by Perry Rhodan
• • •
Side by side they walked down into the chamber. The heat that met them became more and more unbearable. So far their footsteps had been inaudible above the hissing of the water and the Ghamese had not paid any attention to them.
Richard looked askance at Dynah and saw that although her expression was grave she was not freezing up yet in fear.
When they came near the water trough, Richard turned to the right. He figured that the two Ghamese standing on the edge of the trough were as good as any others here for his experiment. They would be the first to hear the frightening news that. Richard had invented for them. He began to run as though impelled by terror and Dynah ran beside him. Their footsteps were still inaudible. The two Ghamese only became aware of the fugitives when they were practically on top of them.
Richard felt that he might not be able to take the heat from the molten glass much longer, since it was only 10 meters away at this point His state of exhaustion was only partially an act when he let out his yell.
"Lidioks... a whole pack of them... attacking city...! We'll be lost if we don't get out of here...!"
He spoke Interkosmo, which was the language of the Galactic Traders. He was not sure that he had remembered the name of the giant fish correctly or not but the Ghamese seemed to understand what he meant. One of the two turned to one side and let out the olden call of his kind, the ancient alert to fear and terror.
"Li-i-i-di-o-o-ok...!"
The cry could be heard above the hissing of the molten glass and the other Ghamese looked up from their work. Richard tensed his muscles. This was the moment of truth. He would see if his trick was to be successful or not.
But it was also a moment in which something occurred that was beyond his wildest imaginings. A muted, far-echoing ringing sound ran thin the rock foundation of the city. It was a deep bell tone that acted to freeze Richard's blood in his veins and which the Ghamese seemed to recognize. The eerie sound stirred them to action. It was all Richard could do just to grasp one of the nearer two by the shoulder and hold him. He recognized the expression of naked fear that was in the fish-man's face.
"Where are boats... water locks...?" he yelled at him. "We cannot swim!"
He had to repeat the question. At first the Ghamese had been too frightened to understand him and fought his grip. "There..." he finally stammered. "Same direction... we go...!"
It sounded logical. If the Ghamese were about to get out of the city because of their fear of the Lidioks, then even though they could swim out they still needed the sea-locks. They couldn't get out through a solid wall. Richard let go of the Ghamese.
"Run behind him!" he called out to Dynah.
Following a sudden hunch, he crouched down in a swift movement to pick up one of the smaller glass pieces lying on his side of the trough. He miscalculated the temperature of the material and burned his fingers but it made no difference to him. He shoved the sample into his pocket and then ran after Dynah and the fleeing Ghamese.
• • •
The way Ez Rykher sized up the situation, things were taking a sudden and bloodcurdling turn for the worst. His grass-rooted instincts told him that running was not going to do a bit of good as he saw the Lidioks make their third combined attack. But all the same he ran, following Tony Laughlin and Lyn Trenton. By now the greater part of the plaza was empty, with only a few Ghamese still crowding through the exits.
Even as he ran be stared entranced at the broken glass wall and the onrushing monster fish. He knew that this time the glass would break completely and the water would come bursting in upon them. And with the water would come the Lidioks to harvest the fruit of their efforts-in the form of several dozen Ghamese who had not gotten away fast enough. Maybe they'd even gobble up one Ezekiel Dunlop Rykher in the process but it made little difference to him whether he went by drowning or the Jonah route. To be swallowed by a 'whale'...
Such were the thoughts shooting through Rykher's head. Then the Lidioks struck the glass with their tank-like skulls and the catastrophe began.
It took about one second for the big crack in the glass to leap across the entire wall, after which it collapsed inward. At first it seemed to lean inward slowly as an entire partition but then it crumbled with startling swiftness. A green wall of water came plunging in over the remaining debris and began to fill the plaza with breathtaking speed.
Ez Rykher had ceased running. It was over with. There was no sense now in trying to outrun the disaster that was upon them. A sweeping flood of water shot in around him and tore him from his feet. Suddenly there was nothing but water above and below him. His air was shut off and he started flailing about him instinctively. He bobbed to the surface just once but in that instant he was confronted by the looming, tooth-lined maw of a Lidiok that rushed upon him as big as the door of a barn. The monster's gullet seemed to generate a suction current and Ez was simply catapulted along with many cubic meters of water into the dark opening.
Ez was slammed around back and forth inside with his eyes tightly shut in his natural reaction of abject fear.
A sense of wondering amazement began to grow in him as time passed and nothing more happened except this swishing back and forth with the water and all the while the water itself seemed to be draining away somewhere. He got the crazy notion that maybe all the Lidiok wanted was a drink and that later it would spit him out!
He was vaguely aware of gradually coming to rest. The last jolt he remembered was one that seemed to throw him onto a kind of couch or bed that felt dry and soft. At any rate, Ez never expected to find such a place in the belly of Leviathan.
In wonderment he opened his eyes.
He was fairly astonished to see a modern glo-lamp close overhead, which illuminated a small, square cubicle.
Jonah, he reflected, never had it so good!
