Atlan in Danger Read online

  "Thanks!" Gen. Deringhouse said with a grin. "Now I at least know that I should quit bothering you with questions and what a splendid specimen of a layman I am. But now what's happened with my, message in this contraption?"

  Grossi, born in Sicily, got his degree in Naples. For 11 years he had been among the top talent brought to Terrania by Rhodan. Grossi now felt sorry for himself for again he had to turn down the general.

  "I can't explain that to you either. If I tell you that this device converts your words into impulses and that in the same operation it prepares a negative of them, you will automatically think of film negatives and that's a dead-end..." He took the thin tape that had clicked its way out of the machine over to the automat of the hyper-transmitter. Gen. Deringhouse did not budge wanted to understand this as yet unexplained process from his side. He was not ready to give up. He still By means of this negative procedure there was certainty for the first time that hyper-transmissions could not be deciphered—as long as the process was unknown to the adversary.

  The hyper-transmitter of the Drusus sent the negative message to the courier ship posted 30 light-years away. A direct connection to Arkon was not possible as Atlan did not yet have a like device. "But the courier has one, otherwise Atlan along with his positronicon could brood till the end of time about the undecipherable message our boss sent. So, General, the courier is taking off! You see?"

  Grossi demonstratively pointed at the tracking screen. The courier ship could be seen as a minute, gleaming point.

  Grinning, Deringhouse asked the dark, curly-haired Grossi: "And you are glad that I am leaving Communications Central, aren't you? But you are not rid of me in the long run!"

  • • •

  The yellow Rusuma sun shone on 18 planets; the 5th was the Springer central world of Archetz. Following the example of Arkon, the Galactic Traders had developed all of them into defensive forts in the course of millennia, with the exception of the planet Ult nearest the sun. Ultimately they included the many moons in their planetary fortification ring.

  The clans, constantly cruising back and forth between the stars, mocked the need for security of their racial brothers who had become sedentary upon Archetz until they themselves were compelled to land frequently on Archetz, either for essential repairs of their cylindrical ships or even to purchase new spacecraft.

  From the moment they felt solid ground beneath their feet they grasped the value of the mere knowledge that they were protected by heavily armed planets and moons.

  Archetz, the hub of the subversive movement and of the economic crisis, had made a last ditch effort in the past days. The Mounders had been induced to fly security checks around this most important of Springer worlds.

  The night lay above Titon, city of 12 million. In Cokaze's vessel, Cokaz 2, the two eldest sons of the Patriarch were on guard duty. They were instructed to awaken him and Thomas Cardif on receipt of any important messages. The major portion of the night had passed uneventfully, however, when suddenly the central control station of the strong battleship taskforce reported in on the Mounder frequency.

  "Where is Cokaze, Springer?" the voice of the giant who weighed more than a half ton boomed from the loudspeaker. The giant's face was distorted by anger and his forehead was flushed. "Is he asleep? Then wake him up, quick, friend!"

  Cokaze's eldest son stormed out of the communications room of Cokaz 2, confused by the gruff call of the Mounder. His younger brother switched on intercom, simultaneously connecting with his father's cabin and the Terranian's.

  "Who is calling?" the Patriarch asked, still drowsy.

  "I'm on my way!" Cardif interjected, wide awake.

  They met on main deck and looked at each other questioningly. They shrugged their shoulders, having no idea of what the central control station of the Mounder might have to report of importance at this time of the night.

  The Patriarch sank heavily into the chair facing the readout screen. "Onkto, what's up?" he asked, now aware that he was the richest patriarch of all the Springer clans and that there was no more important man at that moment in the entire Arkon Empire.

  "Not much," the Mounder said in his incredibly deep bass voice. "We are pulling back, Patriarch!"

  "What are you going to do?" Cokaze screamed into the microphone in a fever of excitement. "That is counter to our agreement, Onkto! That is treason!"

  "Nonsense!" the Mounder retorted coarsely. "Arkon threatened us in no uncertain terms, demanding..."

