The Earth Dies Read online

  They did not show themselves and Ber-Ka seemed disappointed.

  Topthor's initial enjoyment of this pagan landscape soon wore off and his worries returned to him. Moreover, there was always the uncertainty of what had happened in the meantime. The weak transmitter on board the ground vehicle was not powerful enough to call to the fleet. The Top 2 couldn't give any answer so it was useless to transmit to them.

  It was a messed up situation but sooner or later they'd find him and then Rhodan's deception would be exposed and it was possible that the Nav computer of the Top 2 might correct its own error. And then the Springers would repeat their attack on the Earth.

  Only then it would be the actual Earth!

  After 3 hours of steady driving, Topthor started as Ber-Ka suddenly let out a cry and excitedly pointed ahead.

  "The island...! We've made it!"

  Topthor looked at the low, dome-like structure. It stood just above the breakers about a mile off the coast, supported by slender pilings anchored in the ocean bottom. The railing, which encircled the platform, was designed to protect its inhabitants from accidental falls into the sea.

  But nothing moved on the platform. The synthetic island appeared lifeless.

  Topthor said nothing. He drove along silently for about 10 minutes and then stopped at a place on the beach that was directly opposite the island. In an improvised harbor, several ownerless boats lay waiting.

  Ber-Ka pointed toward them. 'We can get to the island with those. Let's go! What are we still waiting for?"

  Topthor hesitated. "And what if they've seen us and are ready to destroy us?"

  Ber-Ka dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "After all, they'll see that I'm an officer and they're not going to shoot at you without further investigation when they see that you're in my company. Who knows what's happened in the meantime? Come on, Topthor! Each minute is valuable!"

  Topthor climbed out of the protective groundcar unwillingly because until now it had offered shelter. The aspect of the silent and mysterious island resting there in the water did not please him very much, even though it offered him the possibility of making contact with his people.

  However, it offered Ber-Ka the same chance.

  If he wanted to really be truthful with himself, he had to admit that he didn't trust the Topide out of his sight. Yes, they had made a truce agreement but it had been an expediency only and was in no way the result of mutual sympathy. He was convinced that neither one of them would honor the agreement any longer than the circumstances required. If Ber-Ka became established with his people, he would not need Topthor any more. In the other hand, Topthor would have no further interest in the reptilian alien if he could make contact with Cekztel.

  Therefore...

  Ber-Ka already stood by one of the small boats, which practically invited a trip to the island. "Come on, Topthor, we don't have any time to lose!"

  The Mounder moved slowly, his raygun swinging heavily in his belt. His feet sank deep into the loose sand. He didn't let Ber-Ka out of his sight because he wasn't fond of the idea of being shot in the back. The point of decision was nearing swiftly and inexorably.

  The boat swayed dangerously but with its softly humming motor it brought both of its passengers safely to the island's boat landing, which was a small platform lying close above the surface of the water. At this location the smooth wall of the island was broken by a door. A locking wheel took the place of the usual handle or doorknob.

  Ber-Ka secured the boat and disembarked. With nimble hands he opened the door, while Topthor also got out of the boat and stepped onto the island, whose walls towered another 60 feet above them. Under the boat landing, the pilings supporting the structure were not visible. Here the cupola itself continued beneath the water. Topthor could not see the bottom of the ocean and had no idea how deep the water might be.

  Meanwhile, the Topide had entered and now he turned around. "Come on, Topthor. Of course I don't know whether we'll find an intact radio station or a crew but we have to see what we can discover. This was our headquarters but as I see the lower portion of it has been flooded. Do you see the steps under the water? Only those leading upward are usable. I don't have any idea where the radio station is located."

  "If there is one—or if it still exists—we will find it," said Topthor with new optimism. "Perhaps in the upper levels. Let's take a look at this water castle. I find this a fairly interesting layout you have here, even though I don't understand why it wasn't constructed on land... You say there aren't any natural enemies around."

