The Rebels of Tuglan Read online

  Gyrocars no longer obeyed their drivers, who were helplessly manipulating the steering mechanisms. But to their horror their cars did the exact opposite of what they were supposed to. Some vehicles simply rolled off the road and rattled over the fields lining the road until they finally came to a halt. Others, on the other hand, sailed up ahead, a few yards off the ground, only to make a rough landing somewhere along the road. Once a curiously staring policeman was struck in the back and pushed to the ground. Turning around furiously to see who his attacker might be, any word of protest got stuck in his throat. In front of him hovered one of the many trash containers that normally could be found at my street corner - but not up in the air.

  The policeman swiftly recalled all his secret misdeeds and was sure that the gods wanted to punish him. He thought he had lost his mind. A trash basket might quickly fly through the air but not leisurely hover in mid-air. And moreover, it would not dare attack a public servant of the state!

  Slowly, the bewildered man got to his feet, his eyes fixed on the trash container. The container rose a bit and then hovered directly overhead. Then the container made a turn of exactly 180?. Its entire contents poured over the head of the pitiable policeman, who just that morning had put on a freshly pressed uniform.

  Then the basket lost its hold in the air and fell down. Passersby came to the rescue of the unfortunate policeman and freed him from the tightly-looped wire basket that enclosed him like a captured animal behind a wire fence.

  Emby, in the meantime, ambled on, very pleased with himself. He had quickly discovered how marvelous one could play with these harmless two-legged creatures.

  Emby noticed a woman at a corner. He made her rise up and set her gently down on the roof of a house. From across the street Emby watched how people dragged tall ladders to bring her down again. Although he could have easily interfered, his attention was suddenly diverted.

  Three of the dark two-legged creatures had approached him. In their hands they held the same funny-looking pistols that Rhodan and his friends would use when in danger. That meant that these guys had not very friendly intentions toward him.

  "He belongs to the ship of the Arkonides," said one of the men.

  Emby was unable to understand their words directly, but a part of his intricate brain seemed suddenly to awaken. The strange thoughts penetrated his mind and became comprehensible impulses. "Is it an animal or an intelligent being?" That made some sense to Emby. They thought, then, that he was an animal.

  "Perhaps it's gotten away from the ship...?" wondered another man, and lowered his weapon. "Let's catch it and collect a reward." Well, then he wouldn't be able to play any more, thought Emby. He felt very annoyed. "We must bring it first to Lord Alban; only he can decide what to do with it." Emby was, of course, somewhat informed of the whole situation. He had listened in to the conversation

  aboard the Stardust. These people, therefore, were followers of Alban. "Be careful, men. Don't frighten him! Here, here, little fellow! Where's the cute little guy?" Emby thought that this question was utterly stupid. After all, they could plainly see where he was. And he was not the least bit frightened. He stopped and eyed the men curiously. He was satisfied to see that they had put their weapons away.

  He must impress them as being very harmless. Although he did not like that too well, it suited him at this particular moment. If they would behave decently, he would come along with them. Who could tell, the whole affair might turn out to be a lot of fun.

  He was rather startled when the first man bent down and seized him roughly by the small of his neck. That hurt! And Emby reacted instinctively to defend himself. The man felt as though grabbed by a huge fist that yanked him into the air. He saw the ground sink away from under him and the walls of the houses race downward on either side of the street. Way down below he could make out the upturned faces of his companions and their wide, staring eyes. And then, the invisible list let go of him. He fell and saw the street race toward him. And then He did not feel the impact; he died on the spot.

  Emby smoothed down his ruffled fur. That brute would not grab him by the scruff of his neck anymore!

  With a friendly grin, baring his one and only tooth, he addressed the two remaining Tuglanians, a slight reproach in his voice: "If you want to play with me, you mustn't touch me."

  The talking creature was the last straw! The two men lost the last shreds of their composure. It was too spooky. Especially what had happened to their companion. Automatically their hands flew to their weapons. They drew their ray guns. This animal was dangerous; it had to be put out of action. Who knew what else these Arkonides might have brought along in their spaceship!

