by Perry Rhodan
Mercant did not adhere to any fixed schedule. He worked until he got tired and felt that his efficiency was not up to par. Then he went to bed and slept until he felt sufficiently rested to carry on his work. The even. illumination Of his rooms enabled him to abandon the normal twenty-four hour rhythm of the world above.
The only ones to suffer from such an unorthodox time schedule were Mercant's orderlies. Most of them loved well ordered activity and well regulated hours for rest. But according to Mercant's point of view, world security should be neglected because of subaltern officers' preference for well regulated working hours.
That day he had risen at 3 o'clock, not bothering whether it was 3 in the morning or in the afternoon. He had started to work on some papers that he had been forced to lay aside before he had gone to bed.
At 3:15 sharp Sergeant O'Healy had appeared and announced, "Nothing special has happened, sir, during the past four hours."
Then he had left the room, to return a few minutes later with some coffee and cookies. He waited patiently until Mercant had swallowed a few gulps of the boiling hot beverage and asked him the usual question: "What is the time now, Sergeant?"
"Three twenty-three, sir."
Mercant peered over the rim of his coffee cup and looked at the clock on the opposite wall. It showed 3:22.
"Which time of the day?"
"In the morning, sir."
Mercant smiled with satisfaction. Then O'Healy saluted and left the room. He no longer pondered about the odd ceremony, although he had considered it a silly joke when he first started working for Mercant. Medical cosmetics were capable of a few tricks that were quite difficult to detect. Therefore, to protect himself against any eventualities, Mercant had ordered his sergeant on guard always to tell the time one minute faster than it really was. Also he had to say that it was morning when it was really evening and vice versa.
O'Healy was convinced that Mercant would shoot him on the spot if he ever told him the right time by mistake.
But he was wrong to assume that. Mercant considered it sufficient identification when O'Healy announced the time one minute too fast. However, the announcement Of the time of day was a source of genuine information for him. Not until O'Healy told him that it was morning did be know that it was indeed afternoon.
Half an hour later he received Captain Zimmerman, who came to give his daily report.
"To begin with the most important bit of news-the interview with the officers of the Asiatic Federation. Major Perwuchin from Moscow arrived as an observer."
"What does he intend to observe?" inquired Mercant in a bored voice. "Do you have any idea what these orientals want from us now?"
"Rumor has it that they have brought along many new proposals that they would like to discuss with you, sir."
"What kind of proposals? For a lasting world peace?"
"No, sir. Proposals on how they could get at those deserters in the Gobi Desert."
Mercant raised, his right hand and carefully inspected his fingernails. "Don't keep on calling these people 'deserters' Zimmerman! I have heard a great many good reports about them, and I would not like to judge them before I have learned what their motivations are."
Zimmerman did not reply.
"Anything else?" asked Mercant.
"Nothing else for the time being, sir."
"Thank you."
Zimmerman saluted and left the room.
Rhodan made a landing 180 miles inland on a smooth expanse of gray blue ice. The icy plain was of limited size and was surrounded on all sides by mountains of considerable height. There was no danger that the spacecraft might be discovered accidentally. Besides, 180 miles was quite a considerable distance for conditions on Greenland.
Thanks to the technical aids he had on board, Rhodan had experienced no particular difficulties in eluding the numerous radar stations in the area. He was certain that the observers had not even noted a slight flash on their radar screens.
Rhodan had not been worried at all about being detected by direct optical observation. The visibility ceiling was extremely low over Greenland, and it was easier to remain above the uninterrupted cloud cover than to surround the whole craft with an energy consuming deflector screen. While flying back from the moon, Rhodan had informed Tako of all that had happened and had requested him to return to the Gobi Desert Base. Right now there were more important matters to deal with than to try to negotiate with the mighty captains of industry. Rhodan was justifiably convinced that the Third Power would soon no longer be forced to place its orders secretly, constantly afraid of detection by hostile agents.