  "It was built here for the purpose of contacting the native inhabitants," explained Ber-Ka brusquely. He began to go up the stairs.

  Topthor followed him after casting a glance at the flooded corridors which led into the depths. Apparently the Topides had only taken the most essential things with them, because the general installation, equipment and furnishings still remained. There was every evidence of their intention to return here after their battle with the Springers. In drawers, cupboards and lockers were stored even the documents and record cylinders—the containers with the microfilm and stacks of photographic reports of the 4th planet of the system, which they called Lyrad. Topthor looked rather covetously at these valuable documents. He preferred to take them all with him at once but then he reminded himself that the reptile-men in all probability wouldn't be coming back here.

  It was just about 100% certain that Ber-Ka was the last living Topide to enter this former headquarters and it appeared to be just as certain that he would leave it as a dead man—if he left it at all.

  Topthor's hand lay casually on the butt of his raygun as Ber-Ka turned suddenly and pointed ahead where an open door stood at the end of the passage. Behind it was a brightly lit room.

  "The radio central, Topthor! We've done it!"

  The Mounder started as though he had been caught in an illegal act. He forced a grin at the lizard. "Excellent, Ber-Ka! Then I think Rhodan's time has run out..."

  The wide room was empty and unoccupied by any crewmembers. The equipment, receiver, generators and transmitter stood untouched in their proper places. Broad windows permitted the daylight to stream in upon them. The seats for the personnel stood exactly as they had been left. It seemed to Topthor that the reptiles could be returning at any moment, as if they had only left the place for a few minutes. But then he scolded himself for a fool. The reptile fleet was as good as destroyed. No one would be able to return here. Ber-Ka was and remained the last Topide who had the opportunity to look over the former headquarters.

  "Do you understand how to work any of this equipment?" asked Topthor.

  "Enough for our purposes," the young officer assured him and he pointed to the control console. "At the beginning of my career I was a radio operator. Just wait and in a few minutes we'll have Al-Khor there on the viewscreen."

  Topthor wrinkled his brow. "Why not Cekztel, my superior officer? Who knows whether or not this Al-Khor is still alive after his fleet was destroyed ...?"

  "Is this a Springer station or a Topide station?" asked Ber-Ka. "As soon as I have spoken to Al-Khor, the installation will be at your disposal. You can't ask for more than that."

  The Mounder nodded hesitantly. His hand was once more resting uneasily on his belt. "That may be so, Ber-Ka, but without my generosity you would hardly be here on this island. Therefore I have a claim to the first communication. Besides, it would hardly be of any use to your fleet if Al-Khor learned about the great hoax we've been exposed to. It's important that the battlefleet of the Springers be warned. Don't you see that?"

  But Ber-Ka had fixed upon an idea of his own. He wanted revenge. And he wanted to perform a hero's deed. If he killed this Springer and at the same time managed to bring the fighting operations to a halt, he would receive the Dictator's medal of bravery; of that there could be no doubt. But this Topthor was a quick and dangerous opponent who shouldn't be underestimated.

  "Perhaps you are right," he said warily. "Please... y
ou help yourself to the equipment first. You probably know how to operate it."

  "I was also a radio operator," muttered Topthor and he stepped past Ber-Ka to the empty chair. Unobtrusively he drew his weapon. He reacted swiftly as he recognized the reflected figure of the Topide in the convex glass of the viewscreen and observed that he drew his weapon from his belt and aimed it at his back. He acted as if he were about to sit down but instead whirled around and threw himself to the floor, firing simultaneously.

  Ber-Ka was taken completely by surprise. Without a sound the Topide died, the weapon in his claw-like hand still pointed at Topthor. The beam of energy died after a short flash. Topthor gave a sigh of relief and shoved his gun back in his belt. Now no further danger threatened him from the treacherous lizard whom he had to kill in self defense. The corpse was proof enough of the intent of Ber-Ka to shoot him in the back. He would leave it lying just as it was.

