by Perry Rhodan
Indeed! When the five seconds had elapsed Lehmann began to stir. Like a puppet he put down the queen on a square where it made no sense at all. Life returned to his staring eyes. He looked questioningly at Marshall.
"Well?"
John tried to pull himself together. Never in his life before had he been faced with such an infernal situation. If only he could have penetrated into the alien's mind. But that was not as simple as that. The M.S. possessed some rudimentary traces of telepathic ability. He would become aware of his probing at once. Better not risk that.
"Not a smart move, Professor! It would mean checkmate for you. Are sure you did not intend to do that really. I'll give you another chance." With these words Marshall seized his bishop and placed it in a rather unfavorable position. It should have been a simple matter for Lehmann to take advantage of John's gross negligence. But he did nothing of the sort. Apparently it took a certain time before the M.S. could appropriate all the information stored in his victim's memory banks. Lehmann's next move was nonsense and against all the rules of the chess game.
John pretended not to notice, and he in turn made a move that was net any less clumsy. While doing so he tried to approach the alien mind, but he ran into a mental obstacle that he could not overcome. He wanted to avoid applying force, lest he draw the opponent's attention to himself. This then meant that the M.S. were capable of screening off their own thoughts by placing a barrier around them. Thus it would be impossible to learn their intentions by reading their minds. There might nevertheless be a chance that the barrier would loosen up when the M.S. took up telepathic communication with each other. John must be sure to watch out for such a possibility.
The chess game proceeded in a most unorthodox manner, although the M.S. seemed to catch on fairly fast John deemed it wise to let him win the game. Then he took his leave with a few harmless words. He concluded with: "I hope you'll keep your promise, Professor!"
"What promise?"
"The experiment. You haven't forgotten, surely. You suggested I should watch your next experiment with the newest combustion chamber. You wanted to test it in a couple of days."
"Oh...of course. You can come with me."
"Thank you, Professor. Good night."
"Good night"
Back in his room, Marshall took out the tiny but powerful transmitter from his suitcase. A few minutes later he was talking to Perry Rhodan, who was not pleased at first to be taken away from his early morning work with Khrest and the mutants.
As soon as he heard John's voice, all his anger vanished. He listened attentively to Marshall's report. Then he said slowly, "Keep Lehmann under strict surveillance. I have heard from Anne Sloane. Li is on his way to the Nevada Spaceport. He is supposed to be traveling on Mercants orders. He intends to meet with Lehmann. It is probable that the two plan to carry out some secret mission that will paralyze our space exploration program. Be constantly on the alert! Get in touch with Miss Sloane as soon as she arrives. The moment Ellert completes his current assignment he will join you in your efforts. It looks as if Nevada Spaceport will soon become the turning point in the invasion."
Rhodan could not know how justified he was in that assumption. It was not difficult for Ellert to trail Betty Toufry's path through the time stream. Five years in the future, he could recognize the best way of exploring her personality. All the parallel worlds coincided in a strange manner. While he was floating invisibly above the young girl and penetrating her mind, he experienced a shocking surprise-Betty Toufry was a telepath!
She turned her head a little as if to listen; then a discreet smile flitted across her delicate features. She was sitting on the porch of the same house in which she had lived five years earlier with her father, when an unexpected event took place.
"Who are you?" she inquired soundlessly with her thoughts. Ellert could understand her clearly. He decided to drop any pretense. There was no sense in attempting to deceive her; he felt that her telepathic powers were superior to his own.
"I am Ernst Ellert, one of Perry Rhodan's collaborators."
"Well?" She appeared surprised. Did Rhodan send you?"
Ellert was astonished at that reaction. "What do you mean by that?"
She seemed to reflect for a few moments. Then a little smile brightened her face. "I'm sorry, Ernst. I almost forgot You have already told me five years ago about this visit you would pay me in the future. It was thanks to this meeting that Perry Rhodan decided five years ago to take me under his wing. Since that time I have been working with the mutant corps. Do you understand that?"
"Only partially," admitted the confused Ellert. "So you are working for Perry Rhodan; is that so?"
"Yes, indeed." She hesitated awhile before she continued, "Listen, Ernst! I am a mutant. My specialties are telekinesis and telepathy. At the age of six I already had an I.Q. twice that of a normal adult. New mutants are being born in all parts of the world. The new type of man is coming into being gradually and so far unnoticed. Someday we will totally replace Homo sapiens."
"What a horrible vision!"
"Why? Do you regret that one stage of development will come to an end? I can't agree with you. Not Homo sapiens but Homo superior will become heir to the galactic empire."
Ellert's confusion grew constantly. This little girl, whose intellect surpassed by far his own, spoke of things that were talked about only in whispers in Rhodan's camp. Well, he had almost forgotten that he was five years in the future now. And most likely in the dimension of reality.
"Would you answer a question, Betty?"
"Yes, gladly."
"Why did you shoot your father five years ago?"
