by Perry Rhodan
3/ CONVERSATION WITH KHREST
Rhodan's candor toward his men gained the opposite result from what Reginald Bell had expected.
For the first time in the history of the New Power there had been occasion for Rhodan to admit a mistake since it was the only one for which he was responsible up to now.
Whereas the entire crew had always admired his superior knowledge and his outstanding qualities, they now felt that he needed them as well since he was not only a genius but very human like everybody else.
Their admiration had generally kept them at a certain distance from Rhodan but now their feelings were augmented by a strong sense of togetherness and unity.
Each order Rhodan gave for preparing the action against the invading army was carried out without delay and very conscientiously. Everything went like clockwork. Two hours after they had set down, the pictures which had been filmed during their earlier flight had been evaluated and Rhodan had worked out the tactics which he had to follow. It required two more hours of reconnaissance to determine how Gen. Tomisenkov had reacted to the initial blow and seven hours after their landing a preliminary task force of 50 men with equipment and weapons was ready to leave the ship.
Rhodan took personal command of the mission.
But before he left he had a talk with the two Arkonides, Thora and Khrest.
• • •
The purpose which had brought the two Arkonides to this part of the Galaxy in one of the last research cruisers the decadent Arkonide race had managed to build, was the search for eternal life. They were seeking a world whose inhabitants knew the secret of cell conservation.
The research cruiser was forced to make an emergency landing on the moon just at the time when the first atomic rocket to the moon was launched from Earth.
This course of events inevitably led to their meeting on the moon and from then on the astronauts on the old Stardust: Rhodan, Bell and Dr. Manoli; banded together for better or worse with the two surviving Arkonides of the destroyed exploration cruiser.
On their return to Earth the superior weapons of the Arkonides enabled them to prevent the outbreak of the third world war after they had established themselves as the New Power in the Gobi desert.
As far as Rhodan was concerned their cooperation was very useful from the outset. He was aiming for such lofty goals as unification of mankind and security for Terra's position in the Galaxy. The Arkonides and their far-advanced technology had arrived at a very auspicious moment to help Rhodan.
On the other hand Khrest and Thora were at first more motivated by the advantages Rhodan presented to them for their rescue than by pure sympathy. Rhodan was an extremely energetic man. After he had absorbed the knowledge of the Arkonides by way of hypno-training, he would be capable of creating manufacturing facilities to construct a long-range spaceship of the Arkonide type. With such a ship Khrest and Thora could either continue their search for the world of eternal life or return to their home on Arkon.
In the interim a few complications had developed. Alien intruders had attacked Earth and had to be repulsed by the New Power. Later the New Power became involved in a war in the Vegan system during which they had the good fortune to capture Stardust II from their opponents. The possession of this formidable spaceship enticed them to undertake a long and tortuous journey through the universe to locate the mysterious place Thora and Khrest had set out to find years ago.
At the end of their perilous trip they came to Wanderer—the Planet of Eternal Life.
It was an artificial world which was put by its creator into a peculiar orbit around 30 different solar systems.
Rhodan discovered the precious secret and learned at the same time that the history of the Arkonides had run its course on the cosmic clock of the universe. The Arkonides were denied the treatment for cell conservation and the gift of eternal life was withheld from them.
Khrest and Thora had put Rhodan on the track of the secret and now that they had found it together they were refused the goal of their desire.
The secret had been granted to Rhodan—the heir of the Galactic Imperium.
• • •
Khrest sat alone in his cabin. He leaned back in a flexible contour chair and stared at the ceiling. He did not move when Rhodan entered.
Rhodan went over to his side. "I don't think," Rhodan said softly and with compassion, "it is very sensible to sink into melancholy." He spoke in the Arkonide language.
Khrest remained silent for a while. Then he turned his head toward Rhodan and looked at him with a serious expression.
"You can't imagine," he answered, "how disappointing this failure is for me and all Arkonides. All we lacked for ultimate perfection was the secret of eternal life, nothing else. It is a cruel blow to learn that we were rejected and denied attainment of the highest phase of evolution."
Rhodan vainly searched for words. He sat down beside Khrest. "I'm leaving the ship," he said earnestly. "Somebody has infiltrated Venus and is giving us trouble."
Khrest raised his white eyebrows but gave no other sign of surprise or anxiety.
"I don't know how long we'll stay out there," Rhodan continued. "That's why I'd like to ask a favor of you."
Khrest managed a faint smile. "Are you sure," he asked, "that I'll ever get up from this chair and overcome my depression?"
Rhodan nodded. "Quite sure. Would you please keep an eye on Thora? She has suffered so much from the traumatic experience on Wanderer and you know how impulsive she is."
