by Perry Rhodan
"Yes sir," said Mundi but he obviously had misgivings about Rhodan's final inference. Ras nodded silently but it was also evident that he was worried.
Manoli had just entered the control room. "Everything's ready in the clinic. As soon as Ellert's mind comes back into his body the resuscitation process will start immediately. I believe a blood transfusion will be necessary..."
"We'll talk about that later," interrupted Rhodan. He didn't want to lose a second. He gave the men a few more pieces of advice and then took Pucky's right paw in his hand.
The mouse-beaver knew his target area but when he jumped he avoided landing directly inside the Tribunal building. When Rhodan's eyes again became aware of 3-dimensional space he couldn't make out much at first. It was dark except for the starlight. To his right, some kind of dark walls loomed upward, blocking out the sky in that direction. To the left there seemed to be nothing obstructing the view clear to the horizon—at least nothing he could make out at the moment.
"Where are we?"
"The city is 20 kilometers in front of us," replied Pucky. He appeared to be listening into the darkness. "Much fewer thought-waves. The Druufs are sleeping. It's just a blurred confusion. I'd like to know what kind of dreams those hippopotamuses are having but I can't figure it out."
Rhodan suppressed a grin. "Still no sign of Ellert?"
"No. You wait here. I'll take a hyjump into the prison and look for the jail cell where he and Onot were supposed to be. Harno's information wasn't all that accurate."
"What do you mean—I'm supposed to just stand here? What if somebody shows up?"
Pucky made a deprecating gesture which Rhodan couldn't see in the dark. "Within a 10 kilometer circle here there's not a sign of life. I'll be back in a few minutes, Besides, I'll keep in telepathic contact so's I can keep track of you."
Rhodan gave his permission with mixed feelings. He realized that it would serve their purpose more effectively if the mouse-beaver went ahead first by himself to scout the situation.
"What are those walls—cliffs?"
"Yes, there's a small mountain here. Nobody'll find you as long as it's dark. Why don't you stay close to the rocks and the cliff?"
It was not entirely pitch dark yet Pucky's sudden disappearance was felt more than seen. Rhodan felt the faint suction of the swirling implosion of air as his small companion dematerialized.
The mouse-beaver had aligned his jump so that he rematerialised on the outskirts of the city. From this point onward he could make short jumps by direct sighting, which were also less strenuous. At least for the present there was no one around. The streets lay deserted in the dim light of the alien constellations. He only saw bright lights at the main intersections but for the most part it appeared that electric power for lighting was being used sparingly. Pucky was thankful for the Druuf's apparent economy although he didn't quite understand it.
Three more teleport jumps brought him to the broad dome which he recognized from a previous visit. It was the regular meeting place of the Council of 66, the governing body of Druufon. From this point he knew the way to the Tribunal building and the prison.
After another three jumps he found himself at the rear of a massive structure that seemed to reach upward to the stars. Of course this was an optical illusion created by the surrounding darkness. Normally all Druuf houses and buildings were broader than they were high. He was deliberating where he should teleport to next when something happened that disrupted the dark peacefulness of the night.
The streets were suddenly flooded with brilliant illumination. Simultaneously he almost felt rather than heard the nearly ultrasonic alarm sirens, which sounded peculiarly long drawn out and mournful. As though from nowhere, vehicles appeared and proceeded to block intersections and access routes to the prison. Uniformed Druufs rushed into view from all directions and quickly surrounded the building.
Pucky jumped into the protective shadows of the massive wall but seconds later he was bathed in a bright searchlight beam. Several glaring spots of light swept over him and then returned...
He didn't have time to determine the cause of the sudden turmoil, and curiosity on that score could only expose him to the danger of discovery. But at least he could try to locate Ellert—meaning Onot the Druuf scientist.
He teleported inside the prison.
At first glance everything seemed to be normal in the lengthy corridor. Pucky did not know whether or not he had landed on the right floor level but there was no guard around anywhere for him to question telepathically. In fact the silence here was almost eerie.
Until suddenly everything happened at once.
Doors opened and armed Druufs dashed into the hall. Which made Pucky realize he was on the wrong floor. This level seemed to be occupied by police and prison guards. The cells were lower down.
He disappeared and rematerialised somewhere below. He ducked into a recess in the corridor as he saw two Druufs standing before a cell door. They seemed to be gesticulating wildly. Although the mouse-beaver couldn't hear their high-pitched conversation he could intercept their thoughts. At the same time he saw them bring a third Druuf out of the cell.
"Onot almost killed his cell attendant..."
Pucky caught that much and the rest he could put together. Onot had escaped!
This was also why he had not been able to pick up Ellert's thoughts here. By now maybe he could be anywhere on this giant planet and it would be difficult to find him.
The two Druufs suddenly turned around as though they had heard a noise. At first Pucky thought it was because he had been careless but then he saw what had attracted their attention. Druuf policemen were hurrying to the scene. It was high time to get out of here, he thought.
Pucky dematerialized and in so doing made a big mistake. Because Onot wasn't more than 500 meters away. If the mouse-beaver had taken the trouble to sort out the inflowing thought streams around him he might have detected the presence of Ellert.