  The visitor from Vagabond watched them calmly. He gazed at the dangerous guns. The invisible energy fingers of his telekinetic brain regions penetrated the firing mechanism, disrupting important circuits. The two men pressed the firing buttons but nothing happened. The deadly rays failed to materialize. Instead, all the metal parts of their pistols heated up tremendously, liquefied and dripped to the ground.

  Cursing wildly, the men hurled their useless weapons against the wall of the nearest house; then perplexed, stared at Emby with their mouths hanging wide open. Then they swiftly turned on their heels and ran off as fast as their legs would carry them.

  The whole incident had not remained unnoticed.

  From across the street, four Tuglanians hurried over, briefly examined the dead man and advanced toward Emby. One of the men said: "It's one of Alban's' men; I know him. The little guy over there killed him. It's a mystery how he did it. In any case, he doesn't seem to be very friendly toward our enemies. Why don't we ask him?"

  Well, well, thought Emby. That seemed interesting. These Tuglanians seemed to be from the other party, and they appeared much nicer.

  "If that little guy over there has arrived with the Arkonide spaceship he might be able to help us. He must be a member of the union of the empire."

  "You're right, Xaron. I only wonder how we can make ourselves understood."

  Emby had heard enough. These men were in trouble of some kind. Only he could help them. He would be happy to. Perhaps these men were on Daros' side? The four Tuglanians stopped before Emby and tried a friendly grin. One of them pointed to the dead man who was still lying in the street. "You did that, didn't you? Well done, friend. He was an enemy of the galactic empire." Emby spoke English fluently now as well as some Pankosmo - enough to make himself understood.

  "Also an enemy of Perry Rhodan?"

  "Who's Perry Rhodan?"

  "The commander of our spaceship."

  "Of course, he was Rhodan's enemy too. We'll explain everything to you. But not now - here comes the police... we mustn't be caught by them."

  Before the four men could take off, two or three gyrocars tore around the corner and came to a screeching halt. Uniformed men jumped out of the cars, drawing their weapons, and ran toward Emby and his four new friends.

  "Don't be scared!" chirped Emby overjoyed to be able once more to show off his tricks. "We'll teach them a thing or two."

  And the same moment, Karolan's four men became weightless and sailed upward and toward a nearby house, where they landed on top of the flat roof. They hardly felt firm ground under their feet again, when they regained their natural weight. They could not figure out what was happening to them and why. They clung desperately to a narrow railing that separated them from the abyss below. But their curiosity exceeded their fear. Especially since most peculiar things were taking place down there on the street. It was too good to be missed. And they forgot their tragicomical situation and peered down below.

  All perplexed, the policemen stared after the flying Tuglanians, but they quickly calmed down. After all, they had witnessed something similar barely half an hour earlier. Cars had been flying through the air and the same little animal had been nearby. Now men were sailing through the air, and once again the little furry creature was present, looking as harmless as a mouse.

  S
uddenly it dawned on them that there must be some connection between the miracles and the little fellow.

  "Get it alive!" yelled the leader of the brave troop and with a death-defying gesture he rushed toward Emby, whose big tooth danced up and down in happy anticipation. His fur bristled all over. Oh, joy! Now he could play and play! Almost more than he could handle at one time.

  The policemen were seized by an invisible list and pulled back into their gyrocars. Before they realized what was happening, they sat again in their vehicles, which set themselves in motion as if guided by mysterious spirits. The cars aligned in a smart formation and then ascended. The horrified policemen soon saw the city way down below in the depths. They crouched, perfectly still, in their cabins - they did not dare to even move a finger. The inhabitants of Tugla, however, enjoyed the spectacle of aerial acrobatics as performed by their own motorized police force. The performance lasted just two minutes, then the cars landed unharmed on the roof of the palace.