Rhodan left the Arkonide spaceship in the afternoon. He was armed with a needle ray beamer and dressed in an Arkonide transporter suit. Bell remained aboard ship, since Thora's rebellious attitude had entered a new active phase following the discovery they had made on the moon. Khrest was no match for her-she needed more efficient surveillance.
With the help of the Arkonide transporter suit Rhodan could cover the 180 miles to Umanak Fjord within an hour and a half. The flight was uninteresting and tedious. In addition, Rhodan was plagued by feelings of uncertainty about the situation he would have to face in Umanak Fjord. The only indication Rhodan had regarding Mercant's friendly attitude toward the Third Power was Lieutenant Klein's statement that Mercant was aware of the double role Klein was playing and that Mercant seemed to approve of it.
Rhodan used the deflector the moment he left the spaceship. The deflector field obtained energy from a micro-generator in the transporter suit. This field controlled electromagnetic radiation on all wavelengths between 2,000 and 8,000 angstroms and forced the waves to flow around the transporter suit like water around a rock. This meant that the wearer of such a suit could not be seen by the naked eye, by ultraviolet light or by infrared light. The suit was powerless against detection by radar, but on the other band, the wearer of the suit presented too small a target to be picked up on a radar screen. Rhodan landed right in the middle of the Umanak Fur Co., still not sure where he would have to go to find Mr. Mercant. The only thing he knew was that Mercant was somewhere below the surface of the earth.
Rhodan's first task, therefore, was to find the entrance to the subterranean structure. Even wearing a cloak of invisibility presented its problems to Rhodan, trying to avoid discovery by people. Umanak Fjord was as busy as a beehive. When two persons approached Rhodan from two different directions, he had to use a great deal of concentration to get out of their way. Toward 4 o'clock in the afternoon Rhodan believed he had found the spot, where the underground installations could be entered. From the outside nothing could be noticed, just a few low storage sheds. Rhodan had been standing nearby and observed a number of people that disappeared into the building or emerged from it.
Rhodan walked over to the door and waited nearby until the next man went in. Rhodan slid inside with him and entered the big hall. The interior was illuminated by arc lights, and the opposite wall showed the opening of a tall, wide shaft.
The heavy traffic in this shaft represented quite a danger for Rhodan. While passing down the next fifty yards from the entrance to the elevators, he was incapable of paying attention to anything but watching out that nobody bumped into him.
There were fifteen elevators. Rhodan did not dare to use one alone. He waited until a man entered an elevator, and then he quickly slipped inside. Unfortunately for Perry Rhodan, that man descended only two floors. Rhodan remained alone in the elevator. A uniformed guard stuck his head inside the cabin.
"Okay," mumbled the guard. "Ready to go."
The moment his attention was diverted, Rhodan pushed lowest floor. The elevator started to move the button for the down swiftly. As soon as the elevator had stopped, Rhodan left it. A tunnel stretched out to either side, looking similar to the shaft above. A lit up number 15 was visible on the wall opposite the elevator entrance. Rhodan had been counting as he descended. This, then, was the fifteenth floor be low the ground. Several guards were station
ed below the lit up 15. two of them walked over to the elevator from which Rhodan had just alighted. One of the guards inspected the empty cabin and called out to his colleagues, "Hey! What do you know! Somebody pushed fifteen from the inside, but there isn't anybody. Where did he go?"
Two of his friends approached, and they in turn searched the empty elevator. They seemed to be quite puzzled, and one of them marched down the corridor toward a telephone. Rhodan had to jump aside to prevent the man from running into him. The man began to make his call, but Rhodan could not understand what he was saying.
Rhodan cursed himself. He should have known better! He should have remembered, from his days at Nevada Fields, this special type of elevator that indicated outside whether it had been set in motion from inside or outside. He should have guessed that Mercant would have this kind of elevator installed in his secret hideout.
The man left the phone, returned to the other guards still busy at the cabin and called out to them, "Stop the elevator At once! Zimmerman wants to have a look at it!"
