Escape to Venus Read online

  The answer from Terrania came surprisingly quick and it was not what Adams had expected:

  "Try at once to obtain further data from our station on the Moon. Important to get a report on the presumed course of the unknown ship. We are also interested to learn more about the ship's velocity when passing in the vicinity of the Moon. Thanks for your help. We are awaiting further reports from you. Meanwhile we will also investigate from this end."

  That was all. The radar observer glanced at Adams.

  "Well, what do you say to that? Sounds funny, doesn't it?"

  "Anything that has to do with Rhodan is strange," replied Adams. "I wonder if that ship has taken off without their consent down there in Terrania."

  He turned away and walked back to his own work station without paying any further attention to his colleague's dumbfounded face.

  Adams arrived back lust in time to hear Perry Rhodan say on the videoscreen: "...established with the help of the Arkonides a third power, the New Power, which thus far has always been successful in settling all conflicts between the other two power blocs of the world. As a result of the events in the past year, we no longer can consider the Eastern Bloc as one of the world powers, and must expect it to be annexed sooner or later by the Asiatic Federation. Since, however, the AF is on good political terms with the Western Bloc, the ideal of one united government of the world is coming closer to realization."

  "All of you, my fellow Earthmen, are aware of the fact that a Federal Government of the World is one of my political goals. Ever since the time when the Arkonides were shipwrecked on the Moon, helpless despite their tremendous technological means and therefore dependent on mankind's coming to their rescue, they have been our allies. This gave me the power potential to establish a united world government by force . However, I consider such methods to be wrong. Such an ideal world government must evolve organically and out of mankind's own free will —and I assure you that this will come about in due time. Just as the various nations had to abandon their petty pride and join either the Western or the Eastern Federation, so also the two big power blocs will have to realize some day that only one United Earth can assume its historical role within the Galaxy."

  "Much has been accomplished within the past 10 years. Thanks to the technological help we received from our Arkonide friends (who are the rulers of a gigantic star realm, more than 30,000 light-years distant from here) we have succeeded in building a space fleet for the New Power, capable of defending our planet against extra-terrestrial attacks. We have already established good trade relations with one of the races living far away on other planets in the universe. We were also fortunate in warding off an invasion of a hostile non-human race. We built the most modern metropolis of the world in the barren Gobi desert: Terrania, formerly known as Galacto-City. All this combined has lifted our old world out of its former isolation. It now has become a power factor that even the Arkonides cannot ignore—once they discover our planet."

  "And this brings me to a point that I want to discuss here quite frankly before all of you, my listeners. There are only two Arkonides who know that our world exists: Khrest, the former scientific leader of the space exploratory mission we found stranded on our moon, and which by now must be assumed to be lost without a trace by their own people on their home planet Arkon—and the female commander of that expedition, Thora. So far I have always managed to prevent these two Arkonides from establishing communication with their own world. I did this for a very simple reason: if ever the people of Arkon should discover the existence of our Earth, they would be most interested to incorporate our world into their galactic empire, for as far as they are concerned we are a backward race, in need of their superior political and technological support."

  "Khrest and Thora promised to wait for their return to Arkon till Earth would be ready to properly receive a visit of the Arkonide race. But this can only take place when the Arkonide delegation will be met by a strong and united Earth. Earth cannot be truly united until we have a world government. You will therefore appreciate my endeavors towards the solution of this particular problem."

  "For quite a number of years now the New Power has been preparing for the establishment of a united government of all mankind. Some day we will put at the disposal of all the nations of this planet our Arkonide technology which surpasses the wildest imagination. I founded the General Cosmic Company, which undoubtedly has become the most significant economic power factor of the world. My company, the GCC, controls the production and the economy of Earth, if I may say so. We determine the monetary standards. And, quite logically, one day the GCC will introduce the future Terranian currency—we have the means to do so."

  "Now it is exclusively up to you and to your respective governments as to when all of this will become a reality. But this day must come soon. I want to emphasize again that I will avoid using force, even if it were child's play for me, to forge ahead with my plans for such a Federated World Government."

  "But I cannot postpone this too much longer. For the very simple reason that Khrest and Thora are urging me to let them return to their planet home. I cannot much longer deny them this very justified request, for I, as well as all the rest of mankind, are in deep debt to these two Arkonides. Without their help we would still be standing at the threshold of space travel and would have to be satisfied if just now we were starting to send the first rockets to Venus. Therefore, you have only a short time at your disposal in which to bring about an agreement amongst yourselves. Then, as soon as the new united world government has been established, we shall be ready to meet the Arkonides—and with this the challenge of an entire galactic empire."

  "Let me describe, now, how I envision such a world government..."

  Radio operator Adams stretched out his long legs. He was not too much interested in listening to further details about this plan of a world government True, the idea was not bad, but what the politicians of the two power blocs would have to say to it was something else again. It had become quite evident when the Eastern Bloc rebelled that time against Rhodan, how little it had pleased them to have to acknowledge the technological superiority of the New Power. All this had ended, temporarily maybe, when the army of the Eastern Bloc had suffered a decisive defeat on Venus. The Eastern armed forces had landed on the second planet from the sun and had lost their way in the swamps and jungles of this primeval world. The armies were missing and had not been heard of since Rhodan's base on Venus, however, had automatically repelled any attack with the use of positronically guided weapons.