  "Arkon..." The Patriarch, otherwise so controlled, roared with laughter. "Arkon, none other! What is Arkon today?"

  "Who is that standing behind you, Cokaze? The face reminds me a lot of Rhodan! Who is it?" the Mounder demanded, drowning out Cokaze's furious laughter.

  Thomas Cardif stepped forward. He placed his hand on Cokaze's shoulder, indicating that the Patriarch was to leave negotiation to him.

  "I am Thomas Cardif and my mother was Thora, an Arkonide princess, Onkto! That should do it. What did Arkon demand?"

  Onkto, head of the central control station of the Mounders, 800,000 kilometers above Archetz in his battleship, felt hypnotized by the reddish gleam of these cold Arkonide eyes. "Are you the one counseling Cokaze?" he inquired, obviously confused.

  "What did Arkon demand? Who made the demands? The Regent or Admiral Atlan?" It was the Arkonide speaking out of Thomas Cardif; in his gestures, tone and stance he was a prototype Arkonide but in his succinct manner of expression he was Perry Rhodan's son.

  Onkto's querying glance at Cokaze went unanswered. "The Great Coordinator called up, requiring immediate withdrawal. Otherwise we would be forced into it by the robot fleet."

  "And what evidence do you have that the Regent has pulled back the robot fleet from the Druuf front?" Cardif demanded to know.

  The giant's eyes widened in anger as he spat out a curse. Then he grumbled: "Cardif, if you already know, why ask? It's enough for us Mounders to know that the robot fleet is no longer at the front... and the Great Coordinator also threatened to send the Druufs!" he hastily added.

  "And that is enough to chase the valiant Mounders into the farthermost corner of the Universe?" Cardif bitterly scoffed. His reproach did not sit well with Onkto.

  "We are no dumber or smarter than Patriarch Cokaze, who only has 10 ships left on Titon. He withdrew all the rest from the firing line..."

  "Then assure me, Onkto, that you will not make your withdrawal known with one single transmission! If I don't get your guarantee,I will see to it that the entire Galaxy learns why you abandoned security duty around Archetz... just because Arkon threatened to send the robot Fleet!"

  "Cardif!" Onkto responded menacingly and his eyes narrowed to a slit, "you know as well as we do that the robot fleet is no longer on the front, which means..."

  Cardif coldly interrupted: "I do contradict that, Onkto! Cokaze contradicts it as well! Once the Mounders are known to be extreme cowards, your war business will be in a bad way. Don't you think so, Onkto?"

  He was apparently not alone in the control room, as Cardif and Cokaze could hear him whispering, although they could not make out what he was saying.

  The face of the Mounder once more faced the screen. "We accept the condition and are going to withdraw covertly. One day the star devils will fetch you, you damned Terran!"

  Those were Onkto's parting words. Thereafter the screen in the command room on Cokaz 2 darkened.

  Thomas Cardif turned his head toward Cokaze when he heard him ask: "The Mounders weren't lying, were they?"

  "Not one word!" Cardif confirmed. "They must have determined by tracking that the fleet of robot ships was no longer at the front. But what does that mean, Springer? And why did Arkon demand that the Mounders stop flying security for Archetz? There's some purpose behind it, but what?" He drummed his fingers on the screen. The movement was all that revealed his extreme exasperation. His face remained composed.

  Neither Cokaze nor his two eldest sons disturbed Cardif, who was deep in thought.
Finally the Terran said: I suggest that the Cokaz 2 still remain on Archetz but I would like the planetary stations to keep a special watch on the area surrounding the Rusuma System from now on. I know that something dangerous is in the making... but what?"

  From two localities far removed from one another the flight of the Druuf scout ship was observed: from the Drusus and from Arkon 3!

  The newly developed special tracking device stayed dead on the track of the ship from the other universe. Its linear hyper-propulsion developed emissions like an endlessly long string, by which the course of the spacecraft could he followed. The Indian, Rabintorge, whose ingenuity had been responsible for its speedy completion, had once contended that the linear hyper-propulsion would press one of the four constants out of its natural bedding in the time-space structure and thus trigger off the tracking effect.

