by Perry Rhodan
He flinched as his hands touched an invisible obstacle. He uttered a cry and dropped his arms as if he had suffered an electric shock. He quickly raised his hands again to touch what was in the air before him.
Meanwhile the guard company had broken its ranks. The soldiers crowded around him, curious and incredulous, ran into the invisible wall, screamed and fell back.
Fij-Gul found to his amazement that he was unable to grasp the ephemeral object with his fingers. There was something in the middle of the air, a strange, invisible object which blocked his way. Yet his fingers found nothing but air. It was not a material substance which could be touched.
Fij-Gul slowly regained his cold reasoning. He was an officer and a highly trained man. It seemed plausible to him that the aliens mastered a force which could erect a protective field around their ship so that they could deny access to anyone and anything they wanted to keep out.
There was nothing miraculous about it. Such experiments had already been begun on Heeninniy although they had so far not met with success.
By this time the technicians who had waited at the airlock had noticed that something was awry. When Fij-Gul waved to them they came over. Fij-Gul shouted that an invisible weapon existed in the air between them and heard their reply: "You don't make sense!"
As Fij-Gul noted, the protective screen presented no bar to sound waves. The technicians kept walking toward Fij-Gul with their belief unshaken. They suddenly were stopped in their tracks as if struck by lightning. Reeling back they tumbled to the ground.
Fij-Gul grimaced. "I warned you," he called out to them. "Looks like you're caught in a trap."
He tamed to his soldiers and instructed them to walk around the ship and investigate if they could find a gap in the invisible wall. His order was only reluctantly obeyed. The soldiers were deadly afraid of the inexplicable phenomenon.
The two technicians repeated the attempts Fij-Gul had made to discover something about the nature of the barrier but they had no more success than he.
"Perhaps it would be better if you looked around in the ship to see if you can deactivate the field," Fij-Gul finally suggested.
"The ship is probably swarming with the aliens and you want us to go in there?"
Fij-Gul reminded them of his rank. "Of course you! It's plain to see that we can't do it. Besides, we know that the ship is empty. The field has probably been switched on automatically."
He didn't believe his own words since he had not experienced such a block on his mission the first night he penetrated into the spaceship.
The technicians walked glumly back to the airlock under the watchful eyes of Fij-Gul who saw them draw their weapons and climb into the hatch. Then he lost sight of them in the darkness of the airlock chamber.
The soldiers he had sent to circle the ship returned from the other side. Their eyes were full of horror but they had followed his orders and determined that the barrier showed no gap in its periphery.
They were shut out and if the technicians didn't succeed in finding the mechanism which controlled the field, they would forever remain outside.
Forever? Fij-Gul suddenly remembered his earlier observation that sound waves were able to penetrate the field.
They could bombard the ship with sonicannons!
However the question was: of what use would be a demolished ship?
Fij-Gul posted the guard company around the ship and put a sergeant in charge of the company. Then he returned to Wee-Nii to submit his report.
• • •
Chellish pulled at the strap which bound him to the strange chair-not because he hoped to free himself in this manner but only to be doing something.
They had taken him out of his cell and brought him into this bare room whose only equipment consisted of a dim light, a few switch panels and this chair. The chair was fitted with levers, buttons and contacts which made it easy to guess that it was one of those instruments used in modem times instead of red-hot tongs and iron maidens to pry secrets from recalcitrant prisoners.
There were two Whistlers in the room besides Chellish. One was Gii-Yeep whom Chellish had already seen once before and whom he remembered because he had a distinctive sear across his left cheek. He didn't know the other one.
Gii-Yeep carried a translator on a strap around his neck. He planted himself in front of Chellish and said: "We're going to ask you a few questions and I hope you're smart enough to answer them at once."
Chellish stared into his face and didn't utter a word.
Gii-Yeep continued: "What type of forcefield surrounds your ship like an invisible wall?"
Chellish sighed with relief. Sheldrake and his two boys had been on the ball. The Fair Lady was protected and all the cannons and bombs of the Whistlers couldn't smash through the defense screen and damage their precious ship.
He gave no inkling of the relief he felt and continued to stare at Gii-Yeep without answering his question.
The other Whistler disappeared from his view and after a certain time had elapsed since Gii-Yeep's first question he heard the click of a switch and simultaneously felt an electric shock which brought tears of pain and anger to his eyes.
However he kept silent. Gii-Yeep asked his question a second time and when he failed to elicit the desired result the other Whistler sent a sustained current with prolonged shocks through his entire body.
It wasn't so bad, Chellish thought; the pain was much worse the first time.
"What are you waiting for?" Gii-Yeep asked irately when he saw that his method brought no results.
"I'm waiting for your explanation," Chellish said condescendingly. "I want to know why you keep me here, where my companions are and what you want to do with us. Didn't it occur to you idiots that our fleet will show up in a few hours with 500 ships to turn all of Heeninniy into a heap of ashes? First answer these questions and then I'll see if I can answer yours."
