Ernst Ellert Returns

by Perry Rhodan

  "As ever," returned Onot soundlessly. "What's going to happen?"

  "We're going to have a nice aircraft placed at our disposal," replied Ellert enthusiastically, after which he returned completely to Rambos.

  The ship landed and Rambos got out to greet the officer who had recaptured Onot. Onot was brought outside and remanded into the custody of Rambos, who had him placed in the ship's cabin between the two heavily armed sergeants. The pilot turned to his controls.

  Rambos gave the arresting officer one last nod and then closed the entrance hatch. The motor began to hum. The craft climbed into the sky and shot away in a westerly direction.

  But it never arrived in the capital city.

  • • •

  The stars were in the same position as before when the slightly tugging pains of rematerialization wore off. The only change seemed to be that the dark shadow of the cliffs beside them had disappeared. Pucky had calculated his jump so that they did not come directly to the area of the laboratory. Instead, they arrived several hundred meters away from it.

  "Careful!" whispered the mouse-beaver, remaining motionlessly where he was. "There's a whole bunch of Druufs close by. Police. They're guarding Onot's laboratory!"

  Rhodan comprehended the situation at once and also remained motionless. They were surrounded by the darkness. Farther ahead in a northerly direction the horizon appeared to be elevated; there must be the mountains. At the foot of a mountain slope Rhodan perceived a faint light that was moving about. Apparently it was being carried by a Druuf who was checking the sentinels stationed there.

  Pucky confirmed Rhodan's assumption. "They've surrounded the lab and are hoping to be able to catch any friends of Onot. Of course they have no idea whether he has any friends or not. They're waiting just in case."

  "Which means they have a good nose for probabilities," Rhodan whispered back. "It's a lucky thing we were cautious. We could just as easily have popped up in the midst of them."

  "And we would have disappeared just as quickly and they'd still be scratching their heads over it."

  "And not without good reason!" retorted Rhodan gravely. "Remember that our action is aimed at convincing the Druufs that Onot is working alone. Our mysterious appearance would only have strengthened their suspicion that he has accomplices. And accomplices with very unusual capabilities at that! That would again bring Terra into the game. No, Pucky, we have to remain in the background

  They waited awhile in silence while Pucky sampled the stream of thoughts that came his way. Since the troops stationed by the lab still had no idea that Onot would come directly into their hands, they didn't think about such a possibility—nor were their thoughts even centered on the fact of his successful escape.

  After about 10 minutes of concentrated 'eavesdropping', Pucky turned to Rhodan. "There's no particular pay dirt in what I'm listening to. We're waiting around for nothing. Who knows how long it's going to take Onot to get here. First he'd have to steal an aircar, which seems improbable. Anyway he or Ellert won't be stupid enough to jump right into their hands here. Ellert will reconnoiter and discover the police troops—which means he'll fly somewhere else."

  "Sounds logical," admitted Rhodan. "What should we do?"

  "You're asking me? " Pucky acted surprised. "You think we should wait here?" He shook his head. "I have a suggestion to make. Let me take you back to the Gazelle and then I'll go alone and have another look around in the city. Maybe I'll pick up a clue."

  After some deliberation, Rhodan agreed.

  When they materialized inside the Control Central of the Gazelle, only Lt. Mundi was to be seen. He lay back in the pilot's seat with his mouth wide open, snoring away as though he were determined to saw down an entire forest of trees.

  The temptation was too great. Pucky let go of Rhodan and made a quick jump into Mundi's lap, where he turned to him and held his nose shut. The effect was startling, to say the least.

  The somewhat portly Mundi stopped snoring abruptly. Then he gasped for air like a fish unexpectedly jerked from a pond. Only then did he open his eyes in consternation to see a grinning mouse-beaver in his lap.

  His expression of relief was mixed with a certain amount of justifiable anger over this rough manner of being awakened. "No sooner does the little monster get back home than we lose all semblance of peace and quiet," he complained with a snort of indignation. He straightened up so abruptly that Pucky had to grab his jacket to keep from failing out of his lap. "We ought to lock him up!"