  Meanwhile, Emby had jumped up to the roof with a mighty leap, there to be warmly greeted by the relieved four rebels. They still failed to comprehend how all this had been possible but they accepted Emby's magic tricks simply as another manifestation of the wonders of the almighty Arkonide realm. One more reason to go all out for remaining within this empire.

  Nobody could disturb the little group up there on the roof and so they took the occasion to inform Emby about the political situation on the planet. He learned more in this short time than Rhodan had ever known about this system. Thanks to his telepathic powers Emby was able to tell that the four men were not lying.

  Rhodan was in danger and captured by Alban? It was high time to liberate him!

  'We'll take you to Karolan, our leader," they said to Emby. "He'll know what to do. You're our salvation. How can we thank you?"

  Emby modestly waved aside the compliment with a paw. "As long as I have a chance to play, that's all I want."

  This remark did not seem too clear to the four men but they really did not care what the mouse-beaver meant by it. The main thing was, they had found a powerful ally for their cause.

  And thus they started on their way to join Karolan in his hiding place.

  Bell abandoned his futile search for Rhodan. He decided to set out for the palace, where Khrest and Marshall were negotiating with Lord Alban. Wuriu Sengu, the seer of the mutant corps, accompanied Bell. Sengu had been unsuccessful so far in uncovering any trace of Rhodan's whereabouts, although the solid walls of the houses presented no obstacle to his vision. Under his scrutinizing gaze the structure of solid matter changed and became transparent. Sengu was capable of regulating the exact distance to which this process extended. This way he could penetrate layer after layer until he had found what he was looking for.

  But there was no trace of Rhodan, whatever he searched.

  Inside the palace, there was a great deal of commotion. Bell regarded the gyrocars parked on the palace roof and pondered how they had gotten up there. A guard explained in great detail how some invisible entity had been playing tricks with the local police. Their cars had been flung through the air - and all kinds of other objects as well: guns, policemen, people...

  It dawned on Bell gradually what might be behind all these magic phenomena. He remembered having failed to locate Emby anywhere on the Stardust. Could the playful mouse-beaver have gone on a rampage to satisfy his craze for funny games? These incidents looked suspiciously like something the little fellow might have concocted.

  Where could Emby right now?

  Bell was interrupted in his speculations by the arrival of a Tuglanian in uniform who brought Alban's reply to Bell's request for an interview. The two visitors were supposed to wait until Alban's conference with the Arkonide Khrest and his companion was terminated. This was what Khrest had requested.

  Bell nodded curtly and quickly Exchanged a glance with Sengu. As soon as the guard was out of earshot, Bell whispered:

  "Khrest wouldn't object to our presence during his talk with Lord Alban. That sounds fishy!"

  The Japanese mutant pondered a moment. "What do you suggest!" Should I have a look?"

  "Yes, go ahead!"

  Wuriu Sengu started to activate a special region of his brain. The stone walls began to dissolve before his searching eyes and he could see through them unimpeded into the rooms lying beyond.

  Bell sat beside him, inactive. He was furious to be nothing but a normal human being and not a mutant.

  Lord Alban had hardly uttered a few words when it became clear to Marshall that the Tuglanian Lord was lying.

  Marshall, Rathon and Khrest had been led to the Lord's reception chambers by a regular parade troop that marched them along corridors and stairways of the spacious palace. With all military honors - or under strict surveillance. Marshall was certain that the ray guns the guards presented were no trappings. He listened in briefly to the thought streams of the guard. This fully confirmed his suspicions.

  Alban greeted his visitors effusively and emphasized how sorry he was to hear that the noble Arkonides were being inconvenienced. He assured them that he would see to it personally that law and order would be restored. Indeed, he suggested after a while, it might be advisable to let him proceed on his own initiative, just to leave all matters to him. Even the affair of the missing Rhodan. He was certain he would find him, wherever he might be.

  Khrest noticed that Marshall shook his head slightly, but he could not make out from that at what point Alban had been lying. Alban had said too many things at one time. Perhaps it would be wiser to deal with each question individually.

  "You mean to say," Khrest asked therefore, "that you believe your brother Daros to be plotting against the Arkonide empire?"