She seemed to hold back her thoughts at first, but then they came clearly. "As long as I can remember I would always read his thoughts. My mother had died when I was born. All my love was concentrated on him alone. That day, he came home, and my thoughts went out to greet him, when I encountered a barrier that was difficult to pierce. This is when I was confronted by the M.S. that had invaded his mind. It affected me in a horrible way, and I could hardly move. My father, or whatever that being was that was in my father's body, gathered me up in his arms and kissed me. Then he sat down, placing me on his lap. All the while I was reading his mind. His thoughts were all about the imminent destruction of our world, for the following day he planned to explode the subterranean atom bomb stores to let our continent go up into the air.
"Who would have believed my story? I was just a little six year old girl. I acted automatically. The gun he used to carry in his pocket flew into my hand by way of telekinesis. And then...well, then that's how it happened."
Ellert remained silent. He let compassionate thoughts flow gently around the little girl. She lifted up her head, looking to the sky, where she presumed Ellert's spirit to be.
"And now, Ernst, go back to Rhodan and report what you have found out about me. There is one thing I can tell you-the M.S. invasion will fail! We will defeat them. But you, Ernst..."
Her thoughts grew dim, he could no longer perceive them.
"Go on-what is the matter with me, Betty?"
"I am sorry. I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"I am not allowed to, Ernst. Please, don't insist any further. You are the pivot around which the whole future history of mankind revolves. You are the turning point of human history. Your fate is closely linked with that of the galactic empire of a far distant future. If you had any idea of what lies in store you might try to avoid it That must not happen. Go along the path that your fate has chosen for you, so that Perry Rhodan can reach his goal. You and I will never see each other again."
"And in five years ... now? What is going to be then? Where will I be?"
"In another five years? You will look upon this time as the dawn of mankind. You will look upon it from some lofty viewpoint that surpasses all human imagination. And now, will you please leave me alone."
Ellert felt that Betty Toufry was erecting a shell around her mind, a s
hell he was unable to pierce. A few more seconds of indecision and then he returned to the present time.
He knew exactly what he had to do.
CHAPTER FOUR
"You are convinced that the invaders' base here on Earth is somewhere in Tibet?" asked Reginald Bell.
Rhodan nodded. Khrest was sitting next to him. Rhodan held a sheaf of papers in his hand, the latest reports from the G.C.C., telling about the new factories and industrial installations that Adams was having built in all parts of the globe. He had already started the construction of the terrestrial space fleet. The borders between the world's nations seemed to have come down finally, at least in this respect
"I know for sure, Reg. The M.S. intend to have Li proceed to their base. What their plans are once he gets there we unfortunately do not know, though. The M.S. changed their minds once they became aware of Ellert's mind probing inside the brain of Dr. Lehmann, who in turn had been taken over by one of the M.S. They did not abandon Li's body and select a new target. Li traveled to Nevada Spaceport and there met Dr. Lehmann. I am sure that the two have orders to deal a serious blow to our space exploration program there."
"I have no idea how to prevent the two from carrying out their orders," remarked Khrest. He still seemed to doubt that anyone could ever manage to resist the M.S. His own decadent race had become too tired to fight effectively against the invaders. They have conquered whole star systems and subjugated entire races, and nobody could prevent it.
"We most certainly will?" said Rhodan, hard and determined. "We have the means to do it, too. The disastrous atom bomb had something in its favor, despite the havoc it wreaked on part of mankind. Atomic radiation resulted in accelerating the development of the human race by a thousand times. Whatever man would have developed into within ten thousand years, he has already become today, at least partially so. Our mutant corps is nothing hut the precursor of the future human norm. And this did not happen any too soon, for without the assistance of our mutants we would be the helpless victims at the mercy of a merciless foe."
Khrest looked straight at Rhodan. There was a fire burning in the golden hued eyes below his mighty brow-the same fire that Rhodan had once before perceived in them when they were discussing Earth's future fate linked with that of the Arkonide empire. Khrest's gaze was filled with admiration, joy, and trust, mixed with some worry. All this against a background of the unlimited knowledge of an age old race that had witnessed the rise and fall of many solar systems.
"I have lately been preoccupied with the question whether fate or accident rules the universe," he replied. "I am almost inclined to lean toward fate playing the decisive role. How powerful and inconceivable must be the might of the one who has to weigh the...."
"As far as our little world here is concerned, we are the ones to decide," interjected Bell in his usual prosaic manner. Quickly he changed the subject to what was now nearest to their hearts. "What will happen in Nevada?"
Rhodan smiled enigmatically. "We will set a trap for them. In case they get caught in it, which seems most likely the way things stand at the present time, we should know shortly if we will win or lose our battle against the invading enemy. It all depends on whether Ellert's theory works out in practice."
"Do you really believe his theory that our teleporters can pursue the disembodied minds of the Mind Snatchers when they leave their victim's bodes in a kind of a panic?"
"Yes, I do believe this to he feasible, Khrest," confirmed Rhodan. "This will be our only chance to discover their hiding place. Once we are that far, the rest should not be too difficult. We might even be lucky and catch one of the M.S. in their natural form. Talking about this, I am reminded of a splendid suggestion that Ellert made to me. But all this depends on the outcome of the experiment in Nevada."
