by Perry Rhodan
Pucky threw the stalk away. "Are you suffering from premonitions again?" he inquired, crossing through the hedge boundary marker. "Or have you heard something."
"Both, old boy, both. Freyt thinks Rhodan will be coming back tomorrow. The discharge cone and the Druufs will soon be things of the past."
"Then we won't be bothered by those hippopotamuses anymore," Pucky commented with satisfaction. "Everything's all settled with Arkon. I'd like to know what could happen now?"
Bell waved his index finger. "How many times have I told you to knock on wood when you say things like that? If I had my way, I'd live here in the cottage for weeks and lie out in the water all day."
"Does it take that long to get the dirt off?" Pucky asked, innocently.
"Leave me alone," he rumbled. "Go tend to your tulips!"
Pucky came up to the deck chair and stood erect before Bell. "The tulips! If you knew how many shoots they've sprouted, you'd be amazed. I think we've saved the race of semi-sleepers. We'll soon be able to settle them some place. Perhaps on Mars."
The semi-sleepers were an intelligent, telepathic species of plants. Rhodan and Pucky had once saved them from certain destruction and brought them along to Earth. Here they grew in various places under the care of experienced gardeners. Fifty years had to pass before they reproduced. The semi-sleepers were of five genders, possessed actual eyes and could pull their delicate roots out of the ground to move to a better place.
Pucky's tulips around the veranda were no ordinary tulips but instead intelligent beings from another planet which had been destroyed long before the turn of the century in atomic fire.
Before Bell could answer, a shrill noise sounded from the bungalow.
Both man and mouse-beaver gave an involuntary start.
"Krosh!" exclaimed Bell, growing a little pale. Some already dry hairs raised stiffly erect in protest.
"I should have knocked on wood," Pucky said, tapping Bell's skull. "Now go see who's trying to disturb our day off. Probably Mercant wanting to know what the weather's like..."
But it was not Mercant.
It was Freyt.
"You can pack up your pail and shovel and your toy boat, Mr. Bell," said the slim Freyt, who strongly resembled Rhodan. He smiled slightly from the vidscreen. "Rhodan will be coming in with the Drusus in about an hour. It doesn't look like he plans to stay in Terrania very long. After getting some information, he'll be taking off again."
"Well?" asked Bell tonelessly. He had a strong suspicion Freyt's simulated jocularity was not as humorous as it seemed. "What's that got to do with us?"
Freyt's smile widened. "I must impart to you and Pucky the cheering news that Rhodan's orders include an instruction for you to go on board the Drusus as soon as it lands. Yes, that's all I have to tell you. I wish you a pleasant Sunday..."
The screen went blank.
"A pleasant Sunday!" growled Bell angrily with a vengeful look at the visifone. "Three days vacation and now I have to leave it all behind. He looked around searchingly. "Wuzzi!" he called aloud. "Wuzzi, where are you?"
Pucky groaned and hopped away to take care of everything on his side of the hedge that needed taking care of in such situations. The garden robot had to be programmed, just like the automatic caretaker. Besides, he wanted to avoid a direct meeting with Wuzzi, the 'dachs-hog' from Venus. Bell had gone crazy over the droll little animal and took it with him everywhere he went. At least in Terrania.
Wuzzi came up and leaped into Bell's arms. He indeed resembled a dachshund but he had longer legs, a ringed tail and an actual pig-like snout. His species lived in the Venusian swamp forests and had quickly learned that one could live a pleasant life by being friendly towards mankind.
"We're leaving, Wuzzi! Vacation's over!"
Wuzzi understood and extended his ringed tail in joy. It became perfectly straight, then suddenly curled up into a spiral, its original position. This was repeated several times.
An hour later, Bell, Pucky and Wuzzi were peacefully gathered in a turbocar, gliding with increasing speed over the seamless road that led to Terrania.
As they were approaching the city they heard the uncanny thunder of gigantic engines in the stratosphere above. Bright flashes of flame made the sun seem pale and then the enormous globe of the Drusus emerged from the blue of the sky. It quickly grew larger and finally landed on the spacefield far ahead.
