by Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan
The Third Power #17
THE VENUS TRAP
LIFE–raw, primordial–teemed on this young world: on its land, beneath its seas and in its air. Prehistoric life forms, similar to those which once flourished in distant Earth–vicious, voracious... Venusian. Into this raw young world plunges Perry Rhodan and his men of war in a race against time––Thora Queen of Arkon, is in hideous danger...
—————————————————
THE VENUS TRAP
—————————————————
1/ Trouble On Venus
LIFE—raw, primordial—teemed on the young world: on its land, beneath its seas and in its air. Prehistoric life forms, not dissimilar to those which once flourished on distant, early Earth—vicious, voracious but... Venusian.
Venus, 'the evening star,' second from the sun, a hothouse of horrendous creatures: airborne, landlubbing, oceanic.
Three Terranians found themselves on the surface of a Venusian sea: Perry Rhodan, John Marshall and Son Okura. Rhodan, the leader; Marshall, the esper, reader of minds; Okura the esper, perceptor of electromagnetic frequency wavelengths.
About the trio's boat the water gurgled sluggishly. It seemed to be thicker than on Earth, and so it was. A hand submerged in it emerged with a slimy coat for the water was so full of algae, single cells and other minute life forms that it acted like a colloidal solution.
The boat ploughed steadily through the impeding waves which were the last reminder of the terrible twilight storm that had swept over the flatland and the 200-mile-wide ocean channel more than eight hours before.
The sturdy little generator hummed monotonously, threatening to hypnotize heavy eyelids, lull weary men to sleep. But to the coaxing arms of Morpheus they dared not submit—none of them! For more than a Terrestrial day they hadn't dared a wink. It had been difficult to stay awake in the darkness, especially for Perry with an unhealed wound paining his shoulder.
Perry Rhodan, President of the New Power, had come to Venus with the intention of restoring order once again but, due to a chain of calamitous circumstances, had been cast with two companions almost helplessly into the wilderness.
At the present time he was far from achieving his goal. There were still 180 miles of water to be crossed in the boat, 180 miles of unknown dangers and 180 miles wherein at any time Col. Raskujan's helicopters could swoop down and attack the defenseless little lifeboat. Darkness per se afforded no guarantee of protection from the colonel's fightercraft for the aerial attackers were equipped with the latest infrared searchlights.
"I wonder if they've noticed yet that we swiped their boat," John Marshall wondered aloud. Nobody knew. They'd surreptitiously taken possession of the boat from one of Raskujan's helicopters at the height of the battle between the colonel's and Tomisenkow's troops.
"I guess sooner or later they'll discover the loss of the boat," Perry replied.
"And then?" It was Son Okura, the Japanese, who spoke.
Rhodan shrugged his shoulders—and immediately regretted it: the sudden movement made his injury ache. "Raskujan will rack his brains over it. Right now we don't know whether he's even aware of our existence."
"Tomisenkow will be eager to tell him all about us," Marshall commented.
Rhodan wasn't at all convinced. "You're misjudging Tomisenkow," he explained. "I've heard the radio conversation between him and Raskujan. The colonel has the men of his reinforcement fleet well in hand. Simply because his men have been well fed, there've been no mutineering tendencies. Tomisenkow's troops, on the other hand, are disorganized. Now Tomisenkow demands that Raskujan submit to him as a general, while Raskujan as a colonel insists that Tomisenkow has lost all rights commensurate with his rank due to his rebellion and the deterioration of his troops. They're both members of the Eastern Bloc but fierce rivals. I don't believe Tomisenkow is willing to give any information to Raskujan. The experience Tomisenkow gained on Venus is very valuable to Raskujan. This knowledge probably gives him a measure of reassurance and he can afford to keep his mouth shut."
Okura was about to reply something when Marshall called with a muffled voice from the bow: "Stop the boat!"
Rhodan reacted instantaneously. He pushed the lever to lift the little propeller out of the water. The hum of the idling motor slid a few notes up the scale before Rhodan switched it off. Everything was quiet around them—except for the splashing of the languid waves.