But instead, he returned to Rhodan.
• • •
Onot pressed the button that Ellert had indicated to him. With a loud humming noise the double gate separated and drew back, leaving the way clear. But when the opening was just two meters wide, the gate motion stopped prematurely. For a second or so Ellert was confused and then two things happened at once.
Lights came on everywhere. A high-pitched siren howl was heard. And also the gates began to close again. Ellert realized that something had gone wrong.
"Run, Onot!" he ordered mentally while estimating the distance. Such a body as this was too burdensome, he thought fleetingly. If Onot had not been carrying those important plans... "It's your last chance!"
Onot ran. Although his pace was much too slow for Ellert, nevertheless his movement was normal in relation to the movement of the gates. Only a few steps to go—and Onot made it. He pushed through the remaining aperture and reached the brightly-lighted street. Directly before him was a wide avenue that was bathed in the day-bright glare of arc lamps.
"Not that way!" warned Ellert. "Go to the right toward the spaceport—fast! I can hear cars coming, probably the police. Our escape must have been discovered. I wish I knew how it was possible."
While Onot ran for his freedom and his life, Ellert pondered over the new situation. Of course he could leave Onot to himself and attempt to divert the Druufs from their task. It would suffice to get hold of their leader and force him to do crazy things. But how would he locate Onot later if he didn't remain in the place where he left him?
The high wall of the prison was left behind them as Onot continued onward and crossed the street. Farther along the avenue a moving light was seen and it was coming in their direction.
"Over there that house entrance!"
Onot made a final burst of speed and pressed into the niche, which was much too small to hide him for long. The approaching car was equipped with a movable searchlight which swept the buildings slowly and searchingly. It was obvious that they expected to find
the prisoner in the streets already. Therefore they were aware of his successful escape.
"Stay here no matter what happens!" ordered Ellert as he withdrew from the scientist. He immediately 'saw' the open police car beneath him and could make out the uniforms. Six Druufs sat in the vehicle with fire-ready weapons across their thick knees. Ellert took indirect control of the car by penetrating the driver's brain. He wanted to spare the Druufs' lives where possible but he didn't have much time if he didn't want the sweeping searchlight to discover Onot.
The five Druuf passengers cried out inaudibly when the driver suddenly turned the wheel and raced toward the right side of the street. It was fortunate for them that the manoeuvre slowed them down at least to some extent. The spotlight made one more swing before it went out, followed by the crash.
Ellert witnessed it from Onot's eyes and shuddered to realize the terrible magnitude of power and responsibility his capabilities gave him. Although here he had not endangered human lives, nevertheless they were lives. Each life had its own justification and should never be wantonly destroyed. Not even enemy lives if it could be avoided.
But hadn't this been self-defense? Ellert knew he was attempting to justify his deed although no one was forcing him to. To his relief, however, he was able to determine that apparently nobody had lost his life in the accident. The Druufs crawled out of the pile of wreckage and began to complain to the driver. To Ellert the abuse that was heaped upon the fellow was ironical and unfair because the Druuf had slammed on the brakes the moment his own volition had returned to him. Had he not done so, his accusers might have fared much differently.
Onot remained in his niche. Not 200 meters away from him, the police were not forgetting their assignment. After they had convinced themselves that they had come through the mishap without serious injuries, they collected their weapons and continued on their way to their destination, which was the Tribunal building.
Onot breathed a sigh of relief when they had passed him and he was looking at their broad backs.
"Keep going!" urged Ellert, who had grown more confident now. "The whole town will soon be wide awake. I wouldn't have thought they'd raise such a fuss over the escape of a prisoner."
"After all, the prisoner happens to be Onot," replied his host. Ellert had the impression of a scornful laugh. "Of course they're probably afraid that I'll try all sorts of nonsense in order to avenge the great humiliation I've suffered."
"Let's hope they don't think you're going to throw them into a time-stasis field. That would be all they'd need to double their efforts to catch you."
There were two more occasions where they had to take cover in a narrow alleyway to elude the search patrols but in neither case was the danger great enough to require Ellert's intervention. Then they finally came within sight of the spaceport.
"Over there by the arc lights," said Onot, pointing. "There's a parking place for air taxis. I don't see any police."
Ellert ordered the Druuf to remain where he was. He wanted to reconnoiter without fear of being seen. Onot could stay here and in an emergency he could conceal himself in an archway. "Don't go away from here," he repeated. "I'll be back soon."
The streets swept past beneath him, Invisible to human or nonhuman eyes, he reached the spaceport and gained altitude in order to have a better view. The many rows of space warships standing ready for takeoff reminded Ellert that Druufon was still in a state of war. At the other end of the spaceport he saw troops pouring out of a large barracks building into cars that had been brought for them. They moved out and began to form a cordon around the entire area. Other foot soldiers were marching in the more obscure outskirts between the spaceport and the city. Ellert estimated that in another half-hour not even a mouse would be able to get through the blockade.
Not to mention a Druuf.
He moved swiftly to the parking place. The aircars were not being guarded. Evidently it hadn't occurred to anyone that anybody might steal one of these. But then Ellert noticed a troop of soldiers that turned into even this area.
