by Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan
Atlan And Arkon #52
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Fortress Atlantis
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1/ MY FUTURE
I STRUCK DOWN Perry Rhodan.
With an exact replica of an ancient Teutonic sword.
It was in the sword room of the Terra Museum on Venus that I temporarily bested the First Administrator of the tiny planetary domain which he, with a dramatic flare, called the 'Solar Empire'.
The fact that I had once confronted and defeated this man and had held him in my power for a time, satisfied my Arkonide pride.
Now I awaited him.
"You look splendid, sir!" The officer addressing me with a smile was of medium height, unostentatious looking, wearing the insignia of a Captain of the Terranian Spacefleet, Hubert Gorlat. But although he acted in a polite and respectful manner, one couldn't overlook the fact that he wore the badge of the Security Service on the left sleeve of his uniform.
I wondered with some amusement whether he referred to my personal appearance of my newly acquired sartorial splendor. I looked down and examined my trimly fitting pale green uniform, flecked a speck of dust from my pants leg and remarked, "You think so, Captain?"
"Indeed, sir!" But his next words piqued my ego. "It's about time they gave you an appropriate outfit." He meant my attire after all. I was disappointed. These Terranians always paid a great deal of attention to appearance and why should he make an exception in my case?
Hubert Gorlat coughed slightly and glanced at his watch-an overt hint, which I chose to ignore. I scanned my motivation and realized I would have deliberately taxed his patience less if he had been a little more diplomatic.
I knew why he had been sent to me: Gorlat was the officer in charge of security aboard the super-battleship Drusus, which had returned three days ago to the spaceport of Terrania from an adventurous trip, bringing back with it the man whom I awaited with considerable impatience: Perry Rhodan.
Our encounter on Venus had turned out for the best: I had realized at the penultimate moment how senseless it would have been to seriously injure this remarkable Earthling, let alone kill him. There were more than enough people about to thwart my escape and in any event it had become unnecessary.
Capt. Gorlat belonged to the type of cool, ever alert, never relaxing men who guided the fate of Earth since the beginning of the 21st century. If Gorlat's manners in dealing with extraterrestrial beings left something to be desired, it didn't mean he didn't know the right thing to do at the right moment. Perry Rhodan had carefully selected his men. I had no doubt that these daring death-defying Earthlings, aided by a mixture of shrewdness, personal courage and scientific and technological know-how, were on the verge of conquering the Galaxy.
They proceeded step by step, exercising cautious restraint. At times, however, they struck with overwhelming force, only to vanish without a trace. Strictly speaking, they conducted a kind of cosmic guerilla warfare. In so doing they always showed the greatest concern for their opponents, taking care not to hurt friendly beings and treating them in such a fashion that no burning, lasting hatred was created in them. Their anger invariably subsided once they had a chance to coolly reflect on the situation. Precisely what happened to me after I awoke from my long deep-sleep at the bottom of the ocean and ascended to the face of the Earth. I had believed that an atomic war had taken place on Earth but this proved to be an erroneous assumption.
Perry Rhodan, whom I had known as a simple Major of the U.S. Spaceforce, had meanwhile surpassed himself and it had been painful for me to see that Terra's might was based on the knowledge and methods developed by my worthy ancestors.
Without the Arkonide super-technology Rhodan would probably be long forgotten and his accomplishments would have been buried in the chronicles of some archives as having been those of the commander of the first expedition to the Moon in an atomic rocket.
When I learned that he was the driving force behind the phenomenal development of Terra's leap into space, I had seen my chance to return home after thousands of years. However my efforts to flee had failed twice and each time it had been the tall lean grey-eyed barbarian who had frustrated my plans by his personal intervention.
After my arrest at the capital of the Venus colony Rhodan was gone one night but Lt. Gmuna, my constant companion and guard of the Special Corps for Psychological Defense, had dropped a few hints now and then, according to which some inhabitants of the Galaxy, who had believed that Rhodan was dead, had now found out that he was still among the living. This had ended the biggest game of hide & seek but I had to admit that it had borne amazing fruits.