One of the men pushed the stop button, and they stepped aside to await Zimmerman's arrival.
O'Healy reported, "An unexplained incident on the fifteenth floor, sir Somebody took the elevator down to the fifteenth, but when the guard inspected the inside it was empty."
Mercant looked up. "Well, there was nobody inside. What does Zimmerman have to say to this?"
"Captain Zimmerman has called in some experts who are examining the interior of the elevator for fingerprints and such."
Mercant rose, sighing. "It will take them about three months to establish everyone who has left fingerprints in that elevator! Where did you say? On the fifteenth floor?"
"Yes, sir."
"Come along with me! We'll go up there."
In the meantime Rhodan had found out that the fifteenth floor was not the lowest. He went toward Captain Zimmerman, as the captain walked through the tunnel and tried to determine where the captain had come from. This way Rhodan found the two elevator shafts that led farther down still but not up. These elevators were even more closely guarded than the one he had taken down from the surface. There was no doubt that the guards would react immediately at the slightest movement of either elevator. Rhodan waited. A little while later Zimmerman returned from the other end of the tunnel with one of the sergeants. The guard saluted, and Zimmerman entered the elevator with the sergeant.
Rhodan jumped into the elevator, close behind the two. He avoided any noise and pushed himself flat against the cabin wall to avoid touching his two co-riders. Zimmerman seemed puzzled. "That's strange. I am almost led to believe that the man must have leaped out of the moving elevator. But that's impossible!"
Suddenly the elevator came to a halt. Rhodan had been counting the floors and realized that they had descended another six floors. Because he was afraid his shoes would clatter on the uncarpeted floor of the tunnel, Rhodan failed to jump out fast enough. The sergeant brushed past him and bumped into him.
The sergeant stopped in his tracks, which caused Zimmerman to collide with him. Rhodan held his breath and tiptoed to the side with tiny steps.
"What's the matter?" asked Zimmerman.
"I ... I ran into something just now sir."
Zimmerman frowned. "Where?"
"Right here, sir!" stammered the sergeant, and pointed into the air. Rhodan saw that they were at the end of a corridor. The narrow side of the wall was two yards to the left of the wall. The two guards who had been standing across from the elevator exit approached.
Zimmerman laughed. "How long have you been working here with us, Sergeant?"
"Two years sir."
Zimmerman nodded understandingly. "That explains it. When I was stationed here for two years, I began seeing little green men, marching through the halls."
Zimmerman shoved his hands fairly close together to demonstrate how small these men had been. He seemed to want to cheer up the sergeant. "With all this secrecy," he added kindly, "it is no wonder if you get hallucinations after some time."
The sergeant pulled himself together. "Yes, sir!"
Rhodan was relieved. Zimmerman walked down the corridor with the sergeant, while the guards stayed behind, still grinning. Cautiously Rhodan walked past them and followed the two men down the hall.
"Here comes Zimmerman, sir!" announced O'Healy, as he opened one of the steel doors in front of Mercant. These steel doors divided the lowest tunnel into several sections.
Zimmerman saluted smartly. "This is Sergeant Daniels, sir. He was the first one to notice the incident."
Mercant turned to the sergeant. "You have ordered the whole elevator cabin searched for fingerprints?"
"Yes, sir. Not the whole cabin, though, only the push-button for the fifteenth floor."
"Very clever, very clever indeed," came Mercant's sarcastic reply. That will keep a lot of your specialists happy for some time."
Zimmerman squirmed uncomfortably. "I have-"
"Doesn't it occur to you, Captain, that this man-if such a person really exists, might have employed the time honored device of wearing gloves? He seems to be an ingenious guy to begin with if he managed to penetrate the Umanak station. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, sir, that sounds reasonable," admitted Zimmerman meekly.
"You bet your life it does!" snapped Mercant. "Who besides yourself has seen that empty elevators?"
"All the guard posts stationed in front of the fifteenth floor elevator exit, sir," reported Daniels.
