The Earth Dies Read online

In disgust and revulsion, Al-Khor stared for a few seconds at the mortal remains of the young, zealous officer who had wanted to use his head as a stepping stone. Then he turned around once more and busied himself at the control console.

  The battle reports coming in from the fighting forces were uncensored and apparently without order or supervision. It did not take many minutes for Al-Khor to realize that the battle was virtually lost. The superior power of the enemy was too great.

  What remained was a very slight possibility, a meteoroid in the void, so to speak. With an impatient sweep of his hand, he silenced the incoming confusion of voices. Automatically all stations were changed to a mode of reception. Now they would all be able to hear his voice at once.

  "All officers, attention! This is Al-Khor, your Commander." He paused slightly, took a deep breath. "We will abandon Lyrad 3 and engage the Springers in outer space. Either we will be victorious—or we will die! That is all!"

  That is all...!The words echoed in Al-Khor's mind as he got up and took care of issuing his final instructions.

  • • •

  When the Top 2 materialized and the giant, blood red star Betelgeuse appeared on the viewscreens, it was to Topthor as though someone had struck him in the face. Speechless and uncomprehending, he stared at the unbelievable spectacle presented to his eyes. This the sun of the planet Terra?

  Impossible!

  This giant red eye before him was a completely unknown sun, so basically different from the yellow star he had known before that a blind man would have known the difference.

  And Topthor was anything but blind.

  His first thought was to get into immediate radio contact with Cekztel and to reveal the error to him. But then he remained seated and continued to stare silently at the incredible scene. He tried to find some explanation for it but did not succeed. Under no condition would it have been possible for the positronic brain in the Nav section to have made an error. That was completely out of the question. At the time, the location data had been registered right on the spot and stored in the memory bank, so there could be no error from that source.

  Topthor was an objective thinker and therefore he soon gave up trying to find an explanation for the impossible; there was time for that later. At the moment it was important to face the facts as they were and to consider the possible results or alternatives.

  Alternative 1: to communicate with Cekztel and admit to him that he had led the fleet to a false destination. What would be the consequences? Topthor quickly became ill when he thought of them. Even though he was not aware of any blame on his part, the reproaches would fall on him like hail. And who would care? No one. Maybe he would even be ostracized and in the future would have to live the lonely life of an outcast, shunned by everyone and without a friend.

  No. Topthor had no intention of enlightening Cekztel.

  Alternative 2: he would try on his own to solve the problem and find out how the error had occurred. This involved remaining silent for the time being and allowing his companions to believe that this was in fact the system of Terra and the Earthly sun. Certainly it wouldn't take long for them to realize that they had been led astray, because Rhodan's home system would not be lying here without protection. However, in this place no resistance was to be expected. It was a discrepancy that would soon demonstrate itself—a discrepancy that Topthor was satisfied with for the moment.

  The 2nd alternative seemed to be more acceptable to the Mounder.

  But he thought further. He knew that on board were a number of the crew who had been with him that time and had seen the Earth themselves. Would they remain silent if he should reveal the facts to them? Certainly they were old friends and comrades of his, especially Regol and Gatzek.

  And lastly there was still the positronic brain, which was capable of error.

  Topthor got up suddenly and paid the Navigation room a visit. He dismissed the officer on watch and set about checking out the data personally. After a few minutes the computer spewed out the results. Topthor checked it through and shook his head.

  The statements checked out. The co-ordinates checked out. The red, giant sun checked out!

  Silently and without explanation he nodded to the officer who had in the meantime returned and he went back into the Control Central. He sat down heavily in the upholstered seat and looked at the viewscreen. He also plugged in to the running stream of radio traffic and listened. The attack on the 3rd planet had already begun.

  He smiled faintly to himself but suddenly his face became tense and rigid.

  The Terranians were putting up a desperate defense!

  Topthor felt as though he had received an electric shook.

  This was the second surprise within a period of 10 minutes.

  Were there actually Terranians in this alien system? Then he was saved; and for the time being nobody would catch on to this involuntary betrayal. The 3rd planet appeared to be inhabited and was being defended.

  He listened to the inflowing reports very attentively and breathed a sigh of relief. Although they soon put him in a complete state of confusion. He couldn't understand it. Perhaps the Terranians had set up a military base here which they intended to defend. If, then, according to plan, the attacking fleet destroyed the 3rd planet, the Terranians would have lost only one military base, not Rhodan's home planet.

  Topthor decided also to keep this secret to himself for the time being and to continue his investigations on his own responsibility. So it came about that he finally turned away from the general course of the fleet and headed for the 4th planet, where he intended to assemble data about this system without interruption and put them through the positronic brain, in order to make every comparison possible. Somewhere the error was buried and he was going to dig it out.

  The position of the actual planet Earth must not be lost!

  • • •

  The Springer did not reply.

  Ber-Ka did not hesitate and opened fire from all weapons positions.

  To his amazement the entire salvo of energy beam was swallowed up and absorbed effortlessly by the enemy's defense screen. Meanwhile the relative distance between the ships had been closed to such an extent that any retreat was out of the question. But even that decision was denied Ber-Ka.