  Adams sighed. Maybe his colleague had some more news by now about the mysterious spaceship. He listened for another moment to Rhodan's broadcast and learned how Rhodan planned to have the projected world government share in his existing space fighter fleet. Adams got up and went to the radar center.

  He arrived just at the right moment.

  The monitor screen, connecting the space station with Terrania, showed the excited face of a heavy-built man who seemed to be gasping for air. Just like a fish on dry land, noted Adams. Then he tried to remember where he had seen that face before. Blast it, wasn't that Reginald Bell, Rhodan's friend and constant companion, who had become the Minister of Security Forces of the New Power?

  He examined the face closer as he shut the door behind him. The videoscreen presented a true-to-life three-dimensional color picture of that furious face.

  "Will you get a move on, slowpoke!" panted Bell, enraged. "I need to know the course of that ship you observed a little while ago. Didn't you get a reply from the moon station, huh?"

  "Just got it," growled Adams' colleague and pulled over a slip of paper and looked at it. "What's all the fuss about? Wasn't that ship supposed to take off?"

  "Mind your own business! You'll find out soon enough. Let me have the data, will you, please? Hurry up!"

  "The ship was located by the direction finders of our lunar installations—although its speed was quite considerable already. No course change could be deter
mined. The ship was flying almost straight toward the sun."

  "Toward the sun?" gasped the man visible on the viewscreen: Reginald Bell. "What does this crazy woman want on or in the sun?"

  "Who?" asked the radar operator.

  Bell waved him off with an impatient movement of his hand. "Let her roast there for all I care. Hope that'll make her a bit more palatable and melt that cold chunk of ice! The sun!"

  The radar operator grinned. "May I remind you," he said, "that there is not only the sun between here and the direction toward the sun."

  "What do you mean by that?" Bell asked, puzzled. But he had hardly finished speaking when he suddenly turned pale. His ruddy complexion miraculously changed to a muddy grey. "Not only the...? Damn it, you're right! Why didn't you say so right away? Thanks for the information—I'll show my appreciation some time."

  "Just tell me what's going on down there!" begged the radar operator, but the screen had gone dark again. This was Bell's own way of getting out of giving an answer.

  Adams shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry about it, John. Reginald Bell is supposed to be quite an odd bird, they say."

  The radar operator did not react to his friend's remark. "I wonder what kind of a ship that was we saw? Seems to have caused quite a ruckus when it took off."

  "Not the ship, I think." Adams spoke in enigmatic tones. "I believe it must have been the woman Bell mentioned who caused all the commotion. No wonder; after all, the ship took off from the Gobi Desert."

  "If I only had some idea what it's all about," commented the radar operator, "I could make a fortune. I have some connections with a newspaper reporter..."

  Adams frowned and returned to his own section. The broadcast was still going on and once more he reclined comfortably in his armchair.

  Perry Rhodan was still talking.

  "...are we living today no longer have the mistaken notion that we are the only intelligent life in this universe. We are not alone; quite the contrary. We are in the same situation as the inhabitants of an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean who up to this moment believed themselves to be the only living men on this world and suddenly find out that they are surrounded—better, locked in—by huge continents with millions of human beings. What would make more sense for the islanders than to join together, forget their petty squabbles and face the unknown as one united force?"

  Perry Rhodan paused.

  None of the Earth viewers of this telecast noticed this slight intermission for nobody speaks without an occasional break. But Adams was not on Earth, he was on space station III. And besides, he knew about the mysterious ship that had so excited the Minister of Security of the New Power. And in addition he knew that Rhodan had under his command a mutant corps with some excellent telepaths.

  Lastly, Adams had a great talent for putting two and two together.

  It was not feasible, he thought, to call Perry Rhodan away from the TV cameras in the middle of an address to a worldwide audience. Yet he had to be informed if something important happened during it. And that this event had been quite important had been fully evidenced by Reginald Bell's behavior.

  Therefore...

  No, it was truly not difficult for radio operator Adams to understand the meaning of what was taking place now on the videoscreen right in front of his eyes.

  Perry Rhodan fell silent and seemed to ponder something for a moment. He gazed at some imaginary point and slightly narrowed his eyes. He seemed to listen to some voice that spoke to him from a spot invisible to his audience. A deep furrow appeared in his brow. For an instant his eyes flashed with displeasure but then has friendly open smile returned. He looked once more straight into the camera, directly into the eyes of the whole world. His voice had not changed at all as he resumed his talk:

  "But many problems still remain to be solved and I must ask you to continue to have confidence in me. And, please, keep trusting our two Arkonide friends regardless of what might happen. If ever one of them should decide to communicate with Arkon and one of the many belligerent races of the universe should learn—if only by accident—of the existence of Earth, the danger of our being discovered would increase tremendously. And you know as well as I what the result would be if mankind were not united by then.

