The Earth Dies Page 6

  It was not possible to repair the transmitter of the Top 2. It was bad enough for Topthor to only be able to intercept reports of the battle under these conditions but for the unfortunate Ber-Ka it must have been even more unpleasant.

  The Topides were beaten; that much was certain. The pitiful remains of their fleet had definitely been surrounded and ordered to surrender. On the other hand, there were some ships that had retreated into the caves of the jungle planet without realizing that this planet had been specifically singled out for complete destruction.

  The Topide reinforcements arrived and entered the battle. The fresh forces still possessed good morale and added some painful losses to the Springers but soon the usual superiority of the Mounders demonstrated itself.

  The Topides fled.

  The pursuing Springers had passed the point of showing any mercy. They struck remorselessly and destroyed one ship after the other. The only ones they could not wipe out were the spherical ships of Rhodan which continued to appear here and there.

  Topthor and Ber-Ka listened to the reports. The Topide had given up all hope and resigned himself to his fate. Not so the Springer.

  "There must be some possibility of setting up communications with both sides, Ber-Ka. You say you had some bases here. Have they all been completely abandoned or did some crew still remain?"

  "I don't know," lamented the Topide. "The security measures of the Supreme Commander are never a matter of general knowledge. There may still be manned radio stations here but how can we make contact with them when we don't know where to find them?" The reptile paused abruptly, then eagerly nodded his head. "It would be logical to search first at the main headquarters. If anyone remained behind, it would be there!"

  "And where is this former headquarters?"

  Ber-Ka pointed toward the ocean. "Somewhere on the coast, on a man-made island in the sea. I don't know the exact location because I don't have any idea of where we've landed. We just have to try."

  Topthor wrinkled his brow. "The reactor explosion has destroyed my holds and storage rooms and that includes the small power glider I had and the ground vehicle. We'd have to go on foot and I'd call that a senseless thing to do."

  "We have a ground vehicle," said Ber-Ka with a trace of hope. "Unfortunately, our hydroplane was a victim of your attack, so we will just have to try to force a way to the ocean. There the beach is broad and solid enough to serve as a road. Theoretically we only have to drive around the entire continent in order to be certain of coming across the metal island."

  "Quite a pleasant outing, I'm sure," observed Topthor bitterly but he was forced to realize that he didn't have any other choice if he didn't want to remain sitting on this spot. "How large is your ground vehicle?"

  "If we take along enough provisions and water, I'd recommend only a two-man crew—and naturally the appropriate weapons. We don't know how long we will be under way."

  The Mounder thought for a few moments, then finally he nodded. "Alright, Ber-Ka." He looked up at the sky. The sun was almost at the zenith and it was very warm. "We should start out today because every hour counts—although I don't have too much hope that we will be in time. But it is vital to let everybody know about the terrible mistake that could victimize the whole Milky Way before it's finished."

  Preparations were made swiftly. In the Topide ship a port opened laterally, a ramp extended outward and then a plump-looking ground vehicle rolled down and out onto the stony plateau. It possessed wheels and caterpillar tank treads so that it would be able to adapt itself to the present environment very well. A small energy cannon with a 360° action radius offered protection against attack. The small reactor on board possessed enough power to keep the vehicle operating without interruption for hundreds of years.

  Boxes of provisions were swiftly loaded on board and the water tank was filled. Ber-Ka gave his people some final instructions and then motioned to Topthor. "We can get started now. I think we may be able to reach the coast in 3 or 4 hours. Then it will go easier."

  "What about the marine inhabitants?"

  Ber-Ka made a gesture of dismissal. "We don't have to concern ourselves about them. They are peaceful and do not possess any weapons. They probably won't pay any attention to us. We only have to watch out for either your ships or mine, so that we're not discovered and fired upon. That is the main danger that we have to protect ourselves against. Our private truce between us is of no consequence to any of the others."

  Topthor double-checked his heavy hand-beamer. "We will force them to make peace," he growled, and clambered into the cabin of the ground car, which could only hold 4 Topides. As Ber-Ka followed him, he found the space inside to be almost filled up.

