by Perry Rhodan
Precisely at this moment there was a humming sound in the room. Rhodan lifted up his arm and pressed a button on the tiny transceiver of his armband.
The excited voice of Lt. Bristal was heard repeating: "Perry Rhodan—come in, please! Perry Rhodan, answer! Urgent! Perry Rhodan, come in...!"
Rhodan pressed a second button. "Rhodan here!" What's the trouble?"
There was a moment of silence; then Bristal's shouting voice burst upon them: "Alert Condition One!
We're being attacked by a fleet. More than a hundred Springer battleships have surrounded Aralon. We await your instructions!"
Rhodan had turned pale. He cast a hasty glance at Khrest before he said, "Activate defense screens around the Titan and the Ganymede Avoid battle engagement as long as you can. We will be there in 10 minutes. Hold out!"
Bristal confirmed. The receiver went silent.
Slowly, Rhodan turned around and looked at the two robots. His voice was grave and unusually cold as he said: "RK-999! The order for non-kill is lifted. Go ahead and clear the way to the lifts. Overcome any resistance you meet!" He turned to the other robot. "RK-935! For you also the non-kill order is lifted. Keep us clear in the rear. Destroy any attacker." Then he turned to Khrest, Tiff and Sengu. "You take turns carrying the medical case. Pucky, teleport up above and make sure that Thora is brought to safety. If the attack of the enemy fleet has already begun, wait with her and the robots in the central building. Better yet, in the hall because the elevator shafts terminate there." He added broadly: "Alright, let's go! We've no time to lose!"
While RK-999 recklessly broke through the door panel, Pucky dematerialized
6 miles below the surface of Aralon, Rhodan's thrust for freedom began...
6/ 'THRESHOLD OF A NEW EPOCH'
When Themos was carried into his office—Rhodan's robots did not hinder his people from doing this—he had only one thought in mind: revenge ...!
But then he began to receive the impact of setback after setback as everything went wrong. Hundreds of freshly arrived patients preferred to go back to their ships and look for help elsewhere. Conditions on Aralon appeared to be too unsafe.
Then came the ill-fated attempt of his assistant to sabotage the elevator carrying Rhodan.
And finally, the two prisoners were freed.
Then Themos hesitated no longer. He established a direct contact with the administration building on the other side of the spaceport and put himself in contact with the chief doctor of the entire sector. In as few words as possible he depicted the gravity of the situation and emphasized that Rhodan was in possession of secrets that endangered the existence of Aralon.
"Allegedly he's operating under order of the Empire but that seems to be doubtful. The Robot Brain hardly places any confidence in us, so why would it trust a complete alien who was never even a bloodline relation of the Empire? Send in a Springer battlefleet. Ask for support from the Mounders!"
It was a lot to ask for.
The Mounders were the police force of the Galactic Traders. They lived by war. Often they provided a protective escort for important commercial transports but just as often they waged war against worlds that dared resist the rigorous methods of the Springers. Having differentiated themselves early from their main race, the Mounders lived at one time on a planet of unimaginable gravitational force. As a consequence, they were about 7 feet tall and on the average about 5½ feet wide and their warring capacity was as tremendous as their physical appearance. Their fleets were on battle standby throughout the extent of the Empire.
The chief physician hesitated. "You know that the Mounders are very expensive. Their fee is no small matter to consider. I'm not sure that your concern is justified. Perhaps you could—ah—fool this Rhodan..."
"Impossible!" Themos hissed through his teeth in his rage, as he was loathe to admit his defeat in this area. "If you wait another half hour, we are finished. We can close the hospital. The patients do not feel safe any longer on our world."
The decision came with surprising swiftness. "Very well, Themos. I will call the Control Central of the Mounders on the hyper-transmitter and request that they immediately send us a strong contingent. But you will have to bear the responsibility for it, Themos. I can't release you from that."
"Do it, then—we don't have a minute to lose!"
Themos shut off the videophone but was startled out of his wits as the buzzer sounded again. When he answered, Rhodan's face appeared on the grid.
"You...!?" he stammered, almost in shock.
