Peril on Ice Planet Page 4

  The creature was only half as big as Holloran. It had a pointed snout, large ears and a plump rear end. The eyes were big and looked through the faceplate at Holloran with amused blinking. Suddenly Holloran heard the voice again: "I don't mind if you take a little time gaping at me but don't dally too long. I'm in a hurry!"

  Holloran was completely shaken up. A telepath, he thought. He seems to know a few other tricks too. Perhaps it's his fault that the switches are stuck. "You only have to think what you want to tell me," Holloran was informed. "If you don't like it you may talk to me. I'll understand you."

  The Springer shuddered. A being who could read each of his thoughts. "What do you want?" he asked perplexed.

  "Not much," came the answer. "I would like to get into that big ship over there. Since they won't let me in willingly, you'll have to sneak me in with your craft."

  "Impossible!" Holloran panted. "They'd kill me if they found out I did it."

  "So much the better for me," was the reply. "That way you'll keep your mouth shut and mention me to nobody."

  Holloran continued to protest but the furry creature produced a raygun from a pocket and pointed it at the Springer, holding it in his forepaw which was enclosed in the thin skin of the protective suit. "Get going! "Now!" Holloran heard. "And cut out the gab!" Holloran realized that he had no other choice than to follow his orders. Slowly and suspiciously his hand reached the lever for the vertical lift. Hesitantly and cautiously he pushed and...

  Click!The lever slid smoothly and the engine began to hum. Then he stepped the control up and the little machine responded perfectly, rising above the snow.

  "Very good!" Pucky lauded him. "Keep going. Do they control admittance to the big ship?"

  Holloran was puzzled by the question. "Yes... of course," he answered in a quavering voice. Again he heard the derisive laugh by which the strange being had made himself first noticeable. "It's no use lying to me. As I told you, I can read your thoughts. Well, then there are no controls. That's better. We won't have any difficulties."

  Holloran swore silently. It was his rotten luck to get into such an unpleasant predicament. In the east the ETZ XXI came into view above the snow. Holloran glanced to the side. The furry being seemed to pay no attention to him but the gun was still in his hand. Holloran had no way out. He was forced to do as he was told.

  • • •

  The matter was deemed to be so important that Orlgans and Etztak took over the job of studying the evaluation. The analyzer had produced a total of 24 diagrams relating to Mouselet's interrogation—one for each relevant section of his brain. The co-ordinates of the calibrated points—each diagram contained between 1000 and 10,000 such measurements—together with the weighted significance of the biological-statistical data, were fed into a mechanical evaluator. This machine delivered the decoded information in concise keywords printed on small plastic strips.

  After half an hour it had become perfectly obvious that Jean-Pierre Mouselet indeed knew nothing at all about the World of Eternal Life. Etztak was so disgusted that he threw another fit of temper. He was about to sweep the plastic strips from the table when Orlgans stayed his hand and shouted: "Look here! This is a clue!"

  Etztak had trouble calming down. Angrily he tore the strip from Orlgans' hand and held it before his eyes. "It is clear," Orlgans murmured, "that Terra has no inkling of the Springers' scheme. If Rhodan is going to take a hand in this matter his first step will be to secure information."

  "So what?" Etztak growled. "That's trivial!"

  Orlgans handed him a second strip. It bore a marginal note by the analyzer: Basic attitude caustic.

  "If I know Rhodan," Etztak continued reading, "he'll place a spy so close in front of the Springers' nose that they won't be able to see him with their big eyes and Tifflor would be just the man to do the job." Etztak jumped out of his skin. "That... that!" he panted.

  Orlgans' face had a doubtful expression. "That doesn't necessarily mean," he interrupted the old man, "that we're on the wrong track. The prisoner doesn't know anything about the World of Eternal Life and consequently cannot know whether Tifflor is acquainted with it or not. But his impression seems important to me anyway."