  This contention was never seriously contradicted. It remained to be seen whether it stood the test of later examinations. The basic requirement was fulfilled, however, namely the availability of an apparatus which enabled them to discover the Druufs when exceeding the speed of light.

  Atlan relied on the tiny hyper-transmitter which Tako Kakuta had unobtrusively dropped on entering the airlock of the Druuf ship. Every five minutes it beamed an impulse that was picked up by the antennas of the robot computer on Arkon and immediately evaluated by the positronicon. An enormous celestial chart with a light beam thin as a hair drawing nearer to the Rusuma System every five minutes indicated to the Arkonide the unbelievable speed with which the Druuf ship was racing through the universe, accelerating from second to second at that, although the ship had far exceeded the speed of light already.

  Rhodan and Atlan were wishing the best for this Druuf ship, aware as they were of all that depended on this reconnaissance flight.

  Tako Kakuta, the teleporter, and Dr. Brigonne, the astronaut, wished the same. They were both assigned as astronauts to the spacecraft of these monsters. Their task was twofold: to allow the ship to arrive over the planet of Archetz and to remove themselves immediately if the crew should suddenly turn hostile towards them. The latter was Kakuta's job and the small Japanese with the childlike face was very exacting about his duty. He did not budge from Dr. Brigonne's side.

  Brigonne, on the other hand, had long since stopped worrying whether the Druufs might become a menace. He was in his element and for the first time experiencing a flight faster than speol which produced a transition shock that could be measured but was not felt bodily. Only he did not understand why the Druufs were flying so slowly through hyperspace. For thanks to Ellert's information he knew that with linear hyper-propulsion they could reach light-speeds of astronomical proportions.

  Once humans were in possession of linear hyperpropulsion there would be no more boundaries to flight into the far reaches of space and bodily stress would be relegated to history just like those primitive rockets in the museum used by Perry Rhodan and Bell on their first flight to the moon that provoked joking admiration. Or so, at least, Terran scientists thought.

  Cheating your way into hyperspace in this fashion, without losing sight of the target star, had to seem unreal to any human on his first flight with linear hyper-propulsion. But the experience of seeing the target star coursing toward one and already heading for the next, compelled the belief in faster-than-light flight.

  Brigonne was not able to interpret what they were doing. The Druuf spaceships, constructions of a different universe, were totally incomprehensible in their technical design. It remained a puzzle to him whether they were cartographically recording the entire route.

  Kakuta and Brigonne had quickly become accustomed to the fact that they were twice as fast in their movements as the monsters, who were at a disadvantage in relation to all creatures in this universe because they were bound to their own Druuf time.

  The two Terranians communicated over helmet radio. They had not yet thought about whether they were in breathable atmosphere. At that moment the eight Druufs in the ship Central were having some problem. They were grouped around a strange apparatus, flailing their arms wildly. The two pilots were the only ones to remain in their seats but they continually turned their round heads to the side and seemed to be very tense.

  "Brigonne, do you know what's going on?" Kakuta asked the astronaut, moving even closer to him so he could teleport himself and the doctor out into space at the first sign of trouble.

  "No idea." Brigonne's voice sounded hoarse but Tako Kakuta knew that it was not fear that caused this change. It might be the uncertainty of neither knowing nor understanding anything.

  On impulse the teleporter switched on the special Druuf transmitter installed in his spacesuit which enabled him to communicate with the monsters. At the same moment he had a Druuf standing before him and over the loudspeaker he heard his words: "Switch off!"

  Tako Kakuta did not wait for him to repeat the demand but he stopped to think about it. There was only one explanation for the fact that the Druuf had immediately noticed his switching on the device: they were tracking!

  And he thought he knew what they were seeking: the tiny hyper-transmitter in the airlock!

  He quickly turned to inform Brigonne but first he turned on the scrambler. Gradually he began to believe in the vast capabilities of these intelligent beings and that they knew exactly what was said between him and Brigonne.

  The astronaut quickly recognized the incomprehensible gibberish coming over his helmet microphone and found the appropriate counter-scrambler on the third try.

