Conflict Center Naator

by Perry Rhodan

  "Who runs the IQ tests here, Renol?"

  "Koris himself," came the answer.

  The whole tour of the place required much time. Two hours later when they had returned Renol to his room, Ras failed to make his promised reappearance. They waited another half hour for him but when the teleporter did not appear they became uneasy. Without him they were locked in, unless Renol had a key for deactivating the energy curtain. But the possibility of that was practically nil because Noir had learned that the energy barriers were controlled from a central station somewhere outside the hospital and could only be shut off by Semekho's order.

  Another 10 minutes went by.

  "You wait here, Okura. While we're waiting around I'm going to give this Koris character the treatment. If we have the head sawbones on our side maybe we can get somewhere. I know where his room is."

  Noir could see well enough to find his way without help from his Japanese companion. The door was unlocked so he stepped into the semi-darkness of the room. In the background he made out the outlines of the bed. The window was wide open and the curtain was fluttering lightly in the breeze.

  Something alerted Noir to danger here. Before he realized that it was the thought emanations from the Ara, the latter spoke to him in threatening tones. "Whatever you may be after or whoever you may be—don't move. The muzzle of an energy pistol is aimed right at you. Now turn around slowly and put the light on. The switch is at shoulder level next to the door."

  At the moment Noir realized he had no alternative other than to obey. Just now the Ara was far too active mentally to be brought under control so easily. Perhaps later...

  The light came on. Noir saw that the Ara had not been bluffing. Of course he still lay in bed under the covers but the outlines of a heavy beamer were unmistakable. The muzzle was pointing directly at him.

  "Answer, my friend," said Dr. Koris softly but in his calm voice was the certainty of self-confidence. "To what do I owe the honor of this night time visit?"

  "May I ask you something first?" asked Noir, fighting for time. "How did you know I was coming here?"

  The Ara sneered and laughed soundlessly. "I am the Chief Medical Officer on Naator," he replied promptly but the tone of his voice revealed the real reason for his willingness to comply. He was simply conceited. "I enjoy the full trust and confidence of Admiral Semekho—which is notable in view of the fact that the Arkonides are a suspicious lot. They trust no one. Not even their friends and allies, the Aras.

  This is why I was given the little task of watching even my own physicians. There are direct audio pickups connecting my room with the other rooms occupied by the medical team members. When you visited Renol I was awakened. Thus I found out that Renol is a traitor since he revealed my name to you. This also alerted me to the strong possibility that I would be receiving a visit from you at some time during the night." His voice suddenly changed, becoming sharp and commanding. "But enough of your evasions now! Who are you. What do you want here?"

  "Who am I...? Don't you recognize me?"

  "A Zalite—I can see that! How did you get in here? The energy screens..."

  Noir sent out a probe and sought to penetrate his opponent's consciousness. But the man was on the defensive. The slightest wrong reaction could cause him to press the trigger of his weapon.

  "I managed to hide in here during today's examinations, Koris, and I waited for nightfall. To be honest about it, I don't intend to serve in the Regent's space fleet. I wanted to falsify the records of my examination so that I would be sent back to Zalit."

  Noir thought that the shock of his revelation was going to cause the Ara to lose control of his trigger finger He felt a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach which was just about the spot at which the energy beamer was aimed. Or was that actually a weapon under those covers...?

  "You have attempted the impossible," said the chief physician with a note of irony. "The computers cannot be deceived. I'll have to call the guard and have you turned over to the robots." He threw back the cover and stood up. Noir saw that his hope of the moment was false. In Koris' hand was an actual weapon—a heavy energy pistol. The Ara had not been bluffing. "If you still have anything to say to me you'd better say it now. Later you won't get the chance."

  Noir began to realize that his situation was anything but rosy. Outside in the corridor somewhere, Son Okura was waiting for Ras. But the teleporter hadn't shown up; perhaps he had also strayed into a trap of some kind. If they were to be cross-examined with the help of those psycho-detectors, Rhodan's plan would be wrecked. Deprived of their wills, they would simply blab out everything.

  "You will not alert the guard!" said Noir decisively. "I shall prevent you from doing so." He tried again to gain control of the Ara's mind but the latter put up an unconscious resistance, instinctively fighting back with all the power he possessed. Noir knew that only a lightning manoeuvre of some kind could succeed—a shock of surprise, perhaps, that would startle the Ara to where he would let down his guard, if only for a second. "Or do you think," he said, "that I would have come to your room unarmed?"

  "I don't see any weapon on you," retorted Koris.

  "There are invisible weapons. If you were at this moment in the main examination chamber, you would know what I mean. The memory banks there happen to contain the readings of your own psycho-medical analysis—wouldn't you say?"

  The chief physician threw on his white smock. He had not permitted himself to be influenced in the slightest by Noir's ruse. "Let's just have a look," he suggested, and he forced the hypno to turn around. At the same time he pressed the muzzle of the pistol into the mutant's back. "And may the gods have pity on you if any thing there has been tampered with! In that case you'd be very happy to be turned over to the guard—but that I will not do. You will die—and in the process you will curse the fact that you were ever born!"

  Noir held back.

