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  It was now known where Wanderer had disappeared. It was also obvious that nothing could be learned in the normal time-plane concerning the whereabouts of the synthetic planet.

  So it was that Guppy number K-238, equipped with its own warp-field generator, was prepared for takeoff. Rhodan had refrained from taking along the customary crew complement for this hazardous operation. The Guppy's functions, including the weapons operation, could be handled by five men in cases of emergency and Perry Rhodan was satisfied that such an emergency had arrived.

  Aside from Atlan the Arkonide and Reginald Bell, he had selected Capt. Gorlat and Lt. Tompetch as his companions. These were the five men—himself included—who were in the small control room of the K-238 on that evening of 17 January 2042, holding their breaths as they stared at the viewscreen.

  2/ STRANGE EVENTS ON 'SOLITUDE'

  As the chronometer reached 20:45, the takeoff occurred automatically. The cable, which had thus far provided a connection with the larger ship's interior, slipped free of the connector slot. On the panoramic viewscreen of the K-238 appeared a picture of the large, brightly illuminated scoutship hangar. At the opposite end of the chamber the inner door of the airlock could be seen gliding upward.

  A few seconds later the K-238 also set itself in motion. It floated into the airlock on its antigrav field and paused while the inner hatch closed, giving an electrical signal for the outer hatch to open.

  The milky-looking ring of the warp-field became visible again; its center coincided with the midpoint of the bow viewscreen. Rhodan saw the hatch slide open just as the green takeoff light came on.

  The stationary ring of energy seemed to take a mighty jump toward the scoutship—and in the next moment everything disappeared: the ring, the glittering carpet of unnumbered stars, the Drusus...

  Instead, the spacecraft was surrounded by a deep reddish glow and from the abysmal depths of an eerie, alien void came the malignant rays of the greenish fireball that was the other sun.

  They had completed their crossover successfully.

  • • •

  They knew that from now on they would have to be dealing with another dimension of time. One could not say that another time had to be 'reckoned' with in the sense of actual calculations because the phenomena occurring in this purplish red world were so complex, strange and often self-contradicting that even the mathematicians had failed entirely so far to erect a clear frame-work of reference by which one could be guided.

  However, one thing was certain: the time reference in which the K-238 was now moving had a different lapse-rate than the one they had come from. Whether the differential was faster or slower would only be determined after their return to the Einstein space to which they were accustomed.

  Rhodan was primarily concerned with the question as to whether the green sun was a celestial body in the sense of the hasty classification they had given it—and if so, whether or not it possessed any planets.

  The assignments on board the K-238 were carefully divided: Rhodan was the combination commander and pilot; Atlan the Arkonide sat at the positronic nav-computer and made course calculations or analyzed the results of all bearings taken; Reginald Bell operated the tracking instruments; Capt. Gorlat took charge of the weapons console; and Lt. Tompetch was all around backup man.

  Within ½ hour of their transition into the alien time-plane, the astrophysical instruments had registered a spectrum of the green sun. They produced a spectrographic chart where in the width of the differentiated color bands appeared as a function of the radiation wavelengths. Atlan, who was the first to take a look at it, let out a snort of disgust and said it was a spectrum that wasn't good for anything other than to drive any self-respecting spectroanalyst up the wall. Rhodan took one short look at it and confirmed that the spectrum was more or less what might be expected from a rusty incandescent piece of baling wire but certainly it couldn't be that of a sun.

  In place of the smooth curves the chart should have revealed, were semi-horizontal lines more or less running along the abscissa but with rises and peaks occurring at irregular intervals. One of these peaks registered a wavelength of 5600 angstroms and was obviously the cause of the weird light source's green coloration.

  Before the conclusion was formulated and expressed, to the effect that this was not an actual sun but rather some kind of as yet unknown light phenomenon, the instruments came up with another indication: a gravitational field was being generated by the greenish body. The distance between the K-238 and the green sun amounted to slightly more than 18 astronomical units. Converting this distance in terms of the gravity measured yielded a mass reading of 2.64 × 10 to the 27th power, in tons, which was about 1.2 times the mass of Earth's mother star.

