Beware the Microbots

by Perry Rhodan

  An antigrav elevator!

  Tiff advised O'Keefe to douse his light. As soon as their eyes got used to the sudden darkness Tiff noticed a light down below. It was more a glimmer than a well-defined light source.

  It took two hours till they reached the bottom and Tiff estimated they must have dropped a height of 25,000 to 30,000 feet.

  The shaft ended where the light came in through a semicircular 10-foot-high gate and the light itself originated from a lamp high up in the cupola of a vast dome in the rocks.

  The dome was circular and Tiff estimated its diameter at close to 20 miles. The bottom of the dome was covered with grass and the huge lamp at the zenith simulated to a perfect degree the radiation of the sun Thatrel around which Honur gyrated. The grass was divided by low fences into more or less quadratic parcels whose sides measured about 60 feet. The parcels formed long rows and between each two parcels was a path about 5 feet wide.

  Packs of Nonues ran wild behind the wire fences. About 30 of them were housed in each parcel and there were many stones and branches lying around to build their lairs. They seemed to be perfectly at home in this artificial subterranean world and their yelping and screeching filled the gigantic dome with infernal noise. And the stench, which penetrated the filters of Tiff and his two men, was doubtless caused by them too.

  And there was another remarkable sight: tall Honos clad in colorful robes walked with great dignity up and down the paths between the rows of the compartments.

  Tiff and the two sergeants were stunned by the surprise. Halligan was the first to find his tongue again. "The double impulse!" he groaned. How stupid of us!"

  Tiff turned his head. "What's the matter?"

  Halligan recounted the incident. "Shortly before we cracked up we received a double reflex on the radar oscillograph screen. It looked as if something were wrong with the set or if Honur had a false bottom. Now you see itdoes have 2 levels."

  Tiff listened attentively. He was familiar with the electronic equipment of the Gazelles. He knew that it automatically recorded all observation data and simultaneously transmitted the information to the mothership, in this case the Titan .

  Perry Rhodan was therefore aware what the radar of the 3 Gazelles had registered and knew they had shown the identical effects. Thus he was not likely to conclude that the sets were defective as Halligan and Dee had done.

  Tiff made a mental note to scratch the subterranean dome from the list of items he had to report to Rhodan shortly before zero hour—the time to strike. Rhodan must have realized, long ago, what type of base the enemy had installed on Honur.

  Tiff also remembered the conversation he had with Nathan at the camp in the cleft when the Hono told him about the myth of the Approved People that the Gods live under the ground. If Nathan knew the truth and wanted to deceive them, why did he tell him about the legend? Was he so sure nobody could escape the attack of the robot flies in the basin and live to tell the tale and utilize the knowledge?

  O'Keefe brought Tiff back to the present. "We ought to collar one of these Honos and question him," he suggested. "Perhaps they know something. I wonder how they got down here." One of the Honos strolling along the pathways meanwhile came within 30 feet of the semi-circular gate. He had already seen the 3 outlandishly dressed figures but they interested him only for a second. Tiff was reminded of the first time. the Titan had touched down on Honur. The Honos then had acted in the same manner. These people seemed to be genuine—in contrast to Nathan and his 3 companions.

  "Come here!" Tiff ordered. The Hono had reached the end of the parcels and slowly turned around to walk back. Tiff and the 2 sergeants caught up with him with a few steps. Tiff turned up his amplifier and called after the Hono: "Please wait a minute!" The Hono stood still and turned around giving the 3 strangers a bored look. "What are you doing here?" Tiff asked.

  "I'm watching over the Nonues; so that nothing will happen to them."

  "Are they yours?"

  "No, they belong to the Gods."

  "And what are the Gods doing with them?" This question elicited the first sign of excitement from the Hono.

  "How can you ask such a question? Do the Gods have to account to you?"

  Tiff was more conciliatory. "No, of course not. Where can I find the Gods?"