"What's the matter?" Rhodan asked.
"There!" Marshall answered, pointing with his hand.
Rhodan moved forward and looked. He had no trouble seeing the fluorescent shimmer on the water at a distance of about three hundred feet and spreading out as far as the eye could see to the east and west. Rhodan became apprehensive.
"What is it?" Marshall asked perplexed. "It can't be a..." Rhodan nodded. "Yes. It's a jellyfish. The biggest one I've ever seen." Son Okura also came to the bow. He was capable of receiving certain wavelengths in the electromagnetic frequency band which were beyond the perception of normal eyes. Thus he saw infra-red heat waves and ultra-violet radiation as distinctly as visible light.
"What can you see?" Rhodan asked.
Okura narrowed his eyes. The warm water of the Venusian ocean was for him like a carpet flooded with light. The jellyfish, however, which absorbed a part of the water's heat and reflected another portion into the ocean, appeared on his retina as a long dark stretch.
"It extends about two miles to the west," Okura said, "and as far east as I can see." Rhodan considered. "Alright, then we'll go west to get around it." He started the motor up again and immersed the propeller in the water. Swinging the rudder hard to starboard, he steered the boat around in a sharp curve.
"Is it that dangerous?" Marshall wanted to know.
"Have you ever seen one of these jellyfish?"
"No. Only a small one in a bay."
Rhodan gave an understanding smile. "I'll give you a demonstration. In any case, we'd have been lost if we'd run into it. There's more power in this thin carpet of jellyfish than in 10 motors like ours." The boat proceeded now on a northwesterly course. Rhodan tried to follow around the western rim as closely as possible. The boat had a speed of about 20 miles an hour. They could ill afford to lose even a precious second on a detour.
About ten minutes later they were due west of the jellyfish carpet. John Marshall was fascinated by the sight. The fluorescence was composed of many different blending colors and presented a spectacle of beauty in motion that never failed to impress Rhodan, too, no matter how often he had seen it before. It was hard to believe that this carpet of light was in reality a single animal spread out flat on the water and lurking for prey. The beauty was a deceptive mask for the enormous voracity and irresistible power exercised by the jellyfish to drag its victims to the depths.
Rhodan took a few heavy steel nuts out of the boat's toolbox and stood beside Marshall. The western side of the jellyfish was no more than 50 feet away from the wall of the boat.
"Okura!" Rhodan said softly.
"Yes, sir!"
"Are you ready to close the boat covers? Wait for my signal." The Japanese nodded. Rhodan handed the nuts to Marshall.
"Toss them in!"
Marshall weighed the heavy metal pieces carefully in his hand. Then he swung his arm back and pitched them all together far onto the colorful and shimmering jellyfish.
The reaction was instantaneous. The nuts had, hardly touched the animal when the colors began to fade away. Within a few seconds the glittering ceased completely. A rumbling noise started as the gigantic jellyfish began to contract itself around the spot where it had been hit by the nuts in order to pull down its catch.
The first breaker
s hit the boat. About 100 feet from the boat, the heretofore peaceful fluorescing carpet had formed a hemispheric lump of nondescript color.
The waves threw up foamy crests as the huge mass of jellyfish commenced to submerge. Marshall gaped with open mouth and wide eyes and lost his hold as the boat began to roll. He'd have gone overboard if Rhodan hadn't grabbed him just in time.
"Watch out!" Rhodan shouted.
Son Okura held his hand on the enclosure.
The jellyfish was still growing. Now shaped like a sphere, the lower part of its gelatinous body was sinking with ever increasing speed deeper into the water. A few moments before the creature's body had been spread out over a few square miles of the ocean's surface; now, in a matter of seconds, it contracted into a compact volume, creating in its proximity heavy storm-sized swells. Rhodan let Marshall watch the strange display until the boat had taken on so much water that it was a serious hazard. Only then did he shout to Okura: "Close up and hang on!"
