by Perry Rhodan
"Do not shoot any Terrans," he wanted to say, "because my son could be one of them."Again and again he had thought out this problem. From an objective point of view, Thomas Cardif deserved death.
But the feelings of a father are not always objective.
• • •
John Emery checked out the Arkonide battlesuit which had been improved by Terran technicians with many new features. The antigrav propulsion system enabled the wearer to glide weightlessly through the atmosphere of a planet and change his course as he pleased. When desired the deflector could be used to make one invisible. In spite of all this, Emery had an uneasy feeling. He asked himself how 5,000 men could manage to conquer a planet that the Antis had occupied.
What were 5,000 men to a fairly large world, in comparison?They could only hope that the priests weren't widely distributed over the entire planet. The only chance for a victory would be if they were all concentrated in one place.
Emery had been asleep for more than three hours when Berker woke him up to alert him to Rhodan's address. The fact that the Administrator himself was on board served to emphasize the importance of the mission. Rhodan's speech was short but Emery thought he could detect in his words a serious note of alarm.
All the men around him were awake now. Alvarez and Dreyer were playing a game of conventional chess. Henderson was studying a book and Bowling was either writing a letter or making notes in a diary of some kind. But most of the men were lying on their backs and staring at the ceiling.
Emery didn't find it difficult to guess what was on their minds. Through time immemorial before a battle the soldier had always faced the question of survival. But John Emery was a veteran trooper, the professional type of soldier who didn't go in very much for philosophical trends of thought. It was only once in awhile that a strange mood would touch him like a passing shadow and he would be momentarily aware of a strong aversion to any kind of combat.
"I'm glad the Chief is with us," remarked Berker, who was next to him.
The 'Chief'-that was Perry Rhodan, thought Emery. This shrewd and experienced leader of countless cosmic battles would also lead them to certain victory in this conflict with the Antis.
"Yeah," he answered. "And we've got mutants with us too. That will be a surprise for the Antis."
The Ironduke raced onward toward its goal...
11/ DAY OF THE IRONDUKE
The nameless star was being orbited by three planets. Under cover of its sixth-dimensional absorption field the Ironduke plunged onward into the system. No sensing or tracking equipment could detect its presence here.
The second world was Okul."We've made it," said Krefenbac. "Dr. Nearman's information hits this place right on the nose. He only had a few minor errors in his coordinates."
"Activate matter and energy sensors," ordered Rhodan. By now the spherical ship was in a stable orbit around Okul."
Equipment in operation, sir!" called Jens Averman."Then run a race-down," Rhodan told him.
Averman got busy with his consoles. Since Okul had its own rotational movement and the Ironduke's sensing and tracing equipment was very wide range, Rhodan was asking for a quick determination of any activity on the planet's surface. On their second orbital passage the sensors responded.
"We've picked up something, sir!" called Averman. "Something is going on down there. The reading shows above-average energy discharges."
"Bring us in closer," Rhodan said to Claudrin.
Claudrin did not need any further instructions. The Epsalian knew what he was about. Ten minutes later, everybody on board knew what they had discovered. There in the jungle on the edge of an ocean were 67 steel domes of tremendous size.
"A city!" whispered Bell almost breathlessly. "A city of steel. So the Antis can build something practical, after all, when they're not trying to make an impression."
"Which gives them a nice base for carrying on their criminal activities without being disturbed," said Rhodan. "Down there must be the place where they mass-produce the Liquitiv. This must have been going on for a long time."
Claudrin's deep voice intruded. "Do we attack, sir?"
"Get the troops to the locks," he answered. "All of them in battlesuits. They are to turn on their antigrav systems. Explain to them how the different weapons are to be used. The Antis' special defense screens can't be penetrated except by using the automatic rifles with their nonmagnetic ammunition."
Bell brushed back his stubborn stubble of red hair. He waved his hands for the benefit of the men in the Control Central.