"In person, Themos," returned Rhodan and then proceeded to make his demand that Thora, the last ace up their sleeves, should he set free.
Not without secret satisfaction, Themos agreed.
• • •
The Mounder Talamon hunched his 1300 pounds of weight behind the controls of his ship the Tal 6. He was stationed in the Dragolan Sector, about 47 light-years distant from Arkon, when the hypercom installation received a transmission that was addressed to him.
It came from Mounder Headquarters.
Talamon nodded his satisfaction. "Maybe this monotonous waiting is over with! It's about time something happened around here again—otherwise I'll be taken out of circulation before my time!" This was an expression of his own rough brand of humor.
The communications officer announced that the communication had been established. Seconds later he heard from Headquarters, which was not exactly on a planet but was stationed rather in a giant cylindrical ship.
"Talamon! The Aras are requesting armed assistance! Planet Aralon, System Kesnar, coordinates are known. Two ships, one of Arkonide origin, are to be destroyed. The commander is a certain Perry Rhodan of Terra. Unknown. How many units do you have?"
"108."
"Good enough. Go at once into transition." Even before Talamon could confirm the order, Headquarters cut off. Talamon gave instructions to the commanders of the other ships and immediately set things in motion.
While the fleet was building up speed toward the transition, he kept thinking of the name, Perry Rhodan. Unknown...? No. The name wasn't that unknown to him. Somewhere he had heard it before. Perhaps from Topthor...? Of course—Topthor! Somewhere, more than 30,000 light-years from here, Topthor had knocked
heads with this Rhodan and come out on the short end. That was not going to happen to Talamon. If this Rhodan wanted to try to take on a hundred heavily armed ships, then he'd have to be either from Terra or out of Gardraxtol (equivalent of Hell in the Mounder mythology) itself!
10 minutes after Themos' cry for help, Talamon's fleet materialized in the Kesnar system, not 3 light-seconds from Aralon. They separated and swung around into position. 50 heavy class battle units blocked off the port. At slightly more than one mile of altitude, they formed an impenetrable net over the giant landing field, on the edge of which lay the stupendous Titan.
Talamon experienced a sudden tightening of his stomach muscles as he discovered the giant sphere. He had never before seen such a tremendous ship. It must be the latest product of Arkon's shipbuilding technology. Well, maybe the big brute wasn't as dangerous as it looked...
That could be determined. He switched on the telecom. "Regul, take 10 of your ships and start an attack on the big ball down there. Use a broadside of all available guns simultaneously to see if you can break through the defense screen. If you can, destroy the ship. Attack in one minute. That is all!" Regul confirmed and formed his units in readiness for the assault. Talamon sat behind the controls of the Tal 6 and waited...
• • •
Pucky materialized.
3 or 4 Aras jumped up in frightened confusion as they saw the mouse-beaver suddenly come into being. One of them ran toward a door with flying smock but he got only a few steps before he felt himself lifted into the air. Then he sailed in a broad curve through the hall like a winged torpedo and landed with a long, sliding skid against the wall. Benumbed but otherwise unscathed, he lay there.
"Where's Themos?" asked P
ucky in his high reedy voice. He addressed himself to the two Aras who would have preferred a quiet and unobtrusive exit. "Take me to him—and snap it up or I'll put you into a hypertransition! You look like you-re half-gone anyway."
The two hesitated but when their smocks became independently animated and pulled so violently to get free that they tore themselves into sheer rags and then made a few tired loops before fluttering to the floor, they gave up. They turned obediently, and marched willingly into a corridor, at the end of which was a frosted-glass door. The lettered caption announced that behind this the top chief officiated.
With a movement of his hand, Pucky put the two Aras to flight. Then he touched the door with telekinesis. It opened as though by a phantom hand. Sitting hunched behind his desk, Themos was completely exhausted from his strategic activities. The bruise on his forehead had not gotten any smaller.
Pucky closed the door behind him. Visually, it seemed to close by itself. Themos saw it with new apprehension and wondered if his mind were slipping. He could not know that this was but the beginning of even more 'incredible events.