  Topthor sat down before the controls and studied the layout of the equipment. It wasn't any different in

  principle from the radio installations of the Springers except for small differences in the actual controls with which he was not familiar. He was convinced, however, that it would take only a short while before he would have the station in operation.

  For exactly 10 minutes Topthor hulked motionlessly over the equipment. Then he hesitantly reached out his right hand and pulled back a lever. At the same time, with his left hand, he activated several switches and buttons. He adjusted the frequency of the transmitter, keeping all decoder equipment disconnected, and finally took the microphone after the viewscreen brightened.

  "This is Topthor, speaking from the 4th planet of the system. This is Topthor speaking from the headquarters of the Topides! I am calling Cekztel, Commander-in-Chief of the Mounders! Answer, Cekztel! I have important news for you! Come in please—over!"

  He repeated the message 3 times and then switched over to the receiver.

  He did not have long to wait before the somewhat distorted features of the old patriarch appeared on the screen. The crafty eyes above the broad nose and full, greying beard searched as though they did not see Topthor.

  "Hello, Topthor? Cekztel here. Why don't you cut in your camera? Where's your video? My screen is dark."

  "This is a communications setup of the reptiles and I'm not too familiar with it. But that's not important. Listen, Cekztel, make peace at once with the commander of the Topides!"

  "You've lost your mind, Topthor! The Topides have allied themselves with the Terranians and now I'm supposed to make peace with them? Besides, I wouldn't know where I could still find a reptile commander. Rhodan's giant ship has appeared several times along with some smaller units but none of the cylindrical ships have been sighted since the end of the battle."

  "Come and get me, Cekztel!" begged Topthor. "You can find me easily on the 4th planet..."

  "What are you doing there? I didn't see your ship during the battle."

  "I'll tell you all about it later, Cekztel. In any case you're going to be amazed when I tell you how neatly we've crawled into Rhodan's trap!"

  "Don't be ridiculous, Topthor! We've won this battle and we're making final preparations to destroy the Earth. Only one more hour now and

  "That's a mistake!" interrupted Topthor with a grin which of course the patriarch wasn't able to see. "A gigantic mistake! You can save your bomb and..."

  Topthor gave an involuntary start when he saw the viewscreen suddenly go dark. Cekztel's face disappeared. Simultaneously the soft humming of the equipment became silent. The control lights went out.

  The entire installation had turned itself off automatically. Before Topthor could comprehend what was happening, a chirping voice behind him said: "Turn around but keep your hands off your weapon."

  Topthor slowly turned around.

  • • •

  Deringhouse was not entirely innocent in the matter of Pucky's disappearance.

  "What would we do on Akvo, Pucky?" he asked warily while hesitating to make the next hypertransit.

  "There's nothing going on there."

  "Maybe there is," twittered the mouse-beaver and he examined an almost perfect isosceles triangle he had made out of a piece of paper. "There may even be a lot of thing's going on over there."

  "I don't understand, Pucky."

  "Then I'll explain it to you, Boss. Our good friend Topthor seems to be taking a special leave of absence on Akvo. I'd sort of like to cut his vacation short before he gets into some kind of mischief."

  "Topthor?" asked Deringhouse in astonishment. A shock ran through him. Topthor!

  "Precisely," nodded Pucky cheerfully but then he began to plead with that heart-rending puppy dog look of his. "You know, the Chief has promised me something if I find Topthor. What do you think he'll give me if I clip Topthor's wings and destroy his ship?"

  "All alone?" Deringhouse was amazed but was already looking at his star charts. "You know, I don't mind picking up a few points with Rhodan myself..."

  The mouse-beaver snorted disdainfully. "What would you do with a couple of hundred pounds of carrots? Anyway, what's the big deal? All I'm asking is that we make a fly-by over the planet—within a couple thousand miles."

  "I have to advise Rhodan..." "Later, Major. Can you be sure that Topthor won't be spouting off to Cekztel in the meantime?" Deringhouse nodded, convinced, and turned to the hypertrans programmer. Three minutes later, the Centurion popped out of hyperspace in the vicinity of Akvo and curved into a shallow, parabolic orbit that brought the ship close to the edge of the atmosphere.