"Here we go!" he cried.
• • •
Casnan noted a dark speck in the sky. He rubbed his eyes and looked up again. Now there were three specks. Casnan stood petrified. Suddenly he heard an excited outcry from another section of the balcony. Somebody was running and clattering across the metal grill that covered the balcony deck. Still more specks had appeared. Hundreds of them. Casnan stared incredulously into the cloudless sky.
Instinctively he clutched at his wide robe and drew it together about him.
In the same moment a giant spherical vessel appeared over the domed city. It was spewing out virtual clouds of specks which kept sailing downward toward the ground. And then Casnan knew what was happening. Above the city was a Terran spaceship which had arrived undetected. Thousands of men were raining down toward the Anti base.
"Alarm!" yelled Casnan in desperation. His cry was drowned out by the confusion of alarm bells and sirens. Which meant that the guards at their observation posts had finally become aware of the invasion. Casnan spared himself a second look at the descending calamity. He stormed into the interior of the dome and ascended a long passage. Other priests were pouring out of different rooms in a mass of confusion. Most of them still didn't seem to know the reason for the alert.
Then a voice blasted forth from the P.A. system. "We are being attacked by a Terran ship. Everyone to their stations at once! We have to try to destroy the attackers before they land.
"The confusion increased. Casnan collided with another priest who was darting along the passage.
"Terrans?" he panted. "How many?" Casnan did not stop to give any explanations. He kept on running.
The voice crackled again over the loudspeakers. "Their energy weapons cannot penetrate your individual screens.
This announcement served to return them to a state of self-composure. Casnan slowed his pace. The Terrans had lost before even touching the ground, he reflected. The heavier ship's ordnance couldn't be used against the thousands of them individually. And certainly no hand weapons were going to penetrate an Anti screen. By means of their mental capacities the priests were able to change the energy structure of their individual defense screens.
Casnan smiled triumphantly. He was on the right track. He would get himself a weapon and then go out on the balcony to take potshots at the enemy. The Terrans made good targets whereas he himself was practically invulnerable.
A hissing sound caused him to whirl around. Above him in the arching ceiling of the dome appeared a white glowing spot. It grew larger very swiftly. Glowing metal began to flow and trickle downward. Casnan let out a cry. There was a smell of burned metal plastic. From behind him another priest began to fire at the opening.
"They're already on the roof!" shouted someone.
They were burning holes through the dome, thought Casnan, alarmed. In spite of himself he could not suppress a certain admiration for this foolhardy raid of the Terrans but regardless of their initial thrust it was suicide for them.
The burned openings increased in number. Casnan kept running. Before the first of the raiders got into the dome itself he intended to have a weapon in his hands.
• • •
Near John Emery floated about 20 other men who were not a part of his own unit. Beneath them flashed the first shots of the attack forces. The dome structures spread out below like so many inverted saucers. And over them hovered a mighty, menacing shadow which marked the presence of
the Ironduke. So far the enemy had not answered with a single shot. The surprise attack had succeeded. Emery steered himself toward the closest rooftop he could find. He gripped his energy weapon, pressed the trigger. The distance was still too great. The air shimmered as a trace of the unbearable heat of the raybeam. Everywhere clouds of smoke were rising.
"Now!" Emery said aloud without realizing it.
He had to take care not to shoot any of the men around or below him. The advance wave had already reached the roofs of the domes, where they were ruthlessly burning their way in with their impulse-blasters. Around the dome beneath him was a kind of balcony and Emery could see men appearing who wore wide cloaks or robes. They were all armed and began to shoot at the descending Terrans.
So here were the Antis. They were lost to Emery's view as he fell to the roof of the building. Not far away he saw four troopers burning holes in the roof with their energy guns.
"Remember, you guys!" he yelled at them, "only use the automatic rifles on the priests!"
A small, thin man grimly waved his weapon at him. His face was flushed from the heat and excitement. Emery ran across the steel roof to join the group.
