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  While Capt. Tarth held a conference with the commanders in an adjacent room, I devoted my attention to the scientist.

  "The matter represents more a physical puzzle than a medical problem, Your Highness," he explained. "The patient is still alive. The nerve paths to his legs have been immobilized. We've observed that the rigid-looking hand of the man has moved about three millimeters to the left during the last hour and I've ordered a study of the movement. I suspect that the total condensation of the organic fabric is subject to a relativity-time effect. The course of normal events which is valid for us no longer seems to apply to the injured man with the exception of his legs."

  "Madness," I exclaimed in exasperation. "How do you explain it?"

  "We're still investigating a tentative theory, Your Highness. We're thinking of the possible existence of a new weapon whose effect is restricted exclusively to organic life. It could be a converter-projector which creates a field with a focal point producing a structure transformation. Organic matter becomes dematerialized and enters a different state. In our particular case the soldier seems to have been touched only by the weak fringes of the field and the legs remained entirely beyond its radius. The result was that no dematerialization took place, only an internal compression of the body. Simultaneously a shift of his relative time occurred. It is possible that the patient is going through the entire experience on a slow-motion scale. We're certain that he moved his hand. The movements of his legs are no longer controlled by his conscious mind."

  I could feel the moisture blurring my eyes, a sign of my excitement. Grun had lectured with the detached manner of a scientist.

  "Have you drawn any conclusions?" I asked nervously.

  "Yes and no, Your Highness. Such a weapon could decide the war with the methane-breathers if we could succeed in capturing one of these mysterious ships."

  "How?" I challenged him.

  Again Grun had some advice. "We'll have to wait for their next attack and refrain from using our customary tactics. I would recommend the conversion to ray-cannons of some of our more obsolete cruisers' impulse engines which function on super-dimensional principles. Instead of jeopardizing the lives of our men, we ought to rig up a remote-control steering system for the ships. If it should come to the worst, we would lose only a few outdated vessels."

  Grun had a good head on his shoulders and the proposition he had outlined seemed logical. However I had one objection: "The technical aspects of the war are only of secondary importance to me. As the Chief of a special squadron I have to know first of all who our enemy is. I'm inclined to rule out that we're dealing with a spaceship of the methane-breathers. If they had such weapons in their possession, we'd have already encountered them in the nebula sector. It's more likely that we're facing here a different type of highly intelligent beings who may not even be aware that we're engaged in a mortal combat with those monsters."

  "According to my figures there's a 97% probability of this being true," the physicist acknowledged. "I've already computed it and I believe we're confronted by an entirely new situation."

  I was grateful that he didn't insist on sending a report to the Great Council on Arkon. I wouldn't have known what to tell them. Our situation was so perplexing that I preferred to await further developments in the hope of clearing it up a little better.

  I chose the two oldest cruisers of my squadron for the experiment. Their crews were transferred to the depleted Matato and to the battleship whose commander needed more technicians. I wrote off the two remote-controlled warships but I still had more than 40 heavy and light cruisers at my disposal.

  After Grun had excused himself I descended with the three units of my squadron into the fog-like atmosphere of the second planet. The capital Amonaris on a mountain slope near the equatorial ocean gave the impression of swarming with refugees.

  The big robot brain in the mountains, which had been started by the criminal administrator Amonar, was now finished. After landing I immediately gave instructions to send all our available technicians to the robot fortress in order to double the reinforcements of its defenses.

  Three hours later the two old cruisers Titsina and Volop were put into the well-equipped spaceship yard of Larsa. Every effort was made to modify the cross-section of the powerful impulse field jets to adapt them as military weapons and to augment the existing electronic remote control system by a semi-automatic switch arrangement for the armament designed to react to ultra-microwave steering signals. It required a great amount of material, time and experts, the latter fortunately available on Larsa.

  Next I inspected the areas that had come under attack and where 150,000 colonists were reported to have vanished without a trace. The chief physicist Grun and his staff joined me and we cautiously set foot on the first of the fully automatic farms.

  The flat buildings were empty. All the valuable equipment was still intact and in place, only the settlers were missing.

  The scientists of the planet's administration showed us the results of their investigations which revealed that the surface of the jungle had been exposed to an irregular pattern of sharply bordered fields which had caused the colonists living inside its limits to become disembodied.

  Grun called these zones 'relativity fields' which didn't help much to explain it to anybody else. We determined that it had never come to an all-out attack and I talked to a few people who had sat out the raids in nearby houses as their relatives literally faded away before their eyes only a few feet away while nothing happened to them. This confirmed the sharp delineation of the area swept out by the rays, assuming it was the method used by the killers.

  Grun persisted in his opinion that it was a super-dimensional weapon of unheard of efficacy and that we must discover its secret at all costs.

  I was not sure that he was on the right track. The scientists of Larsa leaned more to the theory that the unknown opponent merely took advantage of a natural effect. If this was correct, one had to conclude that the aliens were constantly on the lookout for an opportunity which suited their purposes.