  "Get going, Zalite!"

  Noir stepped out into the corridor.

  • • •

  Ras Tschubai's extra load deprived him of the mobility he would have preferred. When he materialized he did not move until his eyes had accustomed themselves to the dark. Under his feet he felt a vibration. He could make out the sound of transformers humming and the faint throbbing of other machinery.

  He stood in a wide chamber which he estimated to be somewhere under the ground level. But farther below were other installations as was indicated by the rumble of the generators. Here was the central power station of the base. In view of the fact that the place was absolutely closed off from the outside, it was actually a complete impossibility for unauthorized persons or saboteurs to penetrate to this point. But Ras was determined to present the Arkonides with a riddle. Let them rack their brains over the question of whether their security installations were intact or simply inadequate.

  The wall-mounted light sources emitted only a dim illumination. Ras could hardly make out the mighty shadows of metallic blocks of machinery and equipment or the narrow passages that led between them. Heavy cable conductors led to crackling and buzzing insulators from which point various distribution lines reached off somewhere into the darkness.

  Ras moved farther into the maze of machinery and found one installation that appeared to be vital. To one side he discovered a small recess that was suitable for his purpose. He reached into his pocket and drew out an egg-shaped object. Carefully he groped with his finger until he located the timer key, which he depressed three times. This set the detonation for three hours hence.

  He placed the bomb in the small recess in the face of the machine and hoped that it would do enough damage to knock it out of commission. At the same time he hoped that the wreckage wouldn't be of such major proportions as to turn the suspicions of the Arkonides and the robots in the wrong direction. The Naats were not capable of any large-scale action. Two pieces of sabotage in this particular installation would be sufficient. However, if another detonation 'were to occur at the same time and at some dis
tance, the enemy wouldn't necessarily look for the perpetrator here in the camp.

  Ras planted a second time bomb and then teleported himself outside to the surface. He materialized directly before the unblinking eye lenses of a ponderous robot whose energy weapons rose automatically to aim directly at the African's midsection.

  • • •

  Son Okura pressed himself against the wall as he saw the door open through which Noir had disappeared. As his friend stepped into the hallway he was just about to run forward to him with a cry of relief on his lips when he noticed the weapon muzzle pressed into the hypno's back.

  The Japanese mutant ducked into a shallow recess afforded by another doorway and it was just in time because at the same moment the lights came on. Now the Ara who was threatening Noir became visible. How the, latter had escaped Noir's hypnoticontrol was puzzling to Okura. At any rate, from now on he must not let the two men get out of his sight.

  And Ras Tschubai? What would happen if he suddenly returned to take them back?

  Okura did not have much time to contemplate this possibility. If he didn't want to leave Noir in the lurch he would have to hurry. He stealthily trailed the two. The way was familiar to him.

  They were headed for the main operation and examining hall!

  But the cards were turned around here. The trumps were in the wrong hands. It would take a careful play now to get the advantage again. Okura's hand slipped into his pocket. It was lucky that Ras had left him one of the small mini-beamers. Although the weapon only held two charges, in a pinch that would be enough to handle a dozen opponents.

  So far, however, there was only one opponent.

  Who of course was making life a bit difficult for Noir. The unpleasant pressure of the weapon in his back was not particularly amusing. He kept on trying to find a weak spot in the Ara's consciousness but Koris was unusually resistive as though he had received some kind of special hypno-schooling. As Chief Medical officer of the Naator base, such a possibility could not be discounted.

  They walked through the operation room and finally entered the place where the booths were, and the psychodetector machines. A modern torture chamber, Noir thought fleetingly.

  The Ara medico came to a stop and ordered Noir to tell him, once and for all, what he had been up to. He appeared to be suddenly aware that he was not dealing with an ordinary AWOL or petty gripe case. Had something warned him?

  "Let's have it, traitor! What are you really trying to do? Were you going to murder me? And if so, why? What would you gain by that?"

  Noir tried one last thrust with his mind and will. He turned on all his power in an attempt to break through the screen that enveloped Koris' brain. It was useless! The Ara already had a hypno-block! And naturally it was one of Arkonide origin. Only some kind of shock could break it down.

  "Look out, Noir! Duck!"

  The voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Koris stiffened with alarm because he did not understand the language spoken. Yet this was not the main reason for his shock. It was of much greater concern to him that he was probably faced with two assassins. As he turned around he momentarily forgot Noir.

  Noir recognized Okura's voice and instantly took his advice. He threw himself to the floor at an angle and rolled under a partition into the adjacent booth. He closed his eyes against the energy flash that came from the doorway and hit the overhead light. Koris had only turned on this one lamp, and now with one stroke it was pitch dark.

  "Throw me your weapon!" yelled Okura while instantly changing his position. Koris' beamer shot missed him by a good three meters. "It won't work, Koris—I can see you! I'm not kidding! No bluff! Why did you just now close your eyes—maybe to hear me better?"

  Noir heard the Ara gasp aloud. "How is that possible? It's completely dark in here. You're lying...!"

  "You think so? Right now, for example, you're aiming your pistol in exactly the wrong direction. That cabinet by the door makes an acoustic deflection, so it fools you as to the direction of my voice. All right—now you're aiming to the left—wrong again! But now maybe you at least believe me. I can see you!"

