Quest Through Space And Time Read online

  But he wanted to wait with it until Regor and his soldiers could join them down here. Then the door would be locked tight. They would be safe as long as their provisions would last. This was as much as they had been able to do. Unless some miracle would save them from this underground prison.

  A soldier stormed through the door, saw Lesur and stumbled toward him. He sank to his knees. The Thort observed that the man was trembling all over.

  "What's going on? What's happened?" the Thort snapped at the desperate man. "You needn't fear telling me the truth. There can be nothing worse than the news I know of already."

  The man raised his head. Tears were streaming from his eyes, running down his cheeks. "Oh, Lord, the Gods..."

  "If only they'd come to our help!" Lesur said sarcastically and turned away. There was no time now to devote to the religious comfort of his soldiers. The Gods had forsaken him; therefore, as far as he was concerned, they could stay wherever they might be now.

  "But, they're going to help us!" shouted the soldier, rising. "They've heard our prayers and they'll come to our assistance. Why else would they have come here?"

  Lesur's body grew rigid. "Come here? Who's come here?"

  "The Gods! They're already inside the castle. I've just seen one of them as I was praying outside the holy chamber. The door was open...

  "What are you telling me?" yelled Lesur, horrified. "The door is open? Have you seen this with your own eyes?"

  "Oh yes, Lord, the door was open. I know that it's been closed since time immemorial. Everyone knows that it must never be opened. They say the Gods are living behind that door and they come out from there in the time of greatest need. Now they've opened that door. The Gods have come to help us."

  For a few seconds Lesur stood stock-still. Then he seized the soldier's arm and snapped at him: "Come with me! We're going to the door of the Gods!"

  Bell was scared to death when Ras suddenly materialized right in front of him. He cursed and stepped back quickly.

  The African chuckled in amusement. Then he reported to the impatiently waiting group about the situation outside, as far as he had been able to observe it.

  "We didn't travel back in time," began Rhodan thoughtfully, "to interfere in the inner politics of the Ferronian tribes. I must admit, though, that I prefer the Thort of this castle to the attacking barbarians. We're now confronted by the question: what should we do now? As far as Ras has found out, the Arkonides haven't yet landed here on Ferrol."

  This time it was Anne Sloane who suggested a plan, demonstrating that women, too, can think logically. "In case these barbarians conquer the castle, we're threatened by a great danger. There will hardly be any chance that these savages will spare our lives, if it is their custom to kill anything in sight. We should try perhaps to ingratiate ourselves with the master of this castle. Then we can sit and wait here calmly until the Arkonides land here."

  "That's a splendid suggestion," agreed Ras. "There's still another possibility: we can wait for the Arkonides' arrival in the safety of the Sichas' settlements."

  "Getting there without the proper means of transportation would be too complicated," Rhodan objected. "Anne's plan seems to make sense."

  Reginald Bell's face lit up. "Great! We're going to defend the castle! We'll just mingle unobtrusively with the knights!"

  Rhodan laughed. "Unobtrusively? Hardly! I'm afraid we'll scare those knights out of their wits."

  Khrest wanted to add something but he suddenly began to listen intently. He remained silent.

  There was some noise coming from the outside. The door was still standing open, and they could clearly hear steps that were cautiously approaching. Two men were talking to each other.

  Rhodan motioned to the mutants. Weapons drawn, the three men and the young girl moved silently to the back of the room. Khrest and Rhodan remained near the door. The exciting moment of the first contact with men from the past was imminent.

  What would the reaction be?

  But it turned out quite different from what they had feared.

  Upon seeing the open door, Lesur realized that his soldier had spoken the truth. He was seized by an inexplicable awe and regretted the snide remarks he'd made not too long ago regarding the Gods. Would they still forgive him for this? He decided to behave especially humble.

  He saw three men. They were standing in front of a metal cube in the center of the bare room. The awe-inspiring figures of the three forced Lesur down on his knees. His soldier had already prostrated himself, lying trembling with fear on the stone floor.

