The Secret of the Time Vault Page 3

  The foundation of the hyperwave broadcast station was expertly camouflaged in the eternal ice. Nearby were the plastic living quarters of the two men and their Ferron companions. Generators provided light and heat; an air-conditioning system made life bearable beneath the frozen surface.

  John Marshall, a natural telepath and member of the mutant corps, was preparing for a reconnaissance flight. Haggard, the famous hematologist from Australia, assisted him in his preparations.

  "I miss Bell," said John wistfully. "I'm really looking forward to seeing his silly grin again."

  "What loneliness won't do to some people," kidded Doctor Haggard. "Wherever Reg shows his face, you can bet that Perry, Khrest and Thora won't be long in putting in an appearance. That's what's probably at the root of your nostalgic feelings."

  "Yes, especially Thora," admitted John, and adjusted the transmitter in his helmet. "What a woman!"

  "She's colder than all the ice of Iridul!" Doctor Haggard pretended to shiver with cold. He grinned. "If you should as much as entertain the thought in your wildest dreams ..."

  "Don't worry, Doc. I wouldn't poach on Rhodan's territory."

  The physician watched silently as Marshall climbed into the cockpit of the plane and closed the hatch behind him. Haggard stepped over to the switch-panel next to the hyperwave sender and depressed a lever. At the same time he activated the regular wireless set to keep in touch with the pilot.

  "All set?" asked John.

  "You can start. Good luck!"

  "Thanks."

  The fighter took off suddenly on anti-grav skids, gliding along the brightly lit tunnel.

  The airlock gates closed behind it. Pumps began to hum. Then the door to the outside world opened up ahead. John moved the joystick, and the tiny machine, its cabin just large enough to accommodate one person comfortably, shot out into the dim sunlight.

  Vega was much too far away to cause the glittering ice crystals of this small satellite to sparkle properly. The wide snowy expanses reflected the light coming from Vega and other stars, but only because of the total lack of any atmosphere on Iridul. The shadows stood out starkly and formed an uncompromising barrier between darkness and light.

  John climbed slowly, hardly accelerating. He rose leisurely up into the star-studded sky, enjoying the view. His eyes searched for a certain constellation he knew from back on planet Earth. He located it almost immediately. The contours had shifted somewhat, and an entirely new star stood almost at the center of the familiar picture. The star shone yellow and not too bright: the stun, Sol, twenty-seven light-years away. John had just turned four when the light he was seeing this very moment had started on its long journey through space. In the meantime, John had overtaken the sun's rays. And now they met up again.

  I've seen the same light now for the third time, thought John. Extraordinary! Unique! Is it at all possible to see the same light more than once?

  He couldn't pursue these philosophical speculations further, that never led to a tangible result anyhow, for something aroused his attention. At first he wasn't even aware what it had been, but then his brain began to work: no star could move as fast as that. No planet either. And there are no glowing meteors moving through empty space.

  A spaceship?

  He turned his fighter plane around and accelerated. He wasn't afraid of being attacked: He knew he could pick up speed much quicker than any enemy ship. Long before they could get ready to charge, he would have fled to safety. John couldn't exclude the possibility that the invaders might have recovered in the meantime from their terrible defeat. He was sure the loss of the gigantic spherical cruiser had been rough on them - but they still had left a battleworthy fleet of faster-than-light spaceships.

  Another flash of light!

  John switched on the search-robot, which at once activated its reflecting rays. Seconds later the fighter's nose moved slightly to one side and pointed directly at the slowly approaching star.

  Here it was! A Topidian ship!

  The magnification magically produced a shadow on the screens. At once John recognized the circular bulge around the center of the slender spacecraft. This was a dead giveaway for a Topidian vessel.

  John deliberated, but with lightning speed. It would make no sense to tangle with the enemy. Rhodan had forbidden all attacks on the Topides, and given orders to avoid any encounter with them until he returned with the Stardust II and an effective fighting force.