This bold barbarian had been able to make all intelligent populations of other worlds believe for 56 years that Terra had been destroyed in the wake of a mighty attack from outer space in which Rhodan had met his death.
Taking advantage of this welcome respite, Rhodan had begun to work feverishly. What he and the young generation of men and women had created boggled the mind. I had no choice but to admit that these Earthlings were not inferior to my own people in any respect and they probably had more energy and determination, features which I had often found to my great sorrow absent from my race when I was an Admiral in charge of an Arkonide Fleet.
Now the mysterious Rhodan, who had become almost legendary, had returned to Earth. I could vividly imagine what hazardous ventures he had undertaken in the four months since last July when I was taken in custody at Port Venus.
When Capt. Gorlat appeared a few minutes earlier it became clear to me that I approached a final decision about my future. Rhodan was not one of those procrastinating people who kept putting unpleasant matters off. I expected him to ask me a few blunt questions in his ironic manner which I was supposed to answer either yes or no.
However I figured I had a good chance. If he really had been discovered again there was no compelling reason he should refuse my return to the Arkon system. I closed my eyes to recall the three planets from which I had departed 10,000 Terrestrial years ago with the intention of remaining a few months in the distant Solar system.
How different it all turned out to be! I had become immortal. Why this happened was something I could never learn. A mysterious fate had chosen me to wander on Earth for thousands of years.
Capt. Gorlat cleared his throat again and interrupted my reminiscing. This time I was ready to respond to his glance at his watch. "You don't have much time, do you?" I asked him.
He sighed with relief and relaxed his stiff posture. "Yes, sir, that's right! Would you do me the favor...?"
He left it up to me to guess what he wanted. Without saying it, it was clear that Rhodan expected me. I rose from my comfortable armchair and walked to the wide picture window of my living room. My apartment was located on the 108th floor of a new sky-rise building which housed the offices of a recently established government department. The chief of the department was called Minister for Outer Solar Settlements and for his employees it was simply MOSS.
They had made a luxurious apartment available for my use. The balcony offered a magnificent panoramic view of the nearby spaceport and the continually growing suburbs of Terrania, a city of 14 millions.
The salt lake Goshun could no longer be seen since the bold architectural forms of Terra's capital obstructed the view. The little lake had lost its importance. Its salty water had never contributed to making the former desert of Gobi bloom.
Now the weather on Earth was controlled to perfection. The artificially produced rains had turned the desert into a verdant land. It was miraculous what the former astronaut and test pilot Perry Rhodan had accomplished with this wasteland. It was enough to put
fear in me for the future of the Great Empire under the hegemony of Arkon and I was unwilling to stand idly by and allow these Earthlings to pursue their ambitions.
Such reflections only reinforced my burning desire to return home. I was fed up with the hospitality of my captors and wished I could reach my goal as quickly as possible.
I turned around and leaned against the windowsill. I looked at Gorlat, who was getting more and more nervous, Apparently he had instructions to be polite and considerate. If I had been in his shoes, I would have spoken in no uncertain terms. But he waited till I, his prisoner, was ready to comply with his request. This was a good omen for me since it indicated an intention to treat me more obligingly. "Are you aware, Captain, that I've made a written appeal to the Chief of the Psychological Defense? I've demanded my release."
Gorlat was informed about it. "Lt.-Gen. Kosnow has already contacted the Administrator as soon as we landed. This is why you're requested to come to the Drusus without delay, sir."
His tone had become a shade sharper and he no longer 'asked my favor' but he 'requested' me. It was time to go.
I put on the gold-braided uniform belt with the service weapon in the holster. However it was only a facsimile of the real thing. They didn't trust me with a genuine impulse-beamer.