  Rhodan didn't understand right away. From the back wall, where John Marshall was standing, came a telepathic message. John could read the minds of the Ferrons and he transmitted his thoughts to the uncomprehending Rhodan: "He believes us to be Gods who've come in order to help him against the barbarians. Right now he's still deliberating how he should address us. I think his Ferronian dialect won't be too difficult for us to understand. His name is Lesur, the Thort."

  Rhodan sized up the situation. He stepped forward and halted at the threshold of the door. Before Lesur could utter a word, Rhodan stretched out both hands toward the Ferron and addressed him in the New-Ferronian language:

  "You've guessed it, Lesur. We've come to help you. We won't permit your enemies to conquer your castle."

  Lesur understood the words, although they seemed to be strangely altered. But this wasn't surprising: why shouldn't the Gods speak differently from mere mortals? The important thing was that he could comprehend what they were telling him.

  Lesur rose from his knees but still remained with head and shoulders bowed down in a deferential attitude.

  "Thank you, O Gods! But the enemy has already invaded my castle. Many warriors have been killed and now women and children are in danger of sharing their fate."

  Hearing of the immediate danger threatening the women and children caused Rhodan to act faster than he had intended. He turned to his friends: "Bell, take charge of the cleaning-up operation of the inner castle, together with Khrest and the robot. I'll occupy myself with the defense on the outside. Marten, Ras, Marshall and Anne Sloane win come with me. Reg, follow the usual procedure: ray guns, slight intensity. The mutants and I will take care of the barbarian's. I'll put the fear of God into those savages. That can never do any harm."

  Lesur and his soldier led Bell and his three companions in the direction of the great hall where a battle was already raging. Rhodan and his mutants, however, hurried up the stone stairs to the observation platform from where they wanted to survey the situation. They encountered the first barbarians already in the courtyard. The rest of the defenders had fled to the corridors leading to the cellar vaults. The intruders thought themselves to be conquerors.

  And now suddenly these strangers appeared before them. Surrounded by his chieftains, Gagat, ruler of the barbarians, saw the new opponents.

  He wasted no time in finding out what these strangers wanted from him. It quickly passed through his mind that Lesur must have acquired some new allies from some distant land—and he ordered his soldiers to kill these men.

  Rhodan held his ray gun ready in his hand.

  "What's going on?" he whispered to Marshall.

  The telepath replied hastily: "They regard us as enemies. The fellow with the red cape is their leader—he's called Gagat. He just issued a command to his soldiers to kill us."

  "That's it," Rhodan said. "Now we know where we stand. Let's go, then! Everyone proceed to the best of their abilities. I'll use the ray gun. Anne, why don't you let this Gagat rise up into the air for a little while!"

  But it took several minutes before Anne could let Gagat fly like a bird. There was no time, for she had to concentrate her attention first on steering aside the enemy's missiles. She used her telekinetic talents with great skill and incredible presence of mind. The result of her endeavors was a smashing success.

  The leader of the barbarians raised his spear and hurled it toward Rhodan, whom he might have
recognized as the most important person among these enemies. The missile was well aimed and would have hit Rhodan without fail if it had not bounced in midair against some invisible obstacle. For a moment the spear remained there motionless, then arched backward, returning to its starting point. However, with the identical speed. The barbarian stared wide-eyed at this miracle and could not even muster enough energy to dodge his own spear, that now landed almost straight down, nailing his right foot to the hard loam of the courtyard.

  He uttered a piercing scream, due mainly to fear rather than pain. Gagat, who was standing next to him, had not budged. He was busy watching the other soldiers' spears that performed the most peculiar acrobatics. Some rose up so high into the air that he almost lost sight of them. Others changed their flight path and hit against the stone walls of the fortress with such force that missiles broke in two. None, however, reached their intended goal.

  Rhodan, meanwhile, had pointed his ray gun at the dumbfounded barbarians and directed a slight electron shower at them. Filled with fury, Gagat seized his sword, ready to lead his warriors with a good example, when the black ghost of the African suddenly materialized next to him, calmly took away his sword and vanished again without a trace.

