by Perry Rhodan
Thora and Khrest were too intellectually sensitive to think of Earthlings as 'Lords of the Universe' but they did believe that the Earthmen would finally achieve domination of the galaxies, where their own people had failed. It was Perry Rhodan who had finally discovered the planet Wanderer, their long-sought World of Eternal Life. Yet, ironically, it had been he and Reginald Bell who were chosen to be treated with the coveted biological cell shower, a rejuvenating process. They would not age for at least another six decades. Whereas they, the Arkonides who had researched this ages-old myth of their race, had not been accepted for this special honor. And now here was an Earthman, his life prolonged, in command of the greatest spaceship in the galaxies—an ally of the Arkonide Empire! Thora and Khrest shared these thoughts mutually. They relived in memory the past 13 years in a foreign world, plus their return to Arkon. They had become strangers in their own home world. Instead of Arkonides reigning there, a mammoth robot brain was in charge and revolutionary flare-ups in satellite galaxies were quelled without mercy by robot-manned Arkonide spacers.
"Transition in 12 minutes!" the ship's positronicon announced through all speakers.
The Titan shot through the star cluster at eight-tenths speol (speed of light). The panoramic vid-screen pictured the passing stars, a world of wonder that always fascinated. But on board the Titan there was no room now for romanticists. The nav computation data spilling out of the positronicon became audible. Star Cluster M-13, more than 230 light-years in diameter, was a flight-channel 'freeway system' for the spacers. Within this relatively limited' space, nine-tenths of all Empire space traffic sped from one star to the next. Hyper-transitions were being recorded almost with pulse-beat frequency.
Suddenly Perry Rhodan began cursing under his breath, which didn't happen very often. He had spotted two bogey blips on the observation screen, and in response to his instant keying the console for I.D., electronic symbols marked the screen, showing the blips to be spacers tied to his own trajectory.
His Commander's voice demanded, "Where's that comp data!"
The scan operator returned quickly with: "Approach from Phi 34°, Alpha 18; value 1-0-7; 45 point acceleration; 300 miles per second. Speed oh-point-8 light. Objects: 2. Type: Empire ships. End of read-out."
What happened next had not been programmed. With lightning swiftness, Rhodan switched over to manual flight mode for emergencies. The mighty ship's positronicon seemed to disconnect and fall silent. It was no longer in control of the Titan.
"Okay, my nosey friend," murmured Rhodan, referring to the robot brain on Arkon, "we shall see!" His hand seemed to casually brush across the acceleration adjuster keyboard.
In the same moment the boosters cut in and shoved the Titan to full acceleration, which brought an octave higher pitch to the already whining inertial-thrust absorbers.
Again Rhodan waited for the comp data. He demanded it this time with an exaggerated politeness.
From the speaker came a sound of heavy breathing, then the scan operator's tense voice: "Uh, distance 250,000 miles, sir!"
"Thank you very much," replied Rhodan and added a general comment, both to persons present and over the com system: "Nav computation and scanner section has three delayed-action marks in succession. For the necessary 100% precision, special practice drills will be scheduled in the near future. Gentlemen, I cannot always spare the time to request the comp data readouts. Has it occurred to you that in many vital situations we're going to be faced with we're just not going to keep on top of it unless everybody, and I mean everybody, works with the top level of efficiency!"
The two following Empire spacers, now accurately pinpointed to the coordinate scanners and magnified on the observation screen, appeared to approach even faster than before. Bell grunted his anger, offended by this spying action of the mammoth robot brain on Arkon.
A sparkle appeared in Rhodan's eyes, a rare and winsome gleaming that seemed capable of melting all resistance. Obviously this was aimed at the machine intelligence he was opposing, as though across a game board politely. He didn't mind the distrust of the robot positronicon. After all, he had taken off with the most powerful battle-spacer known. The robot brain had not voluntarily lent him the Titan as his own private taxi. Rhodan had simply appropriated the top-level piece of ordinance, so brand spanking new that it had only passed through a few preliminary flight tests.