  "By all the space spirits!" groaned the Topide. "'Mounders' is a descriptive name for your people but I believe 'Super Heavies' would be better!"

  Topthor grinned back. "That we are and not only in a physical sense, my friend," he assured him. He started the machine.

  Those remaining behind, watched the vehicle as it dove under the foliage of the jungle and then they returned to their ships. They did not know how long they would have to wait.

  Ber-Ka soon took over the driving task and was able to find clearings or a stretch of jungle where there was only a slight undergrowth, which made it simple for the heavy caterpillar treads to roll over. And if thick trees got in the way and could not be driven around, the ray cannon came into play. More than once in the first hour, smoking ashes marked the path that Topthor and Ber-Ka took through the primeval forest.

  The afternoon passed into evening. At the edge of a small clearing they stopped and prepared themselves for the night. They would have been able to continue but they feared their bright searchlight might attract some unwelcome attention.

  The heating system spread a pleasant warmth through the cabin. The 2 dissimilar aliens had supper and then lay down to rest.

  Outside everything remained calm and quiet. There wasn't any moon to illuminate the dark shadows of the unknown forest, in which invisible enemies could be lying in wait. Nothing moved. Somewhere the breakers of high waves would be falling on the coast and swirling around the steel pilings of a synthetic island.

  That could be a matter of only 6 or 7 miles.

  Or yet a thousand.

  This night, Topthor slept very restlessly. Every once in awhile he would wake up and listen to the regular breathing of his involuntary ally, whom he gradually came to envy. When he would roll his massive weight to the other side, the whole vehicle shook but this was not sufficient to disturb the Topide.

  Finally day dawned and in the East the sky took on all the variations of color of a rainbow. The red sun moved with massive slowness above the treetops.

  Topthor awakened Ber-Ka. "It's time we got under way. We've wasted enough time already. Probably the battle has already ended but nobody knows what has really happened. You going to fix some breakfast?"

  While the Topide prepared a frugal meal, Topthor clambered down out of the narrow cabin and made a brief tour of inspection. He was sure that during the night he had heard certain indefinable sounds. Well, if anybody had been moving around in their vicinity, there would certainly be some tracks to be seen.

  Inwardly the Mounder was quite certain that he was mistaken about it all but he just wanted to make sure.

  The clearing seemed to be unchanged. There were no openings in the thick underbrush at the end of the forest to indicate a secret penetration. Ber-Ka had assured him that there were no animals here—at least, no large ones.

  Topthor's foot stopped suddenly, poised in midair. His eyes stared incredulously at a mysterious track. It was a wide, sliding mark that emerged into the clearing from the forest, went one time around the ground vehicle and then disappeared in the underbrush on the other side. Not a single twig had been broken, as though the one who had made the track had been crawling rather than walking.

  Topthor turned around slowly and returned to the ground car.

  Ber-Ka
knew immediately what was involved. "Relax, Topthor. Those are the amphibians. They often come on land but soon have to return to their element. If one of their tracks is outside, the ocean can't be very far away. So far, so good! And now, come and have breakfast so that we can get started as soon as possible."

  Topthor looked back at the curious track, then shrugged his broad shoulders and forced himself through the far too inadequate entrance.

  In spite of the prospect of soon reaching the sea, the breakfast prepared by the Topide did not make much of an impression on him but it didn't have anything to do with the food itself. Perhaps it was the gnawing uncertainty that spoiled his appetite...

  4/ PUCKY THE POWERFUL

  It was at about this time that Al-Khor's last ship was destroyed. The fleet of the Topides existed no more.

  The last radio report left the Betelgeuse system and proclaimed to the Dictator of the Topides' stellar empire that his troops had fulfilled their duty and had offered resistance to the attacking enemy with their last drop of blood.

  No answer was returned from the home planet.