  After long conferences and exhaustive consultations with the scientists I was beginning to feel the strain.

  I ordered the highest state of alert and a speedup of the robot brain's expansion as well as continually changing shifts for the experimental work on the cruisers Titsina and Volop. Their regular weapons were taken together with their energy aggregates by air gliders to the defense ring of the positronic brain to be installed against the expected attacks.

  Finally I sequestered the 21 large transport ships in the hands of the local administration. The full-bellied, minimally armed vessels were stocked with food and made ready to lift off so that no time would be lost in case it became necessary to evacuate the two million colonists. I had already experienced many times before how difficult it was to bring big crowds of excited and frightened people to safety.

  The district chiefs of the colonial government were advised by radio to prepare everything for an instant flight. However I was bothered by the question of how to squeeze two million people in 21 spaceships under perilous conditions. The various vessels could accommodate by utmost utilization of space between ten and 20,000 passengers if they were herded into machine halls and other service rooms.

  I fell asleep and when I woke up I sent a long hyperradio message to the Great Council, describing the situation as vividly as possible. In turn I received the prompt decision from the Arkonide Central Command. I was directed to send immediately 1.8 million emigrants to Arkon and to retain the remaining 200,000 on Larsa who would be sufficient to preserve its budding civilization.

  I had expected to create something of a revolt and I was amazed how eagerly the settlers snatched up the available space on the ships. Nobody wanted to be left behind in the jungle of uncertain fears and I was glad when 50 huge transporters arrived three days later.

  It took only 12 hours to load the ships. They soared into space and I never saw them again. A count of the remaining popu
lation was taken. It showed that no more than 15,000 immigrants had refused to abandon their new domicile. All others had preferred to join the service of the Imperial Fleet. At least it was possible to see the battleships of the methane-breathers.

  We were already resigned to giving up a prospering colony. The defense battle in the nebula sector was of prime importance and the tiny system of Larsa's star was negligible and expendable in the eyes of the Central Command.

  However I had received personal orders from the Imperator to seek out the mysterious enemy and to learn the nature of his unique weapon because it could decide the fate of the war under the conditions that prevailed.

  8/ ALIEN ATTACK

  Larsa could no longer be held! After we had futilely waited three months for an attack, it had struck so abruptly that nobody was able to react in time. I was in the Command Center of the Tosoma. Two minutes earlier we had received the radio alarm that an invisible destructive front was approaching the equatorial zone, where the main centers of population were located, at a velocity of 3000 kilometers per hour.

  I had taken off at once to witness the incredible events on the spot.

  The terror-stricken colonists virtually fought to climb aboard the 21 transport ships on the spaceport of Amonaris. It was the same chaos I had seen all over whenever people feared for their lives.

  We still had a little time left. The relativity-field front was still far away and it was possible that it would change its direction. Nevertheless I had given orders for the final evacuation of all inhabitants. The time had come to leave the planet to the military forces of the Empire. The possibility of re-establishing the colony at a later date still existed since the cities and settlements, which had been built with so much effort, were not likely to be annihilated.

  We were fully geared for battle. The powerful protective screen of the warship caused the atmosphere of the planet to become steamy. We proceeded toward the scene at the slow speed of only three kilometers per second. I had taken the precaution of setting the thrust absorbers at emergency range in case we would be forced to flee at maximum acceleration.

  The Askohr and the Paito followed the flagship at a low altitude. Capt. Cerbus, who was in temporary charge of the commanders stationed in outer space, reported monitoring by hypersensors some foreign objects which could not be clearly identified but moved only in the sector determined by us to be an energy-field.

  I instructed him to await further developments and to avoid entering the danger zone.

  Meanwhile we watched the telecom aboard the Tosoma, exchanging messages with the officials of the Administration and the fleeing settlers as well as with the taskforce standing by on Amonaris.

  My men were trying desperately to help the frantic settlers to reach the transport ships whose Commanders had given the strictest orders to leave before the wave of destruction came close enough to be hazardous.

  I left the rescue operation to the officers on the ground. There was nothing I could do to alleviate the tumultuous conditions. It was my duty to flush out the enemy and to confront him in an attempt to repulse him successfully.

  A short time later our supra-dimensional energy-sensors picked up a signal. We had received these sensors only a few months earlier from one of the spacefleet depots of the Empire because the methane-breathers had developed a defense shield, working with supra-dimensional forces. These instruments reacted proficiently as we approached the danger zone.

  Tarth calmly issued precise commands. The machines of the Tosoma were stopped. A short backward thrust held the vessel at a spot 5000 meters high. The antigrav-absorbers performed their function quietly and adequately. Our gigantic sphere of Arkon steel stood still as if it were beyond the influence of gravity.

  "Optical effect of wavefront observed," the rangefinder officer reported. "There are bizarre light reflexes in the atmosphere. Velocity of front computer at 3011.567 kilometers per hour constant."

  I leaned my head back to look up to the wide screens of the optical receiver.