Perry knew that no act of human kindness or warm buddy system had caused the positronicon to leave this prize in his hands. A positronicon had no emotions, merely a cold-pulsing sea of tight little logic gates. So home-base had concluded: there was only one crew capable of handling this ship now and that team worked under leadership of this alien, Perry Rhodan.
"What are you dabbling with over there?" asked Bell, slightly confused, as he leaned curiously toward Perry.
"Just running a little test, Reg. Don't look now but our automatic guidance system is still operating, even though I hit the override just prior to making a hyper-transit jump. Now what I'd like to see is how fast it's going to cross-compensate for a series of little 'dabblings' as you call them."
Bell took a deep breath. Thora and Khrest also reacted gravely. Thora, who at one time had commanded an Arkonide expedition ship, that same vessel that had been stranded on Earth's moon, softly placed a hand on Perry's shoulder. The touch of the aristocratic Arkonide woman sent a tremor down his spine. Never in 13 years of close contact had he ever experienced her physical touch.
"Yes?" He looked up at her.
"Perry—what you are demanding from the ship's computer brain is beyond its potential performance limit. For the hypertransit, it would require an entire new progr—"
She was interrupted by the high, ear-shattering speaker voice of the automaton: "X minus 17... X minus 8... X minus 1..."
Thora, Khrest and everybody else standing in the command central fled to any seat they could find.
Perry was barely able to hear the final "X minus Zero!" The awful twinge at the nape of the neck slammed in on him. Then fifth-dimensional hyperspace streamed whispering and hissing tonelessly from all sides into the control cupola of the Titan —extinguishing everything: life, matter, energy. It devoured everything, swept it all away. The normal world ceased to exist.
The two Empire ships had been tailgating the Titan closely. Their hyper-sensor equipment registered the transit jump of the giant spacesphere through hyperspace and captured exact co-ordinates.
2/ HIDEOUT IN THE THATREL SYSTEM
"Okay, that's enough!" groaned Bell. He closed his eyes in a painful grimace and rubbed the nape of his neck.
The Titan had just completed the fourth short hyperjump. Perry and he were the first to recover enough to go back into action.
"We'll see," muttered Rhodan to himself, non-committally.
The micro-speaker hissed briefly. Then came the comp data from the hyper-sensor scans, calculated from the moment of their first transit.
"Five jumps measured, sir!" announced the scan officer triumphantly. "Each with a distance of eight LIMS (light minutes) and 14-point-6 light-seconds..."
"Thank you," replied Rhodan and turned off the intercom.
Bell shook his head wonderingly. "But man, did you see that heavy space traffic? I'd sure like to have some good statistics on the actual number of spacecraft operating in that star cluster!"
Thora called to him from her seat. "I recall that, 13 years ago, we had more than three million of them," she said. She and Bell had often exchanged rejoinders and squelches but this one caught Bell short for an answer.
"Three million!" he moaned and kept repeating it.
The figure startled Rhodan and disturbed him but he concealed his reaction. Good Lord! he thought. Over three million space ships and yet they've let all their accomplishments decay... The whole crew in the command center had heard Thora's remark and showed their astonishment. No doubt they were thinking it a utopian dream to attempt a conquest of such an incredible empire.
"So
what!?" Perry looked straight into Thora's eyes. She lost her self-assurance under his glance.
Perry was not conceited but just now his memory awakened concerning how he alone had been able to outwit the mighty positronic brain on Arkon. And yet this robot brain was more powerful than he—a million times more powerful. The total incalculable might and power of Star Cluster M-13 stood behind it. This Brain was no decadent bon vivant of an Arkonide. It had drive, a desire for action. But it had been outwitted by a single individual. That was why Rhodan was merely concerned but not vanquished by Thora's statistic.
