by Perry Rhodan
Mullon smiled faintly and did not conceal his disgust. "The first murderer is the hero, eh?"
"I hadn't thought that the Union of True Democrats was anxious to make a solo performance out of the overthrow of the present regime. Certainly we aren't particularly eager to take the sole responsibility for Rhodan's death. So we're perfectly willing to run any kind of a joint operation you want."
"But the way you just put it, it looks like your main concern after the overthrow is to grab as much power as you can. No matter how you look at it, that's not the kind of goal the True Democrats have in mind. So you can't carry it out the way you've been planning it, Hollander. We're staying in as part of the deal."
Hollander smiled. "You think so?" he retorted calmly. "I can force you to operate any way I want. What you're going to do—"
Mullon interrupted imperiously. "Don't talk nonsense, Hollander! I'm in constant contact with my men in Tientsin and they in their turn are in touch with the whole organization in America. Granted, you can do me in, but don't forget that we're democratic, which means that I can be replaced at any moment. If my communication with Tientsin gets broken off, the one responsible will only have a few hours to live."
Mullon had won back his position of strength and he smiled at Hollander's look of consternation. "If you didn't have me on a hot seat here, Hollander, I wouldn't have told you that. But you would have deep-sixed me and then a short time later you and the Nature Philosophers would be wiped out for all time! Pretty tight package, don't you think? But you're the one that's been getting pushy. You'll have to start thinking smarter, man! And in the future just keep this in mind: no True Democrat is going to be intimidated by any knot-headed threats!"
• • •
The manner in which Hollander finally gave in hinted of possible treachery. Mullon decided he'd have to keep his eyes open.
In the course of many hours of conspiratorial dealings, of the 10 men involved Mullon considered Hollander to be the most dangerous because of his intelligence. The rest hardly impressed him. Hollander had them all tightly in his grasp.
It was a surprise for Mullon that Hollander turned out to be an officer of the city police of Terrania. It wasn't a very important position but it gave Hollander and also the Nature Philosophers an entree into many places that would have been barred to others.
In connection with his negotiations, Mullon saw himself confronted with a problem that was in the final analysis the most difficult of them a—and not alone because he was apprehensive about its solution: Freddy Nicholson!
How could he make clear to her what the True Democrats were after? Before he got a word out she'd probably let him know that she didn't want anything more to do with him.
In a surge of personal courage, Mullon decided abruptly to get answers to all his questions where Freddy was concerned. Hollander made no objections.
So Mullon paid Freddy a visit in the small adjacent room with its single window where they had put her and he sent the guard away from the door. Then he began to talk and to explain—and strangely Freddy didn't interrupt him but listened attentively. At first she listened distrustfully, then with increasing impartiality and finally to his great surprise she answered him:
"Your reasons are good, Mr. Mullon—I'd almost say they were noble. It's only that the suppositions on which you base them are false."
Mullon was dumbfounded. But then he turned on all the powers of rhetoric that he had demonstrated during many evening discussions with his adherents, attempting to set before her the motives behind the True Democrats.
Finally she shook her head reluctantly. "My head is spinning, Mr. Mullon. I think I need time to digest it all. It sounds as though you might be right... but do I have to decide now?"
Mullon gave in on that point. To say the least, he had achieved far more than he had hoped for.
Hollander permitted the prisoner to have lunch alone with Mullon and Freddy appeared to eat her food with an appetite. The suite of rooms they were in had been made to look like offices from the outside but were actually fitted out as living quarters—more or less as though the furniture settings were 'displays'. In one of these rooms she had been able to take a hot bath and had managed to wash away all the after effects of the Cepheidin, including the bluish coloration of her eyes.
"Speaking of Cepheidin," she said while they were eating, "was it the Nature Philosophers who visited you in the hotel during the night?" Mullon nodded an affirmation. "How did they get the idea that you came here to... well, to do away with Rhodan...?"
Mullon shrugged. "I don't have any idea. Obviously they have a first-rate system of agents."
"Incidentally, where does Hollander get the Cepheidin from?" she wanted to know. "To my knowledge, it can't be bought."
Mullon didn't know either but he said, "Hollander is a police officer in Terrania. And maybe that's—"
Freddy's fork clattered to her plate. Mullon looked at her in startled amazement. "Police officer?!" she almost choked.
Mullon nodded. "That's right but why so astonished?"
She picked up her fork again, attempting to be casual. "Well, it's just that you seldom hear of police officers becoming revolutionaries."
Mullon agreed with her; nevertheless Freddy's sharp reaction to this information caused him to have misgivings. After awhile the girl continued in an indifferent tone. "At least that gives me an idea of where he obtains the Cepheidin. Police officers naturally have an entree to the Academy and other buildings under the security dome. And in the Academy there's a whole Cepheidin culture centre." With this the subject seemed to be closed for her but a few minutes later she suddenly asked: "How is the poison actually administered to the victim? Do they just sneak up on him and stick a needle in him?"
Mullon laughed. "No. They use high-precision blowguns and small feathered darts—like the Indians in South America."
"I see." After that Freddy silently cleaned her plate. Suddenly she confessed: "I've decided to stay with you and join the revolution with you if that's what you want."