"You sorry excuse for an Ara—did you call the Springer fleet for help? Speak, or I'll send you nose diving to the center of Aralon!"
"I—I—"
"Thank you," nodded Pucky. "That will be sufficient. You see, I'm a telepath and I can read your sneaky mind. So you've sicced the dogs on us, have you? And the Mounders to boot! You have just made an unforgivable mistake. We knew you were the rabid type but that you're so stupid you can't even see out of your own eyes—that's too much! Come on, love! I want you to come with me..."
"The Mounders are going to—"
"They'll be happy if we don't skin their fat hides!" interrupted Pucky, who could hardly control himself. "You will come with me. I want to show you something. Come on—snap it up!"
Themos rose hesitantly. He was darkly apprehensive and not overly curious about what this little monster had in mind to show him. Certainly it would be nothing to fill his heart with joy.
Suddenly Pucky began to receive Thora's thoughts. They were full of panic and fear. Outside on the landing field, a violent defensive battle had flared up. He could make that much out of the mental hubbub and confusion. The Titan had been attacked. In a wild flight, Thora had been able to save herself by running to the building after she had already covered half the distance to the waiting ship.
Pucky's anger mounted.
Recklessly he forced Themos under his telekinetic control and caused him to float about 6 feet off the ground in front of him. He arrived in the hall in time to see Thora burst through the entrance way and throw herself into a chair in a state of exhaustion. She appeared to have really had it. A few seconds later, RK-940 followed her with his weapon arms still glowing from battle.
Themos made a rough landing at Thora's feet.
The Arkonide woman looked up. She glanced first at Pucky and then at the Ara. Her face twisted with hate. Themos received a kick in his side that reawakened the almost forgotten pain that his fall from the ceiling had caused. He wailed piteously to himself. The robot raised its right weapon arm and aimed it at the traitor.
"Halt!" cried Pucky. "Rhodan has ordered you not to kill anybody who is not attacking us!"
"Themos deserves death!" Thora cried in support of the robot. Her scorn and rage were greater than Pucky's, which was saying something. "Why should he be spared?"
"Rhodan has to decide that, Thora," chirped the mouse-beaver placatingly. "This fellow won't get away from us."
"Where is Perry, anyway?" asked Thora. She seemed to be pulling herself together at last. "Does he know what is happening?"
Pucky looked at the elevator entrances. "As a matter of fact, he should be showing up any moment now. He's coming up with Khrest, Tiff and Sengu. The two robots are to follow. They're using the small personnel elevator because the other one has had it."
Thora got up slowly and walked toward the elevators. There were two doors, a narrow one and a wide one, which barred the entrances to the shafts.
"That's the wrong one!" yelled Pucky as she pressed a button and caused the wide door to roll back. There wasn't any elevator cage to be seen—only a great, dark hole: the shaft that led more than 6 miles into the depths. "I told you it was the small one."
Thora left the wide door open and turned to the personnel elevator. Here also the shaft was visible but from it came a steady humming noise. The cubicle was coming up.
It took two more minutes and then it arrived. Rhodan stepped into the hall, followed by his 3 companions.
Thora's face beamed in joyous relief as she hurried to the leader and grasped both of his hands. "Perry, I—I'm so happy, I—!"
Rhodan returned the pressure of her hands. "Thank you, Thora. That means more to me than you think. You've made me very happy. I thank you again, Thora, but now is not the time for personal things. Sengu, bring the medical box and give it to RK-940."
Pucky straightened up before Rhodan and was about to say something when Thora emitted a cry. She had turned around to go back to her chair, when she remembered Themos. The Ara had observed with horror how his deadly enemy had emerged from the elevator intact, followed by the prisoners and the Arkonide. Gathering his last reserves of strength together, he sprang up and raced past Thora. He saw that the only possibility of escaping Rhodan's revenge would be a flight to the subterranean labyrinths. But in his excitement he confused the two open doors. He saw his error a second too late. With a bloodcurdling cry, he plunged down into the black abyss of the shaft.