  "In this connection I would like to remind you that we are celebrating here not only the anniversary of man's conquest of space but at the same time the final establishment of peace. The New Power loves peace but will hit swift and hard, should peace be disturbed anywhere in this world."

  After this somewhat abrupt conclusion of his speech, Rhodan bowed slightly in the direction of has invisible audience and walked quickly to a door through which he disappeared. For some time this door could still be seen on the videoscreen, before Col Freyt appeared to announce that Reginald Bell, the Minister of Security of the New Power, would shortly speak about problems of defense in case of an invasion by hostile aliens.

  Freyt asked the listeners to be patient for a while, since Bell had been detained by some unforeseen difficulties.

  Radio operator Adams decided to wait. He had the feeling he had witnessed some important events that could have long lasting effects.

  The sun had become a glowing ball of gas that quickly passed by to the left of the spaceship. Giant protuberances shot out into the void and seemed to want to pull in the destroyer C with fiery fingers, but the ship was too fast. It raced past the sun at half the speed of light and could no longer be overtaken by the whirling gas masses.

  Robot R-17 sat motionless in front of the controls which he had mainly switched over to the automatic guidance system. Only occasionally would he carry out a slight course correction which had become necessary because of the mighty gravitational pull of the sun. He remained silent, waiting for further events.

  Thora had ordered him to name her the commander of this destroyer when they were passing near the moon base. But before the station could reply they had long since vanished in the darkness of space.

  This time she was determined not to permit anything to interfere with her plans. For 10 years—if one took into consideration the peculiar time-leap on Wanderer, the planet of eternal life—she had submitted to Rhodan's iron will. But now she realized he had not the slightest intention of permitting her and Khrest to return to Arkon.

  First, he had said, he wanted to organize his terrestrial world government, not lose face before the Arkonides. Of course, he always used the cheap pretext that an invasion was forever threatening his race.

  Very well then, if Rhodan would not give her permission she would simply take what was her due right. On Venus she would find a way to provide herself with a ship which could carry her back to her home planet. All she needed was to reach the hypersender on Venus that would carry her words with faster-than-light speed through the emptiness of space to distant Arkon.

  Her compatriots would send a ship to rescue her and thus her imprisonment would end.

  She had reached this point in her deliberations when she was seized by some doubts. She had failed to inform Khrest of her plan although he was entitled to know about it. But Khrest was on Rhodan's side; he would not understand her. Therefore she had to proceed without him.

  Nevertheless...

  Seconds turned into minutes. Long since the sun had shrunk in size behind the rear of her ship although it still looked much larger than when seen from Earth. Now a brightly shining point detached itself from the crowded cluster of stars: the planet Venus. Rapidly, it grew in size; became a disk and then a white globe.

  Thora stared at the approaching planet with burning eyes. There she would find the goal of her desires—the gigantic interstellar radio station, constructed ten thousand years ago by the vanished Arkonide settlers who had erected a base on Venus with its automatic installations still functioning perfectly to this very day. And the frightening defense weapons of an unimaginable technology were still effectively protecting the Venusian radio station and the positronic brain.

  Thora wa
s well acquainted with the rules that governed the policy decisions and reactions of the positronic brain. Since destroyer C had been constructed according to Arkonide plans, it would fulfill all necessary prerequisites to be recognized as an Arkonide vessel when it would be probed and checked out by the barrier beams of the ancient fortress. No obstacles would be placed in its way when destroyer C would come in for a landing. Thora knew only too well the powerful fortifications and weaponry of this age-old Venusian base and what means the mighty positronic brain had at its disposal to defend itself.

  After these deliberations her doubts were quickly dispelled and she said to R-17: "We ought to start slowing down now."

  "We have already done so," replied the robot. "One can't notice it. The force fields are compensating for any change that has occurred in our speed. Look—Venus is growing larger!"

  Indeed, the bright sphere had come very close and it seemed to increase in size steadily though only very gradually. A dense cloud cover made it impossible to catch even a glimpse of the planet's surface. But Thora did not need actually to see it, she knew that it resembled a primeval world. Immense oceans extended over a large part of the planet's face, which was mainly a maze of water, swamps and gigantic jungles. The extensive jungles were inhabited by giant saurian reptiles who had only comparatively recently conquered the continents.

  The jungle was practically impassable for man. Even using the most sophisticated means of modern technology, to cover any distance on foot would be almost impossible. Whoever happened to be stranded in this jungle was doomed. Saurian giant lizards, swamps and carnivorous plants would soon finish them off.

  The Venusian atmosphere was breathable for human beings. Despite its high carbon dioxide content it had sufficient oxygen for man. The upper strata of the atmosphere contained increasingly larger percentages of volcanic pollution and admixtures of inert, rare gases. The average daily temperature was close to 120° Fahrenheit. The constant dense cloud layer created a hothouse effect over the entire planet and gave rise to a vegetation growing in great profusion.