by Perry Rhodan
He, too, had no idea of what was transpiring within the Druuf scout ship. The monsters had thrown Dr. Brigonne and Tako Kakuta in irons; they had also said why they took that action, abandoning their callous silence the moment they ascertained that airlock 3 had been mysteriously blocked from both sides.
"Only you could have deposited the transmitter there! Why?"
Tako Kakuta replied ice-coldly: "Which transmitter? Show it to us! Anyone can make assertions!"
The three-meters-tall Commander remained silent but the two Druufs assigned to guarding the Terranians with their unfamiliar but menacing weapons said plenty.
Brigonne and Tako Kakuta ceased protesting. They were apparently resigned to their fate. And the Druuf ship continued to streak towards the Springer planet Archetz!
• • •
The alien ship had long since disappeared mysteriously from the Rusuma System and the check stations installed on the 16 other planets had withdrawn the alert as Patriarch Cokaze and Thomas Cardif were still staring at each other mutely.
Cokaze finally broke the silence. He slowly stood up, pronouncing Thomas Cardif's name like a curse as he said: "Suddenly you believe everything! Even the ridiculous threats by that ridiculous Admiral!"
Cardif demonstrated the courage of his convictions as he answered: "That Admiral is not so ridiculous, Cokaze. He is one of the old Arkonides."
"Are you trying to tell me that he is over 10,000 years old, Cardif?"
Cardif refused to discuss this, waving it aside. I have discovered something, Patriarch."
Cokaze listened intently, unable to read Cardif's face. "What, Cardif?"
"Revolutions can only be carried out successfully with the power of the state, not against it!"
Cokaze stared at the young man as if he were seeing a ghost. He was not willing to accept what he had just heard. Fear and anger were awakened in him. They, the Galactic Traders, had staked everything. The Aras, the Ekhonides and the other great nations had joined their plan and now this young upstart Terran, who had been the true driving force behind the revolutionary movement, claimed: "revolutions can only be successful allied with the power of the state, not against it!"
"Cardif, is this what your ridiculous Admiral accomplished with his call? Do I remember correctly having heard from your mouth about all the miraculous things one learned at the Solar Space Academy? What is left of all that now? The remnants of a Terran, inwardly trembling with fear."
"Oh, yes... Solar Space Academy!" Cardif smiled wanly while calmly regarding the furious Patriarch. "That's where I acquired my present ability to realize that we have lost. Yes, we have lost! Right now Rhodan and Atlan are playing their main trump card! Springer, do you still refuse to realize what the appearance of that Druuf ship signifies? Have you forgotten Atlan's threat to withdraw his robot fleet from the front? Have you forgotten why the Mounders are no longer flying around Archetz and what they reported? Don't you want to remember what I demanded and said after the talk with the Mounder, Onkto? I demanded that the planetary check stations be instructed to observe the universe very sharply and I commented that there were some dangerous developments somewhere, asking myself as well as you: but what are they?"
"And what would you now like to know, you super smart Terran?" Cokaze scoffed at him but the sarcasm did not sound genuine.
"Nothing. But I am afraid of something. I am afraid that Atlan has opened a hole in the front to give maybe 10 or 20,000 Druuf ships the opportunity to fly through... to star cluster M-13 and ravage us like vandals."
"And we all fell for a fool like you, a poor imitation of Perry Rhodan? At least Perry Rhodan has class. But you...?"
This did not affect Thomas Cardif, who coldly replied: I know when I have lost the match and I have the courage to see the consequences. Cokaze, if you want to survive I can give you one piece of advice: leave Archetz at once with the Cokaz 2. Report your arrival on Aralon. That'll make a good impression. Wait there for the next few days. I don't have any more to tell you."
"And what are you intending to do, Terran? Do you want to leave for Earth?"
Almost simultaneously he countered: I will cruise around on one of the cylindrical ships you will leave here on Titon. Otherwise your departure for Aralon might look like an escape. You will have to expose 4 or 5 of your ships to the danger of destruction."