  • • •

  Rhodan looked up as a man entered the Control Central of the Titan. It was Dr. Certch, the robot psychologist. Owing to an increasingly independent trend of thinking among positronic and electronic brains, it had become necessary to develop a new scientific specialty. In this regard, it was Certch's assignment to monitor the complicated thought trains of the robots and predict how their brains might react to one situation or another.

  "Well, Doc, what are, you doing here? Surely you wouldn't be concerned about so mundane a thing as a space battle."

  "That is not my purpose here," smiled Certch, obligingly. But in his voice was a serious note that brought Rhodan to attention. "There are, however, events which one should not lose sight of..."

  "Such as?" Rhodan shoved aside a stack of radio dispatches that had been intercepted during the past hour. They merely confirmed what was already known; the Mounders had won victory and now prepared themselves for the last blow against the "Earth." Cekztel had ordered the Arkon bomb to be prepared.

  "You know that I have constructed a small positronic brain that I call 'Max.' Max is a calculating sort, if I may put it that way. A mechanical psychologist who can predict and calculate all of the logic gatings and thought chains of his larger brothers. I have been in a conversation with Max for some time."

  "And what does he say?" Rhodan wanted to know. He knew of the scientist's hobby and took it seriously. More than once, now, Dr. Certch had proven how well he understood the logical thought processes of mechanical brains. "Hopefully, something in our favor..."

  "Max is worried about the positronic brain on board Topthor's ship, sir. In view of what has occurred, we must assume that Topthor himself will have an interest in covering up the mistake. According to Max, there's room here for a qualified hypothesis to the effect that the brain thinks otherwise and is attempting to clarify the error. And Max is also of the opinion that sooner or later it will discover the handiwork of the mutants and notice the alteration of data. In other words, the Springers will find out that it is not the Earth they have destroyed but a harmless planet."

  "Provided that Topthor and his ship did not fall prey to a ray beam."

  Certch nodded. "Well, naturally that's true, but we don't know if he or his ship is a casualty. And even so there is still the possibility that his ship was only reduced to a derelict and one of these days will be located. Until then the robot would have enough time to solve the riddle. If you want to be quite certain that you've been the winner of this chess game, you must make sure that Topthor's ship has been completely destroyed."

  "I'm naturally in agreement with you, Doctor, but first we have to find Topthor and his ship. According to my calculations, the Springers will be busy for awhile yet in the task of saving their survivors and bringing their lightly damaged vessels to places of safety. Only then will they destroy the 3rd planet. If they withdraw from this system, it will be too late for us. So we have very little time at our disposal for eliminating the danger of Topthor. John Marshall and his mutants have been trying for hours to find a trace of him but until now their efforts have been without results."

  "I hope they'll succeed soon."

  "Everything depends on it "I replied Rhodan and he nodded to Dr. Certch as the latter exited from the Control Central.

  But Certch practically pushed the door handle into John Marshall's hand, as he came from the mess hall with Betty Toufry to see Rhodan. Curious, Certch followed them back in, so that his absence from the control room was of an extremely short duration.

  "Betty has definitely picked up thought impulses from Topthor," reported Marshall excitedly. "But she has not been able to determine an exact location. So Pucky is working on it with her. The important thing is, we can now say with certainty that Topthor's ship is not in the main group of the Springer fleet at all."

  "Where, then?"

  "If we knew that we would be better off," admitted Marshall. "Chief, I guess you know that distances can't be determined with the help of telepathic impulses alone. That's why Pucky remained on board the Centurion while Betty and I have come over to the Titan. You know that the calculation of a distance, with the help of two given sides of a triangle and one angle, is not a problem any more today—actually it wasn't a problem as long as 4000 years ago. The only new thing about it now is determining both sides by means of telepathy. In short, Betty and Pucky have attempted to get a bearing on Topthor by means of telepathic triangulation. Betty has come up with her co-ordinates but until now we haven't heard anything from Pucky."

  "Are you in radio contact with the Centurion?"

  "Yes, of course. Capt. Lamanche is the acting C.O. there right now. Deringhouse is flying toward Akvo."

  "The water planet? Why there?"

