by Perry Rhodan
"Quite right," was the reply. "And I want to help you to get out of here."
Chellish quickly regained his calmness. "I wouldn't know what help I'd appreciate more," he said coolly. "But where shall we go and what will happen to our other men?"
The Whistler had it all figured out. "I'll be in charge of this cell block for the next two hours. This ought to be enough time to set your friends free. We can hide in the cellar of the tower until it gets dark. Then a few of our supporters will come to lead us out."
"Us?" Chellish asked in surprise. "Do you want to leave together with us?"
"Of course, I've got to. They'll find out that I was the one who let you escape."
"Fine, let's go. Are all our men held in this same block?"
"Yes. In the adjoining cells."
Mullon still stood motionlessly at the rear wall of the cell. He looked like a man who couldn't believe his luck and was too slow in reacting to the sudden change of his situation. Chellish had to push him out of the cell.
In the corridor the Whistler hastily whispered further information. In his opinion it would be almost impossible to get back the weapons which had been taken away from them. The Secret Service kept them in a safe to which only Gii-Yeep and a few members of his inner circle had access.
But the partisan-whose name was Luun-Syr-believed that he could get hold of four or more ultrasonic pistols in addition to his own and this was more than Chellish could have dreamed.
The high and narrow corridor was quiet and dimly lit. The doors to the prison cells were located at equal spaces of three meters at the right side of the corridor and the opposite wall was even and smooth.
Luun-Syr opened the adjacent cell with some kind of a rod which, so he said, possessed a mysterious magnetic force that alone could unlock the complicated mechanism of the doors. Chellish assumed that it was an electronic impulse device to which the door locks were attuned.
As the door slid aside they saw O'Bannon and Milligan sitting on the floor facing each other and playing a game in which the right arm was moved around while the fingers formed figures that had to be guessed by the other player before he could stop the arm. It was a simple game which apparently had been invented by O'Bannon to demonstrate to the Whistlers whenever they entered their cell that they could go to hell.
"Cut it out, you jokers!" Chellish muttered impolitely. "Is this the best you can think of?"
O'Bannon jumped up. "Chellish...!" he exclaimed. "Mullon! Is everything in order?"
"If you keep shouting like this," Chellish hissed, "nothing will be in order. This good man Luun-Syr will help us to break out. We'll have to be nice and quiet; so watch it! Come on, we want to get the others."
Chellish had to pass out more admonishments till everybody was freed. Their joy was greater than their caution. Each time two other cellmates realized that their confinement was over, they cried out with enthusiasm.
Luun-Syr prudently locked the cell doors again so that their flight would not be discovered prematurely. Then Chellish sent him to the guardroom to secure the ultrasonic pistols.
In the meantime Chellish and his men put their heads together.
"Luun-Syr suggested that we hide in the cellar until it get dark," Chellish explained. "Then the partisans will come to rescue us. I don't think it's a very good idea because they'll search the entire building as soon as they discover that we're missing and this will include the cellar too. We don't stand much of a chance against the whole Secret Service. But there is a place where they won't look for us: the floor where the ruler himself lives. Of course there'll be a lot of guards all over the place but if we can get there before they find out that we've vanished from the prison it's a good bet that we can overwhelm the guards... and perhaps even seize the big pinhead himself."
Some of the men considered it an excellent plan but others were afraid that it was too bold. Among the latter was O'Bannon who grumbled: "Why don't we try to break out at once and reach the Fair Lady. If we manage to get aboard they can't do a thing to us."
Chellish responded grimly: "Wonderful! And how do you propose we can do it? The Whistlers have surrounded the ship with guards. The Secret Service has taken all our equipment away from us. We can't even send a simple signal to the Fair Lady. No, buddy, it's not a good idea."
O'Bannon had to admit that Chellish's arguments were right and they soon agreed to proceed according to Chellish's plan.
Then Luun-Syr returned, loaded with six ultrasonic pistols. Chellish distributed the weapons and told the Whistler about his plan. Luun-Syr reacted similarly to O'Bannon. At first he voiced objections but he was quickly convinced that there was no better approach.