  No celestial object other than a sun could have such amass. The evidence of the mass of the body was a more serious consideration than its peculiar spectrum.

  However the turning point came finally with the discovery that Reginald Bell made about 15 minutes later with especially sensitive instruments. The equipment registered a disturbance of the gravitational field which could only be attributed to a second and weaker gravity field. A few moments later it was demonstrated that the second field was moving opposite the first one. From the originally measured amount of disturbance and its chronological alterations it was ascertained that the body responsible for the second gravitic field must have a mass of about 5.478 × 10 to the 21st power, in tons, which was about 0.83 the mass of the Earth.

  There was no doubt that Bell's instruments had discovered a planet and that the green light phenomenon was its mother star and therefore a sun.

  Rhodan decided immediately to fly to the as yet invisible planet and attempt to land on it.

  • • •

  The unknown world only became visible on the viewscreens after the K-238 had approached it to within 500,000 miles.

  Rhodan cut down the ship's velocity to a speed that he would have considered ridiculous under normal circumstances. However, in a situation like the present one there was no doubt about the fact that he had to be as careful as possible.

  He watched the screen and only listened with half an ear to the instrument readings that Bell was calling out in the small control room. He saw broad stretches of turquoise cloud coverings which stood out only vaguely against the surface. There were surface lines and markings which seemed to indicate some sort of organization and structure.

  Bell was intoning: "Diameter, 6820 miles! Surface gravity is 1.12 normal. Picking up absorption bands for nitrogen, oxygen and argon. Composition: 60, 35, 4. The rest undetermined."

  So the atmosphere was oxygen-rich—certainly breathable—thought Rhodan. At least this was something to start with.

  By the time the K-238 was beginning to penetrate the upper layers of the atmosphere, Bell's instruments were also showing a rotational movement of the alien world. It turned on its axis at a daily rate of 18 hours and a few minutes.

  So the strangeness of the place began to be minimized after all.

  At least where the K-238 landed the surface of the alien planet presented the friendly appearance of park-like forests, broad grasslands and small rivers and streams, the latter flowing generally in a direction where they would apparently have to converge at some point beyond the horizon.

  The overall aspect made it appear as though the K-238 had discovered a new Paradise. However, something else was discovered that—at least during the first few minutes—seriously disturbed this impression: the atmosphere contained a small admixture of hydrogen sulphide; it was a part of the 1% composition that Bell hadn't been able to identify upon their approach, generating a terrible odor that was reminiscent of rotten eggs.

  A careful analysis of the intrinsically poisonous gas revealed that although the impurity was very active from an olfactory standpoint it was nevertheless not dangerous and therefore it would not be necessary to employ breathing filters. Moreover it was known as a common fact that the odor of hydrogen sulphide is qu
ite bearable. After a certain period of getting used to it the human olfactory senses even fail to be aware of it.

  Nothing further happened to Rhodan and his companions. After having explored the area around the scoutship on foot for about an hour, they did not seem to smell the offensive odor any more, so they returned convinced of having discovered a qualified Paradise.

  Reginald Bell's spontaneous suggestion to call the planet Stinker went over like the proverbial lead balloon.

  After he had determined that there was nothing particular interest in the vicinity, Rhodan returned to the ship. In the meantime the positronicon had evaluated all data picked up during the approach flight and had determined that no trace of intelligent life was to be seen on the surface of the planet.

  "Under the circumstances," said Rhodan, "there's not much purpose in staying here any longer. We can't learn from an uninhabited planet where Wanderer disappeared to."

  No one could disagree with this observation. The K-238 was placed in standby condition for takeoff while the positronicon utilized the newly calculated orbital curve of the planet as a basis for determining whether or not there was any other gravitational disturbance manifesting nearby—in other words, a second satellite world of the green sun.