Gii-Yeep gave no sign of intimidation and he replied calmly: "You're here because you've committed high treason and your companions are also under arrest. I tell you this only to show you that your stubborn attitude is not going to help you a bit. We don't have to question you. I'm sure that one of your friends will be easier persuaded to give us the information we want. I can't tell you what will happen to you after the interrogation because I've got nothing to do with that. And as far as your fleet is concerned, let us worry about it. We know how to defend ourselves."
None of this was news to Chellish. He had used the time to collect his thoughts. An idea occurred to him which fascinated him more and more. Would he be able to deceive a man like Gii-Yeep and the scientists of the Whistlers?
"Are you ready to answer my question?" Gii-Yeep insisted. "What kind of a forcefield did you set up around your ship?"
Chellish hesitated. The second Whistler had lost his patience and dealt another severe electric shock to Chellish who writhed in pain and screamed: "Stop it! Wait a minute! It's an antigravity field."
"Explain it to me!"
"The kinetic energy of an object which is about to penetrate the field will be absorbed instantly upon touching it."
"How do you produce such a field and how do you eliminate it?"
Chellish hesitated again. This time his whole body was electrified again which he found somewhat more tolerable than the discharge through his larynx.
"Good grief!" he groaned. "Do you want me to explain all the technology involved in an artificial field of gravitation?"
Gii-Yeep made an affirmative gesture. "That's the least you must do. The man at the switch panel is our best expert. He'll take notes of what you tell us."
"Do you want to build an antigrav aggregate?" Chellish inquired.
"That's none of your business," Gii-Yeep rebutted sharply.
"Oh yes it is. I must know what sources of energy you have available. A single antigrav-field uses more energy than a big city."
Gii-Yeep glanced at the Whistler at the switch panel. "Can this be correct?" he asked hi
m.
Apparently the technician made a confirming gesture because Gii-Yeep turned again to his prisoner. "We produce energy with atomic fission reactors," he enlightened Chellish. "We also have a few experimental reactors in operation which use the atomic fusion process but they're not very efficient up to now."
Chellish pointed out: "Assuming that you want to create a field which would counterbalance our protective shield you would need an output of 10 billion megawatts. Can you generate that much?"
Gii-Yeep retorted with a derisive expression: "If you think that we'll be cowed by big figures, you've got another think coming. If we find that you're giving us the correct advice, we'll make the 10 billion megawatts available."
"Well," Chellish sighed, "but you don't have the equipment to generate such a field."
"That's where you come in!"
"No!" Chellish called out emphatically and almost at the same moment he yelled in torment because the technician turned on the voltage to go through his throat and his body together.
"You're going to help us with the project," Gii-Yeep declared.
"No!" Chellish screamed full of anger. "Never!"
This time the two discharges caused him to lose consciousness for a few seconds. When he regained his senses a storm raged in his head.
However he was undaunted. He was not yet willing to give in. They had to repeat the torture four more times and after fainting for the fifth time, he stammered: "Alright... I'll tell you everything... but give me... something to drink!"
• • •
Iiy-Juur-Eelie's plan had been born on the spur of the moment but when His Excellency later re-examined it, it seemed to him to be without a flaw and very promising.
He had ordered the installation of the listening device in the vehicles of his guests not because he suspected them of any wrongdoing. An automobile seemed to be a good place to put in a bug. He didn't expect the strangers to search the cars as thoroughly as their rooms and it was possible that his visitors would discuss some matters on their trips which were important to him and which he could not hope to learn in any other way.
It was a pure accident that he had discovered on the first trip after placing the secret microphones in their cars that the aliens conspired with the insurgents. It was this accident which caused Iiy-Juur-Eelie to devise his far-reaching plans on the spot which-to his mind-were conceived with cleverness.
Naturally he feared the fleet of the aliens but he refused to believe that they would attack and destroy Heeninniy without warning. After all he held 10 prisoners as hostages and, moreover, he could prove that they had violated the rules of diplomacy by collaborating with the illegal opposition and contributing to the overthrow of his regime. These were reasons whose validity the foreign fleet, if it came to Heeninniy, could not deny. Nevertheless he would be forced to surrender the prisoners and the relations between Heeninniy and Aurigel would be tense right from the beginning.
But in the meantime the aliens could be interrogated. Gii-Yeep was just the man to make them talk and to get the needed answers in a hurry.
Unfortunately his first strike against the ship after the arrest of the aliens had ended in failure. Fij-Gul had been unable to occupy the vessel with his soldiers and the two technicians who entered the ship had apparently disappeared for good. After this incident nobody could say with certainty if the ship was empty and the protective shield functioned automatically or if the aliens had left hidden guards on the ship. In the latter case one would have to assume that they all had fallen asleep on the job when Fij-Gul went aboard the first time and if this was true the danger would be greater now.
There was also another matter which bothered His Excellency. That morning a signal had been intercepted which had been transmitted from the airport of the capital. It was a very strong electromagnetic radio signal and it seemed to be beamed in the same direction as the mysterious radio message which had been sent from the alien ship to Feejnee two days ago. However this time it was not a full message but only a single signal. Gii-Yeep's radio technicians stood ready to track down the transmitter as soon as it repeated the signal a second time. The matter was very baffling as the radio technicians considered it impossible that the signal could have been beamed from the ship itself. But then, who else could have done it? Had the insurgents already taken a hand in the game? Had they taken over the job of warning the alien fleet on Feejnee now that his prisoners were unable to do it themselves?