"Very good," Chellish concluded with satisfaction, "then let's get started right away. Which is the best way to go to the main tower?"
Luun-Syr pointed along the corridor. "Down there are the elevator shafts," he explained. "We can take one of the elevators and go up to the bridges. If we find one with little traffic we can be in the main tower in half an hour."
Chellish agreed and turned to his men. "We've got six pistols now and they should be enough to reach our goal if we're careful and have a little luck."
With these words Chellish marched his little band forward.
7/ AMNESTY?
Fij-Gul had given his report to Wee-Nii and then returned to his company of men. He expected to find the two technicians back at the barrier or at least to see some sign of them. But such was not the case.
Deeply bewildered and with growing anxiety Fij-Gul had stood guard with his company at the periphery of the protective shield and he was relieved after five hours of duty.
Meanwhile an idea had occurred to him. As soon as he was relieved he went back to the Record Office again and asked an attendant to bring him the two instruments which translated the languages of the Weelie-Wee colonists and the people of Aurigel.
Now that he sat in front of the instruments the task he was about to tackle seemed more difficult and even if he were successful he still didn't know whether it would turn his suspicion into certainty. All he knew was that the aliens from Aurigel pronounced the name of their spaceship like Feeh-Leh-Dii but to obtain the desired answer from the translators he had to pronounce these words himself and he had no reliable method to judge what source of errors would be introduced by his faulty pronunciation.
Finally he hit upon an idea. He knew that Feeh-Leh-Dii meant something similar to 'Lovely Woman'. Therefore he spoke the words "Lovely Woman" in his own language into the Aurigel translator and waited till the instrument performed the translation with perfect enunciation.
He listened carefully to the sound and it seemed to him that the name of the alien ship was indeed taken from the Weelie-Wee language and was not an original word of the Aurigel race. This was exactly what had puzzled him during his reflections and why he sought to alleviate his suspicion and ascertain the true facts.
Then he placed the microphone of the Weelie-Wee set before the loudspeaker of the Aurigel translator. In this manner he avoided the necessity of speaking the foreign language himself. Then he said for a second time: "Lovely Woman!"
He waited anxiously to see how the Weelie-Wee translator would react to the input. If the words Feeh-Leh-Dii actually originated from the Weelie-Wee idiom the Weelie-Wee translator would have to transmit the Whistlers' words for 'Lovely Woman'.
His breathless tension was rewarded when the Weelie-Wee instrument picked up the words from the Aurigel translator and clearly pronounced in the Whistler's own language: "Lovely Woman!"
Fij-Gul was stunned although this was precisely what he had expected to happen. He forced himself to go over his train of thoughts again and could find no mistake. If the aliens from Aurigel had given their ship a name which stemmed from the Weelie-Wee language, then the probability was very great that they didn't come from Aurigel-if such a world existed at all-but from Weelie-Wee.
And this was something he had to report to His Excellency as quickly a
s possible.
• • •
So it all had been a hoax!
They had boasted of their fleet's invincible might and the high level of their technology in order to instil in him and to divert his attention from Weelie-Wee to the legendary world of Aurigel which probably didn't even exist.
Somehow they must have overwhelmed Sey-Wuun and captured or demolished his ship before coming to Heeninniy to finish their work so that the 8000 miserable and primitive settlers would have peace and quiet.
Quiet! He would make them quiet!
Iiy-Juur-Eelie didn't doubt for a moment that Fij-Gul's hunch was right. He dismissed Fij-Gul after promising him that he would promote him to Colonel at the next occasion and he informed Gii-Yeep that he wanted to see the prisoners at once in his office. Yes-all of them!
He pictured in his mind their mortification when he told them to their faces where they came from and accused them of lying. He would ridicule them and gloat in their fury and helplessness. He would drag them before his people and they would pour their scorn on them. He would...
He was interrupted by Gii-Yeep's call. His voice sounded hysterical as he shrieked: "The prisoners have escaped, Your Excellency!"
• • •
"Damn it! Shoot at it if you can't break the switch panel!"
