The Venus Trap

by Perry Rhodan

  • • •

  Rhodan listened attentively.

  At first he heard only the usual steady hum of the distant aircraft as it approached from the south and reached a high point somewhere to the side of the boat. They then returned again. Closer but still outside the danger zone. Rhodan waited for the sound to fade away north but it didn't happen. A new tone intermingled with the humming and caused a loud vibration.

  Rhodan recognized what was going on in the darkness. The machines had discovered something, communicated among their units and coordinated their new course. For a few moments he hoped it wasn't their boat they had detected. The boat was made of resilient plastic which was not the most suitable material for the reflection of radar waves.

  Yet when the noise began to grow with menacing speed, Rhodan knew that he was too optimistic. The radar instruments of the enemy were better than he had assumed. "Marshall! Wake up Son!" Marshall had been listening too. He nodded and went forward to arouse the Japanese. It wasn't very easy to do but he had no other choice under the circumstances.

  "Son!" Rhodan called. "They're on the verge of attacking us. About 10 machines I'd guess. Keep your eyes open!"

  And then: "Marshall!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Give the seals the alarm signal! Try to find out where we can take refuge if we survive the initial attack."

  "Right away, sir!"

  "Son!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "How far are we from the coast?"

  "Approximately 600 feet, sir!"

  Rhodan uttered an angry curse. Why couldn't they've detected the boat a minute later?

  Meanwhile Marshall had been busy. The seals slipped out of the ropes with extraordinary skill and sped away toward the shore. Marshall turned around and reported: "The seals are living in coastal caves which are half submerged in water and open to the sea. They said they'd admit us." Rhodan nodded affirmatively. "Very good! Have your weapons ready!" The buzzing of the helicopters had become more discernible. The ear was now able to differentiate between the high whistling of the engine jets and the whirring of the rotor blades. Son was soon able to inform them that he saw nine bright points approaching close to the surface of the water. "About one and a half miles," he added.

  In the last few seconds before the seals abandoned the boat, they had pulled it about 150 feet closer to the coast. Now the distance was no more than 450 feet. Rhodan told his companions they'd have to swim the last stretch notwithstanding the peril posed by strange animals and plants hiding in the water.

  "We'll blast the gunships with our fire on the first pass!" he said. "If our aim is good we should be able to shoot down one of their formations. That'll teach them some respect. The time they need to recover from their shock and regroup we can use to jump overboard and swim to shore. Carry the thermo-beamer on your back and take at least one of the automatic pistols and plenty of ammunition with you. And above all try to reach the caves of the seals as quickly as possible. They can see us from the air when we're swimming in the water."

  He had hardly finished speaking the last word when Okura raised his arm. "Caution! There's the infra-red searchlight!"

  Only the Japanese could perceive the concentrated beam of rays from the helicopter patrol scanning the surface of the ocean. The glittering reflexes of the infra-red light on the water were good reference points for Okura to estimate the time it would take until their boat was detected.

  "Fifteen hundred feet!" he called. "They're coming straight toward us!" That's no surprise, Rhodan thought. All they have to do is to keep the radar blip in the center of the screen while they're flying. There's nothing to that.

  "Six hundred feet!" Okura shouted, covering his face with both hands. One of the searchlights had pinpointed the boat and blinded the Japanese although it was invisible to the others. They had been discovered!

  "Take cover!" Rhodan ordered.

  The plastic walls of the boat offered a much more substantial cover than could be suspected at first glance. The synthetic material of the airtube was at least two and a half inches thick throughout. The collision with a bullet released heat which was used to draw the plastic material from the undamaged surroundings, thus sealing the hole. Any number of bullet holes and up to 15 hits by explosive shells could be rendered completely ineffective by this method. The 16th hit by an explosive shell would be something else again—

  Out of the darkness an automatic cannon began a fusillade. The first burst fell short. About 50 feet over to the side Rhodan saw glittering water fountains spring up.

  Okura threw up both arms as a sign that the helicopters had come within shooting range. Above the noise they heard Rhodan's voice yell: "Fire!"