"Did you send for the repairman to check the elevators out for some failure of the electronic system, Zimmerman? inquired Mercant.
"Not yet, sir. But I will see to it at-"
Before Zimmerman bad a chance to complete his sentence he was interrupted by a sudden shrill whining sound. All hell seemed to break loose. The ear piercing noise drowned out all other sounds. The steel door near which Mercant was standing was set in motion automatically, knocking Mercant toward the back part of the tunnel. Mercant seized O'Healy's arm in time and pulled him back with him behind the closing door. Zimmerman and Daniels were left on the other side.
"Radar alarm!" shouted Mercant breathlessly. "Come on, O'Healy!"
They turned about-face and stormed down the corridor. They could not get to Mercant's private office, since the steel doors could be opened only by special order in such an emergency. Mercant did not want to issue this order as long as he did not know exactly what had happened. Therefore, he went into one of the offices in this section of the shaft.
He sat down at one of the Writing desks and called the security center via intercom. "Mercant speaking. What's the matter with the bottom tunnel?"
"Radar alarm in Sector A, sir."
"What caused this alarm?"
We don't know, sir. we've been scanning the whole sector, but nothing can be seen on the screen."
"Have you got in touch with the A Sector offices?"
Yes, sir. We did this right away. But they haven't noticed anything unusual."
Mercant was thinking hard. Sector A was the first a person had to pass through coming from. the elevators. If someone came down from above he had to get through that way.
"Give the all clear," Mercant said simply.
They could hear another siren howling outside in the corridors. Mercant called to O'Healy to follow him back to the door where he had been talking a couple of minutes ago with Zimmerman.
Zimmerman and Daniels were still rooted to the same spot as before.
"Have you noticed anything here; did you see anyone?" Mercant asked the two.
"No, sir. Nothing whatsoever. May I ask what-"
"Probably a ghost in making its rounds," answered Mercant with a smile.
"Or an invisible man, at least."
With cautious steps he walked past the two men farther down the hall. Zimmerman and the two sergeants were about to follow him, when Mercant waved them back. One of the doors on the left side of the corridor opened. A man stuck his head through the door,
but Mercant angrily motioned him back into the room.
Suddenly Mercant came to a halt and drew himself up, as if he had found something. He peered down at the floor, then up again into the air; finally he turned around and came back smiling.
"There is nothing here. I can't find a thing. Enough of this tomfoolery!"
Mercant said with amusement. "Zimmerman! Send those fingerprint experts home again. I believe we will be able to solve this mystery all by ourselves."
Mercant looked over to see the two sergeants. "O'Healy and Daniels, get back to your jobs. O'Healy, I will expect you to report to me at the usual time."
Then Mercant marched back to his office without bothering about the perplexed faces that stared after his disappearing figure. Cautiously he opened the door to his private office. A grin of satisfaction covered his features. He went to his desk, fell back into his armchair and pulled out a drawer, from which he took a gun.
Then he pointed the weapon at a spot between the door and the first filing cabinet. "Whoever you are," he said to the void, "you may remove your cloak of invisibility now. don't know what you have in mind. But if you should intend finishing off old Mercant, I assure you that I still have enough strength to pull this trigger. I know exactly where you are standing, as you see. Well?"
A few seconds went by. Then a cloud formed right at the spot Mercant was aiming at. The cloud began to take shape and solidified into a man dressed in a strange looking suit.
Mercant's eyes grew wide with astonishment. "Major Rhodan!"
Perry Rhodan shook his head. "Address me only as Rhodan. The major has quit the service."
Now it was Rhodan's turn to express amazement. "How on Earth did you guess that I was hidden in this room?"
Mercant smiled. "People are saying about me that I can smell the presence of a person in a dark room. I have never experienced it as distinctly, though, as just now. Have a seat, please, Rhodan!"
Rhodan sat down. He seemed free and easy.
"Your outfit is ineffective against radar detection, it seems," Mercant stated calmly after a while.
"Yes. And I didn't know that you had a radar warning system down here."