Khrest kept smiling. "Of course I'll look out for her," he assured Rhodan. "I haven't seen her since we left but I'll go right over to visit her." With these words he got up. "I wish you good luck," he said to Rhodan. "I hope you'll come back alright."
Rhodan nodded again.
Two minutes later he entered the exit hatch and gave his men last minute instructions.
The corps of 50 men consisted of four groups. Rhodan had assigned the command of the other groups to his trusty officers Maj. Deringhouse, Maj. Nyssen and Lt. Tanner.
Each man was wearing an Arkonide transport suit which was a multi-purpose outfit provided with an artificial gravity generator enabling the wearer to move through the air. In addition it incorporated a tiny electromagnetic set to produce a deflection field which imparted quasi-hydromechanical qualities to the surrounding medium so that the propagation of lightwaves was directed in streamlines around the field thereby making the man inside invisible.
Each group had three of the versatile Arkonide vehicles which moved with equal ease on land, in the air and through water.
The men were equipped with the usual weapons. Only the officers carried small psycho-beamers.
class="calibre1">"The enemy is on the march," Rhodan pointed out. "We believe that we know his destination but we'll have to keep in constant communication with the Stardust to check his advance."
"We're planning to conduct an old-fashioned jungle war. Whoever is in charge on the other side must know that our equipment is far superior and will act accordingly.
"He'll widely disperse his soldiers and use guerrilla tactics in order to prevent us from utilizing our more efficient weapons."
"Nevertheless, we must bring our mission to a quick and decisive conclusion. We don't have much time to spare. Do the best you can!"
• • •
Gen. Tomisenkov soon found out that he had considerably underestimated the difficulties involved in this march.
For two hours Lt. Chanikadse marched ahead of Tomisenkov on the path hacked out of the jungle by the forward troop. He was trying to keep the twigs from hitting the general in the face.
At the beginning of the third hour, just as Chanikadse was busy clearing a vine out of the way, a hideous white worm as thick as a man's thigh had slithered with amazing suppleness and speed onto the path, wrapped itself around the lieutenant and dragged him into the jungle.
Before Tomisenkov and his officers could come to his aid, the huge worm had reeled off about 60 feet
of its repulsive colorless length. They started to shoot like mad with their automatic pistols at the remaining 60 feet but their bullets did little to bother the worm.
Chanikadse was lost. Tomisenkov forbade any pursuit of the worm. He did not want to risk losing more men in the treacherous jungle.
Half an hour later they heard a droning rhythmic noise from a westerly direction. The aide thought it was an earthquake.
After another hour they saw what it was, or rather they could approximately reconstruct the picture. An animal of gargantuan size had crossed the narrow pathway in the jungle and set down one of its legs exactly in the middle of the path. It left a circular impression of 15 feet in diameter. Inside they found some torn remnants of uniforms and the soil was drenched with blood. Tomisenkov had no way of knowing how many of his men had met their death here.
Two miles farther the trail took a sharp turn to the south and led around a narrow but long forest lake. The detour was too long for one of his officers. He waded into the water and began to swim.
When he had about three quarters of his way behind him, he had to avoid a strange obstacle lying motionlessly like a colorful opalescent carpet on the surface of the water. The officer swam in a wide curve around it but the carpet started to move and follow him. The swimmer did not notice it at first. Only when Tomisenkov and the other onlookers shouted warnings was his attention drawn to the menace behind him. The man tried to reach the shore with a furious crawl but at the spot where he first treaded ground the carpet caught up with him. The water began to swirl and another of Tomisenkov's men vanished. The carpet underwent an odd change.
Instead of looking colorful and spread out over the water, it turned into a gray and solid lump which overpowered its far weaker victim.
The lump retreated with astounding speed to the deep water of the lake where it went under with the officer, never to be seen again.
• • •
Beyond the burned out and molten strip of land the Stardust had drawn across the jungle in a straight line, a few men of Tomisenkov's rocket defense detachment remained alive.
Originally more than 200 men of the outer space assault division had been part of the defense detachment. Only 28 of them had survived.
Maj. Lysenkov had assumed command of the last 28 soldiers. He was a fairly young man who was very eager to show his men that he was in control of the situation.
The eardrums of the group to the east of the devastated path had also been damaged to a great extent by the noise of the thundering Stardust. Lysenkov had to exchange written notes with his men, as he failed to hit upon Tomisenkov's excellent idea.
After a few hours had elapsed and Lysenkov thought it was safe to use the portable transmitter, he tried to get in touch with the general. Up to this time the 28 had done nothing except treat their injuries, check the radioactivity of the molten mass and measure the temperature of the molten terrain.