  It was uncanny, silent fire that leaped toward the hostile machines. Rhodan made out a whistling and clacking shadow at which he aimed the barrel of his impulse weapon, squeezing the trigger hard into the butt. He kept his eyes closed to avoid being blinded by the radiant beam of the energy discharge. He saw the glaring rays seize the big machine, deliver its entire energy to the body and installations of the craft and turn it with unrelenting rapidity into a lump of melting and steaming metal that finally exploded in a loud detonation on impact with the water.

  The same spectacle happened at two more places. Rhodan was elated by a feeling of triumph when he saw the other machines turn tail and retreat with howling engines.

  "All ready for a swim?" he shouted.

  "Ready!" he heard Okura's voice.

  "Ready!" Marshall chimed in.

  "Let's go!"

  They went over the side of the boat, hit the water with a splash and started to swim vigorously. The water was slimy and viscous but they made good headway and stayed together by calling out to each other from time to time.

  This time the ugly rat-a-tat-tat of the machine guns sounded pleasantly far away. They're attacking the boat for a second time, Rhodan noted with relief.

  He heard some hissing and crackling and saw a shower of sparks sprayed across the water as one of the projectiles blew up the depot of ammunition in the boat. Virtually at the same instant, the helicopters ceased their fire. They probably were of the opinion that it was impossible for anyone to survive such an explosion.

  Okura called over that two of the 'copters hovered low over the boat's debris.

  "You better swim a little faster!" Rhodan called back. "They'll soon find out we got away. How much farther, Son?"

  "Two hundred feet, sir!"

  He tried to test how deep the ocean was but it was almost impossible to get his legs down in the water. Then Okura's voice roared: "Look out. They're coming!"

  The vehicles approached slowly. They had not yet determined where the crew of the boat had fled. They played their infra-red beams over the water and probed for the elusive defenders. Rhodan guessed that they were still 120 feet from the shore and that the helicopters had come within 300 feet behind them.

  Marshall suddenly exclaimed: "Solid ground! From here on we can walk." Rhodan swam toward the voice. He saw Marshall's waving arms appear from the dark and let his feet sink down till he touched bottom.

  Walking wasn't much faster but it was easier. Step by step they got closer to the coast, which began to emerge as a black line in the dark night. Meanwhile the helicopter also came constantly nearer. Rhodan heard the Japanese groan abruptly: "They spotted us!"

  Rhodan was unable to see the cone of the searchlight but he could hear the chattering of the machine guns. The bullets plopped a few feet to the right into the water.

  "We've almost reached the seals!" Marshall called above the noise. "They're straight ahead of us!" The gunship corrected its aim. Rhodan observed the splashing tracks of the shots wander toward himself. They were closing in within 15 feet.

  He stumbled over something and fell head first into the water. He was grabbed hard by the shoulder and put back on his feet. Up front Marshall shouted something he didn't understand. His voice sounded peculiar and hollow.

  The cave!
Marshall was already inside the cave. Rhodan watched the squirts of water whipped up by the machine gun fire pass behind him. With a feeling of indescribable relief he staggered across the smooth ground covered with water and noticed that it was slightly climbing. Finally he reached a slab of stone protruding a few inches from the water. Marshall was sitting on top of it and waving to him. The Japanese was about to clamber up from the other side.

  Marshall helped Rhodan get out of the water. Rhodan pulled his legs up and stretched out on his back, deeply inhaling the damp musty air in the cave of the seals.

  Outside the machine guns of the helicopters kept rattling on. But the entrance to the cave was much too small and filled high with water. It effectively prevented the enemy from doing any harm to the fugitives.

  3/ Terror Of The Tyrex

  "Have you made up your mind?" Tomisenkow asked. Thora was startled when she discovered him crawling under the wall into her tent. However, she kept her composure in spite of it. "I've decided to cooperate with you," she said with all the dignity she could muster, "if you can convince me that there's any hope for success."