  The savage stood there thunderstruck.

  And then the electric current began to course through his body. He was totally unfamiliar with this type of energy. His soldiers' terrified faces told him that he was not alone in experiencing this frightening phenomenon.

  Who were these strangers?

  Before he could come to a conclusion, one of them spoke to him. Gagat could even understand what he was saying.

  "Gagat, return to your land or the Gods will kill you and your men. To show you that we mean business, here is a last demonstration and our final warning."

  Rhodan gave Anne Sloane a sign, and she started concentrating on Gagat. Then the most frightening event for Gagat began.

  The leader of the barbarians felt suddenly how the painful tingling ceased in his body, but at the same time he lost the firm ground from under his feet. He floated upward, higher and higher, until he reached the highest pinnacles of the castle. His eyes almost popping out of their sockets in terror, his legs dangling like two lifeless sticks, he kept rising up like a balloon. For a while he hovered above the fiercely battling warriors of both sides, who fought for possession of the watch tower. At first he remained unnoticed but then someone called out.

  All eyes turned skyward and then all arms, with swords and spears raised up high to do battle sank down helplessly. Gagat, the feared and pitiless barbarian could fly like a bird.

  What a shock for Lesur's soldiers! But this lasted only a few seconds, for by that time they had noticed the barbarians' reaction to their leader's remarkable feat: they were just as horrified as the castle's defenders.

  Gagat, too, gave himself away. As he hovered close above the soldiers' head, he started calling out to them:

  "The Gods are on Lesur's side! They've lifted me up into the sky and soon they'll let me fall down to the ground. Give up the fight; we've lost! We cannot prevail against the Gods."

  Marshall, down in the courtyard, could weakly hear Gagat's words. He turned to Ralf Marten, the teleoptician, and said: "Ralf, establish contact with Gagat. See what's happening to him!"

  The tall, dark-haired halfbreed Japanese withdrew to the nearest wall of the courtyard and leaned against the Stones. Here it would be safe to leave his body for a short while. Rhodan would take care that no one would come too close as long as he was in this helpless condition.

  A moment later he could perceive through Gagat's eyes. He peered into the horrified faces of the barbarians and into the once more hopeful features of Lesur's men. He could also hear as the lord of the barbarians shouted anew: "Flee, as long as there's still time. Maybe the wrath of the Gods will spare me if we obey their command. Leave Lesur's castle as fast as you can!"

  Ralf Marten returned into his body; he had heard enough. Rhodan looked at him expectantly.

  "I think we scared them sufficiently," Marten said, smiling.

  The barbarians fled helter-skelter. They paid no heed to the electron showers. They drew their swords from their sheaths and stormed toward the castle walls to reach the ladders that had enabled them some time ago to scale the same wails. Desperately they pushed and shoved, trying to reach safety first. More than one of the ladders toppled over, hurtling the men down to their deaths.

  Up at the watch tower sheer pandemonium reigned. Lesur's furious soldiers wanted to prevent the barbarians' flight; they intended to take full revenge on the suddenly weakened enemy. Meanwhile Gagat, who was still floating close above the fighting men, kept violently waving his arms in the air. This caused him to sail nearer to the edge of the castle walls and then beyond, until he hung above the sheer void.

  The ground lay deep below him. If he should crash now, his life would be lost.

  But Anne had no intention whatsoever of killing him. She let him descend swiftly, braking just in time for him to land gently, not far beyond the castle moat. Gagat stood there all alone and observed, still half-paralyzed with fright, the flight of his panic-stricken braves.

  Gradually the survivors gathered around their leader. They still failed to comprehend how Gagat could suddenly fly through the air—but if the Gods, especially hostile ones, were involved, one had to expect such incredible happenings.

  Still missing were those soldiers who had invaded. the interior of the castle. Would they manage to flee the wrath of Lesur's men or were they lost? There was no time left to find out now. Gagat and his men fled head over heels.

