by Perry Rhodan
The leave-taking was brief. Rhodan took his small hand-beamer with him and he did not forget to leave Harno behind in Bell's keeping. Then he went with Toffner Ras Tschubai and Pucky toward the valley's small exit canyon. Those who remained behind saw them disappear into the rock-walled fissure.
John Marshal had only read part of Rhodan's intentions in his mind. "So we're going to be carried one at a time to Tagnor if no better way can be found. Why don't we just stay here in the desert? It seems to be safe."
"It would be much harder to operate out of here than it would if we were sitting in the middle of Tagnor among the Arkonides," said Bell, looking up at the sky. "When in the devil do we get any nightfall around here?"
Rosberg had carefully studied the local details. "That'll be in about four hours," he said, "but by then the Chief will probably be back."
Bell remembered his duties as Rhodan's second-in-command. He went back into the cave and satisfied himself that all their gear was properly packed and stacked along the walls. Every man in the commando team knew exactly what he was to carry—if it became necessary. Weapons, bio-chem lab equipment, physics lab instruments, food supplies and special armaments—it was a considerable assembly of packages.
Bell was just about to make an individual check of the bundles when he was interrupted by Maj. Rosberg, Capt. Gorlat and Marshall, who came storming into the cave.
"An aircraft!" shouted the major, gesticulating excitedly. "It's flying very low over the basin and seems to be searching for something. Let's hope that crew doesn't get suspicious!"
Bell glanced at the special armaments cases nearby. It would be useless to try breaking out one of the portable rayguns and it would take too long to assemble it.
"Everybody keep out of sight—stay away from the entrance!" he ordered, while he himself went to the opening. He cautiously emerged just far enough to be able to see the valley and a small piece of the sky.
It was a short-winged glider but its flight motion clearly indicated that antigrav fields were being used. The airship sank slowly until it almost touched the floor of the basin.
Bell hid behind a rocky outcropping and beckoned into the cave. "Ten men up here!" he called while making his own weapon ready for firing. "Be careful! We don't want them to discover us too quickly!"
John Marshall was among the men who crept forward. "How many of them do you make out?" he asked, as he came close to Bell.
The glider made a landing and the hum of the engine died out. Shortly thereafter a cabin hatch opened and four figures sprang out. They wore no uniforms. They were robots.
"The pilot's an Arkonidian officer!" Marshall reported. "I can sense his thoughts. This is a routine search, a pure coincidence that they've landed here."
"Just our luck!" grunted Bell. "But if they come our way we have to put them out of commission. Then what do we do with the pilot? If he escapes it'll be the devil to pay! They'll storm into this place with armies and bombs. OK, then nobody gets away!"
"André Noir!" Marshall spoke through a small throat transmitter and the Mutant Corps' hypno-telepath easily caught the signal. He crept up swiftly and sprawled next to Marshall.
"You called me?"
"If we knock out those robots, we have to keep the pilot from taking off. Can you handle it?"
Noir nodded. "I'll give it a try. Maybe I can get him to leave his ship. Later I'll give him a hypno-block and he'll forget everything. It's even possible to send him back to Tagnor with a false memory of what happened."
"Perfect!" said Bell as he concentrated on the approaching robots. One of them had come to a sudden stop and was drawing the attention of the others to what it had discovered in the sand of the valley floor.
Marshall knew at once what it was. "They've found our footprints!"
"Then it's just as well," growled Bell decisively. "That saves the agony of waiting around. Noir, do your thing now. We're going to take on these robot snoopers!"
The robots conferred with each other by means of their built-in transceivers. Their weapon rings began to rotate slowly as though seeking a target. Then they began moving again, but separately, since they had not yet determined their goal.
Bell thrust himself forward slightly and lifted his beamer. One of the robots was coming directly toward the cave entrance. "We'll all fire at once," he whispered to his companions, "so that they won't have any warning. We have to take them before they can switch on their defense screens."
It was perfectly possible to disable or destroy a fighter robot with a hand weapon if one was familiar with the more vulnerable places in the monster's construction. And if one fired his shot in time. Once the metal titans activated their energy screens they were practically invincible.
Bell raised his left hand. The men were well deployed into positions where at the moment two or three of them could keep any one robot under fire.
Bell's hand dropped and in that second a hellish cross-fire was unleashed. Their weapons flashed bolts of lightning that smashed through the armored plates of the robots, penetrating vital parts and vaporizing them in an instant. Electronic brains operate with amazing swiftness but not after their master circuits have been obliterated. And such was the case with three of the robots.
Only the fourth one escaped destruction. It activated its defense screen which inclosed it in an invisible shell that neither matter nor energy could penetrate. And the it began to answer the fire.
Bell ducked, sensing a wave of heat behind his back. The robot's bolt of energy had struck the rock wall, which blistered into sluggish drops of lava. A second shot came much closer. From several sides came probing beams of gleaming energy, seeking in vain to break through the combat robot's screen.
"Betty!" Bell whispered the name in sudden desperation, realizing that if their one remaining telekinetic mutant didn't take a hand in the battle they wouldn't have a chance against the towering monstrosity. She was also a telepath and would be able to catch his thoughts. "Betty Toufry!"