  Tomisenkow sat down uninvited and gazed at her with narrow eyes. "I can guarantee you that you and I and a few of my men can leave the camp unmolested and that we can advance a few hundred yards into the jungle. What happens next, however, depends on what you or your fabled Venusian fortress can do to protect us from Raskujan's helicopters and soldiers."

  Thora's reddish eyes lit up suspiciously. "If you believe that I'd allow you to walk into the base as easily as that, you're badly mistaken..."

  Tomisenkow gestured angrily. "The time for that has passed," he assured her. "I'm no longer interested in conquering the bulwark. I can live without it."

  "And what are you interested in now?" Thora asked, not without scorn. Tomisenkow looked at her and answered earnestly:

  "I desire to prevent a fool from raising havoc on Venus. You don't know us humans very well, do you?"

  "I've never bothered to learn much about you," Thora replied stiffly. This didn't hurt Tomisenkow's feelings. "You ought to make up for this neglect at the first occasion. We're an interesting race. Living for one year on Venus with the bare necessities was sufficient for me and most of my men, for example, to learn to love this ugly and horrid world. We're the first ones to have existed on Venus for a whole year without homes, soft beds and similar amenities, roaming the jungles, mountain valleys and always living in trees. Venus is ours —and we're now Venusians or whatever you want to call it. That's why I'm no longer interested in your base and why I want to make it impossible for Raskujan to play dictator. Can you understand this?"

  Thora gave no direct answer. "Very well," she finally said. "We'll leave the camp together. I can't make you any promises. But under the circumstances our flight could look like..."

  • • •

  Rhodan allowed himself only a few minutes to catch his breath. Then he raised himself up. "Marshall, tell the seals they must leave the cave as quickly as possible."

  The helicopters had departed. Quiet reigned in the cave, broken only by the lapping waves and the scraping of the seals' flippers on the wet rock in the background.

  Marshall advised the seals of the warning. "They don't understand why it's necessary to vacate their cavern," he told Rhodan.

  "Because the helicopters will hurry back to throw a few bombs at us." Marshall transmitted his words although it was difficult to describe the concept of a bomb to the seals.

  "Agreed," he finally said. "Does this cave have an exit on land?" Rhodan inquired.

  Marshall asked the seals. "Yes, there's an escape hole. A passage leads upwards and ends in the middle of the jungle."

  "Excellent. We'll use it to get out. I think Raskujan has left one of the machines behind to watch the surroundings. If we can disappear unseen, it'll be a great advantage."

  Rhodan estimated the radius of the danger zone to be expected from the bombs and let Marshall explain to the seals how far they should go away from the cavern in order to stay safe. It turned out that this was no trouble at all for the seals. They were by nature wandering animals and there were more than a thousand caves lining the coast. They promised to warn other families of seals to shun the hazardous area. Marshall also took. the additional precautionary measure of alarming all seals in the vicinity by telepathic calls. Finally he tried to convey the feeling to the seals that Rhodan was grateful for the help they had received and would be happy to do anything in his power for them.

  Surprisingly, the seals had no wishes. Their needs were small and Venus was a generous world for them. They took leave in a somewhat awkward manner due to their different mentalities and assured each other of their friendship.

  Then Rhodan and his companions departed. They crawled on their knees through a 300 foot long passage smelling of fish and blubber and reached the outside at 202:00 o'clock some distance away from the coast and under the dense cover of the jungle where they couldn't be seen. Marshall had obtained a rough description of the territory from the seals. The topography of the seals was no exact science but Rhodan was able to determine that the place where the northern continent joined the peninsula was between five and ten miles away from their present location.

  "Very well," he stated. "A maximum distance of 10 miles to the juncture. The defense screen of the bulwark begins about 12 miles north of the coast. At most a distance of 22 miles together to the defense screen. There we should be able to activate the identification process of the positronic brain. And then," he said with a tired smile, "the worst will be behind us!"

  • • •

  Corporal Wlassow came stomping out of the darkness in a great rush. "I need help," he panted.

  "Tomisenkow is gone!"

  Five guards were posted at the gate of the primitive prisoner camp. A sergeant was in charge. He gave Wlassow two men to aid him in the search for the escaped general and told him: "I'll give you 15 minutes to find Tomisenkow. Then I'll have to make a report."