  "Well, Pucky?" asked Deringhouse, turning around. "Are you satisf..." He interrupted himself and looked about in silent wonderment. Pucky was no longer in the Control Central. He had disappeared without a trace. Deringhouse did not delay further in making contact with Rhodan.

  • • •

  As the aqueous planet Akvo appeared on the viewscreen, Pucky concentrated—and made his jump.

  As soon as he could see again and sensed solid ground under his feet, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was a certain risk to simply teleporting into nothingness but he had lucked in. He stood on the top of a bare mountain which rose high above the tropical forest and offered a splendid view in all directions. Of course this didn't quite solve all his problems but it made the search considerably easier in view of the fact that Akvo had only one continent, which was not very large.

  Pucky looked up almost vertically at the sun in the noon sky. He sat down on a flat rock and closed his eyes. That which he could not see he would have to 'hear.' Otherwise he would never locate his prey.

  And his prey was named Topthor!

  He listened inwardly in order to trace the Mounder's thought impulses but this was somewhat more difficult here than in empty space. To his amazement he immediately traced something in the first few seconds—scattered shreds of thought which undoubtedly originated from Springers and Topides.

  Springers and Topides!

  From the same direction! Pucky turned his head. Hm-m-m... From this distance it was not possible to determine the direction of origin exactly.

  He sighed. "Springers and lizards on friendly terms—that's a surprise. And it's something we'll have to look into. Perhaps Topthor is in the vicinity."

  He took a few bearings in the assumed direction toward the next mountain and teleported himself across. After 3 additional jumps he saw below him a rocky plateau on which 2 ships lay beside each other. Or more precisely: 2 derelicts.

  Pucky let out a shrill whistle. "The Top 2, if I'm not mistaken. That's real grundle!" (Future slang equivalent of "That's just ducky" originated by columnist of the 1970s, Fisher Trentworth.)

  He reached behind him for a small leather bag that he had hooked to his belt. It contained a metal object the size of a duck egg. It was an atomic bomb!

  He took out the dangerous instrument and adjusted its fuse. Then he pressed in a button and made certain that it remained in a depressed position. If it were to be re
leased, the detonation would follow in exactly 5 seconds. It was an ancient principle but capable of a most ultra-modem effect...

  Pucky teleported and materialized in the Control Central in the middle of the broken ship that belonged to Topthor. The officer of the watch sprang wide-eyed off the couch and leapt to his feet in sudden fright, to stare at this incomprehensible apparition before him. In his belt was the regulation hand weapon issued to all crewmembers but at the moment he had no intention of using it. In a state of shock he looked at the mouse-beaver who had appeared so suddenly out of nowhere and who held in his hand a glittering object as though he were ready to throw it.

  "Now if you're a real good boy, I'll give you a present," chirped Pucky in purest Intercosmo, a

  circumstance which left the Mounder practically breathless with surprise.

  He could only gasp, "What kind of a present..."

  "Your life!" said Pucky triumphantly and showed him the bomb. "This thing is really loaded. If I let loose of it, it will explode—and that'll make a real pretty hole in this part of the planet. So let's not have any tricks. I want you to go outside in the open and call the others together."

  "The others...?" asked the Mounder, swallowing hard. It was evident that he couldn't comprehend what was happening. "Who are you?"

  "I am Pucky!" answered the mouse-beaver from the planet Vagabond. "You've never heard of me? My best friend is called Perry Rhodan."

  "Rhodan...?" groaned the great mountain of flesh before him. "Rhodan is here?"

  "In the area. Just in the area, you might say," said Pucky calmly. "And now, call the others together outside. I'd like to address a few appropriate words to them. That includes the reptiles. Are you playing footsie-clawsie with them?"

  "Topthor ordered it. He said that this war is a mistake"