Rhodan hurried to the wide-open doorway of the shaft and stared down into the bottomless depths, as though he might still be able to help the traitor. "Pucky!" he cried out sharply. "Bring him back—quickly!"
The mouse-beaver glanced swiftly at Thora. From the momentary strain of surprise, her face now became calm and expressionless.
"Pucky!" called Rhodan urgently. "Did you hear me?"
The mouse-beaver waddled to Thora and looked at her watch. "Themos has already been falling for 30 seconds," he observed calmly. "That's just about 3 miles. Nobody can assume that he fell exactly in a vertical line. He's already dead."
"Pucky!" Rhodan's voice was sharp as a knife. "You do at once what I told you!"
"40 seconds," replied the mouse-beaver, unshaken. "That's almost 5 miles. Rhodan I have to reject that order. Themos is a no good traitor who is being punished by fate itself. Nobody has the right to interfere with the workings of destiny. 50 seconds. Themos is dead, for sure.
Rhodan's face was almost white. In his eyes burned vexation and anger. "Pucky, that was refusal to carry out a command! I'll speak with you later!" He started at a sound behind him but it was only the cage of the smaller lift that was gliding into the depths to pick up the robots. Then he appeared to forget the occurrence. With a touch of a button he established contact with the Titan : "Lt. Bristal? Quickly—a status report!"
"10 enemy ships are attacking. Our defense screens are holding. What are your orders?"
"Wait. I'll be with you in 10 seconds. Activate the hyper-transmitter." Turning to Pucky, he continued: "Bring us to the Control Central of the Titan. Thora and Khrest, you will be picked up immediately. Tiff and Sengu, also. See you!"
Pucky embraced Rhodan with his short little arms and disappeared with him within the second. Those remaining were still able to detect a gleam of triumph in the mouse-beaver's eyes...
• • •
Talamon had risen higher in his ship in order to get a better overview of the situation. As he observed the fruitless attack of his 10 ships, it was characteristic of him not to be filled with unbridled range and senseless hate. On the contrary, he was confronted by a certain admiration for this Rhodan. The fellow really must be somebody and it might be hard to imagine just what might happen if one chanced to be his friend.
But then he recalled his assignment. Rhodan was to be destroyed. "Regul!" he roared into the telecom. "Pull back! It's senseless to attack that
thing with just 10 ships. Did you receive any defensive fire?"
"Not a shot!" came the answer, a trifle incredulously. "All they've done is throw in their defense screens. And we can't get through them."
"We will attack with all 50 ships," Talamon decided. "No energy screen, even as powerful as that one, can withstand the combined fire power of 50 battle cruisers. We will begin our action in exactly 2 minutes!"
In the Control Central of the Titan, Rhodan could hardly suppress his amazement as he saw the sudden withdrawal of the 10 attacking ships. Pucky had just materialized with Sengu, who was the last to be teleported. He sat down on the medicine case in exhaustion and mumbled, "So what now?"
"Three things," answered Rhodan curtly. "Sengu, you and Khrest go to the sickbay and take the case of medicine with you. Dr. Haggard will receive the first injection. And then I want all the rest of the patients to be inoculated. Secondly, Pucky will go immediately to the main administration building on the other side of the spaceport and will try to get hold of the responsible chief and bring him here. It has to be the one who spoke to Themos and sent out the alarm to the Springers. The third task is mine alone. Bristal? Is the hyper-transmitter ready for operation?"
Pucky sighed and dematerialized where he sat.
Sengu took the medicine case under his arm and, with Khrest, left the Control Central. Tiff took over the Titan command station with Bristal. Rhodan and Thora, went together into the communications section.
The giant picture screen of the hypercom revealed the majestic spectacle of the robot fleet of the Empire standing ready for action in the far depths of space. A slight switching action caused the entire picture to be replaced by the face of a robot. Rhodan recognized it by the metal tag on its chest.
"OR-775! This is Rhodan of Terra speaking. You will go at once with the entire fleet into transition and blockade the Kesnar System completely. Deploy some of the units to guard over the landing field and destroy anyone trying to take off. Do not attack. Use only defensive action. Confirm!"