"Do you realize that your skill at drawing a beamer with lightning speed will not help you one iota right now? One move and I will shoot you with my impulse beamer!"
"Cokaze, you should really take a course at the Solar Space Academy. Pity that you are too old for that! And too dumb!"
One hour later Cokaze took off for Aralon in the Cokaz 2, first taking leave of Thomas Cardif. "You are a weird partner!" were his last words. He left a thoughtful Terran behind.
Cardif boarded the Cokaz 214, which along with three other ships belonging to the mighty Springer clan was docked at the northern edge of the spaceport of Titon.
He sensed that he was about to lose the match against Perry Rhodan. He had already accepted the defeat but his hatred towards his father burned with unchanging intensity in his heart.
He was sitting in his cabin on the Cokaz 214, his head supported by his hands, thinking: it is worth dying in order to destroy you!
7/ HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ARKON
For one second Perry Rhodan thought he was gazing into an abyss.
Harno was floating near him, his tele-vision enabling Rhodan to see into the command room of the Druuf scout ship, which had just returned from hyperspace and with incredible delay was homing in on the flagship of its fleet.
The flight to Archetz, had taken the scout ship several hours, while the entire return flight after curving around the Springer planet had only been a matter of seconds. Bell, at the special tracking device, had hardly found the time to report its arrival as Harno produced a picture of the Druuf Com Central, showing Rhodan that Brigonne and Kakuta were being guarded by two armed monsters. At the same time the spherical creature informed Rhodan of the thoughts troubling the astronaut and the teleporter.
The tiny hyper-transmitter planted by Kakuta in the airlock of the Druuf scout ship was threatening to transform the entire tactical manoeuvre into a catastrophe for the Drusus.
Deep in his mind he could hear Harno saying: "The commander of the scout ship is just reporting to the Chief of Fleet. He is almost only talking about the station they tracked to airlock 3, which they could not get open."
An idea flashed through Rhodan's head. Pucky was needed! He called for Pucky over intercom: "Don't lose a second, Pucky!"
Rhodan was stared at from all sides. No one could remember ever having seen the boss this excited.
Pucky was standing in front of the boss. The mouse-beaver broke a taboo, employing his telepathy to read Rhodan's thoughts.
"Sure, Perry! But in which depot do I find this rhythmal5?"
With one flick Rhodan opened intercom channels to all rooms of the Drusus. "Rhodan here! Calling all depots! Immediate report! Which depot contains rhythmal5? Top urgency!"
Rhythmal5 was a crystal complex which had been developed by the Arkonides and which, once loaded, emitted a weak impulse in a 5-minute rhythm for years at a time. They did not fully understand how it worked. At first glance it could be taken for a hypertransmission tracking tone.
"Sir," a depot supervisor reported, "rhythmal5 is stored in depot 123."
Pucky had already teleported out of Com Central and was standing in depot 123. They were still searching for it with the aid of a small positronicon.
"Let's have that stuff!" the mouse-beaver squeaked. "Don't forget to load it... and do you have any adhesive substance that can't be destroyed by space chill? Let's have it, too... pronto! It's do or die!"
The small computer located the rhythmal5. The directional finder homed in on it.
"That little crystal over there!" Pucky commanded. The intercom loudspeaker was blaring as the mouse-beaver issued instruct
ions on loading the crystal.
"Where's that adhesive?" Pucky attempted to shout but his squeaky voice did not make it. Something resembling putty was pressed into his paw.
"Ready, lieutenant!" someone called.
The lieutenant was Pucky and he was flattered to be addressed with his officer's rank by men he did not know.
The mouse-beaver skipped the 'thanks'. Disappearing from depot 123, he rematerialized in airlock 3 of the Druuf scout ship.
Switching on the spotlight on his spacesuit, he crawled around on the floor, looking for the tiny transmitter. Minutes passed. Suddenly something reflected the light from Pucky's spot. "Finally!" the mouse-beaver groaned in relief, taking his beamer and aiming at it. A short-lived thermoray melted the dangerous corpus delicti.