The little man pointed to the hole nearby. "I think we're ready to go inside."
Without hesitation he swung himself into the aperture. Emery bent down to watch him go. He was a brave little runt. In the passage below him the place was swarming with priests. He fired three times and then he was hit. Emery saw him jerk to one side and then topple. He fell like a stone toward the Antis who were drawing back.
Emery and the remaining commandos stared at each other for a brief moment. Then they silently sprang into the opening-one after another.
• • •
The 12 figures on the grey surface below moved like ants. Perry Rhodan watched the viewscreen intently. The insect-like figures were members of the elite unit who were fighting their way across the roof. Rhodan's thoughts were with each one of them. "These three domes are putting up a stiff resistance," muttered Bell dejectedly. "It looks like they'll be able to hold them."
Rhodan had to admit to himself that not everything was going as smoothly as he had imagined. The Anti had quickly adjusted themselves to the situation. When they realized that they could not defend all domes at once they had concentrated their strength into three of the buildings. From these points they were putting up a surprising counteroffensive.
While the Terrans were being held at bay in the other domes by a skirmishing action, the Antis were figuring on slowly beating back the attack from their central position. From a strategic point of view it was a very smart move.
Maj. Krefenbac was in radio contact with the various attack group leaders and he was frowning. "Henderson reports that he has four of the domes well under control, sir," he told Rhodan. "There's supposed to be only a few Antis left there, putting up a fight as they retreat."
"That's the way they pin down our men in various other locations," said Rhodan. "We definitely have to get reinforcements to the three main domes."
"No further word from Pastenaci," the major reported, sounding depressed. "My contact with him has been cut off. Sokura Tajamos' reports are about like Henderon's."
Rhodan turned to Col. Claudrin. "You take over the Ironduke, Jefe," he ordered. It's time we gave those men down there some backup support."
He beckoned to Bell, who had been waiting with hands on his hips. Krefenbac jumped up but Rhodan shook his head. "No, Major, you're needed here on board. Bell and I will hunt up some more men that Claudrin may be able to spare."
"Do you really think that you should take part in the attack, sir?"
"Yes," said Rhodan quite simply.
Bell produced two battle suits. Pucky waddled excitedly between them. It could be seen by his actions that he was keen on joining his friends.
"No, little one," smiled Rhodan. "You still have to wait."
Disappointedly the mouse-beaver went back to his seat.
"Good luck, sir!" said Claudrin gloomily, after the two had gotten ready.
Some minutes later when Bell and Rhodan drifted downward from the ship they beheld a picture of chaos below. The roofs of most of the dome structures had been partially destroyed. Clouds of smoke emerged from the openings in them.
Rhodan signaled to the seven men who were with them to stick close together. From where they were now they could clearly make out the stiffly defended domes in question. In that area there was still a heavy exchange of fire going on whereas in the other places there was only an occasional flash of an energy beam or the brittle chatter of the automatic rifles.
Meanwhile the Antis had definitely determined that their mentally supercharged defense screens were no protection against nonmagnetic bullets.
Rhodan saw men on the roofs who were waving their arms. He could not make out what they were shouting but when he came closer he could understand them. Even though under heavy fire they were celebrating his appearance among them. Within a minute or so, every soldier knew that Rhodan had personally come into the battle.
"The Chief!" they yelled. "Perry Rhodan is coming!"Within an hour the picture had changed. The Terrans in their Arkonide battlesuits were making headway now. At their head battled a tall, lean figure. The priests who saw him stared in disbelief. They thought they were looking at Thomas Cardif.
• • •
"That is treason!" Cardif exclaimed heatedly. "Somebody must have betrayed us to Rhodan-otherwise how could he have found this world? Where are the traitors among the Antis?" He was pounding on the table with his fists. His reddish Arkonide eyes gleamed their hatred for his father. Another defeat seemed to be looming before him. He had just learned that the Terran combat units had gained the upper hand in the three domes where the Antis had apparently been putting up a successful resistance.