  The Springer ship altered its course slightly and turned broadside to the MV-13. Ber-Ka knew what that meant but it was too late to change his own position. With a lightning move he switched all energies into the defense screen in order to take the shock of the expected answering attack.

  But the Springer did not fire energy beams; instead, a silvery shining torpedo came toward them, surrounded by a strangely shimmering light. Automatically altering its course, the missile glided unconcernedly toward the MV-13. It followed their evasive manoeuvres easily and then detonated with a blinding flash close to the stem quarters.

  Ber-Ka felt the hard jolt that ran through the ship. In spite of his arm rests he was thrown out of his seat and rolled straight across the Control Central without stopping until he hit the bulkhead. Cries rang out. Someone shouted an order. Then came a second detonation and a new jolt. The lights went out. The gravitational fields ceased to function and Ber-Ka became weightless as the ship hurtled in freefall toward the planet Akvo without engines and without guidance.

  The stern must have been destroyed.

  Filled with desperation, Ber-Ka floated weightlessly against the ceiling in a futile struggle to direct his course.

  At any moment the enemy could strike the deathblow to him and to the cruiser.

  But Ber-Ka waited in vain.

  Without support, the MV-13, plunged toward the surface of the 4th planet...

  • • •

  Topthor observed the unequal battle from his Control Central.

  At the very first appearance of the other ship, a suspicion had emerged in him that was so absurd and crazy that he came near to shaking his head in amazement at his own thoughts. But he finally perceived that the whole battle act
ion was going very strangely. Perhaps he might be able to lift the veil from this mystery if he were to interrogate these "Terranians." It was clear that they were quite helpless. They would have to realize that they were in his power; otherwise they would never tell the truth.

  But were they Terranians?

  Topthor observed the long, rod-like ship with its balloon-shaped center bulge that glided alongside in battle readiness. Where had he seen this particular shape of hull before? The Topides? Did they perhaps have their empire in the region of Terra?

  Or had they become in some manner allied with the Terranians?

  The attack was fended off and then the stem and engine rooms of the unknown vessel were destroyed with a grav-torpedo. The ship dropped toward the planet.

  Topthor trailed it casually. He neither made preparations to rescue the shipwrecked crew nor to blow the cruiser to atoms. Relatively motionless, he hovered close behind the MV-13 and waited.

  2 hours passed while Ber-Ka went through hell and felt that his ghuz (A flying fish prized for its fine flavor) was more than well cooked. The planet had grown in size and already the single continent glimmered through the gaps in the cloud covering. The first whistling sounds of the upper layers of the atmosphere became audible.

  Then Topthor decided to take action. The Top 2 moved closer to the plunging ship. Gleaming magnetic clamps emerged from the hull and gripped the derelict firmly.

  The force of gravity returned as both ships swept through a shallow curve. They circled once around Akvo and finally landed on a high plateau near the coast.

  Meanwhile, Topthor had not been idle. He stood in the open airlock and waited for the survivors of the captured ship with an impulse beamer ready in his hand. But he had not counted on the suicidal fanaticism of the Topides. He became suspicious only when a round porthole opened on the bow of the derelict. He saved himself with a quick jump back into the lock chamber and let the hatch fall shut. Then he raced to the Control Central where Gatzek had already noted the incident. With a quick manoeuvre of the controls, the defense screens were turned on.

  But a tenth of a second too late...

  The blinding finger of energy shot out from the MV-13 and struck the Top 2 amidships! A detonation followed as one of the reactors discharged itself. The mighty ship split asunder in the middle and only then did the energy screen start operating. Within a matter of seconds 2 derelicts instead of one lay next to each other on the plateau of the 4th planet and in each of them the deadly enemy of the other lay in wait, watching for any weak spot of his opponent.

  Topthor cursed his carelessness. But then suddenly he became quite calm. He looked into Gatzek's wide, staring eyes. "Investigate our power situation and check out the communication and navigation centrals for their operational status. Give me the results immediately. Determine repairs necessary for manoeuvrability of the Top 2."

  Gatzek hesitated. "What's with this derelict that has crippled us? Shouldn't I give the order to have it destroyed?"

  "Keep your place, Gatzek. I'm going to take this fellow in hand myself. And I think we're in for a couple of surprises."

  "I'm up to my neck in surprises now," protested the officer and he left the Control Central.

  Topthor smiled wryly as he watched him go. Then he got up and went into the Com Central. Regol hunched over the control console and ran through a panel checkout. An incomprehensible jumble of sounds came through the loudspeaker—at least that was functioning!

  "Are you in contact with Cekztel?" asked Topthor.

  Regol shook his head without turning around. "Not yet. They haven't had time for it. The Terranians have closed the battle with us and they're about to lose it. Rhodan's super battleship has been seen

  several times."

  Topthor was speechless for several seconds. Then he echoed: "Rhodan's super battleship?"

  Regol nodded in equal astonishment. "Yes, it's his Titan, or whatever he's named that big ball of his,

  and also at least 10 heavy Arkonide cruisers seem to be taking part in the defensive fighting."

  "And they arelosing ?" asked Topthor incredulously. This didn't sound logical! "Is it certain?"