The vacation seemed to be over, most definitely.
This time, anyway...
2/ NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK
Commander Wilmar Lund had no idea why he and his men had to break off their training course so quickly. They had all looked upon the course as a sort of vacation in Venus City and so had not exerted themselves especially hard on it.
On the same day that the order came in from Terrania, Lund and his men boarded the cruiser Arctic. They reached the home planet without incident and landed on the Terranian spacefield next to the huge Drusus, the ship generally functioning as Rhodan's flagship.
Lund began to suspect that his arrival here was not coincidental with the presence of the Drusus. As quickly as he could, he recalled the events of the previous weeks and months but found no clues. He made the error of not thinking nine months back.
From headquarters he received the order to put the Arctic in the hangar of the Drusus and report to the Administration Building of Terrania by the quickest way. Perry Rhodan was waiting for him.
Lund awakened from his semi-daydream and gave his orders. Then he climbed into the turbine car that had driven up to the ship. The automatically steered vehicle brought him swiftly into the city. Without being stopped for inspection, he passed through the energy-dome locks and soon thereafter he was climbing the wide steps of the square building that was generally considered the center of the Solar System.
Marshal Freyt received him personally and led him into Rhodan's workroom. In the hall they met some members of the Mutant Corps, whose mood seemed to indicate they were on the verge of departure.
Lund was familiar with this mood. There was something in the air, then.
Rhodan stood up when he came into the room and extended his hand to him as though they were old friends. Lund took the hand. He knew that Rhodan regarded every one of his co-workers as a friend and treated them accordingly. That was the reason everyone would have gone through hell and high water for him had he asked it.
"You came quickly, Lund. I thank you. You certainly know Mr. Bell—and I hardly need introduce Pucky. He was along at the time."
Something stirred in Lund's memory. Pucky had been along?
He greeted Bell and Pucky, then sat down in the seat offered him. He waited silently—and he did not have long to wait.
"When you picked up Pucky from his outpost and brought him back to Earth, you encountered an unpiloted Arkonide ship drifting through space," Rhodan began, smiling knowingly. "It states in your logbook that it was deserted by the crew and drifted without power. Now do you remember?"
Lund nodded.
"Good. Surely you measured its speed, as regulations demand, and entered it and its course?"
Lund nodded again, still having no idea what all this was leading up to. Had he perhaps forgotten something?
But to his relief, Rhodan continued. "Are the data stored in the positronicon aboard the Arctic?"
"Yes sir. Besides the fact it was my duty, Pucky had expressly asked me to do so. It could have been possible that we would want to take another look at the old ship again. So it would be easy to determine the ship's current position at any time, if that's what you mean."
"That's exactly what I mean, Lund," said Rhodan. "It's good that you can remember and I think the time has come for Pucky himself to tell you the truth. Nine months ago, he kept something hidden from you."
Pucky leaped out of the chair that was much too large for him. He came over and simply sprang into Lund's lap. "You're not mad at me, are you, Lundy?" he asked with his chirping voice, bringing into play his well-practice
d cute-little-animal-with-big-brown-eyes look which no one could resist. "I needed four hours then to look over the mysterious ship and you of course wondered about it. Four hours for an empty ship! Well, the truth is this: the ship was not empty. It contained 10,000 living Arkonides."
Lund's mouth fell open and he quickly closed it. "What? And you didn't tell me anything about it? Why not?"
"Well, there were also more than 100,000 Arkonides in a cryogenic chamber, waiting to be awakened. Because there were so many, the re-awakening could only take place on a suitable planet or otherwise there would have been a catastrophe. That was one of the reasons I kept the secret to myself. You might have insisted on investigating the ship yourself..."
Lund nodded slowly. He understood. "You're right, Pucky. I would have insisted on a detailed investigation–I would have had to. And—well, what now?"