Of course I owed it only to Lt. Gmuna, my black friend and protector, that I wore the uniform of the Solar Imperium at all. He had groused so long about my civilian garb that I finally gave in. However I had insisted on wearing the symbol of Arkon on my chest.
My wish had been granted and a picture of the three planets was embroidered on the uniform. I wore the Terranian insignia on my shoulders. I remembered the mischievous grin of Gmuna when he fastened the epaulets with the silver comets on my shoulder pads. It must have struck him as odd to adorn an Arkonide Squadron Chief with the insignia of a Terranian Lieutenant General.
From then on Gmuna had saluted me with such exaggerated precision at all possible and impossible occasions that I shoved him one day without a word into a swimming pool.
I donned my snappy cap and walked out the door. The guard robots posted outside the door pulled up their movably mounted impulse-blasters and stood at attention. The people around me seemed to enjoy a display of good manners.
Gmuna waited at the antigrav elevator. His thin face had a blasé expression and he leaned at such a grotesque angle against the wall that I had trouble not breaking out in loud laughter. Ever since I had nearly drowned him in the swimming pool, he acted with deliberate nonchalance.
"Hi!" he greeted me. "Coming, daddy!"
I stopped and looked at his grinning face. I had called him 'son' a few times and now he called me 'daddy'. I couldn't help feeling friendlier and friendlier each day toward these Earthlings. They were so natural and sincere. They acted the way my own people never could do: they let others know what to expect of them. Sometimes their unrestrained behavior was almost insulting but it was usually tempered by a healthy life-sustaining humor such as Gmuna exhibited.
"Next time I'm going to throw you into the salt lake, son," I promised, tongue in cheek.
"Okay, daddy," he drawled. "I'll evaporate the puddle with an energy-cannon, then what are you going to do?"
Hesitantly Capt. Gorlat made a superfluous remark: "The Chief is waiting!"
I dropped into the antigrav field and pushed myself up. A Spaceforce helicopter waited on the roofport for me.
2/ A TROUBLED RHODAN
We flew about 20 kilometers till we reached the landing place of the Drusus. I had already seen the upper curvature of the super-battleship shortly after we had taken off but I was quite wrong to believe we would reach it in a few moments.
The mountain of Arkonide steel didn't seem to come closer. The perspective illusion was so perfect that I soon gave up guessing how far away it was. The gleaming bluish giant sphere slowly grew bigger till it towered above us although we flew at an altitude of 500 meters and when we approached it within a few hundred meters I was unable to take in the entire curvature of the Drusus with a single glance.
We landed and drove about 800 meters underneath the spaceship standing on tower-like telescopic supports, till we reached the lower airlock.
I struggled to keep my composure but apparently didn't quite succeed. Capt. Gorlat, who knew very well that such colossal ships did not exist during my time in the Arkonide fleet, tried to weaken my morale. "The flagship of the Solar Fleet, sir," he remarked casually. "The Drusus measures 1500 meters in diameter. It's been put in service only a few months ago. When it starts to fire its guns, worlds will perish."
That remark still disturbed me after walking through a perplexing maze of corridors and numerous armored bulkheads to the center of the gigantic ship.
Meter-thick round hatches of Arkonide steel slid open. Then came an air chamber and behind it two double doors again. In the pressure chamber I noticed the shielded conductors for the powerful forcefield projectors which could also block the Command Center in case of extreme emergency.
It was astounding what the Terranians had accomplished since the time when Rhodan reached the Moon in a frail atomic rocket. Now they built super vessels which had no equals in the entire known Galaxy.
Our largest units had been those of the Imperium class but they measured only 800 meters in diameter. Of course Rhodan had used a psychological ploy by summoning me to the Drusus of all places. He could have just as easily met me in the red government palace. I even strongly suspected that they deliberately led me around through the titanic labyrinth in order to impress me with its size.