  "I should say it is!" Etztak roared, pounding the table with his fist. "It's always important to know the mentality of your enemy. The prisoner knew Rhodan better than we do. If he thinks that's how Rhodan operates, then he's probably right. One thing I'd like to know though. How does it come that the prisoner knows that person by the name of Tifflor?"

  Orlgans rummaged through the information strips and picked up three more of them. The strips pertained to the fact that Mouselet had some dealings with Tifflor during his activities ordered by the Supermutant. It was some disagreeable encounter but the hardened Mouselet had come away with a feeling of respect for Tifflor.

  Etztak was satisfied. He looked with flashing eyes at Orlgans who could sense a new wave of vigor and resolve flowing from the old man.

  "If that is the case," Etztak's strong voice thundered, accompanying his words with a resounding laugh, "then we've no longer any reason to sit here idly. We'll have to start a minute search of the vicinity of our landing place."

  Orlgans agreed. 'I'd suggest," he added however, "including the neighborhood of the place where the fugitives seized the patrol craft of the ORLA XI."

  "We'll do that too," Etztak assented.

  Preparations for the search were made at once. Etztak applied a lesson he had learned from Orlgans' experience. As a result he instructed the search teams not to leave their vehicles under any circumstances. Furthermore, at least two ships had to remain in sight of each other at all times while patrolling the area. "If the prisoner was right," Etztak's voice reverberated from the intercom, "it shouldn't take more than a few hours to catch the fugitives."

  3/ Death on Snowman

  Holloran's auxiliary ship shot with remarkable speed into the dark gaping hole of the large hangar airlock.

  Pucky perceived from Holloran's thoughts that the Springer was not inclined to end his own life or that of his intruding guest. He strictly proceeded in the usual manner. The little machine braked quickly but gently and floated through a passage leading to the individual pads of the patrol ships. From a certain point on the vehicle seemed to be conducted automatically. Holloran had stopped manipulating his controls but a few moments later the ship was firmly secured on the pad by a stationary gravitational field.

  "Here we are," Holloran stated.

  Pucky thanked him ironically. He remained for a moment motionlessly in his seat and deduced from Holloran's mind the layout of the huge ship, at least in rough outlines. Of the information culled involuntarily from the Springer, Pucky selected one piece in particular for his use. It concerned a spare parts stockroom in the rear section of the ETZ XXI which Holloran knew to be empty and practically never used.

  Just as Holloran was about to leave the ship and wanted to ask his guest about his further wishes, Pucky departed. Holloran stared in frightened disbelief at the seat where the furry animal had sat. He broke out in perspiration thinking about the havoc which could be wrought by such a being on the ship and felt even more miserable when he remembered that—in order to save his own skin—he was unable to tell anybody what kind of a strange stowaway he had brought aboard.

  Pale and trembling he climbed out and went to the nearest intercom set and reported to the hangar control officer that he had returned and duly berthed the patrol ship.

  • • •

  Pucky materialized again safely and without complications in the little stockroom. He noticed at once that Holloran's information was either false or old since the walls of the room were covered with cabinets and each compartment was filled to overflowing. The room was not as quiet and remote as Pucky had expected. But at least for the time there were being no Springers present.

  With the probing sense which was part of his telekinetic ability he carefully checked the immediate surroundings of the stockr
oom. Up to a distance of 15 feet he was able to feel the outline of objects which were out of his sight. As cautious as he was, he didn't take the time to identify the outlines of what was outside. It was enough for him to know nothing within 15 feet of him was moving.

  When he was certain he jumped out. He landed in front of the stockroom hatch in a narrow winding gangway which ended a few feet behind him at a flat shiny wall. Pucky mind-probed through the wall and felt icy gusts of snow beyond the outer hull of the ship. He had to turn in the opposite direction to find out what he had come for. He ambled down the narrow gangway which twisted at sharp corners every 10 to 12 feet, reaching with his 'feelers' around the next corner. In this manner he avoided the danger that he might accidentally run into somebody.