Perhaps five minutes left...
And what would happen if Onot actually took off in an aircar? Wouldn't that make it easier for him to be caught? Ellert thought of the police car that had slammed into a house front and he laughed mentally to himself. No, it would not be easier to catch him! By no means!
As swiftly as he could he returned to Onot. The Druuf was standing motionlessly in the place where he had left him. He appeared to be terribly afraid of losing Ellert. Perhaps the thought of having to be alone again one day had become unbearable to him.
"You have to run, Onot, as fast as you can! We have to reach the parking place before the soldiers do. How long will it take you? Two minutes?"
The Druuf estimated the distance. "About three minutes but not a second more."
Naturally they were conversing in terms of Druuf time units but Ellert could convert the relationships into relative Terran values.
"Good, then run! I'll leave you alone for a minute. Before you reach the parking place I'll be back with you."
Onot did not reply. Secretly he was even prepared to escape if necessary without Ellert if his phantom companion did not return in time. But he knew there was little fear of that. He began to run.
Ellert returned to the prison and slipped into the body of a lesser magistrate who was urgently occupied with the task of checking out the electronic admittance controls. A stern-looking Druuf was standing near him, apparently waiting for the results of his efforts.
"Well?"
Ellert's host pushed a switch. "It's true! Onot came through here alone. He had no accomplice—he's done this strictly on his own volition."
"The guard he struck down is still unconscious. It's the same with the gate guard. Nobody can understand how Onot could do this. He seemed to have been completely insane."
"And perhaps he was."
The other Druuf became morose. "It's not our place to make assumptions. Connect me with the Supreme Magistrate. I need his permission to put out a continent-wide dragnet. I want all available troops."
"All that for a scientist who's gone berserk?"
Ellert remained long enough to witness the transaction through the eyes of the official. He saw the face of the Supreme Magistrate on the viewscreen and heard the order come through to capture Onot at all costs—but alive. Aware of having a long night before him, he left the scene and again became a disembodied teleporter, transferring himself back to the spaceport.
He was at a sufficient altitude to be able to see Onot and the soldiers at the same time. The fugitive was still about 100 paces from the nearest aircar and the troops were still 200 meters away from the edge of the parking area.
It was going to be a tight squeeze.
Onot did not conceal his sense of relief when he became aware of Ellert. "We're not going to make it!" he panted and he increased his pace. A side-glance revealed the silhouettes of the marching troops. They were not in any particular hurry because as usual in such cases the participants in a dragnet always assumed the focal point of events to be elsewhere. Which was generally a mistake.
"Take the nearest aircar!"
It was a small craft but certainly not any slower or less manoeuvrable than the others. With a strenuous leap, Onot jumped into the cabin as soon as the door slid softly to one side. His hands found the controls almost involuntarily. The engine hummed to life even while the door was closing again. Then the aircar lifted from the ground and shot upward into the dark night sky with a tremendous acceleration. The city sank away beneath them like a dwindling diadem of sparkling lights. A few raybeams lost themselves in the distance. And then they were surrounded by solitude and darkness.
• • •
"He's escaped," Pucky reported after locating Rhodan in a nearby hollow between the rocks. "Ellert must have had plenty to do with that but how are we supposed to find him now?"
Rhodan was seated on a large rock and was starting to feel the increasing coldness of
the night. He had twice heated up a medium-sized boulder with his small hand beamer and used it as a lightless source of heat but it hadn't proved practical for any length of time. Of course the uncertainties before him were much more disturbing, however, than a cold night on an alien world.
"Take a problem, Pucky," he said. "If you were in Ellert's position, where would you go—that is, considering that you were aware your friends were looking for you and that they had the unusual means at their disposal which you know we have...?"
The mouse-beaver squatted on his broad hindquarters, using his beaver tail as a support. He raised his eyes to the sky as though he expected an answer from the stars. "I'd head for some accessible spot that my friends knew about—I can't think of any other possibility."
"Aha—and what place would be known to Onot and Ellert as well as ourselves?"
Pucky suddenly dispensed with his stargazing. "His former secret laboratory, 700 kilometers to the east of the capital!" He got up abruptly and waddled over to Rhodan. "If we're able to hit the nail on the head like that, what are we waiting for?"
Rhodan took hold of both of Pucky's front paws and swung him up into his lap. "Because I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of Ellert's escape. If he's still capable of influencing Onot to this extent, then he should also have had enough strength to come looking for us on his own, in disembodied form. He certainly must know that we're trying to reach him now. I'm wondering why he's exposing Onot to this unnecessary danger—as well as himself—because it's delaying him."
"That's right. Some of this is hazy to me too," admitted Pucky. "But I'll bet my head against Bell's big toe that Ellert has a good reason for bringing Onot along."
Rhodan nodded almost imperceptibly. He had already thought of this. "Ellert can't carry any material object so he'd have to use Onot to do that for him—if that's what he has in mind. So I have to assume that's what he's doing. He's trying to bring us something that only Onot can carry with him. OK then, it won't do any harm for us to have a look in that direction. I think I could find that laboratory again."
