miles he detected a weak but unmistakable blip on the radar screen and from 300 feet he clearly recognized the boat with the infra-red searchlight and saw the three man crew through the night binoculars.

  The captain warned his gunner to be cautious and gave the same instructions to the second helicopter. Then he descended and prudently approached the boat.

  • • •

  They could hear the whirring of the rotor blades and the high whistling of the engine jets. Son Okura saw two machines coming at considerable height from the north. They were no surprise for Rhodan. He had expected them.

  Okura suddenly flinched back from his observation post in the bow of the boat and threw his arms over his face with a startled scream. It was at the moment when the captain shined his infra-red searchlight on the boat and saw it through the filter.

  Rhodan tried to outguess his antagonists.

  He'll recognize the boat, he figured. He also knows that Raskujan he's lost none of his helicopters. Therefore, he'll take us for Tomisenkow's men or—

  Before he could come to a conclusion, the two crafts had arrived and the speed with which they were coming in left no doubt about their intention of attacking the boat.

  "Down flat on the bottom of the boat!" Rhodan shouted. "Keep your guns up!" Marshall and Okura complied at once. An automatic cannon began to chatter and a second one joined in. Rhodan could feel the boat jerk and he heard above the din how the motor changed its sound. Then he saw the shadow of the first helicopter on top of them.

  He didn't know whether Okura or Marshall had already fired as he saw no flashes from their weapons. He braced the butt of his thermo-beamer against his chest so that the barrel pointed straight up and pulled the trigger.

  The discharge was completely free of recoil. As if fired from a toy, the brightly flashing beam shot up in the dark and caught the helicopter before it peeled off to the side. There was a thunderous detonation as its fuel exploded and a rain of luminous metal parts fell hissing into the water around their boat. The second machine observed how the first one was brought down and turned away in time. Far out it continued flying in low circles around the boat.

  Rhodan kept low and crawled forward in the boat. Marshall was lying as he had been ordered. He grinned when he saw Rhodan.

  Son Okura got up on his knees and watched the second aircraft flying around the boat. Rhodan switched on his wristband transceiver and scanned the frequency range of the receiver. He could hear nothing except the static of the atmosphere. The helicopter pilot had so far not considered it necessary to inform his base about the incident.

  Rhodan was certain that he either would report the skirmish or attempt a second attack. They waited for the next sortie.

  Okura raised his right arm. "The circles are getting tighter," he called. Rhodan looked over the rim of the boat but couldn't see a thing. "How close is i
t now?" he asked.

  "Average distance about 500 feet," the Japanese answered. Rhodan reflected. "Let's show them what we think of them!" he called to Okura. They're making a mistake, Rhodan thought. They want to fry out how far we can shoot with our rayguns. They don't know that an impulse-beamer works with maximum energy to the limit of its range. They think they can wait till we fire the first shot and still scram in time!

  Okura kneeled behind the wail and supported his raygun on the rim. He pressed his eyes together and tilted his head forward when the infra-red beam of the vehicle swept over him. Then he took careful aim. Rhodan saw his fingers curl around the trigger but was startled nonetheless when the finger-sized blue-white beam flashed from the muzzle.

  Raskujan's helicopter didn't have a chance. It dropped into the ocean and exploded, hissing violently. Rhodan breathed a sigh of relief. He went past Marshall to the motor. In his haste he had only been able to tie up the rudder loosely and now—

  He was taken aback when he reached the stern. He saw a frazzled piece of the strap he had used to fasten the rudder lying on the bottom. No sign of the rudder could be found. He went down to examine the motorblock encased in a light metal box. He discovered the trace of a shell and the spot where it had exploded. It had torn off the rudder and demolished the motor. Rhodan banged against the metal housing with his fists. Previously it could only be removed with screw-drivers and bolt-cutters. Now he shook it loose with a few knocks and was soon easily able to pull it down with his hands.