  Rhodan didn't hinder them in their flight. He waited until some of Lesur's soldiers appeared. As was to be expected, there were no complications; Gagat's words had done their work. The Gods had interfered and helped them to win the victory. Now it was proper to thank the Gods.

  It was not surprising, therefore, that Rhodan and his friends found themselves soon circled by a group of kneeling Ferrons, who touched their foreheads to the ground in order to show their reverence and gratitude.

  What a pity, thought Rhodan,that Reg isn't here to witness this spectacle...

  In the meantime Reginald Bell was busy warding off the attacking barbarians with the help of positron ray guns. This task, however, did not prove quite as easy perhaps as Rhodan had thought.

  Lesur and his warriors hurried ahead and stopped abruptly when they reached the corridor that ended in the entrance to the sanctuary. Just five minutes earlier calm and peace had reigned here. But now all hell had broken loose!

  Regor, chieftain of the Ferrons, had sent down some of his soldiers into the cellar vaults in order to prepare and orderly withdrawal. As they passed through the throne chamber, they had encountered some barbarian who had already began to plunder. Violent fighting had ensued, which saw the rightful owners of the castle being pushed back farther and farther.

  Now they were waging a desperate fight to prevent the enemy from taking their last refuge, that hall where the women and children were hidden.

  Bell sized up the situation at once.

  "Continuous fire!" he ordered Khrest and Haggard. Bell himself pointed his weapon at the battling men and pressed the firing button. It was impossible to distinguish friend from foe. Thus both Ferrons and barbarians were seized by the electron showers. Bell had set the gun on pose for a higher intensity and it did not take long before some of the soldiers, clad in metal armor, received rather strong electrical shocks.

  The walls of the vault were reverberating with cries of sheer horror.

  Lesur shouted a few words to explain the situation to his men. Though they could not understand why the Gods would apparently punish them too, they obeyed Lesur's command and disentangled themselves from their foes and retreated in the direction of the sanctuary. Some of Lesur's men were unable to walk; they barely managed to crawl. In the meantime the barbarians recovered from their fright.

  Strangers had appeared, hol
ding oddly-shaped objects in their hands. Then they felt these unknown electrical shocks, which were most unpleasant but not particularly painful. Bogar himself gave the order to attack these strangers. He brandished his sword and advanced toward Bell.

  Man can manufacture robots but these will always remain the work of mere mortals. The robots carry out man's commands. They are incapable of independent thought for they lack intelligence.

  It was quite a different story as far as Arkonide robots were concerned. They were equipped with a brain capable of independent thought processes. They needed no instructions in order to react to danger. They acted on individual initiative for they had the same discerning powers as their creators.

  Markon the robot stood next to Bell. He saw that his master was about to be attacked. Therefore he acted accordingly.

  Bogar hesitated for a moment when he saw the stranger come toward him. Properly speaking, this stranger was the only one who did not impress him as alien as the others, for he wore a suit of armor like Bogar and his men. How should the barbarian know that Markon was constructed entirely of metal?

  A true opponent, thought Bogar. But how odd that he did not carry arms. Did he intend, perhaps, to defend himself with his bare fists against a sword?

  Bogar no longer paid heed to Bell; he turned and concentrated his attention on the robot who now was advancing toward him with arms outstretched.

  Bell watched the scene out of the corners of his eyes. He had to continue covering the barbarians with his ray gun.

  Bogar, protected by his heavy suit of armor, raised his sword with both hands and with all his might he brought it down swiftly upon Markon's head. The force of the impact would have cut in half any ordinary helmet. Even a shield would not have helped there. Instead the barbarian's sword simply twisted and became nothing more than a useless piece of iron. At the same time Bogar broke both wrists. Roaring with pain he dropped the now worthless weapon and sank to his knees. Tears of pain and anger rolled down his cheeks. All the while he kept staring at the marvelous warrior who had proved to be invulnerable.