"No more hyper-transits!" Rhodan's order was transmitted to every deck of the Titan and into every sector. He was convinced that Arkon had lost his trail. Those two Empire ships tagging so close behind were also in a heavy traffic channel and had probably lost him at the third hytrans. "Enter flight program for the Thatrel System," he also ordered.
Reginald Bell began sulking. "I wish I could figure out why the name of that system gives me the wild willies. Hey, Perry—who dusted off that particular corner of the star maps for us?"
"You ought to remember, Reg. It was Thora."
"No, this is the first time you told me who. Anyway, she knows best, I guess. How far is this place from Arkon?"
"47 light-years. But you should remember all that, Reggy. You were with us when we went through the star catalogue searching for the Thatrel System. What gives with you, chum?"
"Nothing, Perry, it's just a funny feeling about that place, that's all."
"You should take something for it!" Perry spoke in harsher tones than he intended but Bell had upset him with his foreboding. He had hoped after all these past turbulent days to subside into a period of relaxation.
The Second Officer in charge of ship EDP positronics and programming announced: "Sir, the flight program for Thatrel System is in operation and trajectory set for new course. Difference to co-ordinates is 0.0003. Distance from Honur is 34.62 light-hours at current velocity of 0.76 light..."
At slightly more than three-fourths speol, the Titan sped toward the obscure Thatrel System. Three insignificant planets circled a small, pale-red sun there. According to the star catalogue prepared by the Arkonides, the second world was inhabited but by a degenerated population. Rhodan wondered if the already degenerated Arkonides were calling these descendants of their race degenerate, what was in store for them on this planet Honur?
For two days Perry kept up his precautionary observations on the space behind him without any course change, while edging farther and farther from the customary shipping routes of the Arkonide spacers. He wanted to make sure that the mechanical Regent of Arkon had not discovered his whereabouts and that none of the many spacers that had crossed their course at a distance might have reported them to Arkon. His precautions were well understood by everyone on board the Titan, since Rhodan was no friend of chance contingencies and went out of his way to avoid them.
At 10:43 ship time the command was finally given to take a direct course to the Thatrel System. The Titan hurtled toward its destination at almost the speed of light. Slightly less than 13 hours later the remote solar system appeared before them on the panoramic videoscreen.
The spectroanalyst harrumphed derisively as he analyzed the small sun's light rays. Rhodan compared results with the values listed in the Arkonide catalogue.
He was standing in the main conference room of the Titan, surrounded by Bell, Khrest and Thora. The conference room was commensurate in its dimensions with the extravagant size of the Titan. Bell had derisively dubbed it the Ballroom because he frowned on pomp and ceremony and extensive talks and meetings.
"Perry, why not just make a 'Mars' landing on this clod; you won't find anything there. You don't have to make a big project with the catalogue—I found a Galactic Routing and Time-Table in the library. You ought to take a look at it. There's not a single shipping route that touches this corner of the Big Deep."
"Then this place is exactly what we need, Reg. You keep forgetting we could hardly powder our noses on Zalit without a hundred spies watching us. And don't blame me now if I'm still suspicious of the Zalites. After their revolt they were all too friendly with Arkon. Can you tell me how we can install the new hypertrans compensator without being caught at it? Right now on this trip it's been brought home to us how important the compensator is to us. Instead of going through multiple jumps we could have said goodbye to Arkon with a single transition. That's why I'm glad that Thora has recommended this deserted 'corner' in your Big Deep for us. The installation has to be kept a complete secret. I'd like to have at least a couple of aces up my sleeve in this game we're playing against the robot brain on Arkon."
Bell felt rebuked and started rebelling. "So how many aces are three million spaceships? You going to overlook that...?"
"On the contrary, my dear Reg!" Perry was all smiles. "Since I have learned how many spacers there are in M-13, I have been able to shelve our project for new spacer construction."
"You intend to do some more skyjacking, Perry?" Bell was perplexed. When he noticed Thora and Khrest grinning, he became angry. He could see no reason for the hilarity and he blustered, "Skyjacked is the right word, my friends, let's face it. The Titan was skyjacked! You have to draw the line somewhere and face facts!"