  Wlassow nodded and ran with his two comrades back into the darkness. One of the guards switched on a flashlight but Wlassow hit him over the arm. "Turn it off!" he snarled. "Do you want him to see us coming? That's no way to catch him."

  The argument seemed reasonable, the more so since Wlassow could have found his way to Tomisenkow's tent blindfolded. He marched ahead and paid no attention as some shadowy figures sprang suddenly out of the dark, leaped at the throats of his comrades and choked them till they lost consciousness.

  "O.K.," a voice whispered in the darkness. "Let's strip them!" Wlassow turned around and took a few steps back. Two men were busy talking off the unconscious guards' uniforms "Take your time," Wlassow said calmly. "We've got 15 minutes before the sergeant gives the alarm."

  The two sentries were tied up, gagged and hidden in the bushes. The camp was safe from wild animals—except from big ants. Assuming that the ants didn't invade the camp in the next hour, the two men were not in danger of their lives.

  A stocky, powerful shadow rose from the darkness and gave Wlassow a hearty slap on the shoulder.

  "Well done, my boy," Tomisenkow said admiringly.

  Wlassow grinned with embarrassment. "I feel a little uneasy about it," he replied. Tomisenkow made a brushing gesture with his hand. "You'll soon get over that," he added quickly. One of the other men said: "We're ready chief!"

  "O.K. Is everybody here? Wlassow, Alicharin, Breshnjew, Zelinskij, Thora?"

  "All present, chief!"

  Tomisenkow nodded. "Very well, let's go!"

  The sergeant at the gate didn't become suspicious when Wlassow returned so soon with two men whose faces couldn't be recognized. His companions were clad in the neat uniforms which distinguished Raskujan's troops in contrast to the ragged clothing of the soldiers from the Space Landing Division.

  "Is everything in order?" the sergeant asked.

  "Yes. He crawled out under the wall of the tent and took a walk. I don't believe..." He didn't hav
e to say any more. He had reached the sergeant. Quick as a flash he lifted the hand holding the heavy service revolver and hit the sergeant hard over the head with the butt. Wlassow caught the large body of the man and put him gently down on the grass.

  One of the other guards stuck his head out of the rough guardhouse. "What's the matter? What happened to..."

  "Come here! He suddenly collapsed."

  Unsuspecting, the guard came over to help Wlassow. As he bent over the unconscious figure he also was struck a hard blow on the head so that he fell on the limp body of the unconscious sergeant. Wlassow made short shrift of the last guard. He entered the guardhouse with his gun drawn. The man stared at him sleepily. "Get up and raise your hands!" Wlassow ordered. Sleepy and terrified, the man obeyed.

  "Go out the door in front of me," Wlassow continued. The soldier complied. When he stepped through the door, he was whacked over the head by one of Tomisenkow's men and fell to the ground like his two comrades. Wlassow whistled twice. There was a stirring, in the darkness and Tomisenkow, Alicharin and Thora came out.

  "Tie them up, gag them and take their weapons," Tomisenkow ordered curtly. They worked fast. The three unconscious men were also concealed in the bushes at some distance from the guardhouse. They thereby hoped to delay the search for the fugitives until the next inspection patrol had found the missing guards.

  Altogether seven sentries had been overwhelmed and removed. One in front of Thora's tent and one at the tent in which Alicharin, Breshnjew and Zelinskij had been held together; the two guards assigned to Wlassow by the sergeant and finally the sergeant himself and his two comrades. The eighth of the missing guards would puzzle the patrol: Wlassow. It was difficult to believe that one of Raskujan's soldiers would give up the security of the rocket post to follow a man, marked as a renegade in Raskujan's political vernacular into poverty and peril.

  Perhaps doubts like these would delay the beginning of the pursuit for a few more minutes. With Tomisenkow at the head the little group passed through the wide open gate of the camp. Wlassow, loaded down with two automatic pistols and plenty of ammunition, formed the rearguard and closed the gate carefully.