Okura pulled the flexible cover up, seeing the boat against the huge waves threatening to sink it. Marshall went down flat on the bottom of the boat and held onto the safety straps at the walls. After closing the cover the Japanese was thrown from his feet by a tremendous breaker and hurtled across Marshall. For the next 10 minutes the ocean played ball with them. The boat spun around its axis. A severe jolt strained Rhodan's wound and forced him to release his grip on the safety strap. Son Okura, who was unable to grab a hold in time, was turned upside down and rolled against the toolbox in the bow with an audible crash.
After several fruitless attempts Rhodan managed to work his way to the motor and shut it off. The constantly changing load was hard on the motor and it was useless in the violent disturbance anyhow. Marshall, for whom the show had been performed, lay in the middle of the boat swearing loudly. He was still swearing when the sea finally calmed down and Rhodan told the Japanese to open the boat. Marshall pulled himself up to the rim of the boat. "I didn't think it could be that bad," he panted.
Rhodan smiled ruefully. "Next time you'll know better. There's nothing more treacherous than a Venusian jellyfish." He started the motor up again and set his course. He had no idea how far the boat had been driven off its course by the incident but he didn't figure that it could have been enough to make a substantial difference for the landing on the northern continent.
For awhile they were kept busy scooping out the water with which they were inundated by the waves the monstrous jellyfish had stirred up. Although the work was easy they became quite exhausted. They sat leaning against the wall of their boat for some time fighting the fatigue that threatened to close their eyes.
If it hadn't been for the ambitious aspirations of the Eastern Bloc's government, Rhodan wouldn't have been exposed to such a precarious situation as that in which he now found himself. That government was overthrown a year ago after it had taken advantage of Rhodan's absence to launch two great spacefleets destined for Venus for the purpose of wresting the base of the New Power from them. Without their brazen interference, Rhodan thought, he'd probably be somewhere else, safe and sound. Rhodan would have kept philosophizing to himself but Okura suddenly jumped up in the bow of the boat with an astonished cry.
Rhodan saw that he stared into the sky. He followed with his eyes but was unable to detect anything.
"What's the matter, Son?" he called. "What do you see?"
As Rhodan went close to him, he could see that Okura's eyes were wide open in anguish. He breathed heavily and before he could answer, Rhodan heard the swishing noise that came from above and filled him for a second with the same fright as the Japanese.
"A flying reptile!" Okura gasped. "About north east but flying straight toward us."
"How high?"
"Approximately 300 feet."
"Big?"
The Japanese wrinkled his brow. "A wingspan of 100 feet, I'd say." They waited. The droning that brought the tension of their nerves nearly to the breaking point came closer and grew louder.
"It'll soon be on top of us," the Japanese murmured. And then: "It's turning now and circling above us!"
Rhodan's shoulders drooped. "Son, you stay at the bow. Marshall, take the center. I'll go to the motor. From now on we'll have to remain still. Son will tell us when the beast swerves down. If it does, we must fire at it. Take careful aim so we won't have to shoot more than once. The thermo-beams will be visible for several hundred miles. I don't have to explain to you what will happen if Raskujan's observers notice our shots."
Several minutes passed. The motor hummed monotonously and the sluggish water splashed softly. A shrill scream from Okura broke the ominous quiet:
"Here it comes!"
• • •
Colonel Raskujan's relief armada landed at the same place as General Tomisenkow had touched down earlier with his 500 spaceships.
Raskujan turned out to be a great deal luckier than the general. Tomisenkow's first encampment had been blown to smithereens and cast to the winds by the tornado created in the wake of the Stardust. Tomisenkow's undamaged ships were hidden in the mountains where they were put out of action one by one in systematic pursuit by Rhodan.
Thus Raskujan had found an unobstructed field for his landing. The Stardust had scorched a wide strip straight through the jungle as it flew across Tomisenkow's camp, leaving it with blackened and glazed earth. Raskujan had started out from Terra with 200 ships. At that time he still served under Major General Pjotkin. Thirty-four of those ships were lost when the Stardust, on its way back to Earth from Venus, slammed through the fleet and incinerated in its formidable defense screen the helpless vehicles from the Eastern Bloc. Among them was the flagship with Major General Pjotkin on board. Raskujan reassembled the vessels which had escaped the holocaust and continued to Venus. Another 43 ships were destroyed in the aerodynamic landing manoeuvre. They crashed and sank as fiery bright meteors in the oceans and forests of Venus.