In his surprise, Mullon came halfway out of his chair. "You have?... Do you mean it?" Freddy nodded earnestly. "There's just one thing I have to make clear so you don't get any false hopes. Your arguments haven't completely convinced me by any means. So I'm neither a True Democrat nor a Nature Philosopher; my reasons are more basic." Mullon was confused.
"Yes?... Then why...?" he stammered.
Freddy leaned forward. "Because I'm fond of you, dummy!"
• • •
The result was that everything developed very swiftly.
Hollander accepted Mullon's plan to assassinate Rhodan during the open forum at the Academy. The setup was simple: Mullon and one of the Nature Philosophers were to be the actual snipers and the rest of Hollander's men would back them up with fire coverage to protect them from the anger of the public who would be there.
Mullon communicated with Tientsin and instructed his men to come on to Terrania.
On that same day one of the Nature Philosophers learned that the next open forum would take place on the coming Friday. Its theme was 'On the Feasibility of Earth's Collaboration with the Great Galactic Empires' and Rhodan had promised to put in an appearance.
After their arrival, Mullon's men were briefed quickly concerning their part in the plot. He sensed that they held the same aversion for the Nature Philosophers that he did but this was not something to be concerned with at the moment...
• • •
By means of a red-colored data strip from the positronicon, Rhodan was punctually advised concerning the arrival of the 20 True Democrats in Terrania. He further learned of the plans that Hollander and Mullon had worked out in every detail and he took the necessary precautions.
The new law involving a penal code reform was accepted by the Solar Council and was submitted to the Supreme Court of the Empire.
Reginald Bell's Secret Service was instructed to stand by for action and for the security men in Terrani
a this had the same significance that it would have had in any other part of the world.
• • •
In this area where the energy screen had been cut off, Mullon was caught up in the press of the throng that surged toward the flat-roofed white buildings of the Academy a few hundred feet ahead of him and he was trying to analyze a feeling of premonition. Freddy marched boldly beside him with a grim expression on her face. To her left was Keable, the Nature Philosopher who had taken the job of assassin #2.
They carried their weapons in shoulder holsters. They were thermo-pistols which Hollander had procured.
The remaining 33 men—14 of them Nature Philosophers and 19 of them True Democrats—had spread out among the crowd.
The great lecture hall of the Academy had an 800-seat capacity and was filled up to the last row. Mullon and Keable took seats in the fourth row and Freddy sat directly behind Mullon in the fifth row. Mullon had arranged it because in case of a misfire he didn't want Freddy to appear to be associated with the assassins.
The program started at hour 15:00 with an address by a high-ranking Fleet officer who laid the groundwork for the forthcoming discussions.
Rhodan had not yet arrived.
Mullon only once ventured to glance at his backup man, Keable. The latter had apparently been waiting to catch his eye and he responded with a grin.
At 15:40 the first lecture came to an end. The speaker was applauded; he took a bow and then sat down in the first row.
Now Mullon's excitement knew no bounds. At this point, Rhodan had to appear!
At 15:45 the main doors of the hall opened and a file of men came in. Rhodan wasn't the tallest among them but he was the most impressive. Cheers rose up all around Mullon. Many of the people were so impressed that they got to their feet and stood waiting until Rhodan had greeted everyone in a friendly and unaffected manner and taken a seat in the front row.
Mullon saw Rhodan shake hands with the lieutenant colonel who had just given the speech. For only a moment he was disconcerted by the unbelievably unconcerned manner of Rhodan. Was this the tyrant of whom the True Democrats and the Nature Philosophers had spoken?
Mullon brushed aside such useless thoughts as he saw Rhodan get up and step to the speaker's stand. A renewed sound of applause broke out. Rhodan waved his hand in a friendly signal for silence.
He spoke with a deep, pleasant-sounding voice that was carried by an unseen amplifier system to the farthest comer of the room. "I am happy to see that so many of you have turned out to take part in today's discussion. You have already become familiar with the situation in which the Earth and the Solar Empire now find themselves, and any details you may have missed have been filled in by the lecture you have just heard."
Mullon glanced a second time at Keable, who had concealed his hand behind the lapel of his jacket. He paid no attention to Mullon. Mullon raised a hand to brush it through his hair. Then, as though he didn't know what to do with it, he let it slip inside his jacket.
There was the butt of his weapon—cool in spite of the sweat that ran down his arm.
At this moment Rhodan said: "Our situation is made easier when we consider that those races we may have occasion to deal with are all humanoid. Although the non-humanoid types are in the majority, whether we consider them as potential enemies or allies they are relatively harmless and useless to us. What we're talking about is the extent of the known galaxy. Naturally we can't draw any conclusions concerning whatever may lie beyond those limits."
Mullon saw Keable lean forward as if he wanted to whisper in the ear of the man in front of him. He performed the same action and in the instant that Keable sprang to his feet he did likewise.
It appeared that Rhodan took no notice of it.
Keable brought out his thermo-gun with unbelievable dexterity. For lack of practice, Mullon was a few split seconds slower. He had no sooner aimed his own weapon than the first energy salvo leapt from Keable's gun and whistled toward the man on the platform. But Mullon's shot followed closely and his aim was equally as good as Keable's.
