The Stolen Spacefleet Page 9

  The longer she thought about it the more uneasy she became. Was it possible she had made a mistake in not having blocked Rhodan's departure? She turned away from the window and sat down in a comfortable contour chair nearby-which was fortunate for her.

  A sudden storm blast came from nowhere and struck the house. The window shattered under the pressure of the shockwave. Broken glass and dust swirled into the room where Auris sat. A wind pressure held her in her chair so that she could hardly move but she could turn just enough to look outside.

  Then she saw it-the fleet!

  In groups of 50 or 100 ships at a time it hurtled into the sky of Akon with the full-throated thunder of countless engines. The air blast from the first formation had just reached Auris' house but half the entire fleet was already aloft and now the remaining ships followed with uncanny precision.

  Auris would have been held to her chair without the pressure of the air blast, so great was her mental shock. Her sense of guilt was mixed with fear of what she alone must now be held accountable for. Perry Rhodan had deceived her, for no one but he could have caused the robot fleet to escape. This would explain the invisible spy and the attack on the security guards.

  But even while the last of the ships departed and the shockwaves gradually began to subside, she recalled something the grey-eyed Terran had said once during a lengthy philosophical discussion. He had quoted a proverb of his race, to the effect that all was fair "in love and war."

  It gave Auris further food for thought. If Rhodan had acted according to such moral precepts of his race, perhaps he could not be blamed in a certain sense. He had done what he had to do-if he was actually involved in the first place. So far it was still an open question whether he was behind the flight of the ships or some unknown technical failure had been the cause.

  She got up slowly and left the house. She would have to call for cleanup crews and repairmen but perhaps she'd have to wait awhile until the crisis died down. Certainly her house wasn't the only one that had been hit by the takeoff blasts.

  She sighed and got into her small aircar, which brought her swiftly into the city.

  • • •

  The automatic tracking network of the Akons functioned perfectly. The combination energy-sensors and tracking scanners were activated when the first engine of the first ship started up. From all indications the fleet was under control of the robot electronics systems. Its course was followed until it entered hyperspace.

  Later the positronic data revealed the following sequence of events: the ships took off in formation waves at intervals of only seconds. They opened up to full power immediately and headed en masse toward a common destination in outer space where they later embarked on a course which led toward another blue sun that was five light years distant. Then, as if by a single command, the entire fleet made a collective transition jump through hyperspace.

  In that same moment something happened that was totally unexpected, Although it was not observable with the naked eye until five years later. Patrol cruiser Akon 7 submitted a report one hour after the fleet took off. The crewmembers were eyewitnesses to the event, inasmuch as the cruiser was making a surveillance flight in the vicinity of the other blue sun.

  The report stated:

  From Comdr. Kondoor, Akon 7... The planetless sun has turned into a nova. Some unexplained surface phenomenon precipitated a chain reaction which apparently affected the core and caused the star to explode. This happened during our approach flight and we were able to change course in time. Our photo observations clearly reveal that a number of unidentified objects emerged from hyperspace at this time and were captured by the stellar gravitational field. Their crashing into the surface was accompanied by further nuclear explosions which apparently completed the disruptive cycle. Standing by for further instructions.

  After the Ruling Council had absorbed the import of this message they had their first doubts concerning Rhodan's involvement in the affair. What purpose could the Terran have in stealing the fleet from them only to let it crash into a sun? There was increasing support for Auris' theory, to the effect that a spontaneous activation of the robotic controls could have occurred. But neither the one hypothesis nor the other could be proved.

  Auris was commissioned to contact the Imperator of Arkon over the hypercom. After receiving her instructions she went directly to the transmitter station which was located on the edge of the now almost empty spaceport.

  Atlan listened to her report without once interrupting her. His face remained indifferent although there was a occasional glimmer of sympathy in his eyes when he met Auris' gaze.

  When she finished he asked: "Why does Akon advise me concerning a malfunction of the fleet's robotic system? Is it my fault that your technicians are such bunglers? Although the ships were all in order they happened to crash into a sun and were destroyed. Naturally the unexpected flight could have been caused by faulty circuit arrangements in the command consoles."

  "We are still searching for an explanation, which will be found sooner or later. The Ruling Council wishes to know whether or not a new fleet of 1,000 ships might be placed at our disposal. We are quite prepared to pay the full price."

  Atlan stared at her in astonishment. "1,000 ships? You're joking, Auris of Las-Toor. Where shall I obtain a spare 1,000 ships when the Greater Imperium is threatened by enemies on every side? I'll be happy to grant you my assistance in any emergency but 1,000 ships-no. I'm sorry."

  "And if we can prove that Perry Rhodan of Terra stole our fleet?" she asked tensely.

  Atlan appeared to be startled. "Prove? Rhodan?" He laughed heartily. "Why should Rhodan do such a thing? His own spacefleet is big enough so that it would not be necessary for him to add to his forces by means of theft or piracy. No, the idea is illogical, Auris."

  "But he has acted suspiciously," she persisted. "He was on Akon during a series of strange occurrences."

  "Fine, but that could be mere coincidence. I'm sure that if Rhodan had stolen the fleet he would have thought of a safer haven for them than in the heart of a nova. Wouldn't you say so, Auris?"