  He saw at a glance what had happened. The shell had exploded near the small efficient turbine. The turbine was no longer recognizable, just a formless lump of metal blackened by powder. Rhodan got up. He felt weak in the knees but soon regained his strength.

  "The boat is intact," Marshall announced happily. "All bullet holes have probably sealed themselves. We haven't taken on any appreciable quantity of water."

  Rhodan's face was set. He walked stiffly through the swaying boat toward Marshall. Marshall noticed how serious he looked. "What...?"

  Rhodan put his hand on his shoulder and said quietly: "Start making your calls again, Marshall. Our motor is destroyed and we can't repair it. I figure we're about 130 miles from the coast of the northern continent and about 80 miles from the southern shore. We can move neither forward nor back. Try once more to get in touch with the seals."

  And with a cheerless smile he added: "Otherwise we'll have to swim."

  2/ S.O.S.! "Save Us, Seals!"

  Raskujan had argued with Tomisenkow for almost an hour, forgetting that it was quite unnecessary for him to have discussions with a prisoner. But then came the report that two more of the unusual bursts of light had been observed over the open sea. As he hadn't heard from the helicopters since he sent them out on their mission, he began to worry about them and had Tomisenkow taken away by the two guards before he witnessed the failure of the task force and gloated over it. Tomisenkow walked willingly between the two guards across the landing site devoid of any vegetation. The two guards delivered him to four other guards posted at the gate, who took him to his own tent where a personal guard took over.

  Tomisenkow studied the layout of the prison camp for very good reasons. He memorized daily without a map what his trained eyes had seen. He could have found his way with closed eyes. Thus the pitch dark night of Venus was the best time for his scheme because Raskujan's soldiers would stumble blindly around in the dark to which they were not yet accustomed.

  He laid his plans calmly and methodically. His tent had no floor cover. The soil of the ground had been solidly compacted. Tomisenkow took off one of his boots and began to scrape the ground and fill the boot with the removed soil.

  After a few minutes the boot was full and Tomisenkow packed it in tightly to the top. He weighed his odd tool in his right hand. It had the similar feel and weight of a sack of sand. Then he looked around in his tent. It was fairly small and well-lit. Tomisenkow picked out a corner best suited for his purpose.

  Unfortunately, he couldn't do much about the electric bulb illuminating his tent. Of course, he could have broken it, but then—

  He squatted in the rear corner of the tent with his back toward the entrance and stared ostensibly at the ground. Now that everything had been prepared, he started to yell.

  "Guard! Guaaaaard!"

  He sounded terrified and the result was immediately apparent. The entrance to the tent was flung open. Tomisenkow turned his face around and tried to look frightened.

  "What's going on?" the guard shouted.

  Tomisenkow was breathless and made a few gestures with his hands. "Here..." he panted, "in the corner... quick!"

  There was a great variety of monsters on Venus, among them those that could bore their way through the ground and pop up unexpectedly in the middle of a tent. The guard was aware of the peril. He entered with his gun drawn and motioned Tomisenkow to the side as he approached the corner. Tomisenkow made way for him. "Sort of a worm...!" he groaned. He positioned himself so that he cast his shadow into the corner the sentry examined. When the man had passed him he picked up the boot filled with dirt.

  "Get out of the light!" the guard ordered and waved his hand without looking back. Tomisenkow got out of the light—a step behind the back of the guard. He made sure that the guard was unable to see his shadow. Then he raised the heavy boot and whacked the guard over the head. The man toppled forward to the ground.

  Tomisenkow proceeded to empty the soil from his boot and stamp it back into the ground with his foot. Then he took out the rope he'd fashioned from the tent's fabric and tied the unconscious man up. He also stuffed his handkerchief into his mouth and fastened it so that the victim couldn't push the gag out with his tongue.

  Finally he shoved the sentry behind his cot to keep him out of sight of a casual glance from the entrance. He placed the gun on the bed where the guard could see it when he woke up. Then he left his tent.