  "Because Topthor's thought impulses come to us more or less from that direction."

  Rhodan narrowed his eyes and looked at Marshall searchingly. "And now you say that only Pucky's bearing co-ordinates are lacking...?"

  "Yes. With those we would know exactly where Topthor is located. Where Betty's and Pucky's co-ordinates cross you will find the Mounder."

  The intercom buzzed. The face of Cadet Martin appeared on the small panel screen.

  "Is Marshall with you, sir?"

  Rhodan nodded toward the telepath. "Yes, he's with me. Do you have news from Lamanche?"

  "Pucky has just submitted some data for Marshall. Shall I read them off?"

  Marshall nodded eagerly. In his hand he held a pencil and writing pad. Betty looked curiously over his shoulder. Dr. Certch shifted from one foot to the other. To him the top priority was to know that Topthor's ship was destroyed—and along with it the dangerous navigation robot brain.

  "Read it off!" ordered Rhodan.

  Marshall wrote down the co-ordinates and then began to draw a diagram. He stepped quickly to Rhodan's side. "This is a map of the system, Chief. I believe Pucky's supposition has worked out."

  Rhodan handed him back the map. "What supposition?"

  "That Topthor has landed on Akvo. Apparently he became suspicious and wanted to take a look at 'Mars' first, so it's high time we take some action..."

  "There's a call coming in from the Centurion, sir," announced Martin and disappeared from the viewscreen. Silence reigned in the Control Central for half a minute. Everybody waited to see what had happened now. Finally the intercom screen brightened again. Martin appeared to be somewhat confused as he said: "It was Deringhouse. He just announced that Pucky has disappeared without a trace."

  Rhodan gasped. "What do you mean, disappeared? Where is the Centurion now?"

  "Circling Akvo, sir. According to Lamanche, the mouse-beaver said he had to take care of something—and then he disappeared. A small atomic demolition bomb is missing from the arsenal."

  Marshall expelled the air from his lungs with a whistle. "Will you get that little scamp?! He knows now that our quarry
has landed on the 4th planet and he's acting on his own. Isn't that pretty rash comportment, Chief?"

  Rhodan tipped his head to one side and smiled thinly. "One of us would have had to take care of the matter, anyway—why not Pucky? I promised him a silo full of carrots if he could find Topthor."

  Marshall sank down into the adjacent seat. "I give up!" he groaned and closed his eyes helplessly..."

  • • •

  A strong southern breeze drove the waves unceasingly against the flat, sandy beach, which stretched from west to east as straight as an arrow, only to be interrupted at infrequent intervals by small, idyllic bays. The tropical forest began about 150 feet from the shore but this 150-foot width was as flat as a roadway.

  Topthor was driving the ground car and as he watched the ocean he stopped involuntarily. In a veritable spell of enchantment he observed the blue stretch of water that reached to the distant horizon. Suspended above it was the gleaming orange-red sun. It was warm, so that the breeze offered a welcome relief. The transparent cupola of the vehicle was open. Topthor took in the smell of salt on the damp, warm air.

  "It would be best for us to turn eastward," said Ber-Ka, who was accustomed to the ocean view. "The steel island lies on the south coast, I'm sure of that—more or less on the southeast tip of the continent."

  Topthor tore his gaze from the pleasing aspect before him and set the car in motion once more. He turned to his companion. "I'm beginning to understand why you set up a base here. This is a world you can make something out of."

  The Topide did not reply. He continued to look down at the beach as though he expected to see someone there but his eyes searched in vain for the silvery arrows on the rough surface of the sea which would announce the presence of the swimming fish creatures. The inhabitants of the planet Akvo, as Deringhouse had named this world, lived almost exclusively in the water. They could not stay on land more than 2 or 3 hours. Under water they propelled themselves like jet aircraft. They sucked the water into their large mouths, compressed it in the middle of their bodies with a special organ and then ejected it through a jet in the rear portion of their bodies. The success of this arrangement demonstrated itself in the astonishing speed of their propulsion.