  This investigation came up with an interesting finding: the orbit of the green world was not stable. Its orbital speed was too great in comparison to its orbital diameter. This meant that in the foreseeable future the planet would break away from its mother star and fly off into the purple-red void. At first glance this did not appear to be unusual. At any particular point in time within the universe there were more unstable planetary orbits than stable ones conforming to the physical principle or axiom that an unstable condition was by far more probable than a stabilized one.

  One thing, however, was very strange.

  "I think we're all in agreement on one fact," said Rhodan. "The instability of the orbit can only have started recently. If it were a long-standing condition, no vegetation could have developed on this world. For the generation of life, no matter how primitive, stabilized conditions are required, and by my reckoning. there's been life on this planet for several hundred million years."

  He looked about him as though inviting comment but apparently nobody but Atlan could make something out of the observation. "You're thinking of some sudden effect, right?" he asked with a smile. "Perhaps some gravitational explosion in deep space that may have caused the planet to accelerate, or...?"

  Rhodan rejected the idea with a wave of his hand. "Much less dramatic than that, Admiral," he laughed. "To put it simply: I'm thinking of Wanderer. Wanderer has been transferred into this time-plane somewhere in this vicinity. If it passed this world at a close enough range, it could have caused this orbital disturbance."

  Atlan nodded as though it were the answer he had expected. "You are a man who doesn't waste time coming to conclusions, Barbarian. So now what?"

  For answer Rhodan switched all propulsion machinery to zero output. "That's what," he said. "We stay. If we can find out when the disturbance started, we can calculate the course taken by Wanderer."

  "Oh-ho!" exclaimed Atlan with a raised brow. "That takes about 26 equations with 27 unknowns. That's a three-body problem that would cause a mathematical genius to tear out his hair."

  Rhodan smiled, pointing to the switch-panel of the positronicon. "So let it start tearing its hair..."

  • • •

  Since they had decided to stay awhile, they gave the world a name. It was called Solitude because they couldn't imagine a more lonely place than this, where beautiful plants grew in riotous profusion but without a sign of an animal—if one discounted the small spiders and beetle-like creatures that Rhodan had thus far discovered.

  Actually nobody had anything specific to do—with the exception of the positronicon which combined all possible information concerning integrals of radiation levels from the green sun, Solitude's surface temperature, plus its mass, orbital velocity and other factors in order to reconstruct the planet's original orbital path. Once this was established it would not be difficult to pinpoint the time of the first aberration caused by an outside influence, and from there on, in spite of the intrinsic complexity of the calculations, it would be only one straight step to determining the course that Wanderer had taken—provided, of course, that the hypothesis of Atlan and Rhodan turned out to be factual.

  Rhodan could make no objection when Bell, Gorlat and Tompetch gave in to their need for some sleep and retired to their cabins. Atlan had remained awake but after awhile he also excused himself, saying that he wanted to mull over a few ideas in his head.

  While the positronicon worked industriously behind him, Rhodan observed the green landscape beyond the walls of the ship, noting that the sun was beginning to sink gradually toward the horizon. He studied the strange tree forms and had the impression that they seemed to combine the characteristics of oaks, pines and horse-tails all at once. It was a marvelous world for researchers in galactic biology, he thought. Here were plants from a world in which time stood still.

  The plants did not move. No wind seemed to blow. When one took hold of the strange stalks or touched the leaves of the trees, it felt like touching hard metal. Rhodan knew this phenomenon, having experienced it on that world which Marcel Rous had called the Crystal Planet. It was nothing more than the effect of a decelerated rate of time.

  He fell to brooding over the incomprehensible problem the different real-time ratios until he finally noticed the dark spot that had appeared between two great tree trunks at a distance of about 400 yards—which he knew had not been there before. This rooted his attention. In a world where time passes 72,000 times slower than normal, nothing can make an appearance within a few minutes—not even a dark spot between two tree trunks.