  "Who are you?" Koris asked, apparently having for gotten Noir entirely.

  And that was his mistake.

  Noir sensed a lowering of his mental resistance and made a thrust. The Ara's brain literally lay open before him and all he had to do was dig in. Okura was occupying Koris with a problem he didn't seem able to solve. Even the Arkonide hypno-block meant nothing now as Noir struck home with all his force and brought the Ara under his mental control.

  • • •

  Ras Tschubai reacted instantly and teleported into the darkness. When he was able to see again he saw the robot not 30 meters away, staring at the empty spot where he had just observed a Zalite.

  Ras thought hastily: if he were to knock out a robot right here in the middle of the camp, that would really cause some brains to rattle. Besides, the fighter machine had to be destroyed. If it reported what it had seen...

  Ras reached into one of the spacious pockets of his Zalite cloak and pulled out a small grenade. He knew the thing could be made to explode within two seconds. It was only necessary to press the main release button and then get to safety as fast as possible.

  The robot turned ponderously around. It may have heard a suspicious sound. Ras ducked when the blinding beam of a searchlight illumined the night. The light emanated from the brow of the colossus. At the same time the thing's weapon ring began to rotate.

  Ras took the grenade in his right hand, depressed the firing button, and threw it.

  There are circumstances where two seconds can be a very long time. To Ras, they seemed like an eternity. He had refrained from teleporting to safety because he wasn't sure at the moment he could do it. When he made his throw he also made a giant leap sideways into a ground depression that offered him shelter.

  Even as he fell into the declivity the energy weapons of the robot were unleashed. The brilliant fingers of death shot by so closely that he could feel the heat from them. But the robot had aimed too high. Its ravening salvo dissipated itself in the atmosphere.

  The grenade fell directly at the robot's feet. Ras could see it plainly. He ducked as low as he could into the depression, the original purpose of which escaped him. In any case it was man-made and was probably a drainage ditch.

  The blast of the detonation was accompanied by a jet of flame, to be followed by a shockwave that swept over Ras' bowed back. Then came a violent percussion that shook the ground.

  After that there was a deathly silence.

  Cautiously, the teleporter raised up. After this commotion it would only be a few seconds before all hell broke loose. Among other things, all combat robots were in radio communication with one another.

  In the place where the monster had stood was a crater. Smoldering metal fragments were strewn about as though a plane had crashed there. Of the robot itself there was not much to be seen.

  Somewhere the mournful howl of sirens started up. The thunder of heavy robot feet began to shake the ground. A loudspeaker roared out sharp commands. Searchlights flamed alive and bathed the area with brilliant light.

  Ras Tschubai realized that he had to disappear. Yet he also knew that if anyone saw him in the act of teleporting it would place the whole commando team in the greatest danger. If the Regent were to have the slightest hint of any paranormal trickery here, his suspicions would immediately focus upon Rhodan and his Mutant Corps.

  The first wave of combat robots had swarmed into view and was coming toward the crater just as Ras dematerialized and jumped back into the hospital.

  The first thing he saw was that the corridor was lighted and that Son Okura was creeping along it with every indication of extreme caution.

  Without second thoughts, Ras simply followed him.

  4/ TO HAIL WITH THE REGENT

  Next morning the troops in the cone-shaped barracks building were awakened by a reveille siren. Soon thereafter, robot 574 announced the o
rders of the day in the billet where Rhodan and his men were located there was a deathly silence. Everybody waited tensely, wondering if the mutant action during the night had made an impact by now.

  At first they heard a succession of routine instructions which were obviously the normal type for the start of daily operations—but then the metallic voice from the speaker announced:

  "Medical examinations scheduled for today are hereby rescheduled for tomorrow. No personnel will leave the building. After lunch the first instructions in weapons theory and ordnance applications will begin. Supper schedule: no change."

  Ras Tschubai appeared to be quite satisfied with this development. When the P.A. became silent he looked at Rhodan triumphantly. "You see, sir? I was right! Those two demolition bombs in the power plant and knocking-out that robot was enough to start them scrambling. They have something else to think about now."

  "But only one day of delay isn't enough," Rhodan replied. "So far there are only two Aras under Noir's control. As long as they're not all psyched over to him we still have to face the possibility of discovery."

  Noir interjected: "But I'm familiar with the layout now. Tonight all I need is to go there with Ras and I know we'll finish the job."

  "I hope so." The furrows on Rhodan's brow remained, however. "I think it'd be a good idea for us to be briefed on what's happening outside." He turned to Atlan, who had been quietly sitting on his bed and staring at the wall. "Would you do me the favor of fetching Tanaka Seiko from his billet?"

  Seiko was the signal tracer of the Mutant Corps. Not only was his brain capable of picking up radio waves and locating their transmission point, he was also able to 'hear' them. In other words: the mutant did not need a receiver to intercept radio messages. He seemed to have a built-in tuning and detection circuit.

  Atlan got up and left the room.

  Bell moved closer to Rhodan. "Are you trying to say that their com traffic wouldn't be coded?"