  The Hono made a weary gesture indicating his lack of knowledge. "Who am I," he asked, "that the Gods should tell me of their whereabouts?"

  "Did you ever see a God?"

  The Hono made an affirmative sign. "Yes, 2 of them. They were very friendly."

  "When was that?"

  "I don't know."

  Tiff tried to think of another question. At that moment a new noise pierced the yapping of the Nonues. It was a high-pitched monotone hum blended with a menacing muffled roar. Halligan spun around on his heels to see where it came from. His voice cracked in horror as he shouted: "There they come!"

  Tiff whirled around. An iridescent cluster hung humming and twitching under the gate through which they had entered reaching from the zenith of the semi-circle almost to the floor. The cluster looked like a huge swarm of bees.

  Tiff estimated there were about 5000 robot flies in the swarm behaving like the natural species and waiting for the positronic command to attack. "Look out!" he panted. "Keep your weapons ready to shoot! They've discovered us and they'll let us have it any moment!"

  He had hardly finished when the cluster began to dissolve. Shimmering and whirring like little projectiles the mechanical mini-flies scattered in all directions.

  Tiff told Halligan and O'Keefe to fan out their beams and did the same with his. They stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a 3-cornered star with the barrels of their weapons and covering half the vulnerable space sectors with the wide angles of their disintegrator beams. All the robot flies that were caught in their range were instantly destroyed.

  6/ WORLD ANNIHILATION INDICATED

  Perry Rhodan admitted that he had seldom passed more unpleasant hours than these. Now as before he was certain that Lt. Tifflor and 2 other men had succeeded in warding off the general euphoria and were still prowling the enemy.

  But the lack of information was hard on his nerves. Hours followed hours and the hours became clays without news from Tifflor.

  Rhodan began to consider the possibility that Tiff and his 2 men had fallen into the hands of the enemy. In that case he would be forced to intervene with the Titan. Intervene where and against whom? Nobody had even the slightest inkling. Since Rhodan was compelled by tactical reasons to secure his rear while taking any action in the innermost sphere of influence of the Arkonide Empire, this lack of information meant that not much would be left for Honur.

  Rhodan contemplated grimly that he was about to adopt an old and inhuman war rule of the Springers: if you can't pinpoint the base of an enemy, annihilate his entire world.

  He had no other recourse if he didn't want to jeopardize his mission and thereby the entire Earth.

  However he was still hesitant as long as he entertained a last flicker of hope that remained in the wake of Tifflor's endeavors with his team.

  • • •

  Tiff realized after a few seconds that they would be unable to withstand the onslaught on the open grassland. The fences did not hinder the robot flies. They seemed to have excellent orientation and shot through the wire-mesh as if through open air.

  The disintegrators devoured them by the dozen and hundreds. Metallic dust wafted in the air.

  O'Keefe shot aimlessly up and down and straight ahead, as the ground began to boil in front of him.

  As it turned out it was the heat, which gave the 3 men some relief after a time. Tiff noticed with a sidelong glance that the rising temperature affected the manoeuvrability of the flies. The surge of hot air drove them a few feet up before they reached their goal, making them hiss high above the heads of the imperiled men.

  Tiff gave his instructions. "Pull back to the nearest wall, you guys! We've got to cover our backs. O'Keefe, keep shoo
ting at the ground!"

  O'Keefe didn't understand what it was all about but did as he was told. He lowered the barrel of his weapon and drew glowing circles around their positions as they retreated. The flies, which before had come as close as 5 feet, were immediately averted. They were unable to inflict any harm on their intended victims, zooming 15 feet over their heads.

  "Run!" Tiff shouted. "To the wall over there!"

  Halligan darted away first and Tiff followed him while O'Keefe covered their retreat by continuous firing, setting the grass afire and turning the ground into pools of molten rock.

  The flies were helpless. The positronic steering control had obviously failed to evaluate the situation adequately.