Betty had become a young woman and had remained so. The bio cell shower on Wanderer had prolonged her life for 60 years. She picked up Bell's excited thoughts and comprehended at once. She hurried to the cave entrance and took in the situation at a glance. Three robots had been incapacitated. They lay motionlessly on the valley floor, half-melted down and utterly destroyed.
The fourth one, however, was marching straight toward Bell where he lay behind a rock sending her his distress signal.
There was no time to lose!
Bell could hear the heavy thump of the robot's feet as it came nearer. Why it had picked him out above all the other marksmen was a mystery that would probably never be solved. If Betty didn't make her attack now.
Suddenly the heavy footsteps were silenced. Somebody among the commandoes gave a yell but the tone was one of relief. Bell risked sticking his head out and what he saw caused him also to breathe a sigh of relief. Betty had heard his call and had known what to do.
The robot swayed. Then it lost its balance and crashed to the ground. While it sought to reactivate its screen, which had collapsed as a result of the fall, a large boulder rose up from the ground only a meter or so away and moved swiftly aloft as though raised by a ghostly hand. It paused exactly over the robot's head and then as though released by the same hand it dropped vertically downward. With the full impact of its momentum it struck the vital head portion of the monster and shattered its positronic brain. The robot slumped as though it had been a human being. It lay there motionless.
But the danger was not yet past!
At the first sign of hostilities the glider had taken off and started to climb toward the sky. But it stopped within 20 meters of the ground and hovered there. It was as though the pilot were wondering what to do next. Then, with a downward spiral, it landed again. The pilot clambered out of the cabin and approached the cave entrance with a strangely stiff stride.
André Noir rose to his feet near Bell. "I have him under control, sir," he announced with
a slight touch of triumph in his voice. "His brain is easy to take over because the fellow seems to be slightly degenerate, mentally. Not much in his head to begin with."
"Good show!" enthused Bell as he also got up. He shoved the hand weapon into the belt of his civilian outfit. "Let's have a look at the character. Marshall, you work on him with Noir and pick up anything from him that may be important. Then we'll reprogram his memory and let him fly back to his base."
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to take over that glider and..."
"No! They'd miss it and come searching. What good is it, anyway? Besides, Toffner's glider is still over there under that overhang. I think it'll be to our best advantage if we send this pilot back home with some false information. At the least, you know, he's going to have to come up with a plausible story to explain the loss of four robots!"
Noir sighed. "Alright, so let's get busy with this Arkonide."
Half an hour later when the glider took off in the direction of Tagnor, the same Arkonide sat behind the controls as before. But a synthetic memory had been planted in his mind.
• • •
"Come on, give me your hand!" Ras Tschubai became impatient as Toffner hesitated. "We must have bodily contact to make a jump together." He looked at the mouse-beaver, who stood nearby holding Rhodan's hand. "Do we have the target?" he asked.
Pucky nodded. "If Toffner can keep on thinking of those catacombs as intensively as he is now, that's where we're going to land. Far as I'm concerned, we can let 'er rip!"
The two teleporters concentrated. The jump occurred without a direct knowledge of the target area but one of their number knew the goal and was sharing his vision telepathically with Pucky. Also there was physical contact between Pucky and Ras, as well.
The three humans and the smaller mouse-beaver rematerialized.
About an hour later Admiral Calus received the alarming news that a considerably large group of rebels existed in the northern mountain regions between Tagnor and Larg. This group was reported to have attacked an Arkonide's airship and destroyed four fighter robots.
Calus trembled with rage as he beheld the glider pilot whom he had called before him. It was a struggle for him to control himself as he listened in silence to the man's report.
"According to instructions, sir, we went out searching for men who were capable of bearing arms, especially in the remote areas of the desert and the mountains. It's suspected that the Zalites who refuse to serve the Imperium are hiding there. Along with a few other officers I made a thorough search of the middle portion of the mountains without discovering anything. The mountains there hardly offer any cover at all. But further north the terrain became more tortuous and difficult to examine even from the air. We separated and I covered the slopes to the east in the direction of Larg. Suddenly I was fired upon and I noticed some Zalites who had hidden themselves in a valley. In compliance with instructions I then landed and sent out the robots. However, all four of them were destroyed. In order not to let the glider fall into the hands of the rebels, I took off and immediately returned here."
Calus looked at him indignantly. "In the northern mountains, you say?" He thought awhile and then asked: "Were you able to ascertain the exact location?"
"I would be able to find the valley again, sir."
"Good! Then today before nightfall a squadron of fast pursuit ships will be dispatched to attack these rebels in the mountains. You will attempt to take them alive. We need soldiers, not corpses, is that clear?"
"You can depend on us, sir..."
"I'd like to do just that, if possible! And don't get any ideas about suddenly not being able to find that place again. I'm warning you! If this mission isn't successful, you will be decommissioned and returned to the status of a boot camp rookie!"
The squadron took off 10 minutes later.
The sun was already lowering toward the horizon as they raced eastward into the approaching night. But the unhappy officer with the altered memory flew with them. It was his last day in service as an officer, inasmuch as Calus always kept his promises as well as his threat.