  "He's the leader of the rebels." Khrest looked over to Marshall and knew that Alban had not spoken the truth.

  "And he's responsible for the bombing of the high commissioner's radio station:"

  "Of course, who else?"

  Alban lying again.

  "You, Alban, on the other hand, are a loyal subject of the galactic empire? Is it your desire that Tuglan remain within the union of our star realm as before?"

  "Naturally, noble Arkonide, this is my dearest wish."

  Khrest had learned all he needed with these three questions.

  Marshall, by now, was quite openly shaking his head. Khrest no longer saw any reason why he should still hold back. True, he and Marshall had come here unarmed, but he hoped his authority would be sufficient to prevent Alban from committing any foolish acts.

  "You're not telling the truth, Lord Alban," he said bluntly, reproachfully. "Your brother has nothing to do with this whole affair. You fear him as a rival. It was you who ordered the destruction of the radio station and, in addition, you were responsible for the ambush of Rhodan's car. Where is Rhodan? Speak the truth, Alban! Or else I'll have my crew annihilate the entire city of Tugla!"

  Lord Alban sat behind his desk. He did not budge. His tightly clenched fists rested on the table top. It took long seconds before he could overcome his surprise. With a twisted smile he finally muttered:

  "These are horrendous accusations, Khrest. How can you possibly prove your allegations?"

  "I need no proofs. This man here is a thought-reader, Alban. He knows you were lying."

  Alban glanced at Marshall. His eyes flickered. "A telepath? How can such a thing be?"

  "There are many races in our empire and among them some capable of telepathy. Your thoughts no longer remain secret for us. Marshall, tell him what you know."

  "Alban's the one," began Marshall, "who wants to shake off the Arkonide rule. At the same time he wanted to eliminate his brother. For that reason he skilfully managed to cast all suspicions on Daros. He wanted to get rid of him legacy and to whitewash himself at the same time. we came just in the nick of time."

  Meanwhile, Alban had pushed a secret signal button. Outside in the corridor, the hurrying steps of the approaching guards could be heard. He smiled col
dly. "what use can you make of that knowledge? How can the people of your ship find out about it?"

  "What do you mean by that?" asked Khrest.

  "Quite simple. My brother's rebel followers will attack and kidnap you the same way they did Rhodan. Unfortunately, I was unable to prevent this ambush, as you refused the escort I ordered for your protection. Whatever happens between here and the spaceport is none of my concern. I hope you understand me. Ah, here they come!"

  The door flew open and six soldiers rushed into the room. Their guns were pointed at the three men. Marshall could read hatred and determination in their thoughts.

  Alban pointed at Khrest, Rathon and the telepath. "Arrest them and take them down below. Lock them up together with Rhodan. The company will make him feel less lonely."

  Thus it happened that Rhodan had visitors barely ten minutes later. To his great surprise he saw how the three men were pushed into his cell, urged on by the gun butts of the dark-skinned Tuglanians. The door closed behind them.

  Rhodan stood up and looked at Khrest, worry in his eyes.

  "What's the meaning of this, Khrest? You don't mean to say that you were captured by the rebels?"

  "The rebels? You could call them that. I'm sorry we had to accept this risk, but now, at least, we know which way the wind blows."

  "And they brought you here?"

  "Brought us here? We're in Alban's palace."

  Rhodan did not hide his surprise. Then he pointed at the primitive seating arrangements with a gesture of invitation. "Have a seat, gentlemen. I assume you'll have quite a few things to tell me. Begin, please!"

  7/ THE FLOATING BOMB

  Wuriu Sengu winced imperceptibly. He glanced furtively in the direction of the next guard and then whispered to Reginald Bell.

  "I've located them - Rhodan, Khrest, John Marshall and the Arkonide high commissioner of Tuglan. They're all sitting in a dark basement vault. Next to it is another prison. A youngish Tuglanian's lying on a bed. Judging by his clothing he must be a rather influential personality. Maybe Daros?"