Rhodan took over for Pucky. "Arkon needs capable people to build up the empire. Who could be more fitted for that than the sleeping Arkonides aboard the Ship of Ancestors? These are selected men and women of the old sort, like Arkon hasn't seen for thousands of years. They have retained their abilities over the millenniums by being in their deep-sleep. Atlan has asked me to bring the ship to Arkon. For that reason, Commander Lund, I had you called."
Lund stood up. "Do you wish the coordinates at once? I'll..."
"We'll be going with you, Lund," Rhodan interrupted. "The Arctic is already in the Drusus hangar. We'll take off and calculate the coordinates during the flight out of the solar system. We don't have a minute to lose. Are you ready?"
"Of course, sir. But you had only a little time to..."
"Time enough!" Rhodan assured him. "Bell and Pucky are champing at the bit to find the ship. They've been lazing around the Goshun Lake long enough."
Bell wanted to say something but said nothing after a quick glance at Pucky.
The mouse-beaver, on the other hand, was grinning happily. "Yeah, there's nothing more boring than a vacation at the Goshun. I'm glad we can once more... well, there's no point in going on. You're much too good a telepath, Perry."
And Rhodan was, though within limits. He grinned. "Don't worry about your tulips and carrots. You might be back tomorrow or the day after, once we've taken the Ship of Ancestors to Arkon. Your pets won't have dried out by then."
That was true.
But was anything else?
• • •
The solar system slipped away behind the Drusus at the speed of light. The built-in time-compensators neutralized the dilation effect. Everyone was waiting for the forthcoming transition.
In the small control room of the Arctic, Lund, Rhodan, Bell and Pucky stood in front of the navigation brain. The memory banks were spewing out the desired information. The plastic strips snaked out all over the counter and Lund pushed them into the evaluator.
"About 20,000 light-years away," Bell murmured. "A nice distance for a precise spring."
"The main thing is that the stored information and the calculations based on it are correct. Then we'll find the drifting ship on the first transition."
"Why shouldn't we?" asked Rhodan. "The equipment is operating flawlessly and I can't believe that Lund made any errors all those months ago."
"I can guarantee the information for you, sir," said Lund, somewhat taken aback.
Rhodan rested his hand on Lund's shoulder. "No one doubts that."
No, no one questioned it, really, but the human soul is nurtured on skepticism. Without skepticism it would seem empty and deserted. Still...
"The ship could have changed speed and course," Bell offered.
Pucky stepped on Bell's feet with all his strength. "Are you starting to prophesy doom again? We'll find that ship exactly where it's supposed to be or I'll..." He suddenly quieted.
Bell looked at him demandingly. "Or you'll what?"
But he received no answer for at that moment the evaluator began to click. The prepared information came fluttering down on the counter in the form of a plastic card. Rhodan picked it up and read: "Sector BV-57-C-99, 19997, 983LJ.2"
That was all.
Lund sighed. "That's clear enough. Now we can go."
Rhodan shoved the card into his pocket. He turned to Lund. "Keep the Arctic ready for takeoff. It's possible that the cruiser will be necessary as a ferry. Its bow has the necessary tractor-beam to open the Arkonide ship's freight hatch... if it has one."
Rhodan and Bell went through the cruiser's corridors and crossed the hangar. Within minutes, a lift brought them to the control room of the Drusus, where Col. Sikerman was already waiting impatiently for them. The mouse-beaver, who had teleported his way there, was already sitting on the couch. He had refused to give out any information and so it happened that Sikerman all but ran towards the incoming men, asking: "What is it? Do you have the data, sir?"
"Yes, we have it," Rhodan answered, giving him the card. "The rest is up to you. You're the commander."
The colonel took the card, glanced at it and then handed it wordlessly to the First Officer, who shoved it into the computer. The calculation process ran automatically. The prepared data slid in the form of colored plastic strips into the hypertransition machinery.
Sikerman sat down in the pilot's seat.