"How about letting us in on the big secret!" urged Bell. "What are you planning to do there?"
"That won't take long to explain. You, too, should listen carefully, Khrest, I plan the following...."
The new element had all the necessary prerequisites to become the future ideal propellant for space travel. It took up very little space in its solid form, which was one of its greatest advantages. Furthermore, it was absolutely harmless as long as it was not exposed to some harmless type of radiation, which could be produced at any time with the help of simple instruments. If that radiation process took place, then an atomic structural change was induced, which in turn depended on the intensity of the radiation. This radiation then was a catalyst; without it the new element remained nothing but a useless piece of metal.
The experiments had not yet been concluded. Dr. Lehmann had succeeded in creating this new element. It was so cheap to produce that a trip to Mars would cost no more than a bus ride around town. Of course, this cost was negligible once the spaceship had been built. With the application of the radiation it was possible to release as much energy as was needed at that point. This new propellant would be ideal for faster than light flight.
Of course, this was still only theory. But Dr. Lehmann was so obsessed by this idea that no one could deter him from carrying out the final experiments. One of the final steps was supposed to take place today.
As the official representative of Allan D. Mercant, Li had access to all the installations of the research area. Lehmann would have been the last to object to his presence, since he knew Li to be really an M.S. like himself. The invaders intended to overexpose the new element to the catalytic radiation. This would result in an irreversible chain reaction, which would lead to the total destruction of the research center. Afterward, the two M.S. would leave the now useless bodies of their unwilling hosts and look for new victims. This was the point where some changes would occur.
Ellert had claimed that only a panicky M.S. would flee in such a manner that could be pursued. Great hurry would preclude the necessary preparation for the flight. Ellert had argued that this would not leave them sufficient time to build up a protective mental screen that would blur the trail leading into another dimension. Although this sounded rather confusing, It was nevertheless convincing.
This was why the catastrophe planned by Li and Lehmann had to be brought about as quick as lightning and then had to be stopped just in time, after the two M.S. had abandoned their two host bodies in a hurry. They would be forced to such haste unless they chose to die together with their victims' bodies. Lehmann and Li entered the room that housed the atomic reactor. They were in the company of John Marshall. Nothing seemed to arouse Lehmann's suspicion. The lab assistants greeted him and then turned to their work again. He obviously recognized them as being regularly employed in the lab. He hardly noticed, though, two or three new employees; least of all the new electrician, Ellert, who was busy with some levers located close to the huge switch gear box. Anne Sloane, who was scheduled to play the most important part in the coming catastrophe, was stationed inconspicuously somewhere in the background of the maze of instruments and installations.
A dull thud marked the closing of the heavy lead door, the only access to the reactor center. Lehmann knew that a push from the inside would open it again. As soon as the chain reaction started there would be enough time left to get out of that lab and reach the safety of their own rooms, from where they would then leave to return to their own insect bodies.
Lehmann, together with Li and Marshall, stepped over to the lead chamber. He pointed to a brick shaped metal bar that gleamed suspiciously behind the pane of quartz.
"This is the new element, gentlemen. If we send an electric current through these points over there a radiation process is started that passes through the element, thus bringing about structural changes. So far we have not yet succeeded in making full use of the energy set free. The energy is changed into heat, which registers over there on that temperature gauge. The inside walls of the lead chamber are highly heat resistant. The whole process must be increased only very gradually to avoid a sudden blow-out. Well, you two laymen won't be able to appreciate the full extent of the
progress that is hidden in this apparently insignificant looking piece of metal in there. Its energy would be sufficient to propel a spaceship halfway through the universe at the speed of light."
Lehmann walked over to the switchboard. For a moment he contemplated Ellert, who was dressed in a white lab coat. Ellert acted as if he had known the professor for a long time, realizing, though, that such a famous man could not be bothered to remember every little employee working in the lab. Similar thoughts were racing through the M.S. mind that was dwelling in Lehmann's brain.
"Is everything okay?" asked the scientist.
"In perfect working order, Professor," confirmed Ellert, whose whole knowledge of the complicated machinery was limited to the manipulation of one single lever. This was the lever that regulated the switching on and off of the electric current that in turn determined the intensity of the radiation.
"Fine, switch to the minimum."
The lever flipped into the first notch. There were twenty of these notches. No one in his right mind would ever dare pull the lever over to the last notch, not even Lehmann, for this would cause the change to occur so rapidly that in all probability the whole lead chamber would melt immediately. No change could be observed behind the quartz pane, but the temperature gauge began to rise.
Lehmann expressed satisfaction. "Heat! The temperature is rising. This position on the first notch would be enough to supply a whole continent with enough energy for hundreds of years. It's incredible, isn't it?"
Li was standing next to Lehmann. He was silent There was, after all, no need for words between him and his fellow M.S. in the form of Lehmann. They communicated telepathically. It was not difficult for Marshall to probe cautiously these quick thoughts that rushed back and forth between the two aliens' minds. John had to be very careful not to make them suspicious of him. His scientific knowledge was too limited to appreciate the full extent of Lehmann's scientific achievement, but he did understand Li's question, "What is the critical point?"