  Tiff felt better as soon as his back was against the smooth wall of the dome. Halligan planted himself next to him with his feet spread wide apart and shot down whatever was caught in the wide open field of his disintegrator beam from the swarms O'Keefe's heatwave had diverted upward.

  Tiff began to think they had a real chance to survive the attack with O'Keefe's scorching air technique. They must already have demolished at least 2000 of the 5000 estimated flies, he figured.

  However by the time O'Keefe had reached the protective wall the positronic had caught on why the flies consistently missed their aim. Tiff saw a clump flying in at an angle too steep to hurt them but the heatwave corrected its course so that the whole mass shot straight at them. Halligan yanked his disintegrator down just in time to repulse the danger.

  "O'Keefe raise your fire," Tiff shouted.

  The next swarm, also positronically guided on the new course, swerved 20 feet from the wall into the ground, deeply burying its sharp needles because O'Keefe's changed aim affected the blast of hot air.

  But after the third pass the tron could no longer be tricked and deflected. It sent in the flies on a downward trajectory and lifted them up again when it failed to sense the heat. Tiff heard the metallic insects clatter against the stone wall after they had penetrated the thermo- and disintegrator-shields. He felt something sharply impinge against his leg but life didn't look much rosier as yet. He had been lucky once more.

  O'Keefe and Halligan doggedly kept up their fire but Tiff realized it was only a matter of seconds before one of the flies, and then a second and third would hit their target.

  Between 2 attacks O'Keefe moved a couple of steps to the side to gain a better field of fire for his thermo-weapon. Tiff looked at him instinctively.

  Nobody really knew later what had happened. Either O'Keefe had touched a concealed contact or the door opened automatically if a person got close enough—whatever the case a hole suddenly gaped behind O'Keefe although he didn't notice it himself.

  Tiff called out to alert him. O'Keefe whirled around, saw the opening and uttered a joyous cry which could be heard above the din of the frightened Nonues.

  Tiff nudged Halligan. "Move!"

  It took a few long leaps to reach the opening. The positronic had adjusted to the burning air but it needed a few milliseconds to shift to the running victims. O'Keefe was the first to disappear; Halligan scooted behind him and Tiff was last to get in. The door closed promptly behind them, ending their troubles with the robot flies.

  The door was the beginning of a long, brightly-lit corridor slanting into the rocks.

  Tiff hesitated. Had the time come to give Rhodan the go-ahead for the counter offensive? Had they already got to the bottom of the subterranean base's secrets? Did they know enough to spare the crew of the Titan all unnecessary risks?

  The answer to these worrisome questions was 'no.' Moreover Tiff took into consideration that the tron might not yet have detected their escape through the hidden door and was still in the process of determining the location of its prey. This was an advantage to be quickly ruined by an easily monitored radio message.

  He decided on ordering his men to go on and followed them into the corridor.

  Tiff estimated the length of the passageway at one and a half miles. Then it ended in a low hall which was completely empty and furnished no clue which purpose it served.

  They had already traversed an underground maze of passages at least 25 miles long and in addition had seen the rocky dome. It was enough to persuade them that their opponent had built not a mere base in the mountains of Honur but a whole artificial world.

  Tiff's respect for the technical capabilities of their adversary had grown considerably during the last hours.

  He immediately set about to scrutinize the walls of the rectangular room with Halligan and O'Keefe. The predilection of their unknown adversary for the construction of hard-to-find concealed doors was already established for them.

  At first it seemed to make no difference whatsoever where the exit from the room was located. But then Halligan, who had taken over searching the left side of the room from the corridor, suddenly stopped and exclaimed softly: "You can hear something here, sir!"

  Tiff ran to him. He had to concentrate hard to perceive what Halligan had heard; but there was no disputing that a noise came through the wall. It was propagated through the massive rocks and walls; the walls finally transmitted it to the thin air filling the rectangular room. Their helmet mikes picked it up; it was weak but an unmistakable, monotone bum at a varying pitch.