The Sun had long shrunk to a yellow star. In the control room background, Rhodan and Lund spoke together in low tones. In all probability, the Administrator was answering a few of the cruiser commander's questions to satisfy his curiosity. Bell sat next to Pucky on the couch. The two friends were noticeably quiet and peaceful.
Sikerman looked at the controls as several lamps lit up. "Transition point determined," he said. "We spring in two minutes."
Rhodan involuntarily rubbed his neck with his hand. He thought of the imminent pain of transition, the single unpleasantness of hyperspringing and the dematerialization connected with it. Otherwise one felt nothing. But that was had enough. Soon, or so he thought, there would be an end to that. The plans Ernst Ellert had stolen on Druufon for the ultra light-speed linear drive was even now in the hands of Terran scientists, and the new drive was being worked on. Before long, the first ultralight ship—without any transitions necessary—would lift off from Terrania on its test flight.
"One more minutes!"
For decades Perry Rhodan had regarded the hyperspring method as the only means of reaching star systems light-years away. But then the Druufs had appeared with their ships, which did not dematerialize but simply exceeded the speed of light and flew onwards. They were unaffected by any time dilation, which contradicted all the laws of Einstein—unless they used some sort of time-compensator. But even though Rhodan still considered the hyperspring as the best 'Method' he had still always dreamed, of being able to speed through space with his eyes open, so to speak. He longed to be able to watch the stars gliding past the portholes instead of disappearing into the impenetrable nothing known as hyperspace.
"10 seconds! 9... 8... 7..."
The hypertransition proceeded precisely and without incident. When the Drusus materialized along with all its contents, it stood exactly at that point in the universe to which it had been sent. The stars were more numerous than as seen from the Earth and they were closer together. Since there was no dust in this sector, even some of the pale light flecks of far distant galaxies could be seen as plainly visible spirals of light which seemed to be imperceptibly revolving. It was a sight that an earthbound man could never properly imagine, no matter how great his power of fantasy. It was a sight that made the theory of being alone in the universe seem ridiculous.
Rhodan broke away from the sight, which always fascinated him. His voice was a little husky as he spoke. "Switch on the scanners, Colonel. According to the calculations, the ship can't be any more than
0.5 light-years from our present position."
The instruments began to operate. A radius of half a light-year! So simple to say, so much in meaning. A sphere one light-year in diameter had to be searched for a point measur
ing 1.5 kilometers. The search had to be conducted on a three-dimensional basis.
After five hours, this much was clear: there was no solid body larger than a pea within a radius of half a light-year.
Col. Sikerman looked rather at a loss. "I don't understand this, sir. The instruments are functioning flawlessly. Assuming the Arctic’s positronicon hasn't made an error..."
"Impossible!" Lund protested energetically at once. "Our observations in December 2043 were flawless. Pucky will be able to confirm that for you anytime."
"I certainly can!" The mouse-beaver drew up to his full height and looked reproachfully at Sikerman. "You aren't trying to shove the blame on me and Lund, are you...?"
Rhodan knew the signs: there was about to be an explosion. It was high time to intervene. "No one's trying to do that, Pucky!" he said sharply. "We must stick to the matter at hand and try to solve the riddle. If all our calculations are correct and the Arkonide emigrant ship can't be found in this sector, then there can be only one explanation. We'll have to keep it in mind."
Pucky sank back on the couch. He already knew what Rhodan was thinking. After all, he was a telepath.
Lund remained silent. His reason refused to recognize the enormous significance of the conclusion being drawn.
"Do you think, sir," said Sikerman, "that the Ship of Ancestors has changed its speed or course? That would be..."
Rhodan nodded. "Yes, it would be Terrible. How could we find it in the unending vastness of space? Has it left any traces? No one leaves traces in nothing."
An uncomfortable silence followed. Everyone was lost in his own thoughts. Naturally it would be pointless to continue the search in the same sector; the scanning equipment was as good as infallible. It could not have erred. Nor could there be any doubt about the data of the Arctic.
So the Ship of Ancestors had deviated from its course and increased its speed considerably.