  "Just try to lock up a teleporter," said Rhodan, smiling resignedly. He looked around searchingly. "Where are Tschubai and Manoli?"

  Mundi also looked around the control room. He was at a loss. "I don't have any idea. They must have left the Control Central while I was here on watch."

  "While you were here sleeping!" Pucky corrected him, and finally slipped off his lap. "I think I know where they are—in sickbay. They were going to have a look at Ellert. See you later!" He disappeared in a small whirlwind before Rhodan could say anything.

  Mundi stared at the empty spot where he had been. "Teleporters are a weird bunch," he mumbled sleepily. "By the way—did you have any success?"

  "Unfortunately not. Pucky has just gone back to the city to see if he can pick up any clues, because meanwhile Onot has escaped." He smiled. "Continue your watch. I'm going to find Manoli."

  "Well, besides, it was Tschubai's turn for the watch; that nap was legitimate. But now I'm so worked up I won't be able to sleep anymore."

  "Don't get mixed up with Pucky," said Rhodan, giving him a friendly warning. You'd come out on the short end of it."

  He met Manoli and Tschubai in the passageway. They had heard voices and correctly assumed that Mundi was not merely talking in his sleep. And so Rhodan was informed of the great piece of news about Ellert's physical condition.

  Unfortunately it came a few seconds too late because Pucky was already under way.

  • • •

  The police ship raced toward the East.

  Ellert had barely taken control of Rambos again when he had him order the pilot to make a 180° turn. Of course the pilot had looked up in surprise as he heard the command but he had then obeyed without questioning. The two sergeants had no knowledge of navigation and were solely concerned with their prisoner.

  So far, so good. But what now?

  Ellert knew that he wouldn't be able to fly around forever in the stolen aircraft over Druufon. It wouldn't be long before this new escape was discovered, which would bring more pursuers. If he didn't want to lose Onot's technical notes, something was going to have to happen in a hurry.

  Had Rhodan sent out anybody yet to find him? In fact, had they ever received his distress calls in the first place?

  Ellert thought of his new capabilities. Granted, they had their limitations. He was not actually a hypnotist and he couldn't give anybody a posthypnotic command. If he were to withdraw from Rambos, the Druuf lieutenant would carry on again according to his own evaluations. He only remained under control as long as Ellert dominated his brain and conscious mind.

  Still, he was now able to take over two brains at once. Perhaps even three? Or perhaps more?

  As he weighed this possibility in his mind, the ramifications of it struck him like a bolt from the blue. If he were capable of this, then it would be possible to bring all four Druufs in the plane under his control, in addition to Onot.

  His very first attempt convinced him that it was possible, even though for short duration and with great effort. Of course this new knowledge didn't mean too much at the moment but it opened up unexpected perspectives for the future.

  It seemed to him that he could see the first glimmerings of dawn in the East. The airship was racing toward the morning light. It wouldn't be long before the new day broke upon them, that is if they continued eastward. Yet there seemed to be no reason for changing the course.

  Meanwhile, Pucky had teleported back to the city. Several shorter jumps brought him inside th
e court building, where he found a good hiding place in the office of the police chief. The Druufs were large and so was their furniture. By contrast, Pucky was very small. Nobody noticed him behind the huge filing cabinet.

  He learned that Onot's second escape had succeeded, yet by the same token he realized that he and Rhodan had missed them only by seconds. The officer in charge of the guard detail at the laboratory reported by radio that by some inexplicable means Onot had forced Lt. Rambos to turn the aircraft away from the city. The ship had disappeared without a trace.

  The police chief sent out a new alarm but this time it went to the Planetary Air Patrol itself. Everywhere on Druufon, automatic-tracking networks went into operation. Entire squadrons of fast pursuit ships took off in many locations and began to make a systematic search of the whole planet. Nothing would be able to escape their unified surveillance, not even a landed airship.

  Nor even the Gazelle!

  Pucky immediately saw the magnitude of this new threat and besides that he had heard enough. Ellert was present on that escaping airship and he didn't know that assistance was so close to him.

  The mouse-beaver teleported back to the Gazelle. He found Lt. Mundi on watch and this time he was fully awake.