  All the same, it was interesting in itself to note that the Topides had resumed activity again. They apparently had wanted to secure their position of power in the Vega system and therefore had set out on a scouting mission to the outer planets. There was no danger that they would become suspicious of Iridul, however.

  John changed course once more, with a heavy heart, and sent a brief report to Haggard in order to warn him. It would be advisable from now on not to leave the protection of the underground cavern.

  John accelerated with a tremendous thrust of power and soon reached the speed of light. Otherwise it would have taken days to get to the ninth planet, considering the colossal extent of this system.

  Rofus reminded him vividly of Earth, except for the absence of big cities. The Ferrons had settled on this planet a long time ago. They were more than happy now to use it as a place of refuge. A sufficient number of natives had remained on Ferrol, mainly the Sichas, an almost wild tribe of brave warriors. They lived in the mountains and had given the Topidian invaders a very hard time.

  John intersected the orbital paths of several planets and slowed down his fighter when the eleventh planet passed by in the distance. In a few more minutes he sighted the ninth planet. He orbited around it several times to make quite sure that no enemy scout planes were nearby. Then he landed in Tschugnor, the capital of Rofus.

  Almost daily John or Doctor Haggard flew to Tschugnor in order to visit the Thort of Ferrol. The ruler of Ferrol had fled to safety from the Topidian invaders. His ministers and collaborators had followed him into exile. He resided in Tschugnor and via matter transmitter he kept in constant touch with his secret agents who had remained on the home planet, now occupied by the enemy lizard race. Radio communication had been discontinued and the spaceships no longer left their secret underground hiding places. Ferrons and news capsules traveled between the eighth and ninth to execute her hyperspace jump. No one, however, knew the secret of these artificially constructed teleport installations. John was quite certain about this.

  Normally no one paid any special attention to the Terrestrial visitors during their periodic stays on Tschugnor. But there was something special in the air today, John noticed, as he climbed out of his craft. He shut the hatch and switched on the electronic barrier. Anyone coming too close to the ship would receive a painful jolt. The barrier reacted only to John's brainwave pattern.

  The streets of the city were bustling with activity. John became aware that many Ferrons were busy transporting all kinds of heavy loads. He tried to learn telepathically what was going on, but in vain. The only impressions he managed to receive-were so confusing that they were less than useless for him. He merely perceived vague generalized

  What had happened?

  He made his way to the Thort's residence as fast as he could. He was admitted at once and soon sat across from the ruler of the Ferrons.

  No vestige of his former royal dignity could be discerned in the little man. He simply grasped John's strong hands as if pleading for help. John understood him, due to his telepathic abilities, and could dispense with the usual translating robot; he even managed to answer him in a more or less intelligible fashion.

  "Sir, our lives are in jeopardy," began the desperate Thort. "Unless the great Rhodan is going to help us we'll all be lost."

  "Rhodan is already on his way." John lied in order to calm down the little man. "What's happened? You act as if the Topides had started an offensive on Rofus."

  "An attack is imminent. Till now they've kept quiet on Ferrol, but now we hear
nothing but reports about preparations going on that can only lead to the conquest of Rofus."

  "Do you have positive proof of that, or do you just suspect it?"

  "We're absolutely convinced. According to our agents" reports the lizards" fleet is getting ready to attack Rofus. Many of my subjects on Ferrol have been arrested, imprisoned and even killed. The Topides have gotten over their initial shock of Rhodan's sudden appearance on the scene. Now they're bound to come here to take vengeance. That means we'll have to suffer for something we haven't done at all. The Arkonides are obligated to come to our assistance now."

  Fine thanks we're getting for our help, John thought. Gratitude doesn't seem to be their strong point.

  "Do you have any clues as to when this invasion is supposed to come off, Thort?"

  "No, no definite clues. But it can come any day. And all we have left of our defensive forces is our badly mangled fleet."