The two shots seemed to tear the words from Rhodan's mouth. Mullon saw a blinding explosion behind the speaker's stand. Glowing fragments shot everywhere and fell among the audience, bringing the startled masses of people into a state of commotion. Shouts went up, a trample of feet rumbled through the hall and order degenerated into chaos.
It hadn't occurred to anyone yet to attack the assassins. And no one other than Mullon observed what had happened behind the speaker's stand.
Where Rhodan had stood there was only a smoking mass of rubble.
One of the glowing particles that had been flung outward by the explosion had fallen within about six feet of Mullon in the same row and it had wounded a man there who lay writhing on the floor in pain. With a leap, Mullon was through the press of panicked people and quickly reached the side of the fallen man. The victim did not interest him, however—it was the glowing fragment that he wished to examine, to determine what it was made of.
It had burned a black hole in the plastic floor tiling and subsequently cooled down. There it lay now—a repulsive black piece of metal rubbish.
Mullon straightened up and stared forward. Behind the speaker's stand was the same situation: black holes in the floor and hot, twisted parts of metal.
Rhodan?
That had not been Rhodan up there! It was a robot!
For one long moment Mullon lost his senses. He stood there, gun in hand, jostled by the people struggling to get out.
Then somebody seemed to virtually fall upon him from the higher row behind him. "Get out of here fast!" came a familiar voice. "The police!"
Mullon looked up and around. Due to the steep slant of the seats toward the platform, Freddy, who had climbed over to him, was clinging to his shoulder.
He looked about him. Uniformed men pressed through the main entrance doors. The lieutenant colonel who had lectured earlier rushed toward them and indicated the fleeing crowd of people who were blocking the upper exits. Mullon looked for Keable but he had disappeared and there was no trace of the other 33 backup men.
Freddy tugged at his arm and he yielded involuntarily. His legs moved mechanically. Freddy miraculously found openings through the throng. He noted that police were appearing at the upper exits also. He pointed toward them wordlessly but Freddy only shook her head.
Paying no heed to the people in her way, Freddy led Mullon into the right-hand side aisle. There where the passage led left toward the exit was a door. She pushed it open, shoved Mullon past her inside and came through, closing the door behind her. "Get going!" she panted.
The corridor that ended at the door was brightly lit. Mullon ran and Freddy's footsteps clattered after him.
"Where will this take us?" he asked.
"To an equipment room and from there to a main corridor!" called Freddy in reply.
Mullon ran on. The passage ended after about a hundred feet. The door at the end was locked but Freddy had keys. She opened the door and let Mullon pass through. Mullon found himself in a not too spacious room that was crammed with equipment.
But he found far less interest in the equipment than he did in the six men who had stationed themselves in a wide half-circle around the door. They held weapons in their hands and it was evident that they had been waiting for him. He had meanwhile replaced his thermo-beamer back in its shoulder holster.
He heard Freddy's breathing hard behind him and turned around swiftly to face her. She lowered her gaze, not meeting his eye. As though from afar off, he heard a voice:
"I'm sorry we have to inconvenience you, Mr. Mullon, but we feared that you might cause us some difficulty—and we'll have to avoid that now, won't we?"
Mullon turned to look at the man who had spoken. He saw him raise the strange, funnel-shaped weapon and aim it at him. He made no move to defend himself as the man tightened his trigger-finger.
Something struck him like the blow of a fist. There was a loud roaring and th
en he lost consciousness...
4/ A UNIQUE JUDGMENT
Mullon's next presentiment was a sense of disillusionment—the deepest and darkest that he had ever known in his life. He didn't quite know what it was that had sent him into such a blue funk but he felt absolutely useless, knocked off his bearings, abandoned.
He opened his eyes and found himself on a fairly comfortable daybed in a kind of cell. The walls were bare, white and windowless. A naked fluorescent light tube ran along the ceiling. There was only one door and from the looks of it he wouldn't be able to open it with anything less than a shell from a howitzer.
What had happened?
Those men! He suddenly remembered the six men in uniform who had waited for him behind the door and he recalled that one of them had aimed a cone-shaped weapon at him and fired. They had been wearing police uniforms and were obviously Rhodan's men.
Rhodan... the assassination attempt... the exploding robot! All of it came back to him now in a sudden recollection.
And Freddy!
Freddy had betrayed him. She had deliberately steered him into that passage, at the exit of which the six policemen were laying for him.
Could it actually be true?
He remembered that Freddy had lowered her gaze from him when he had turned to look at her.
Wasn't that proof enough?
Freddy was Rhodan's agent!
• • •
Time passed—Mullon didn't know whether it was a matter of minutes or hours—until finally the door opened and a police guard stepped inside. "You are wanted," the man said. "Come with me."
Mullon obeyed. He walked along the corridor with downcast gaze until suddenly he felt himself borne upward in the invisible force field of an antigrav lift. The police officer followed him and he saw the bright openings of various floor levels flicker past him. Finally the force field guided him to a shaft opening and deposited him on one of the floors.