  Auris nodded. "I am only repeating what the Council thinks. I myself do not blame Rhodan in this affair. But I repeat my request that you supply us with a new fleet. Without warships we are exposed to any attack."

  "And I repeat that it's impossible. But I also repeat my guarantee that I will not withhold any assistance to Akon in case of such an attack. I'm sure that Rhodan will also give you such guarantees as soon as he hears of this occurrence. One moment, Auris-another message is just coming in."

  He turned to one side and received a plastic foil which had been stamped with letters. This meant that it was a hypercom dispatch from a robot receiver station. He read it through and then looked at Auris again. "I'll read you the information I've just received although you know about it already. But in case you are still harboring any doubts this may help to dispel them. This message is from a powered observation station and refers to the blue nova that became active within five light years of Akon. Listen carefully, Auris... At intervals approximately 1,000 spacespheres crashed into the surface of the blue sun. After disappearing beneath the thick gas envelope they caused a chain reaction in the stellar core. The blue sun became a nova. The observations clearly indicated that the ships were unguided and that they materialized out of hyperspace too deeply within the gravitational field of this star. It could not be determined whether the ships were manned by living crews or were robot-controlled." He looked at Auris again. "You can see that independent observations lead to the same conclusions. So now I ask you: do you really think Rhodan could be stupid enough to simply destroy a fleet after having stolen it at a very great risk?"

  Auris met Atlan's gaze firmly. "No," she said apathetically. "No, that I do not." She forced a faint smile. "I thank you, Atlan. I shall inform the Ruling Council accordingly. Goodbye."

  "Good luck, Auris of Las-Toor," replied Atlan before the screen darkened and left Auris alone once m
ore.

  She was alone with herself, her doubts and her increasing uncertainty.

  • • •

  When one hand washes the other, finally both are clean. This was exactly the principle which had been put into practice by Atlan and Rhodan. From a purely moral standpoint they had not even been guilty of piracy or theft since they were only retrieving what the Akons had obtained, however innocently, under circumstances that were not actually valid. Now the Akons were once more without a spacefleet but there was no doubt that within a few decades they'd be able to create one. Until then however a considerable period of time would be involved. It was time which Rhodan and Atlan would know how to make use of.

  Turning the planetless blue sun into a nova had been a diversionary manoeuvre. Rhodan had not intended to sacrifice even a single one of the 992 ships. They had hardly left the atmosphere of Akon 5 before they were taken over and brought into fleet formation by the giant robot Brain on Arkon 3, thousands of light years away. Then they had gone into transition but instead of materializing near the blue sun in question they had actually emerged 2,000 light-years beyond it, where they took up a new course and shortly thereafter went into a new hypertransition. From that point they virtually disappeared but in time Atlan would bring them out of concealment and remove every trace of evidence from them so that no one could ever prove they had once been in the hands of the Akons.

  Another event was timed to occur simultaneously with the first transition of the stolen fleet. According to plan the robot bombs placed in orbit around the blue sun began to decelerate, which at once brought them into the gravitational grip of the giant star. The bombs crashed into it and as expected their nuclear detonations were observed. The blue star burst into a flaming nova. Thus it appeared that the escaping fleet had been lost.

  All of this happened while Rhodan was already en route back to Earth. Atlan gave him a running account of the succeeding series of events which served to eliminate the last element of danger left over from the brief regime of one Thomas Cardif. The old state of affairs was finally reestablished. The danger of renewed attacks against the Earth by the Akons no longer existed, at least for now. Rhodan could calmly go about the task of regaining the partially damaged confidence of other intelligent races of the galaxy, and since he was operating together with Atlan and the two of them represented an invincible power, this phase of the reconstruction would not be too difficult for him.

  He was startled from his thoughts when Capt. Burkow called him into the Com Central of the Odin. "Hypercom message from Akon, sir! It's Jakobowski.

  Rhodan went over to the tape decoder and waited until the message strip dropped into the output basket. The dispatch was not very long or detailed. Jakobowski appeared to have been in a hurry.

  Shockwaves resulting from mass takeoff of fleet damaged living quarters and administrative building at Terra base on Akon 5. Two Akon guards at zone fence plus three of our own personnel wounded. One freighter damaged due to a falling gravo-crane. A commission from the Ruling Council started an investigation. We were suspected of being involved in the disappearance of the fleet but the charges have been dropped. Signed-Jakobowski.

  "Short and to the point," said Rhodan approvingly. "Our own damages should have convinced the Akons that we had nothing to do with the incident. Thank you, Capt. Burkow. Still nothing from Atlan?"

  "I'll notify you immediately, sir."

  While the nav-computer was calculating coordinates for the next jump and the next transition point was being approached, Pucky came into the Command Central. Since their takeoff he had remained out of sight.

  Rhodan regarded him in mock surprise. "Well, so you're still among the living? You know, little one, you've been acting pretty down in the mouth-as though someone had offended you."

  "At least you're not calling me Lt. Puck," retorted the mouse-beaver in a disgruntled mood. But then he seemed to brighten somewhat. "Anyway, everybody makes mistakes. Or are you an exception to the rule?"