The Command Center was a huge hall with an arched ceiling, observation screens as high as a house and an amazing array of instruments most of which were familiar to me because they had been taken over directly from the Arkonides. However there were also numerous other instruments of new designs which I had never seen before.
Rhodan had assembled the officers of the Drusus in the Command Center and he gave me a reception worthy of the Imperator of Arkon himself. He stood at the end of the long line of silently saluting officers. They had keen and bold faces, these outstanding, energetic Terranians whose ancestors I had known as wild and primitive men of the Stone Age.
"Caution, psycho-trick!" my extra-sense warned. "They want to demoralize you."
However there was no need to warn me. I was already depressed by a feeling of inferiority in view of the demonstration of the super-battleship to an experienced space officer like myself.
I walked down the line of men all unknown to me and greeted them by touching my cap several times. I felt humiliated by this show of might and excellent discipline and Rhodan knew exactly that I would be sensitive to such a display. At this moment I had to seek strength from the knowledge that I wore the emblem of the Arkonide Fleet on my chest.
These symbols had already been carried by the pioneers of my venerable people to the far reaches of the Galaxy at. a time when Rhodan's ancestors still gaped obtusely at our swift exploration cruisers' I had worn the same insignia myself when I first landed on the uncivilized Earth where dirty men had thrown themselves into the dust before me.
However these sentiments passed quickly. When I came to the grey-eyed Chief of the Solar system and paused in front of him, I had already regained my self-control. My smile expressed true scorn and I didn't have to put on an act to hide my deeper fears.
Perry Rhodan was bareheaded and I, therefore, removed my cap and threw it to the Captain of Defense who was following me. Rhodan was as tall as I was but I was about 20 pounds heavier. However I had already experienced how terribly fast, resilient and strong this lean-looking man really was.
Above all he had a keen mind like a rapier. He seemed to guess that his little ploy had been only partially successful and he began to laugh softly as his officers stood in line stiff like wooden dolls. "Good morning, Arkonide!" he said in a deep sonorous voice. "I suppose today is the first time we meet in our official capacities, right?"
He
wrinkled his brow and looked at me with amusement. My inane pride reared up again and I had trouble suppressing it. "Hello, barbarian," I replied condescendingly. "That's true. The last time we met you were lying on the floor at my feet and I held the tip of my sword at your throat. I felt sorry for you."
A burly, broad-shouldered man with fire-red hair bristles took a deep breath. He stood next to Rhodan and wore the glittering insignia of a general. Apparently he was trying to find some appropriate words. As I haughtily looked down on him Rhodan introduced him with a grin: "This is Reginald Bell, Security Minister of the Solar Imperium and Chief of the Solar Space Patrol."
"Well, well," I said. "Pleased. I believe I've read something about you in the Encyclopedia Terrania but I don't know what. Please excuse me!"
The red-haired one uttered a peculiar hissing noise and stomped away with clenched fists, making me chuckle. Reginald Bell had been Rhodan's companion on his early ventures into outer space.
Rhodan presented his officers one by one. Some studied me with curiosity, others with suspicion and a few showed signs of respect. My photographic memory easily retained all the faces matching the names. It would enable me to surprise them later by addressing them correctly.
When the little ceremony was over they returned to their daily routine. A lieutenant colonel by the name of Sikermann shouted orders in a booming voice and the men, most of whom were quite young, were dismissed.
I was alone with Rhodan. At first we faced each other silently, each knowing that the other would not give in. We were like fire and water and yet we had already formed ties between us that could no longer be denied.
He pointed to some comfortable chairs near a drink dispenser and we sat down. I soon noticed with growing anxiety that the Drusus was being prepared for a takeoff. A deep rumble came from somewhere and machines started up.
I thought he would begin talking about these unmistakable noises. However the tactics of this man were not transparent and he chose to pursue another avenue for his attack. "If you leave your sub-oceanic pressure-sphere near the Azores again, please see to it that the automatic defense installations are turned off. Your robots almost destroyed one of my cargo subs."