  After the tenth bend the narrow gangway ended in a much larger corridor which, to his chagrin, ran straight. Pucky tiptoed forward and probed the corridor, finding it deserted as far as he could sense. When he finally looked around into the corridor, which was lit much brighter than the gangway, he saw that it was empty only 60 feet in both directions. He noticed many figures rushing through the corridor and disappearing in the recesses of the wall where apparently the antigrav elevators were located.

  Pucky counted 30 Springers on each side. He waited till all the Springers had entered the elevators. Then he teleported himself as far as he could see down the corridor. He appeared again at a crossing of another passageway which ended at the left in another wider corridor whose floor was equipped with conveyor walk belts in both directions. He recognized that he had reached the main hallway of the ship. If he judged the Springers correctly, the command center should be situated somewhere along this hallway and probably right in the middle.

  The commander was the man Pucky wanted to meet as the most likely source of the desired information. Therefore he had to advance along the hallway until he found the command center unknown to him. And that, Pucky decided, was ticklish and far from easy but it had to be done nevertheless.

  • • •

  "Foreign objects!" Aubrey announced briefly.

  Tiff looked up. "What is it, Aubrey?" he asked.

  "A great number of small ships, sir!" Aubrey replied. "In many different places. Together in pairs. The nearest at R 50,000, Phi 5. Altitude constant at 1000 feet."

  Tiff got up. "So they're still after us," he said gravely. "Let's get ready!"

  Hifield didn't budge. He leaned his strong back against the wall and eyed Tiff suspiciously. "How do you know it's the Springers?" he asked disgruntled.

  "Sure, you're right. They're probably Eskimos." Tiff dismissed it, paying no further attention to Hifield.

  The packages Pucky had brought had been hauled in and unpacked long ago. The Arkonide transport suits were neatly spread out in the background and ready to slip in.

  Tiff took off his spacesuit and put on the transport suit. Eberhardt followed his example while Hifield was still sitting motionlessly with his back against the wall.

  Eberhardt taunted him: "Are you afraid of the Springers, Hifield?"

  Hifield rose up and angrily threatened Eberhardt: "Don't say that again!" Then he too started to change into a transportation suit.

  "Control check!" Tiff ordered. "Deflector field?"

  "O.K."

  "Impact screen?"

  "O.K."

  "Antigrav?"

  "O.K."

  "Climate control?"

  "O.K."

  "Very good!"

  Tiff turned to the girls. "You stay here and don't move!" he advised them.

  Then he went to Aubrey and instructed him: "Take up your position at the outer partition. don't expose yourself outside the cave unless I call you. It's too easy for them to locate a hunk of metal like you."

  "Will do, sir!" Aubrey confirmed.

  Tiff looked around once more. "I wish Pucky were already back," he murmured, adding in a loud voice:

  "Close your helmets! Take your arms! Use minimum of energy for helmet transmitters!"

  They complied and Tiff said: "Now let's get going!"

  Aubrey removed the cover from the wall. A draft of cold air came in. The robot squeezed through the narrow opening. Tiff followed him with Eberhardt and Hifield behind.

  "Distance now 15,000 feet, sir!" Aubrey reported as he replaced the cover. "Phi unchanged, altitude remains at 1000 feet."

  Tiff understood. Phi unchanged meant that the two ships were closing in on the center of the coordinate system. And the center was Tiff with his cell transmitter.

  • • •

  "Seems to me that we've a fair-sized mountain in front of us," Willagar said.

  And Psholgur added: "I'd think if somebody wanted to hide from us he'd do it in a mountainous region rather than dig in on the plain."

  Willagar laughed. "That makes two of us then with the same opinion."

  Willagar and Psholgur were the crew of one of the two patrol craft Aubrey had spotted. Willagar contacted the second ship over the telecom and told its occupants about their mutual suspicions.