  Brigonne just listened to the beginning. "Kakuta, what can we do to prevent their finding the directional transmitter? We must keep Atlan informed. The boss explicitly repeated that to me!" Kakuta's childlike face looked at him guilelessly through the faceplate of his helmet. "Would you like to tell me how they are going to find that tiny transmitter in a few seconds, Doctor?"

  "Well, what are the Druufs up to now?" Brigonne made no bones about the fact that he was feeling very uneasy. Three Druufs stalked out of the Central on their clumsy columnar legs but they did not leave empty-handed. All three were carrying heavy apparatuses and it was obvious that they were using them to track a transmitted

  "Brigonne, how much flight time left?"

  "That's asking more than I know because I don't know how high they're going to accelerate."

  "But no longer than three hours?" Kakuta hastily asked. "At our present acceleration, no. By then they would already be on the return flight. I hope we two will be with them," the astronaut pessimistically added. "Then you distract their attention for 10 seconds. They mustn't notice that I've left Com Central. Can you manage that?"

  "What are you up to, Kakuta?"

  "Can you manage it, Doctor?" Kakuta's eyes were suddenly flashing.

  "Naturally. When I cough you..." This was followed by hefty nodding. The teleporter saw no other alternative. He had to avert the danger by staking everything on one card.

  But first Dr. Brigonne had to act swiftly and surely to divert the attention of the suspicious Druufs. During this period the thread of light on the celestial chart in the dome of the positronic computer continued to move a little bit every five minutes. Atlan, the sole observer—Atlan, fated to remain unaging for 10,000 years, his life full of inconceivably rich experiences—was staring with eyes torn wide open at this gleaming emission line that visibly grew every five minutes. Converted into astronomical terms it signified that the acceleration of the Druuf scout ship was continuing.

  Atlan did not sense, however, that in those very minutes the Druuf ship was racing towards disaster. Dr. Brigonne had to divert the attention of five Druufs. Two of them were seated in the cumbersome pilot seats, the other three were standing in front of some machine, constantly turning around to look at the Terranians. Tako Kakuta felt the time running out. His opportunity of intervening to change the course of events was limited. The moment had to arrive soon! Why was Dr. Brigonne doing nothing? Why was he just standing around, not moving? Kakut
a was very agitated but he mustered the reserves to control himself. Finally Brigonne went over to the group of three Druufs. He approached them from the side. They seemed to be paying no attention to him—or were they observing him with their eyes on the temples of their bullet heads?

  Brigonne switched on the communications device. "Druuf, I must call your attention to an important fact. Here..."

  He simply went over to a star map hanging on the wall and pointed at a certain spot. "Here, right by this star cluster, there is... Druufs! It is important! Are you listening?"

  And Kakuta heard Dr. Brigonne cough. The signal!

  He hyjumped and rematerialized in the airlock containing the hyper-transmitter. When he came out of rematerialization he was holding a beamer in each hand. His hands were steady as he welded shut the inner bulkhead with thermorays.

  The two double welding seams he drew were so exact that they would be the delight of any autogenous welder. From bottom to top and from top to bottom again. He quietly counted to himself in the process: 5... 6... 7... 8!"

  At eight he was finished. He wheeled around. He still had two seconds left. The two thermo-beamers hissed into action and he drew a double seam across one third of the line represented by the seam of the sliding outer airlock door.

  The metal, molten centimeters deep, slowly hardened as Tako Kakuta, protected by a softly humming transformer, reappeared in Com Central.

  Dr. Brigonne was still standing in front of the star map, attempting to convince the Druufs of the danger presented by a super strong rotating magnetic field lying exactly in the ship's course.

  "Then don't listen..." the teleporter heard him say over helmet radio after Brigonne knew that the mutant had returned. "Then don't..." and he wordlessly walked away, switching off the communications device.

  "Another 10 minutes," Perry Rhodan said in a whisper to Bell, without moving his eyes from the special tracking device, "then they will be over Archetz. I wish those 10 minutes were already over!"