  "That wouldn't be of much help," John admitted thoughtfully. He sensed that the time for action had come. Rhodan had left him behind to keep an eye on any further activities of the Topidian enemy here. In case they had really overcome their shock and renewed their attacks, it was John's duty to give immediate alarm. Rhodan would have to interrupt the training of his special crew and start at once. John had no idea how long it would take the huge battle cruiser to traverse the distance of twenty-seven light-years, but it should not exceed a few days, at most. No doubt it was his duty to send off the prearranged signal and to inform Rhodan.

  "I must have valid reasons, Thort, to request Rhodan's presence here."

  "Isn't it sufficient proof that the Topides are getting active again? Until now they didn't budge and stayed quietly on Ferrol. But now they've resumed regular patrol missions throughout the entire system."

  True enough. John himself had seen such a patrolling vessel in the vicinity of the twenty-eighth planet.

  He rose. "All right, Thort. I'll send a message at once to Perry Rhodan to return here in a hurry. Keep your fleet ready for action. It's quite possible that you'll have to ward off the enemy's first blow all by yourself. Go ahead and train troops that can be transported to Ferrol via the matter transmitters. They're to create diversionary actions behind the enemy lines. Once Rhodan arrives here, we'll strike the decisive blow that will finally chase these reptilians out of the Vega system for good."

  "Let's hope we'll survive long enough to see all this come true," sighed the ruler. He didn't seem too convinced by this likelihood. But then he drew himself up to his full height, holding his short squat stature as erect as possible. His tiny mouth became a thin line, giving his face an air of determination. "We will and we must beat the Topides. I must liberate my oppressed people on Ferrol. Even if many managed to escape here to Rofus, the best people have remained behind!"

  A few minutes later John was on his way back to his fighter plane. He walked on foot in order to gather some more impressions and also to be able to think about his talk with the Thort. He could never quite figure out these Ferrons. True, they had progressed far enough to develop space travel, but they had never gone beyond the initial stages. They had colonized the seventh and ninth planets but their ambitions had stopped short there. Yet they knew a way of dematerializing matter and even themselves and then transport all over tremendous distances. Via the fifth dimension! Without any loss of time! For this one needed technical and mathematical knowledge. And the Ferrons quite obviously lacked those. John was certain they were even unable to build such a transmitter. These machines had been handed down through generations; they must have originated in the far distant past. The story of their origin had been lost. They were the remainder of some period of splendor, a highpoint of technological excellence that had vanished.

  Or had the Ferrons once been in contact with a superior civilization from whom they had obtained these transmitters? And had that civilization fallen into oblivion?

  John found no answers to his questions and no longer pursued this train of speculative thought. He knew that Perry Rhodan had been puzzled by this problem too but had not arrived at any conclusions. Maybe this was the key to a secret whose solution would answer many questions.

  Suddenly it was much easier for him to divine the thoughts of the Ferrons who were hurrying past him. They were fleeing. They were leaving the city to seek refuge in the mountains before the enemy's impending attack.

  John found his fighter exactly the way he had left it. He removed the barrier and took off without delay. Shortly after leaving the atmosphere of Rofus, he accelerated to the speed of light and set course for the twenty-eighth planet. Vega shrank rapidly and lost its brightness.

  Once again he detected another spaceship with his position finder but it was too far away for direct sighting on his visiscreen. He didn't doubt for a single moment that it was another scout ship of the Topides.

  He cautiously circled around the twenty-eighth planet several times before he landed on the moon Iridul. Doctor Haggard was already waiting for him and opened the airlock.

  Two minutes later the pilot climbed out of the cabin and announced: "We must send the message, Haggard. The Topides are resuming their activity. I'm convinced it's high time to chase them out of this system."

  "Rhodan's orders are to use the hyperband sender only in case of emergency - we risk detection, you know. Fortunately nobody can determine for whom the message is intended. And Earth's position must remain a secret."

  "But it must be sent. Get everything ready; I'll compose the text of the message. It must be brief and still say all that's necessary."