  He had no trouble getting to the largest of the tents 300 feet away—even though sentries tried to look as if nothing could escape them.

  Actually they're scared, Tomisenkow thought contemptuously. They're afraid that giant white worms or voracious scaly vermin will crawl out of the ground and drag them away. They even whistled some tunes to hide their fears.

  It took Tomisenkow 15 minutes to cover the distance of 300 feet. When Tomisenkow reached the tent he saw that three guards were posted at the entrance. However, this was no problem. The walls of the tent didn't touch the ground except where they were fastened with ropes to the stakes. In between there was room enough for a man to squeeze through by lifting up the side.

  Tomisenkow crawled in under the wall. A light was burning inside. He heard a soft cry of surprise. He slipped inside and got up. He quickly put his index finger to his lips and made a warning gesture toward the entrance.

  Then he took time out to greet Thora, the woman from Arkon, with a silent bow. Thora's home was far distant from Terra and its solar system. Much farther than Tomisenkow could imagine in spite of his excellent education.

  Thora, who was shipwrecked on the Moon in her exploration cruiser 10 years earlier, had begun to co-operate with Perry Rhodan, helping him to create the stable framework of the unprecedented New Power.

  Until a few days ago, Thora had been Tomisenkow's prisoner.

  "Regardless what you may think of me," Tomisenkow said hastily, "please, don't make a noise! I'm not going to harm you."

  Thora gave no answer. She twisted her lips slightly and displayed a smile so derisive and ironic that Tomisenkow had trouble controlling his anger.

  "I don't have much time," he continued. "The guards are inspected every 50 minutes. I'll have to leave here in 15 minutes at the latest."

  Thora's scornful look irritated him.

  He endeavored to formulate his offer precisely. "I'd like to work together with you," he began. Thora didn't deem his proposition worthy of an answer.

  "As you know," Tomisenkow went on, "it wouldn't be
difficult at all to overpower Raskujan's guards. Our troubles would begin when we leave the camp. We'll have no weapons other than those we take away from the guards. Raskujan has helicopters and a lot of other equipment. He could catch us an hour after we made our escape. For this reason, we'd have to know where to go when we break out. It would be up to you to give us the right information:"

  Thora stared at him with unrelenting contempt. "And you think that I'd fall for such a clumsy trick!" she finally replied.

  "No trick! Think about it. What reason could I have to deceive you? The simple fact is, we're both in the same boat. It doesn't serve any useful purpose to sit in the camp with our hands folded in our laps while we wait for a miracle to happen."

  Thora appeared to mull over his words. "And what guarantee do I have that your designs won't get me to—to use one of your phrases—from the frying pan into the fire?" she asked sceptically.

  Tomisenkow shrugged his shoulders. "If you can't see the difference between my goals and Raskujan's ambitions, you don't know people," he replied dejectedly.

  Thora laughed mockingly. "All I know is that people have the urge to bash in each other's heads."

  Tomisenkow got up. "Yes, of course," he muttered angrily. "Your race has never done anything like that. You were all born innocent babes and remained so forever." He gave Thora no chance to answer him.

  "I've offered you my cooperation," he declared. "At this point I think you'd benefit more from our collaboration than I. I'll stick to my offer. Think about it. I'll drop in again a little later to hear your decision. Goodbye!"

  He bent down and crawled out under the wall of the tent. Fifteen minutes later he returned to his own tent without having encountered any untoward incidents. The guard he had overwhelmed was conscious again and stared at him with wild eyes. Tomisenkow squatted down before him and said, "Listen to me, my boy. You can see that I've left your gun lying here. I took a little walk which you'd not have permitted me to do if I'd asked you. So I was forced to keep you out of my way for a little while and I'm sorry if I hurt you. In a few minutes there'll be the inspection of the guards. By that time you'll be free, your gun strapped on again. All I care about now is whether you're going to report this little affair or prefer to keep quiet about it. You can imagine that I won't tell them anything myself."