  If only there weren't such a predominance of green, he thought. Green doesn't seem to agree with my eyes. He blocked down the screen to a small quadrant and altered the lens setting of the visual pickup system so that the smaller area was magnified. The higher the degree of magnification he used, the more Rhodan was convinced that a man was standing out there between the trees. He remained motionless and appeared to be watching the ship. The features of the face could not be discerned nor what kind of clothing he wore.

  He reflected that perhaps one of the four crew members had gone outside without telling him about it; but since he was not certain he called into the cabins, one after another. Reginald Bell, who could get away with it, was very cross about being disturbed; Capt. Gorlat announced himself in a regulation manner; and Mike Tompetch was so sleepy that he hadn't the slightest idea of what was wanted of him.

  However, no one answered from Atlan's cabin.

  "OK, Admiral you just wait!" Rhodan laughed to himself. "Leaving the ship without the Commander's permission!"

  He stood up and went over to the weapons console. It wouldn't do the Arkonide any harm to lay in a well-aimed disintegrator shot and knock down a tree in his vicinity to give him a scare.

  But Rhodan had not reached the seat usually occupied by Capt. Gorlat before the bulkhead hatch slid aside with a low rumble. Atlan appeared in the opening.

  Although he was smiling, he looked a bit troubled or confused. Rhodan cast a quick glance at the viewscreen and saw that the dark figure was still standing between the trees.

  So it had to be...!

  "Perry—" Atlan began, and the very fact that he had used Rhodan's first name was sufficient proof that he was confused.

  "What?" Rhodan wanted to know. Atlan shook his head.

  "It's better you don't ask. Otherwise you might think that I—"

  "Come on! Out with it!"

  "I just saw a little man... in my cabin!" he confessed in a low, uncertain tone. To his surprise Rhodan remained calm and collected. He turned and pointed to the viewscreen.

  "You mean, perhaps, that one there?" he asked—but then let out a gasp of astonishment. The figure between the two tree trunks had disappe
ared. Atlan gasped too.

  "It's quite impossible, you know, no matter what you say. A man only this tall..." With his hand he indicated a height of about 10 inches. "And completely humanoid, too, with a Terranian spaceship uniform—and don't forget he came through a closed hatch."

  "What did he look like?" asked Rhodan. "I mean, his face."

  Atlan shrugged. "I don't know. He... I couldn't see it very well. But it was kind of strange. Like... yes, now I recall it: like a half-finished piece of sculpture. Not quite rounded out yet, so to speak."

  "I see. And how did he get in?"

  "I don't know that either. I was standing with my back to the door looking at the viewscreen. When I turned around, he was there. Absolutely without a sound. He stood near the table."

  "And what was he doing...?"

  "Nothing... other than looking around. His movements were fairly quick, astonishingly so for this world."

  "Then he went out again?"

  "You can't say he went out, in the normal sense of the word," protested the Arkonide. "I had just recovered from my surprise and was about to say something to him, when all of a sudden he was gone. From one moment to the other—gone—like one of your teleporters."

  "Hm-m-m... Maybe he is one," said Rhodan. "It would also explain how he came through the closed door. What did you do then? Did you come here?"

  Atlan nodded. "You know, it could well be that he's a teleporter. But do you have in your crew a man with a half-completed face who is only less than a foot tall?"

  Rhodan laughed half aloud. "No, naturally not. But Solitude is a most unique world. So we don't have to lose our heads right off the bat. Maybe there is—"

  "Right you are, Barbarian," interrupted Atlan and he seemed to have regained his equilibrium. "Maybe there is a purely natural explanation."

  "Correct," Rhodan agreed and he pressed the alarm button. When the sirens set up a howl it startled the Arkonide. The incident appeared to have gotten on his nerves pretty badly, even though he gave the outward appearance of being completely at ease.