  Doctor Haggard nodded in agreement. "I'll make it in about ten minutes. By the way - two hours ago we made an instrument sighting of a Topidian ship. It was orbiting around Iridul as if it were looking for something. Is there any connection with the things you've been able to find out?"

  John could hardly hide his consternation.

  "You bet there is," he said quickly. "A great deal, even worse than I thought. Hurry up, we'd better not waste a second. Scout parties may be harmless, but they're usually the forerunners of far less harmless events later on. I'm afraid the Topides are preparing to take possession of the Vega system."

  Doctor Haggard switched on the current. A dull roar suddenly filled the wide cavern. Lamps started glowing. The gigantic sender began to vibrate, sending waves to Earth without any loss of time, for one light-year meant for them as much as twenty-seven light-years. Indeed, exactly the same as 32,000 light-years - and there was the snag.

  Throughout the universe receivers would be registering these waves.

  Position finders might even indicate that the sender could be found somewhere in the Vega system. But since this system was not part of the Galactic Empire, it would probably arouse curiosity. Someone might decide to investigate this situation and see which race had reached and surpassed the technical pinnacle of normal progress by penetrating into the fifth dimension.

  A red light flashed.

  "All set," said Haggard, and pointed to the tiny cabin just large enough to accommodate one person. "Go in and read out the message. You have exactly thirty seconds. Then the message will be repeated automatically."

  "You know," remarked John with a forced smile, "whenever I see this sending cabin I'm reminded of the matter transmitter the Ferrons are using. Both this cabin and the matter transmitter have certain things in common: the Ferronian apparatus transports human beings through hyperspace, while we do the same thing with our waves. I always have the uneasy feeling that someday things might go wrong; we might have a misconnection and I, rather than my words, might land on Earth."

  It was a strange thought, but Doctor Haggard didn't treat John's words as a joke. "It's not as improbable as you might think, John. The only thing that really worries me would be the location in which you'd materialize again. After all, there are many receiving stations in the universe!"

  John's face grew pale, nevertheless he entered the cabin with a determined step and shut the door b
ehind him.

  The hum increased; he began to speak.

  Perry Rhodan received the report a few minutes before takeoff. Colonel Freyt, who had already taken his leave and had stepped off the Stardust II, returned in a hurry and brought the text. This message didn't change anything in principle, it only intensified Rhodan's determination to clear up the situation in the Vega sector as fast and as thoroughly as possible.

  "Thanks, Colonel Freyt. We intend to be back within a few weeks, if everything goes according to plan. In the meantime, I hope you'll do all you can to bring about one united government on Earth. The time for racist differences should by now have become a thing of the past. Mankind can assume the role of heir to the Arkonide Empire only after having become truly citizens of Terra. Do you see my point?"

  Freyt faced Rhodan squarely. "Of course I do. Now, my friend, goodbye and lots of luck."

  After Freyt had left, Rhodan stood in the ship's command center for a moment as if lost in thought. Reginald Bell walked over from the communication console and remarked with a frown on his round face, "It would be a smart idea to let on as little as possible to Khrest what you intend to do - I mean about being heir to the Arkonide Empire. He might not take too kindly to the idea."

  To his surprise, Rhodan reacted with a smile. "That's where you're wrong, my friend. It's Khrest's secret desire that one day we'll take over from them as masters of their Galactic Empire. He realizes only too well the old regime will founder without us. Thora is the only one who refuses to listen to reason. But enough of these dreams of the future!

  "All set."

  "It's high time we start. The message from Iridul sounded very alarming. The Topides are getting ready to attack Rofus. We must forestall their plans."

  "Our mutant corps will show them a merry dance," promised Bell, returning to his place at the control board.

  Colonel Freyt stood motionless at the edge of the field as the huge spaceship lifted off silently, then shot up into the clear sky like a gigantic missile. A few seconds later he lost sight of it. He sighed and climbed aboard the glider that took him back to Galacto-City.