  "You must have been living it up in the night spots," grumbled Mundi wearily. "What took you so long? Here at least a few things have been going on and..."

  "There'll be a heck of a lot more than that going on—real quick—if you keep babbling," said Pucky swiftly. "Hit the alarm and wake up the others!"

  It was then that the apparently easy-going Austrian revealed another side to his nature. Without even asking why, he reached over and pressed the clearly marked button on the com panel.

  In shocked dismay, Pucky clapped his paws to his very sensitive ears as he was smitten by a tornado of sound. In every cabin and corridor of the scoutship the same shrilling bedlam was heard as in the Control Central.

  "Man—did you have to do that?!" he complained impatiently.

  "Why mess around?" retorted the lieutenant dryly. "You said wake everybody up, didn't you? Well, that ought to do it. So now may I ask—why?"

  Dressed only in his pyjamas, Ras Tschubai was the first to appear in the control room. "What's the matter?" he panted and then he saw Pucky. "Oh, it's you!"

  "Do I look like anybody else around here?" inquired Pucky, somewhat piqued.

  Rhodan and Manoli appeared simultaneously as though by a mutual signal.

  "Ah—Pucky! What's happened?"

  "Now that you're all together I can tell you," replied the mouse-beaver. "I wanted to avoid having to repeat myself. Ellert—or Onot—has gotten away again and this time he's in an aircraft with four Druufs. Where he's going nobody knows. The whole planet's on air alert and a full-scale air search is building up fast. They'll probably discover us here."

  Rhodan glanced briefly at Manoli. "Ellert's physical body appears to be recovering again," he said, then explained to Pucky in a few words what had happened in the ship's clinic. "Apparently Ellert's disembodied essence has developed enough superfluous energy to supply his body without his knowing it. Perhaps he may find us."

  "I should be finding him! " exclaimed Pucky dejectedly and he looked at the ceiling as though expecting help from that direction. "But if he doesn't try to make contact with me I'll never find him. Why in the world doesn't he leave Onot and come looking for us?"

  "We've been over that question before," Rhodan reminded him. "He must have his reasons. And besides... Pucky—what's the matter?"

  Everybody stared at Pucky. The mouse-beaver was still staring at the ceiling. Or rather, his face was in that direction but now his eyes were closed as though he were straining to hear something. Finally he squeaked excitedly. "I'll never touch another carrot in my life if that isn't Ellert—not three kilometers right overhead but going like a bat toward the East!"

  "The stolen plane!" exclaimed Rhodan.

  "Yes, the one he escaped in! I'll go to him."

  Before Rhodan or anybody else could say anything to him, he had disappeared. In the same second he appeared in the cabin of the fleeing airship, just as Ellert was performing his experiment on Onot and the other Druufs.

  Thus Ellert saw Pucky simultaneously through 20 alien eyes but only one—or none—would have sufficed. Five separate thought-streams flooded in upon the mouse-beaver, yet with a single mental cry: " Pucky!"

  "Ellert—which of these hippos is you? Which one is Onot?"

  Again came the telepathic answer in fivefold duplication: "Between the guards there—that one in the middle is Onot! I have to spread myself among them and I can't go into him alone. The Druufs would recognize you. This way they won't know you're here. Where is the ship?"

  "You mean our ship? It's waiting down below in the mountains but the Druufs have put out a maximum air alert. We have to get out of here before it's too late. Can you come with me?"

  "I can't leave Onot... Wait a minute—I can! Pucky, reach into Onot's right-hand pocket. You'll find a sheet of foil... yes, that's it! Take that and guard it well. It contains the construction details for the translight linear space drive.—What did you say? A major alert?"

  "That's right—it's planet-wide. Nobody will see the daylight without being monitored—not to mention a spaceship the Druufs haven't registered before. I'm jumping back on board now. Rhodan has come here personally to pick you up. Come on along!"

  "Wait a few seconds, Pucky. I'll go with you—in fact in you. But I just want to erase Onot's memory of certain things. I promised him that much."