Here were the all-important filtering and processing systems for converting the raw material used in the Liquitiv preparation. The priests were determined to save the installation at any cost. Although even this plan was questionable now, no one took the defeat more tragically than Cardif.
Hekta-Paalat still maintained his composure even though part of his cloak had been singed by a stray energy beam. Like most of his kind he had given up maintaining his individual defense screen when he saw that the nonmagnetic ammunition of the automatics could get through.
"There are no traitors among us," he replied, and as a side-thrust at Cardif he added: Although such could be true of other races..."
"Will we be able to hold these buildings?" he demanded to know, raising his voice to a shout."No," said Rhobal from the opposite side of the table.
The Terran's eyes flamed with anger. He came around the table and grasped the priest by his vestments. "We have to hold them off!" he yelled. "There's only one fighting ship over Okul. It couldn't have brought more than 5,000 men. I demand that you put me in charge of the battle. Together with our surviving forces I will save the installations."
The Antis who were present exchanged dark looks of negation. The shock of discovering that the Terrans' weapons could get through their personal defense screens had demoralized the priests. In any other circumstances they would have been able to turn the battle in their favor."We are going to make our escape," said Baaran calmly.
Cardif laughed scornfully. He folded his arms across his chest and nodded to the viewscreens where the demolished domes could be seen. "Escape?" he repeated derisively. "Where to, old man? To the jungle? Rhodan's troops will shoot at anything that moves out there."
"We go by sea," answered Baaran complacently. He did not seem disturbed by the fact that only a few hundred meters away the Antis were falling back before the invading enemy troops.
"What are we going to do-swim out of here?" asked Cardif. But there was a note of hopefulness in his voice.
He received no answer. Baaran and Rhobal had turned back to the viewscreens to watch the outcome of the battle.
• • •
During the en
tire time of the fighting, Sgt. John Emery hadn't had a moment to even think. He had merely pushed forward like an automaton, blindly firing his automatic weapon at any priests who stood in his way. He knew he had been moving along with many men on either side of him but now he was aware that their numbers were dwindling for some reason. His eyes were blurred by sweat. He struggled to breathe in the heated and smoke-filled air. He was lying on the floor at the end of a long, wide corridor while keeping three Antis at bay with his fire. They had taken cover above him on a transverse gallery of some kind. Everywhere in the dome the sounds of battle were raging. A stray energy beam zipped past him from behind, singeing the back of his shoulder. He supported himself on his elbows and let loose again with the automatic rifle. When he saw the bullets rip a hole in the low partition of the gallery he grunted with satisfaction.
His opposition seemed to have ceased all action. For the first time he had a chance to take a look behind him. He was the only Terran in the entire corridor but he still didn't have time to think about it. He was still concentrating on the Antis because their silence was ominous.
He gave them three rapid blasts with the rifle, one after another, but they still did not return the fire.
Emery ran his tongue across his parched lips. The silence now pervaded the entire dome as though an order had been given for an immediate cease-fire. He got to his feet cautiously. It was risky to offer an open target to the Antis but he couldn't stay here in one spot forever. He sensed that something had changed. The battle had evidently been decided though which way he didn't know. It was hard to suppress the negative thought that their surprise attack might have failed. Could he be one of the few remaining survivors from the Ironduke?
He stood there in the passage and looked down at himself. What he saw wasn't exactly reassuring. His uniform was singed and burned in many places. It was even doubtful that his battlesuit was still in operation. But that he could find out. When he switched on the antigrav he knew he was still in business so he grimly steered himself up to the transverse gallery. The Antis had deserted it. He landed safely and took a look around. From this vantage point he could see the entire extent of the large corridor. When he saw his former position down below him, an icy chill ran down his back. He had been facing the priests from there with no cover at all.