And of all aggravating things, those obnoxious rebels! Iiy-Juur-Eelie had almost become apoplectic when he learned that one of his Secret Service agents belonged to the insurgents. He immediately demanded a rigorous investigation of all members of the Secret Service. But this was not the most important problem at the moment. The interrogation of the prisoners took precedence.
The insurrectionist caught red-handed was also in jail and awaited the verdict of a special tribunal.
The President-King had dispatched a spaceship under Capt. Niij-Seem's command to Feejnee. Niij-Seem was a man on whom His Excellency could depend. He had been given instructions for various contingencies and he would carry them out to the letter-if he could reach Feejnee unmolested which Wee-Nii, for instance, found hard to believe.
Iiy-Juur-Eelie now regretted that he had been too hasty in granting permission to Admiral Wee-Nii for sending another-his last-spaceship to Weelie-Wee. Niij-Seem or the Defense Forces of the planet could have made much better use of a second warship and in case of emergency the necessary food rations for the fleet could have been provided without the grain shipment from Weelie-Wee, although it would require stricter rationing for the whole planet.
However, while Iiy-Juur-Eelie kept pondering a decision to revoke his permission, the spaceship, which had taken off for Weelie-Wee under the command of Capt. See-Kee, moved out of the radio range of the territorial stations and could no longer be contacted.
Iiy-Juur-Eelie hoped that See-Kee was a more capable commander than Sey-Wuun of whom nothing more had been heard. Man and ship would have to be written off as lost if they didn't return in the next 100 days. Iiy-Juur-Eelie resolved to take a good look at Weelie-Wee and its strange inhabitants as soon as the altercation with Aurigel was over. If it turned out that the people of Weelie-Wee were responsible for the loss of his ship, they would have to pay dearly for it, he vowed.
His Excellency reflected on his strategy, sitting in his study, a spacious hall high up in the tower which formed the front end of the wedge-shaped tower complex. From here he had an excellent view over the whole palace as well as over a good part of the city. It was the nerve center of his communications with his highest officials, the governors, generals and admirals of Heeninniy, with whom he kept in constant touch.
Here he also received the news that the prisoner who called himself something like Tschee-Liisch had begun to make a confession, or rather that he explained to the expert Wiir-Nee how the protective screen around their ship had been produced and how it could be made inactive.
Here he further received the information shortly thereafter that the imprisoned partisan had escaped from his cell and disappeared without a trace.
Iiy-Juur-Eelie was outraged and he swore that the guilty would be severely punished. However he was far less concerned about the escape at the moment than the grilling of the prisoner Tschee-Liisch. If Wiir-Nee didn't botch his job, he could make his victim divulge his secrets and they might be able to begin the construction of the field generators the report mentioned in a few hours.
• • •
Chellish went over in his mind again what he had said and concluded that his statements had been astute. It wasn't easy to give a well-trained specialist instructions for the building of equipment and to convince him that it would enable him to produce artificial gravitation fields-whereas Chellish had not the slightest intention of surrendering so cheaply one of the most important secrets of Terra's technology.
Chellish had described an apparatus with details that presumably promi
sed to deliver what they expected. He had done it in such a circumspect way that a technician who had never worked with artificial gravitation fields before would be unable to find fault with it.
Nevertheless there was a catch. It was so tiny as to be unnoticeable to the Whistlers and yet it would insure at the decisive moment that they would fail to reap the fruits of their success.
Chellish had been given some food after his ordeal and put back into his cell. Wiir-Nee, who now almost seemed to consider him a colleague, had held out the prospect that they would begin the construction of the antigrav-aggregate as soon as possible and would probably have to consult him again. Chellish, pretending to feel contrite, gave him to understand that he would be at his disposal.
During his absence Mullon had spent a few agonizing hours. He had guessed that Chellish would be questioned but his fears had been based on erroneous conjectures.
"No," Chellish explained, "they didn't want to know what it looks like on Aurigel and I didn't tell them that we're really from Grautier. Instead I have described in detail how an antigrav machine functions so that they can nullify the effect of the protective shield Sheldrake has put around the Fair Lady and force their way into the ship."
Mullon stared at him, thunderstruck. "You betrayed that to them?" he gasped.
"Of course, they had their methods to make me talk."
Staggering back to the wall Mullon groaned: "But... please! Of course it would be asking too much for you to stand up to the methods of the Secret Service without opening your mouth!"
Chellish smiled. "Take it easy! I opened my big mouth alright; but the Whistlers won't get much satisfaction from the thing I described to them."
Mullon was dumbfounded and wanted to ask something but at this moment the cell door was opened. A Whistler in uniform came in and said: "I hope we're going to have a pleasant trip!"
Chellish was so occupied with his thoughts that he was puzzled for a few seconds by the odd greeting. Finally he grasped its meaning and said breathlessly: "You... You... you're one of the guerrillas?"