  A big machine seemed to be running somewhere behind the wall, perhaps the air or power supply of the base, or the positronic guiding the defense of the installations.

  "There has to be a door in this corner," Tiff said tersely. "We've got to find it!"

  The remark was none too logical but strangely he was right. They passed back and forth close to the wall and it fell to O'Keefe again to find the correct position so that a section of the wall slid to the side and laid bare a narrow corridor angling from the hall into the rocks.

  The hum became a few decibels louder when the door opened up. O'Keefe wavered and pointed with a silent gesture into the corridor.

  Tiff nodded. "Go in!"

  They all entered and the door automatically closed again the way they were already used to in this underground world. The corridor seemed to be short compared to the previous passageways. A glaring light entered at the end of the tunnel. It seemed to come from a larger room but it was impossible to make out any contours.

  Tiff pressed forward. Suddenly he was certain they would solve the elusive mystery if they beheld that sunken room.

  Later on he remembered little of what followed next and the 2 sergeants' memory failed them likewise. Tiff still could see that the walls of the corridor retreated to the sides and opened up to a large diameter circular room. The room was crammed full of many instruments whose purpose he didn't know, the most remarkable of which were a row of concave mirrors shining with unbearable effulgence.

  As soon as he stepped into the room he was struck a terrific blow rendering him instantly unconscious.

  • • •

  Rhodan knew that each second of further waiting was fraught with danger.

  He alerted the Titan to alarm phase #1 and briefed his officers in concise words as to their imminent tasks.

  "Of course we'll try to localize the military base of the enemy and to spare the rest of the planet," he concluded. "But our chances that we can do this are limited. I'd like you to know that we might be compelled to obliterate Honur completely. We're confronted with a choice: the Earth or Honur. I don't believe it'll be difficult for you to decide which it shall be."

  A force of 800 men who were still in fighting trim manned the Titan. Rhodan assigned 500 of these to the impending major action. The remaining crew was ample to operate the cannons of the Titan in case of an attack.

  Rhodan ordered the Ganymede , which was still vigilantly circling around Honur, to go on alarm stage #2. Col. Freyt was advised that a landing of his vessel could become necessary at any moment.

  All preparations proceeded so quickly that Rhodan and his force of 500 men had almost left when the communication officer of the Titan received a sequence of un
intelligible signals and sounds.

  Rhodan was notified at once and he postponed the debarkation of the fighting force. Although the sounds emitted by the transceiver made no sense Rhodan didn't give up hope and eventually his patience was rewarded.

  The inarticulate stammering began to form words. Rhodan didn't recognize the voice—it wasn't Tifflor's—but it spoke English, which lifted most of the doubts in Rhodan's mind. "...valley basin... entrance northeast wall... subterranean installations... caution robot flies... 2 inches long, look like dragonflies... impregnated with Argonis... carry nets, fine mesh..."

  The message seemed to have exhausted the strength of the speaker. For awhile only the usual static came through the transceiver. Then the voice called again and repeated what it had said before. Rhodan realized he was not going to learn any more and issued the necessary instructions to the technical staff.

  Nobody had thought of taking nets along until now.

  • • •

  Tiff was awakened by the monotonous sound of a voice speaking to him.

  Speaking?

  He was still in a semi-conscious state and tried to recognize the language; he didn't succeed but he understood the words nevertheless.

  He opened his eyes and saw that he was in twilight. When he tried to move his head to look around it refused to budge. Then he attempted to lift his arm and to shift his leg with the same negative result.

  He was captured. Captured by a method which paralyzed his brain.

  Nonetheless he understood the voice: did you believe you could defy the Gods? Don't you realize that you're nothing but a little worm against the almighty Gods? They've followed you on your way and taken you prisoner at the opportune time. You'll remain here for the rest of your life and serve the Gods!"