Tomisenkov did not answer nor did anyone else react to the call. Lysenkov was at a loss to understand why his call did not get through and it took quite some time until he came to the conclusion that Tomisenkov had probably abandoned the camp and that he must have left some information behind as to his whereabouts.
Lysenkov did not relish the thought that he would have to wait until the burned-out stretch had cooled off safely. It was now 180:00 o'clock local time and it would get dark in 10 to 12 hours.
Lysenkov had taken part in the fruitless bombardment of the hostile ship. He had a fair idea of what had happened although he had no explanation for a number of the details. He expected that the opponent would attack for a second time after the pause and issued instructions to prepare the launching ramps for the rockets.
4/ JUNGLE CAPTIVES
Then they waited.
Maj. Deringhouse was supposed to search both sides of the demolished strip for any remnants of the troops from the deserted military camp.
Deringhouse had left his unit with two of his vehicles and proceeded south dose above the tree-tops of the forest.
The western half of the camp was desolate and empty except for the bodies of those who had fallen victim to the tornado. Then he passed at an altitude of 1500 feet over the dividing lane. As the sun was about to set, the two vehicles landed next to one of the overturned and twisted rocket ramps on the ground.
Deringhouse examined the ramp but the only note-worthy observations about it were the Cyrillic letters of the markings on the little electronic switch panel—proof that the expedition had originated from the Eastern Bloc.
He further reflected upon the fact that, unless the ramp had been thrown here by air pressure from the explosion, it had been set up in a clearing in the underbrush with a minimum required for a free firezone. There could have been dozens of such firing positions which were impossible to detect unless they stumbled directly into them.
Deringhouse had only one mutant in his group: Son Okura. The slightly built Japanese with the large
horn-rimmed glasses had the unique capability of being able to perceive with his eyes a much wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum than ordinary people. Son Okura was able to see long-wave infrared as clearly as the shining blue sky on Earth. He was even in a position to receive ultra-violet light and to diagnose it up to a degree.
This came in especially handy at this time because Deringhouse was reluctant to make use of his ultra-lightbeams in spite of the falling darkness for fear that they might be detected by the enemy's instruments. However, as the broiling heat of the day was retained under the dense cover of the jungle, Okura's eyes still performed perfectly. As far as he was concerned the dark night was as bright as a sunlit landscape.
In addition Deringhouse was aided by the small microwave detectors carried on each of the transport vehicles. One of the men was busy combing the surroundings of their landing place. Tiny green points glimmered faintly on the fluorescent screen when the detector beam registered the metallic mass of another rocket ramp.
A second man marked the results of the search on a preliminary map.
As Deringhouse was waiting for the final results the man with a Geiger counter reported unusually high radioactivity. Deringhouse took two men along and a small Geiger counter to track down the source of the radiation. One of the two men was Son Okura.
They approached the incinerated strip.
Okura suddenly stood still and raised his hand. Deringhouse stopped behind him. From the left came a crashing trampling noise. Deringhouse saw a flat long shadow which moved through the thicket about 60 feet ahead of them. It disappeared again in the jungle in a northern direction and either did not notice the breathlessly waiting three man group or was not interested in them.
They kept marching on, surmounting major obstacles by utilizing the antigrav generators in their transport suits, and reached a spot where the Geiger counter indicated such an intensity that Deringhouse did not dare proceed any farther.
About 300 feet ahead of them—in the section of the jungle which had been flattened by the Stardust juggernaut—Okura made out a collection of dark mounds which he guessed to be ruins of buildings. There was no doubt that the radiation emanated from there. Deringhouse was fairly well satisfied that the intruders had stored a part of their arsenal of nuclear weapons in those buildings and that they had gone up in the flames of the holocaust.
He wanted to return but at this moment Okura put a warning hand on his arm.
"Shhhh!"
They listened. From the southeast rang high hammering blows through the wind raised by the heat from the burned soil. Deringhouse was unable to recognize the noise but Okura knew what it was. "A machete," he whispered. "Somebody is coming; I can see him."
Deringhouse decided to wait.
The high clapping whacks ceased when the lone man reached the edge of the stripped terrain where he was able to move without hindrance. Neither Deringhouse nor the corporal who accompanied him were able to see him; only the Japanese perceived what was going on. "A soldier
in uniform," he whispered again. "He carries an automatic carbine in his left hand and a little instrument in his right."
A minute later he added: "He's coming straight toward us. We better take cover."
They crouched behind the stump of a huge tree which had been swept away and crunched by the storm. Deringhouse held his impulse-beamer at the ready.
A little later he saw the shadow of the soldier emerge from the darkness. He could hear the man mumble.
He stood still about 15 feet from their hiding place, carelessly holding the carbine in his left hand. But now he had raised the little box close to his eyes and Deringhouse saw a weak shine which was in his opinion a light-scale.