The designated alleged location of the hiding place, moreover, was now 2000 km north of the small basin where Bell and his combat commandoes waited impatiently for Rhodan's return.
They rematerialized in the middle of the wide rock chambers under the Tagnor arena.
Rhodan let go of Pucky's hand and assured himself by a glance at Toffner that they had landed in the right place. Then he looked about him. The room was rectangular and subdivided by low-walled partitions into individual niches and recesses. The ceiling appeared to be rough hewn but very massive, in fact slightly arched. The main walls were smooth and coated with a transparent glaze of some kind. No doors were apparent.
"Here I want the main headquarters to be set up," he said and he listened to the sound of his voice. How far down are we under the surface?"
"Not more than 20 meters," Toffner replied. "There are a number of exits. The doors are so well dovetailed into the walls that they can hardly be detected. The locks are partly electronic and partly operable by body frequencies. We're under the center of the arena here, which puts us in the middle of the city. The Government palace can be reached in five minutes."
Rhodan nodded his appreciation. "Excellent! We can operate out of here. We'll set up the labs in the various sectional chambers." He looked at Toffner sharply. "Who knows about this cellar vault other than yourself? Why hasn't it occurred to the Arkonides to search down here for fugitives?"
"I presume that they don't know about these catacombs. Only the outer ones are known and they've already been scoured through. This inner area is sealed off by doors that have remained undiscovered. We are safe here. My own hideout has been down here for three years already."
"I wasn't being distrustful, Toffner, but we have to be cautious and take everything into consideration. Very well, then, we'll bring in our men and the equipment. Pucky and Ras, you teleport back alone. I'll stay here with Toffner."
The mouse-beaver seemed to want to say something but instead he merely nodded his agreement and took hold of Ras Tschubai's hand. They teleported together.
Rhodan stared at the spot where they had just been standing. "OK, Toffner," he said in a strange tone of voice, "now tell me about the two Zalites you've hidden down here. Pucky read your thoughts. So what's with those two?"
Toffner swiftly overcame a preliminary flush of embarrassment. "They are friends of mine who were to be taken into the service. They begged me for help and I hid them, that's all. They have no idea of what's really going on down here. Their chamber has no connection with this one."
"Maybe they can help us one of these days," Rhodan pointed out, thus indicating that he didn't frown on Toffner's Good Samaritanism. "They have reason enough not to be very favorably disposed to the Arkonides. When I get a chance I'll have a look at them."
Toffner was relieved. His face plainly showed it. But before he could make any reply, Pucky materialized with Bell in tow.
Rhodan observed the latter with a shake of his head. "You look a sight! What have you been doing, conducting cross-country manoeuvres?"
Bell tried to straighten out his rumpled and dusty clothing. "Something like that," he said. "An Arkonide officer tried to smoke us out with four robots." Briefly he depicted what had happened, and concluded: "So now the pilot is going to tell Calus a nice fairy tale and if we're lucky they'll look for us about 2000 kilometers north of our valley until their eyes pop out."
"Hopefully," said Rhodan as he saw Ras Tschubai materialize in the company of a combat technician. At the same time, Pucky disappeared again. Finally, Tako Kakuta the Japanese teleporter appeared also with a passenger in hand.
The massive regrouping manoeuvre had begun.
It required a good two days before they were sufficiently established in the underground vault to start their main task of getting to Arkon. On an official and legitimate basis—of course!
5/ THE ADMIRAL M
EETS HIS MATCH
Admiral Calus had the turbo car stop in front of the building and he got out. Two high-ranking officers with energy weapons in hand accompanied him as he climbed the broad steps and walked through the entrance portal. The two Zalite sentinels on guard saluted him deferentially.
From the top of the building a spherical antenna towered aloft into the dear sky. Tagnor's broadcasting station was the largest and most powerful on the planet. Relay stations provided that the transmitted broadcasts were received everywhere with flawless clarity. The entertainment programs had been reduced recently in favor of an increasing military communications traffic.
Almost every day Calus came here to give one of his imperious and threatening speeches. Two officers were always with him so that they might thwart any attempt on the Admiral's life but fundamentally Calus did not fear any such action against him. Behind him stood the might and power of Arkon! No one would dare to bring down upon himself the wrath of the robot Brain.
Ten minutes later the face of the Arkonide appeared on millions of viewscreens. Everyone understood his language, which was the official tongue of the Arkonide Imperium. It was a hard-sounding idiom but clear and articulate.
Deep below in the rocky chamber under the arena Rhodan and his closest colleagues were also seated before a viewscreen. Today they were seeing and hearing Calus for the second time. Yesterday they had studied his appearance and had found someone in their group who slightly resembled him. Now this one, a Sgt. Roger Osega, sat right next to Rhodan and carefully observed every movement made by Calus. The bio-chemists had already made a few minor changes in his facial features and by now Sgt. Osega bore a startling likeness to Calus.
Either man could practically be mistaken for the other.
"Admiral Calus is a member of the well-known family house of Moniz," explained Toffner in the midst of a short pause on the part of the Admiral. "The Monizans have served the robot Brain a long time now and they enjoy his fullest confidence."