  Rhodan thought of the red-tinted eyes of Thora, his long-dead wife. Then he thought of the penetrating gaze of Auris of Las-Toor and he regarded Pucky pensively. "No. Pucky, I've also made my mistakes but I've managed to bear up under the consequences. In your case you're moping more than is warranted by the circumstances."

  "I guess it wasn't all that bad," Pucky hesitantly admitted, and then added something as though letting the cat out of the bag: "I just don't want Bell to find out. He mustn't ever know that I always had to hide in the cellar whenever your beautiful Auris showed up. Otherwise he'll still think I'm afraid of women."

  Rhodan placed a hand on Pucky's shoulder. "Man to man, little buddy-I won't tell Bell a thing about it." He raised a finger and warned him jokingly, "But you will also keep your mouth shut, won't you? About Auris, I mean. I'll bet you've been poking around in my thoughts again, so if you happened to run across a few personal ideas-just keep them between us! Otherwise Bell will know the whole truth. But of course I may be exaggerating slightly."

  "I promise!" said Pucky. "But I haven't done any peeking." He gave Rhodan a secret wink and waddled back out into the corridor.

  In so doing, however, he caused a partially nibbled carrot to fall from his pocket. It rolled across the deck and came to rest at the feet of the commander. Major Scott regarded it with disapproval.

  "That mouse-beaver can sure mess up a place," he grumbled. He was about to pick it up when the carrot suddenly appeared to be gripped by ghostly hands. It floated silently through the open door.

  "Ah, there you are!" came Pucky's high-pitched voice in a tone of satisfaction.

  Maj. Scott let out a loud grunt of despair and then turned back to his flight controls. The positronics clicked away incessantly. The Odin unerringly sped toward the transition point. Bell's fleet had already disappeared into hyperspace. Finally the Odin also made its jump.

  During the ensuing pause, Atlan contacted Rhodan and reported his conversation with Auris. "The operation has been completed," he concluded. "If anybody was still suspicious of you I think my additional information helped to clean up the last traces. On the other hand I was never suspected from the very beginning. If you ever get in a pinch, Perry, you can make use of the Akon fleet any time you wish to."

  "Thanks very much but this action has helped us both so that we can avoid the 'pinches'. And our conscience is clear." Rhodan paused briefly. "What else did Auris day?"

  Atlan began to smile. His expression revealed a mixture of curiosity and personal interest with just the touch of a smirk. "Auris of Las-Toor, the beautiful young Akon councilwoman? A very charming representative of her race my own mother race. I believe she was very pleased when I removed all traces of suspicion from you. The nova business was the clincher. She didn't want to think that you were capable of such a thing, Perry."

  "Hm-m... and so?"

  "So? Nothing else... Goodbye, Perry. We'll touch base again on matters of a much more routine nature, I'm sure..."

  "Goodbye, Atlan-and thanks for everything."

  • • •

  Two days passed.

  In the name of the Solar Imperium Rhodan had called Auris of Las-Toor to express sympathy for the unexplained loss of their robot fleet and he had emphasized that he was prepared at any time to stand behind the Akon Empire with his own ships in case of any attack against them. He further thanked her for Akon assistance given to the personnel of the Terra base in the wake of the damages suffered there.

  Auris formally confirmed reception of the hypercom message and answered that the Arkonide Imperium had also offered its military support. She said that Akon was pleased with this assurance of having friends again.

  When Rhodan boarded the aircar that was to take him to Lake Goshun once more, he had no premonition of the surprise that was in store for him. It was an unexpected development resulting from an unknown circumstance something that had happened almost three days before.

  • • •

  Prior to the disappearance
of the fleet from Akon, technician Morkat finished his inspection of the 10 cruisers assigned to him, having found no evidence of attempts at sabotage or any hidden bombs. In his opinion the two security guards must have been suffering from hallucinations when they thought they saw an alien intruder. But of course Morkat himself could find no explanation for the attack the men had obviously experienced.

  Then again, he thought, he was only making random spot-checks like the other seven technicians. And spot-checks had a way of covering only those spots where nothing had happened. Therefore he decided that he would have a look at five more ships. It was not according to plan and perhaps for that very reason it would be successful.

  Thus it happened that technician Morkat was still in light cruiser #85 when the pulse transmitter's signal unleashed the furies of Hell.

  He was fortunate that the inertial system turned on automatically for otherwise the terrible pressure would have crushed him. All he could see on the suddenly active viewscreens was the Akon spaceport falling away swiftly below. It became smaller and smaller until it was lost from sight on the curved surface of the dwindling planet. And he could see that the other ships had also taken off.

  In that first moment he was frightened by the thought that he might have caused the mass flight by inadvertently touching one of the many circuits in the robot-control section. But just as quickly he realized it was a silly idea. Yet fear of the event itself remained.

  At any rate he was a technician and understood a little bit about space propulsion systems. Also he just happened by accident to be in the Control Central of the cruiser. He knew positively that he himself had not activated the engines. They must have turned on by themselves-either in response to a radio signal or a transmitter installed in the equipment.