"But Reg—you of all people!" Rhodan interrupted, his eyes dancing with concealed delight. "To become so sensitive on this particular subject! What's come over you, pal? Need I remind you of a few small items concerning 'skyjacking', where you have drawn a line longer than the universe...? For instance, I well remember—"
"Okay!" Bell's excitement had subsided as he saw Perry's trend of argument. "I pass!"
"Alright, Reg," Perry answered. "But I still can't have you thinking of us as common thieves. Don't forget that we came as friends to Arkon and you saw what happened when we reached Star Cluster M-13! Besides, when I suggested that our project for new spacer construction had become superfluous, I was thinking of the day when the Arkonides would become our best friends and would supply us with as many spacers as we need. Then what you prophesied in our conversation with Khrest a few days ago will become reality. Okay? Are we back to a mutual understanding...?"
"Yeah, I'd say so. Except for this Thatrel System. I'm not exactly hysterical but this sun gives me the creeps
3/ BURNED OUT WORLD
Honur, the second planet of the Thatrel System, presented a dry and choleric aspect. The panob screen of the Titan revealed it in all its shriveled ugliness.
"Where are the cities?" asked John Marshall, who was Rhodan's best telepath and since the days of the New Power his most faithful follower.
"Honur has no cities," explained Rhodan. "A world where you don't find any raw materials, no minerals to speak of and beset by a miserable climate, is fast forgotten."
How bad the climatic conditions were became clearly visible on the screen. A tremendous sandstorm raged over its scorched, desert-like surface. From this distance it looked like a burning ball in a close-fitting shroud of white smoke. The orbiting speed of the Titan pulled the scene of the sandstorm slowly across the videoscreen. A mighty mountain range came into view. The ship's electromagnetic triangulators scanned the peaks as having a mean altitude of over 12,000 feet. Thus was the horrifying aspect of this parched and inhospitable globe, with its gaunt, barren mountain range stretching from the northeast in a giant bow to southwest.
"Well!" exclaimed Bell. "What do you know?—a river!" He pointed out a serpentine line that curled around the base of the mountains and ended in a small lake.
The Titan continued its free-fall orbit around Honur. The mountain range moved slowly across the observation screen. When it terminated, a different type of terrain was presented. Here a greenish-grey coloring appeared, too green to be called grey yet too drab to be termed colorful.
Perry Rhodan wished ruefully that he were fully staffed and thought of the large botanical research department on Deck 17, just now inoperable.
I
wonder what this greenish grey area could be?" said Khrest and turned to Thora. When he saw her expression, he remained silent, watching her critically. The tall, elegant and aristocratic Thora seemed to be totally gripped in stunned contemplation of the desolate view below. A puzzled frown appeared to replace the regal serenity to which everyone was accustomed. Finally she felt Khrest's questioning surveillance.
She shook her head as if to clear it of unpleasant thoughts. "Could this ugly discoloration be an extended forest?" she asked in return.
"Home, Home on the Range!" sang Bell tauntingly as an expression of old-fashioned American tastes for landscapes, which this one certainly didn't satisfy. "Where the deer and the antelope..." His voice trailed off under their combined scrutiny.
Far ahead on the horizon appeared a few more rivers, all ending in small lakes and basins, but no trace of an ocean. Honur was a dry planet. It was a single inhospitable continent. Slowly the nocturnal hemisphere appeared where darkness seemed to enshroud the ugliness in secret shame.
"Well, anyway," Bell tried to cheer himself up, "it's better to land here after a hyper-transit than smack-dab in the middle of a space battle! But I still don't dig this king-size Death Valley!"
Thus was a second name given to Honur...
• • •
Perry Rhodan's decision to land after the first orbit of Honur was based on his conviction that further delay could expose them to possible tracking by other ships, thus heightening the danger of discovery by the robot brain of Arkon.