• • •
The sea-lock was not far from the glass-processing chamber. But meanwhile two succeeding shocks of dull thunder had shaken the city and since Richard had only invented the story of the Lidioks in order to activate the natives, he now wondered if he bad really invoked the devil, more or less, with such a bald-faced lie. At any rate the Ghamese inhabitants appeared to definitely interpret these cataclysmic sounds as proof of the fact that the city was in truth being attacked by Lidioks.
All of which altered the situation. Now Richard was really in a hurry. He knew he couldn't let the Ghamese fishmen simply swim off toward the surface and assume that he could master the controls of a submersible craft in the short time available.
The lock basin turned out to be of tremendous size, containing about 50 undersea vessels of various classes. Richard and Dynah tried to stay close to the natives as they ran but when they saw the frightened little fellows plunge head over heels into the basin itself and start swimming for the outer-lock door they grabbed the one closest behind them and pointed to the boats.
It was hard to get the idea through to him because of his fear but finally he appeared to understand what was being demanded of him. Nevertheless, Richard kept an eye on him as they all jumped from the mooring rim of-the basin onto the deck of one of the submarines. The Ghamese opened the outer hatch with trembling hands. He had barely gotten it open before he tried to enter the vessel alone but Richard held him back. Dynah was the first to clamber down inside, followed by Richard. He then pulled the Ghamese in with him and made sure that he properly secured the sea hatch.
The last thing they heard before the hatch closed was a crashing and roaring sound from above them somewhere. Evidently it had been caused by inrushing waters that were flooding the city.
Once in the safety of the boat the Ghamese appeared to lose some of his state of panic. In the small control room he began to work swiftly and confidently. The motor came to life and the undersea craft glided through the basin toward the exit gate. The gate was already open and the boat glided into a dark tunnel that led to the outer floodgate. Richard had remained in the main room of the vessel and had
tried to observe through the ports whether or not the disaster was beginning to have any effect on the sea-lock chamber itself. But he couldn't detect any such signs before the boat swept onward and disappeared into the outlet tunnel.
The small submersible moved calmly and swiftly to the floodgate. It took a little while to activate the latter so that it finally opened before them. Then the vessel glided out into the greenish twilight of the ocean depths and this time when Richard looked through the small portholes he could see the spreading cloud of debris and mud that emanated from the place where the city of Guluch had been.
The water was swarming with the Ghamese fishmen.
Evidently the catastrophe had come upon them slowly enough to enable them to save themselves.
• • •
Ez got to his feet. A blur of confused thoughts whirled through his head. Until he finally heard the voice. It came from a speaker in the ceiling.
"This is Warren Teller. At present I am at the controls of this vessel which has the appearance of a Lidiok. I presume that you are Ez Rykher. Try to hang on to your sanity-I know it's hard in a case like this. We are going to bring you to safety on board a Terran spaceship. That is all."
Ez Rykher tried experimentally to convince himself that there was nothing special about being gobbled up by a Lidiok only to end up in its belly and find out that it was an imitation monster that had been created on Earth for the purpose of snatching five Terrans from a very unusual fix.
But then he thought of Richard Silligan and Dynah Langmuir. A shock ran through him. These simulated Lidioks would not be able to save them! Somewhere in the crumbling city they must have been crushed by collapsing debris or else they had drowned! The grief of this realization was ironically the stabilizing factor that helped him get over the dangerous few minutes in which his confused mind might have lost its reason. Dick and Dynah-dear God! By this time they must be dead!
Ez didn't know how much time had passed when a section of the wall slid back and a man in the uniform of the Terran Fleet suddenly stepped into the small cubicle. The latter smiled at him reassuringly but Ez was in no mood for smiles. Before the man could speak, Ez was at him with the obvious question. "What happened to Dick Silligan and the girl? Were you able to save them, too?"
The man's expression became grave as he shook his head. "No, we couldn't wait any longer. We had to go into action and we didn't have any idea where they might be hiding."
Rykher's head sank in dejection. After a moment he muttered: "I guess nobody can blame you for what you had to do. So you're Warren Teller?"
The man nodded.
"So what happens now?" asked Ez. But his voice revealed that he no longer took much interest in anything.
"We are at our destination. Nearby is the Urania, a heavy Fleet cruiser. You will be requested to go on board. They'll take you home by the shortest route. And by the way: your two other companions are also safe and we have captured the Springer."
• • •
There was a hard and unrelenting tone in Ron Landry's voice. "Have you taken my advice?" he asked. "Did you make your will and appoint another clan chief to be your successor?"
Alboolal stiffened. He was still in confusion as a result of the events of the past few minutes. But he sensed that he would be lost if he didn't pull himself together and defy this Terran.
"I protest!" he shouted, so loudly that the words resounded like a cannon shot in the small cabin.
But it failed to impress the Terran in the least. "Against what?" he asked, smiling. "The fact that we've just rescued you from a collapsing city?"
"It's through your own machinations that the city was destroyed!" yelled Alboolal but Ron interrupted him calmly.
"Yes, of course. But as far as we know the Ghamese natives have not suffered any casualties in the process. And above all, you will never have a chance to tell anybody about it."