A total of 123 ships had withstood the flight intact and landed proudly on Tomisenkow's original airfield. Their mobility, however, was severely restricted by a lack of fuel.
No trace of Tomisenkow could be found at that time. Colonel Raskujan assumed responsibility and he had to use his own judgment as to the best way of achieving success for the enterprise. This didn't appear to him to be very difficult. His superiors were interested in gaining control of the New Power's fortress. Since Rhodan was absent from Venus at the time of the arrival of his reinforcement fleet, Raskujan believed that the base was unguarded and considered its conquest child's play. Raskujan had to revise his ideas about 'fortifications.' For almost a year he daily butted his head against a will. Rhodan had surrounded the bulwark with an impenetrable protective screen. Among the members of Raskujan's expedition were many scientists and technicians. These experts were—for reasons unknown to Raskujan—mostly women. But even the most skilful technicians were stymied by the forbidding energy screen.
When Raskujan had reached a dead end, his attention was diverted. The first trace of General Tomisenkow and his men was found on a peninsula which extended south from the big northern continental landmass. It was engulfed by a sea channel of the great primordial ocean. Raskujan, whose orders had been to bring relief and support to Tomisenkow's troops, began to collect information. He learned that Tomisenkow's Space Landing Division had become disorganized under the terrible conditions of life on Venus and suffered serious mutiny.
Subsequently Raskujan had mapped his plans. Tomisenkow and his men had to be subjugated. As Raskujan had the necessary means to carry out his plans against Tomisenkow's disillusioned soldiers, he succeeded in taking the general himself prisoner as well as many of his followers. Furthermore, he was able to seize Thora, the Arkonide woman, who became his most important captive. Thora had been the greatest source of the knowledge which enabled Rhodan to establish the New Power. Raskujan was triumphant—until he realized that Thora had as much respect for him as for one of the pesky Venusian flies. She refused to answer an
y of his questions, let alone advise him how to enter the fortress through the energy curtain.
Then he turned to Tomisenkow. But this prisoner didn't treat him much better than Thora, which dismayed him even more. Raskujan's character was basically that of a subordinate afflicted with an inferiority complex. Since he screwed up his courage to attack a general and capture him, he expected him to behave as a prisoner—not as a general.
Since he had been defeated and brought in with one of Raskujan's helicopters, Tomisenkow had already had to undergo five interrogations. For a man who had steeled his nerves for a year against the dangers of the Venusian jungle, they represented only harmless quizzes, especially as Raskujan's intelligence officers seemed to suffer from the same inferiority complex as their superior when confronted with a general, even though he was stripped of his insignia.
When the storm had calmed down after dusk, Raskujan summoned the prisoner to the command center of his flagship. Raskujan received him with a submachine gun displayed ostentatiously across his knees. He didn't even offer a seat to Tomisenkow.
"I understand that you refuse to cooperate with my command," Raskujan began. Tomisenkow didn't seem to consider this opening as a question; at any rate, he gave no answer.
"Answer me!" Raskujan bellowed angrily.
"Answer what?" Tomisenkow said calmly.
"Why you don't cooperate with me!"
Tomisenkow grinned wryly. "Why don't you co-operate with me? " he countered with the same question.
Raskujan gasped for breath. Then he made the mistake of giving explanations in reply to Tomisenkow's question. "Because your division is wracked by dissension and rebellion."
"That doesn't make it right. You've been sent here to bring me support—and to give me moral support if that is necessary. That was indeed the case. However, instead of making an effort to locate my division and to help reorganize it, you chose to remain here and to make dozens of crazy attempts to get into Rhodan's base. And when you finally found out where I was, you had nothing better to do than to assault us! Us, to whom you were supposed to bring help!"