  The reports are unmistakable, Topthor. There can be no doubt that we have strongly overestimated the fighting power of the Terranians. And incidentally, this whole time I've been wanting to ask: have you noticed a change in the sun here? If my memory doesn't fail me, Terra had a small, yellow sun and now..."

  "I know," Topthor interrupted impatiently. "We'll talk about that later. Just now there isn't any

  time—there are more important things to take care of. Get me a radio connection with that derelict!"

  Regol laughed. "I've been trying to do that for some time. They don't answer. Apparently their radio had been destroyed."

  Topthor sighed. "So that's out. It looks as if I'm going to have to show myself in the lock again—with a neutrality flag in my hand in order to convince them of our peaceable intentions."

  "Do you think the Terranians on board will honor it?" asked Regol doubtfully.

  Topthor was already at the door. He turned around. "Who says that Terranians are over there on board that wreck?"

  Regol's mouth gaped open as he stared after his commander.

  3/ THE SEARCH FOR SYNTHETIC ISLAND

  There was no respite for the positronic Nav computer on board the Centurion. The heavy cruiser

  would appear among the Topide ships and fire more or less effectively against the attacking Mounders for a moment or two. Then it would disappear again into hyperspace. Almost instantaneously it would reappear in another place. Maj. Deringhouse sweated in his eagerness. Capt. Lamanche, his first officer and second-in-command, roared out a continuous stream of orders to ensure that the transitions would continue in rapid succession. Inasmuch as Rhodan with the Titan and McClears with the Terra were carrying out the same manoeuvres, the Mounders were receiving the impression that they were confronted with at least 3 or 4 battleships of the Empire class and 10 heavy cruisers.

  And yet the 'Terranians' were losing!

  This was primarily due to the clumsy and far too slow-moving Topide ships, which were simply no match for the Springer assault. If the Titan had thrown its true power into the battle, it might have gone differently; but for understandable reasons Rhodan was not interested in that. The Springers had to win and be convinced that they had destroyed the Earth and, naturally, the spacefleet of the Terranians.

  Deringhouse took his eyes from the controls to look up at John Marshall, who had just entered the Control Central. "Well?" he asked, excitedly. "Any success?"

  "This time you could have made your bet with Pucky," replied the telepath. "We haven't yet picked up the faintest trace of Topthor. I'm beginning to doubt that he's taking part in the attack."

  "Impossible!" Deringhouse shook his head. "We intercepted a radio message that indicated definitely that he's taking part in it. Is Pucky the only one you put to work on it?"

  "Naturally not. All available telepaths are attempting to pick up the Mounder's thought impulses. Ras Tschubai has already teleported to a number of Mounder ships but he didn't find Topthor on board any of them. Each time that black phantom appeared out of nothing, the crews were almost seared to death."

  "All the better," grinned the Major. "Such teleportation phenomena will be the best proof to our attackers that they are fighting against Rhodan's people."

  "Pucky has made a lot of jumps himself. Each time he could have taken along an atom bomb and destroyed the enemy ship but that wouldn't have quite served our purposes. Frankly, I'm not exactly enthralled with the idea of losing a battle with such a crass lack of concern, when it could be won so easily."

  "The whole Milky Way is supposed to believe that we've been wiped out but that's just why Topthor has to be found. If he loses his nerve and reveals to his friends that they have destroyed the wrong planet, our whole strategy will go up in smoke. Up to now it's been going along quite smoothly."

&n
bsp; "We'll continue our search," promised Marshall and he nodded to Deringhouse reassuringly. "We'll catch him once and for all. He can't hide away forever."

  "Let's hope he can't!" growled Deringhouse and ordered the next transition jump, which brought him right smack in the center of a duel between 2 cruisers of the lizards and a giant cylindrical ship of the Mounders.

  • • •

  Topthor waited in the open airlock and stared alertly at the unidentified smaller ship. What would he see?

  Terranians?

  He was almost certain of the fact that there wasn't a single Terranian on board that wreck over there. A quick perusal of the catalogue had confirmed his hunch. The Topides built ships of this design.

  Was it true, then, that the Topides had made some kind of alliance with the Terranians? How could one make any sense out of that? Didn't Rhodan represent any danger for their empire?

  He had to know these things and for this reason he was now risking his life. Maybe his other question could also be answered, as to how the Nav computer on board the Top 2 could make this kind of mistake.

  Beyond the flat plateau, the tropical forest began. It fell away below into distant flat country. It was only on the far horizon that another chain of mountains showed itself but it was partially lost to view in the haze of distance. Somewhere to the right glistened the ocean, which seemed to be the main surface feature of the planet. It wasn't an unpleasant world at all, really; it was too bad there were no intelligent natives around with whom one might do a little trading.

  Or were there such intelligences? What were the reptiles doing here?

  Topthor's eyes caught a movement on the derelict. A lock port opened slowly and ponderously as though moved by hand. Apparently all equipment on board the other ship had been put out of commission. Then a hand became visible.

  Although Topthor had expected as much, it startled him.

  It was the scaly hand of a reptile—of a Topide.

  So it was true after all!