Pucky's only incisor shoved to the fore. The mouse-beaver was satisfied and laughing. The next moment he began to curse barbarically. The putty was stuck to his paw, straining his patience. Finally, however, it stuck to the floor and Pucky neatly planted the rhythmal5 in it.
When the Druufs break open airlock 3, let them find a plausible explanation of how this crystal emitting one impulse every five minutes got in here.
Naturally it had been brought in by Kakuta or Brigonne. But could even the Druufs reproach them after noticing the impertinence with which it stuck in the putty?
Only Tako Kakuta's welding seams did not please Pucky. "That's something!" he growled. "Those seams could drive the Druufs mad. But if I burn a hole through they'll really go crazy and lose all confidence!"
Sometimes Pucky loved to hear himself talk. But he did know how to follow through with quick action and seldom made a mistake while at it.
He burned three holes in the outer hatchway. They were arranged above one another at equal distances in the direction of the welding seam. Then Pucky took a small teleport jump, landing right up against the destroyed airlock door. He briefly held his thermo-beamer against each hole so that the metal flow tracks would originate from the outside.
"The Druufs will go donk!" Pucky said with devilish glee. Then he concentrated and reappeared in Command Central of the Drusus.
"That takes care of that, Perry. Want a report?"
But he did not get around to it. The Druuf commander called. "Rhodan, get your ship ready for action!" he said coldly. "Your treacherous scheme was too crude!"
Rhodan demanded an explanation. The Druuf talked about a tracking transmitter. Rhodan denied it, demanding proof. It was surprising that the Druuf was willing to furnish it.
A waiting period began again but with no tension. Pucky had a chance to turn in his report. "The Druufs won't be calling back too soon," he dared to predict. "Kakuta put up a few welding seams in the airlock that will present them with an insoluble puzzle. And my three holes in the outer door will provide the rest. I sure wouldn't like to be the scout ship commander who is about to get a heavy shooing out from his chief of fleet..."
That was the cue.
"Pucky," Rhodan interrupted, "don't the two of us still have something to say to each other? Who was it that ignited the time fuse of a bomb in the Druuf flagship too early and against orders?"
"Perry," the mouse-beaver dared to reply, "Fatso once told me I should be wary of people who hold every mistake against you. Do you think Fatso's tip was a good one?"
Wild laughter broke out in Central Command. Even Rhodan could not remain serious.
Meanwhile the mouse-beaver had silently removed himself by teleportation. From time to time he was very cautious.
• • •
Arkon's main transmitter conveyed Admiral Atlan's second message. For the second time he spoke to the many races and peoples of the Arkonide Empire. He gave them an ultimatum: submission or death! "...I will allow the Druufs to pounce upon this rotting entity that will not accept unity!"
"The robot fleet of Arkon will watch as one world after another crumbles! "Take my ultimatum seriously! Do not forget that I know how to deal with you as the Great Coordinator has dealt with you in the past, if I so desire!"
"Rebels are always lined up against the wall!"
"Decide whether you want to be rebels or true citizens of the Great Empire!" 300 Druuf battleships were speeding through hyperspace towards the Rusuma System. They were already underway as Atlan was decreeing his ultimatum. A pre-arranged code signal informed him that operation Fly Swatter had entered its second phase. Druuf ships over Archetz! Demonstration of terror!
Had Rhodan ventured too much? Was the plan doomed? He said no and the positronic computer provided a positive probability quotient of 81.54%. Still he could not rid himself of an uncomfortable feeling.
The Drusus was approaching half-speol and hence the transition point. The jump brought them within 10 light-minutes of the Rusuma System. The most high-powered tracking screens and the frequency absorber prevented Arkonide stations from tracking the Terran super battleship.
The people in the Drusus were groaning from the pains of transition. For 10 seconds the positronicomp had taken over all functions. The crew slowly regained their full powers but some of them continued to feel the pain of rematerialization for another half-hour.
Rhodan did not get a chance to take a couple of deep breaths. Harno had tuned into his thoughts.