This announcement was like an electric shock to Alboolal. "Why not?"
"Because you are going to be taken to Terra and brought before the courts."
Alboolal gasped aloud. "Why that's...!" he began, snorting in rage. "You can't do that to me. I am a free-"
"You were a free Springer," Ron interrupted him. "But then you took a hand in attacking a Terran merchant ship and destroying it. That changes the situation. Or did you really believe that a skarf like you could get away with shooting up Terran ships and simply carry on without any repercussions?"
"You-you can't pin that one on me!" gasped Alboolal.
"You forget that this is a case of major political magnitude," was the calm reply. "Terra has the completely legal means at its disposal to force a suspect to reveal the truth."
"I'll protest!" shouted Alboolal. "I'll tell the whole galaxy what methods Terra uses!"
Ron Landry's smile held firm. "As a matter of fact, that's exactly what you'll do," he answered. "We'll place every means of communication at your disposal. Because you know we're also interested in having the public be informed about what kind of pirate gangs some of the Springer clans happen to be. I'm quite sure you can imagine what kind of reaction this will create throughout the galaxy."
And indeed Alboolal could imagine it. Suddenly he saw his future and that of his clan in total clarity. The Terrans would obtain the truth from him, of that there could be no doubt. And it was equally certain that they would inform the galactic community. It made little difference what his own lot would be now. The Terrans would imprison him or execute him in accordance with the sentence of their courts-but his clan would be discredited for all time! Nobody would have anything to do with them again. They would have to give up their stronghold on Ghama.
Yes, Alboolal knew what was descending upon him and his clan. He broke then. He broke down so completely that a doctor had to be called in order to even get him on his feet again.
• • •
Considering everything involved, the Urania had not wasted much time on Ghama. The commander had been instructed to take the rescued survivors on board along with Larry Randall and Capt. Ron Landry. Also he was to load on the five Lidiok monstrosities that had been prepared by Earth scientists so that no trace would remain of the swift and secret operation on Ghama. He was then to make a fast exit from the planet so that, above all, the local inhabitants would not have an opportunity to ponder much over the mysterious activities that had transpired on their water world.
Nevertheless the take-off of the Urania was delayed. A native submarine emerged from the sea and as soon as it caught sight of the spaceship still poised above the surface of the water it set a course for it. The Urania refrained from taking off in order to see what the people on board the undersea craft had in mind.
As the vessel drew alongside, the first one to appear on the round, smooth deck was Lt. Dick Silligan, formerly attached to the crew of the freighter Carolina. He appeared to be somewhat fatigued and as far as the state of his clothing was concerned he was not as spruce-looking as he might be. Otherwise he was unharmed and in good spirits.
He was followed by the girl, Dynah Langmuir, who had stirred up so much discussion in the past few hours. She too looked as if life hadn't been very easy for her recently. When she was brought on board the spaceship she broke into tears of joy and exhaustion.
The Ghamese pilot of the submarine decided not to board the Urania but preferred instead to stay with his craft and keep a lookout for his countrymen. Since the simulated Lidioks had long since been loaded into the cargo holds he could not suspect in any way that there was some connection here between the presence of Terrans and the destruction of the city of Guluch.
The Urania finally took off but not before communicating by radio with Killanak Island where Larry Randall's successor had meanwhile taken over. The latter had confirmed that everything was lack to normal on Killanak and meanwhile the Springer base was maintaining a waiting silence.
The enemy's stronghold, however, would not be kept waiting for long before being informed of what had trul
y happened.
• • •
This was the day that Larry Randall got to meet Col. Nike Quinto for the first time and he seemed to be just as disagreeable as he had been to Ron Landry in the beginning. But Ron had prepared him for this impression and so he held onto his patience and waited to find out how Quinto's genius might reveal itself.
At first there was certainly not much to be seen of it.
Nike Quinto was sweating as usual. His face had reddened considerably in rather unpleasant contrast to his sparse and almost colorless hair.
"This air-conditioning is cratchy!" he complained in his high-pitched whine. "Completely inadequate on a hot day like this. One of these days they're going to kill me. My blood-pressure keeps getting worse."
He appeared to be searching for something on his desk, or perhaps it was merely a nervous habit with him. Anyway, after a pause he continued. "And you know you've managed to add to my poor condition."
Ron Landry intervened politely. "May I ask, sir, in what way?"
"Yes, of course you may ask. Those five giant fish of yours have made a whale of a hole in my budget. How much do you think five navigable Lidioks cost? 10 million Solars when they have to be rigged up for a normal simulation and double that on such a hyped-up schedule!"
Ron suppressed a smile. He knew from reliable sources that Division 3's budget was unlimited. A loss of 20 million Solars would hardly make a dent. "That phase was necessary, sir," Ron countered. "There wasn't any other way to stop the Springers and still keep the native inhabitants from knowing what was going on."
"Hm-m-m-m..." The hint of a smile touched Quinto's red face. "That figures. But why do you suppose we want to keep the natives quiet and peaceful? Why were we so determined to have them regard us as friends? Can you answer that?"