  Horlgon—a young member of the Horl family who owned the HORL VII —and Enaret thought that this suspicion was well-founded too. "Then we better watch out from now on," Horlgon warned. "We're about 250 miles from the spot where the fugitives seized the ship. They could very well have hidden in this area."

  "That's exactly what I believe," Willagar answered. "Let's slow down our speed as soon as we reach the mountains."

  "Alright," Horlgon agreed.

  • • •

  Tiff had to suppress a touch of homesickness when he looked at his watch. 6:51 o'clock Terrestrial time. A new morning dawned on Earth at this time.

  Here on Snowman the shining point of light, the blue-white sun, neared the horizon and even though the orange-colored disk of the central sun would remain in the sky, it was too weak after the blue-white dwarf went down to give more light than a fair moon.

  They stationed themselves at the rim of the ravine where the patrol craft was hidden. Tiff was in constant contact with Aubrey who waited behind the first wall in the cave monitoring the position of the two ships.

  Tiff had realized for some time that his pursuers concentrated their search on the mountains where their cave was located. They had changed their course and flew in ever tighter circles around a spot only a few miles away from the cave.

  • • •

  Willagar and Psholgur tried out a new method. They held their ship at an altitude of about 300 feet and rotated the beam of their sensor. Horlgon and Enaret stayed within sight as ordered by Etztak. None of the four expected they would be able to locate the fugitives since they probably had crawled into a cave long ago. But they figured they had a good chance of spotting the captured patrol ship if the sensor were given an opportunity to work accurately.

  It was Horlgon who detected the lost ship. He determined the co-ordinates and Willagar too directed his sensor beam at the described place.

  "We want to take up another position," suggested Willagar.

  Horlgon's voice sounded very excited as he replied: "Okay. We don't want them to notice that we've discovered them in case they've already made us out." It annoyed Willagar that Horlgon was wise to his tactic.

  • • •

  Tiff's observations were very simple and convincing.

  "Since two hours," he explained, "they have used a new system. They hover for 20 minutes over a spot and comb the surroundings as far as their instruments reach. They've done this already five times. The sixth time, when they were almost vertically above the ravine, they moved away after eight minutes. If that doesn't mean they've detected the ship and left as a ruse for us, you can call me a fool."

  "Alright, fool!" Hifield reacted. "I think you're too pessimistic."

  Tiff didn't have to answer. Eberhardt intervened: "It seems perfectly clear to me. I'd have done the same thing, perhaps a little less obvious though."

  Aubrey reported the latest positions. The two ships had now approached within 1000 feet
beyond the cave.

  "Let's wait and see!" Tiff proposed. "If they've found the ship they're bound to change their strategy sooner or later."

  Eberhardt grunted. "I'd like to be able to see you again. Is the deflector really necessary?"

  "We must keep using it," Tiff replied firmly. "We don't know the range of their instruments."

  • • •

  Pucky waited about half an hour at the junction of the side corridor. He deftly evaded all those in whose brains he could perceive from a safe distance that it would be 'impossible to proceed unseen to the commander by the direct way. What he needed was more precise information about the location of the room which the commander occupied. Pucky moved farther back into the little used side corridor and picked a spot from where he could easily jump into an adjacent room in case a group of Springers passed by. Then he waited.

  In the first 10 minutes nobody came his way and there was no need for him to take a jump. Shortly thereafter a bunch of Springers hurried through the gangway but their thoughts were too helterskelter for Pucky to dissect.

  But finally his moment came. A single Springer rounded the corner and walked leisurely toward Pucky. Pucky leaped into hiding so as not to betray his presence prematurely. He sensed the man through the wall when he approached within 15 feet from him as he strolled along. Pucky jumped back. He heard the tall husky Springer utter a startled cry and felt the fright suddenly springing up in his mind. Pucky raised his impulse-beamer, ready to shoot. The Springer was completely dumbfounded.

  Pucky addressed him in Intercosmo: "Exu! you won't get hurt if you tell me quickly and precisely where the commander is."