  Meanwhile, Pucky took a look around. The pilot headed persistently eastward toward the approaching dawn. Rambos sat beside him and stared expressionlessly at the controls. A portion of Ellert was holding him in that state. The two sergeants remained motionless, as did Onot. In fact, the scientist's eyes were closed. When he came to his senses again he would no longer know anything about his remarkable friend Ellert.

  Soundlessly, Ellert spoke to Pucky. "As soon as Onot opens his eyes you must make your jump! That will be the moment in which I'll be pulling out of all Druufs at once. Don't hesitate, because Lt. Rambos is very quick. He'd shoot you down immediately."

  Pucky concentrated. He did not take his eyes from Onot's face. However hard he tried, however, he could not detect Ellert's mental presence. The time teleporter must be holding himself neutral.

  Then Onot opened his eyes and saw him.

  Pucky 'jumped'.

  7/ HADES' END—A NEW BEGINNING

  The giant double sun of the Siamed System was just topping the horizon when Lt. Mundi activated his controls. With howling engines the Gazelle hurtled upward into the coloring sky...

  But not swiftly enough.

  That is, in a certain sense of timing. The Druufs' air and space tracking controls functioned excellently, yet by their own time ratio they were only half fast enough to be able to destroy the Gazelle with their automatic weaponry.

  "We've gotten through!" muttered Rhodan.

  He had been able to make out the flitting shapes of the fast-moving interceptors on the viewscreen but they were fast moving by virtue of the Gazelle's superior velocity, which was leaving them behind. The Gazelle's speed capabilities were far superior to those of the airships and it was now shooting into outer space. But in that realm lurked the greater danger: the spacefleet of the Druufs.

  "Transition—as soon as the first space units appear!" he ordered.

  Mundi nodded, his lips tight-pressed in concentration. The moment had come to show his chief that he was capable of a thing or two.

  But in the ship's clinic Dr. Manoli was oblivious to the dangers of the reckless flight. The name of his problem at the moment was Ellert who lay before him on the bed in the form of a human cadaver that was not yet a cadaver. An hour before when Pucky had returned to the Control Central, everyone had thought his mission had failed. But then Ellert himself had made his presence known. Seventy years before his disembodied entity had been ca
tapulted into Eternity—and now he had returned via Pucky's body. After which he had finally slipped into his own.

  Manoli checked the pulse. It was still very slow but it was regular. The blood transfusion had brought a more lifelike color to the face. Ellert had begun to live again in physical form.

  "Can you understand me, Ellert?" It was strange to Manoli to be thus addressing this physical body which had become such a familiar inanimate object to him over the years. "I mean, through your ears," he hastened to add.

  Ellert's lips trembled. It was obvious that he was struggling to actually articulate an answer. "Yes."

  It was barely a whisper that reached Manoli's ears. It was the first time in exactly 73 years that Ellert had spoken through his own mouth.

  • • •

  Meanwhile, Rhodan and Mundi were facing a serious problem. A Druuf battle fleet was blocking their way into deep space. The ship's velocity was still not great enough for a normal transition. They'd have to 'slip' through semispace. In spite of their anti-tracking screens the first energy beams from the enemy were already zipping past the Gazelle's defense-field envelope.

  "Transition!" ordered Rhodan.

  Mundi did not hesitate to throw in the switch.

  The enemy ships seemed to blur and grow hazy, falling back and away. But Rhodan soon detected that they still pursued them. A short transition within the system was not enough to shake off the Druufs.

  Ahead the disc of Hades emerged out of the sea of stars.

  "Make a landing!" said Rhodan and then added: "Beam out the code signal—put them on top alert!"

  The Gazelle raced toward the twilight world but quickly went into maximum deceleration, after which it dove into the gaping hangar lock. The stars blacked out behind them as the outer hatch closed. Just as they were settling to the hangar floor the sound of alarm shrilled through the stronghold.

  Capt. Rous burst into the hangar just as Rhodan came down through the exit hatch of the Gazelle.

  "Abandon the base!" shouted Rhodan to the commander, who could hardly believe his ears. "If the Druufs can add two and two they'll be on top of us in half an hour and they'll make Hades earn its name! We have to leave all material and equipment behind. Everybody into the transmitters! Advise the Drusus! On the double—not a second to lose!"