  "Fantastic!" Grun exclaimed, his eyes shining feverishly. "I admit that this effect does not give the impression that it is caused by a weapon, Your Highness."

  I thought grimly how little consolation his conclusion offered to the pioneers who were still in the danger zone. We seemed to be flying over an impenetrable jungle. The magnification of our optical instruments revealed a few small settlements but we were unable to determine if their inhabitants were still there or not.

  The Paito and the Askohr inquired by radio whether they had permission to open fire.

  "No, not yet," I rejected their request. "It would be senseless to shoot into the wall. Let it come a little closer." Then I called the remote control center. "Did you send up the Volop and the Titsina?"

  "They took off two minutes ago, Your Highness!"

  "Keep them in the vicinity of Amonaris. They might be our last means of defense. Attention battlecruiser Patio! When will the evacuation of the colonists be completed?"

  The telecom switched to a rocky clearing in the jungle where more than 500 people had gathered. They were scrambling to get into a few antigrav-gliders that might have had just enough power to escape the approaching forces of destruction if they made an all-out effort.

  "At your command, Your Highness!" Inkar replied. His 500-meter ship zoomed in without delay. The front was only a few kilometers away and would reach our position in about ten minutes.

  Inkar tried at first to get the fighting settlers aboard in a small auxiliary ship. I could hear his angry curses when the little ship was stormed by the furious-looking men.

  "Get back to the ship, Inkar!" I shouted into the mike. "Use a wide tractor beam to haul these madmen aboard. A few black and blue bruises will be better than letting them perish in their madness."

  The Paito shot a shimmering tractor-beam from its projector, fanning it out over a broad field. The terrified colonists ran back toward the jungle but they were scooped up by the beam and pulled in with such force that I was afraid they might get hurt. On the other hand, Inkar had probably set up a barrier to cushion the shock.

  The dark bodies disappeared in the intake of the battle cruiser and I soon heard Inkar's loud guffaws. "I've got them," he announced, "but we also picked up some stuff we didn't bargain for."

  Tarth chuckled while his eyes stayed glued to the forward observation panels which clearly depicted the fluorescing mass of air in the way of the approaching disaster. It looked as if the radiation-or whatever it was-came vertically down from the space above. My cruiser commanders reported that this time the entire northern hemisphere of the planet would be caught in the relativity field.

  "We're on the borderline of a cosmic zone," Grun pointed out from his department where he had meanwhile returned although it had escaped my notice.

  "Very interesting!" I said in an irate tone. He ignored it and continued: "It can only be caused by overlapping the normal universe with unstable, continually changing forces of a higher order and this is what produces the amazing effects. Creatures of this relativity zone take advantage of the situation to..."

  "To do what?" I interrupted him. "To steal people and animals? What good will that do them? It would make more sense if they destroyed industrial plants, captured spaceships or looted some valuable products. It's hard to understand, unless they're bent on extinguishing the intelligent life of our universe."

  Grun switched off. His face showed that he was vexed and was at a loss to give me any advice. Perhaps our antagonists' actions were based on their own inherent principles which were totally alien to the human race. The idea of abducting thinking individuals would never have occurred to us. Their behavior was utterly incomprehensible to me. I was thrown into a raging fury by our helplessness. We were fighting against shadows.

  Ten seconds later I gave orders to commence firing. We accelerated our speed to align our ships with the advancing field and unleashed all the weapons we dared use. Tarth first turned on the heat with the im
pulse-cannons. Their highly effective nuclear reactions created solar temperatures in the wake of their violet light tracks which brought the atmosphere of the jungle world to a boil.

  We shot into the shimmering wavefront as if we were trying to wipe out several attacking super-spaceships with one blow. The disintegrator-cannons, which blasted molecules apart, generated less noise and their flickering trajectories buried themselves in the blazing wall.

  We didn't dare to deploy our neutron-beamers as they destroyed all organic life and we were afraid we might kill our own people. Arkon and gravitation bombs were suited only for long-distance fights in outer space. If we had used them here, any further defense of Larsa would have been superfluous since the planet would have been turned into a blazing sun.

  Thus we were restricted to applying our impulse-cannon whose fire-breathing atomic energy ignited an inferno in the dense atmosphere. But when the devastating energy-rays struck the wall, they were suddenly swallowed up. They seemed to pass through or were absorbed so perfectly that they were snuffed out from one moment to the next. It had become impossible to recognize the landscape of the swampy planet behind the shimmering frontal wall. The, light was distorted and our sensors no longer reflected the view. The hypersensor merely registered the existence of an unknown energy form of which we had already become aware earlier.

  The moist air of the planet had become heated to such a degree that the highly pressurized water vapors threatened to burst into a terrible explosion. I decided to break off our engagement in the face of the brewing storm.

  Holding the mike close to my lips I commanded: "Squadron Chief to all units! Cease fire, resume speed and follow the flagship on course to the capital which will be taken under protection as long as possible. We will safeguard the departure of the passenger ships. Finally we'll start the experiment with the two remote-controlled cruisers. Confirm!"