Rhodan's face, marked by shock, instantly turned ashen grey. Harno had conveyed almost inconceivable news. The commander of the Druuf fleet had suddenly abandoned his pledge to keep his agreement with Rhodan. The monster from another universe again regarded Rhodan's promise as a trap, the promise to allow his fleet to exit through the lens field projector portal after the flight over Archetz.
Why? What had changed? Rhodan's thoughts inquired of Harno, who was projecting the fearsome face of the Druuf commander sitting immobile in a ponderous chair.
"The mentality of the Druuf, Rhodan! With your powers of comprehension you cannot understand the Druuf change of opinion. One thing is comprehensible: only now has he recognized the significance of the planet of Archetz. He wants to capture the System, gain a foothold there and then capture star after star."
Now Rhodan knew which inner voice had tried to warn him against any pact with the Druufs. Now only Atlan and his enormous robot fleet could prevent the downfall of the Springer planet Archetz!
• • •
Atlan saw Rhodan's face on the readout screen. The expression on it had alerted him; yet he had not expected an alert of this nature.
"So it will be blood and tears after all, Perry! Just what you wanted to prevent under all circumstances. Let me speak. We still have a few minutes. The robot fleet has already received my order to attack but they will arrive later than the Druufs. I shall..."
Rhodan interrupted him. "Any action is too late, Admiral. The Druufs are already in the Rusuma System!"
• • •
3,000 gigantic alien battleships were suddenly hovering like a cloud about the Springer world Archetz. Not one single planetary station had announced their approach.
With half the speed of light they plummeted down toward Archetz, leaving behind in linear space most of the planet's fortification. Before the first heavy defense position could fire one shot, they began to spread death and destruction over the Springer world.
Titon went up in smoke and flame. Three other cities were razed simultaneously. Archetz' moons with their ray cannon emplacements turned into blazing torches in the day-lit sky.
The Druuf ships were everywhere. Their tracking devices of utter precision led the way into the forts; rays of battle followed, unloading their energy into the planetary atmosphere.
Despite the handicap of only being capable of half the speed of light in normal flight—of being half as fast as any other being—they were unleashing death and destruction before the Springers even grasped that death was closing in on them with a fleet of more than 3,000 ships.
Yet a few vessels on Archetz succeeded in escaping the inferno, breaking through the Druuf fleet out into free space.
Th
e crew on the Drusus were passive observers. Rhodan's hands were tied. The large panorama screen, set for greatest magnification, showed everything with incredible clarity.
Thomas is down there!an inner voice told him.
Spherical ships of all Arkonide battleship classes were appearing, from the small destroyers to the super battleships.
They descended out of the Cosmos like a gigantic swarm of locusts, streaking in like tiny suns with protuberances extended in a straight line for the chase.
They came in thousands and within seconds there were more than 10,000 of them. And even more enormous swarms arrived to hurl themselves at the Druufs.
"Where is the guppy, Reggie? Still no word from it?"
Reginald Bell shook his head.
When Rhodan learned from Harno that the Druufs intended to conquer the Rusuma System and break their agreement with the Terrans, a guppy with the best teleporters on board had been sent on its way.
The teleporters' assignment: get our astronauts out of the Druuf flagship!
And now the men in the Drusus were waiting for the return of the auxiliary craft but not even a distress call had arrived. Nothing!
Still the battle between Arkon's robot spacecraft and the Druufs became the Druufs' downfall. By now 10 to 15 robot-manned vessels were pursuing one single Druuf ship. Their programming was all that Arkon's robots knew; their creator, the Robot Regent, had not endowed them with human compassion. They did not even realize that they were combating strangers from another universe. They had received the command to destroy this fleet and they would follow the order until there was not one enemy ship remaining or until the order was replaced by another from Arkon.
They even pursued Druuf ships that crashed on Archetz or on the other planets and moons, hammering them with fire from their disintegrator cannons, from their impulse and thermo weapons or from their thermo firing towers until everything disappeared in a cloud of exploding energies.