Walsh nodded, raised his pistol and blasted the switch panel. The awesome energy of the ultrasonic pistol ripped the metal plate apart and turned the wires and connections behind it to dust.
The elevator cabin was stuck and nobody would be able to move it until the wiring was repaired.
Five elevator shafts led up to the highest floor of the main tower and to block them meant to frustrate the adversary's ability to move in on them very quickly. If the elevators were out of operation, their foe had to come up the stairs and the only staircase leading up to Iiy-Juur-Eelie's private quarters on the highest floor could easily be defended by three men, at least as long as until the ruler had been captured. Then all attacks should cease because it would endanger the life of his august personality.
However they hadn't reached that point as yet. There were still several guards in the upper corridors who were unaware of the trouble which threatened them. Nor did they know below and in the other towers where the fugitives had gone.
So far everything had come off almost without a hitch. They had already run into 15 Whistlers whom they had to knock out and tie up to keep them from spreading what they had seen. None of the 15 had dared to offer resistance when they pointed the funnel-shaped pistol barrels at them.
They had accomplished the move from the adjacent to the main tower without being noticed and now in Iiy-Juur-Eelie's own quarters, where he dictated absolute quiet, the danger of detection was even less.
Luun-Syr told them that they had reached the 150th floor and since there were only 156 floors in the tower they were almost close enough to their goal to touch it, although the question remained whether Iiy-Juur-Eelie actually was in one of his rooms.
After they obstructed the elevators on the 150th floor they left Milligan, Walsh and Everdon behind as guards. The three men took up position at the top of the stairs leading down to the next floor and had every intention of making it as hard as possible for anyone who tried to ascend the steps.
Two more men, Farnway and McLeigh, were assigned to maintain liaison with the three in the rear and to give them any information they might require. But first they accompanied Chellish and the others as they pushed upwards.
The main corridor of the 151st floor was completely empty except for a single sentry who leaned in a casual manner against the wall on the landing of the stairs. He failed to notice the men who sneaked up the flight of stairs and began to move only when Chellish threw a coin far down into the corridor so that it made a clacking noise which aroused his curiosity.
Chellish and Mullon quickly jumped up and noiselessly followed the sentry who was seized, bound and gagged before he could reach the coin. They put the Whistler down near the stairs since there was little likelihood that he would be detected by his comrades.
The situation on the next floor was the same. For a second time a coin thrown into the corridor caused the guard to leave his post in order to investigate the noise. He was grabbed by Chellish and Mullon just as noiselessly as the Whistler before him and tied and gagged.
The guard on the 153rd floor suffered the same ignoble fate. Chellish began to hope that they could gain just as easily access to the highest floor but when they approached the 154th floor, they heard a lot of shouting from below.
The Whistlers had discovered that the elevators were stuck and since they must already have learned that the prisoners were loose it wasn't hard to guess who was to blame for it and where to look for the fugitives.
Chellish saw another sentry appear over the railing. However there was no time to put him out of action without being seen. Chellish pulled out his weapon and fired a shot. The guard silently collapsed across the railing.
"Run up!" Chellish shouted. "They know what they're up against!"
The shouting below grew louder. They could hear banging and running as well as Milligan bellowing: "Don't let 'em get out!"
Meanwhile Chellish rushed up the stairs. At the other end of the corridor he saw a group of three guards. He dropped to the floor and started to shoot them up. One shot hissed close over his head but then his weapon took its toll and the Whistlers crumpled to the floor where they remained motionless.
Down below the noise had faded away. Only once did he hear Milligan's roaring voice: "We're holding them back! Go and get the old man!"
Chellish grinned as he darted up the last flight of stairs with all the vigor he could muster. He had expected that the top floor where Iiy-Juur-Eelie lived would be the most difficult to invade. But strangely he met no resistance as he reached the top of the stairs with his men. They ducked and peered down the empty corridor. The office of the despot was located at the far end and the door was half-open. Behind the door knelt a few guards who held their weapons ready to shoot.
Chellish cautiously raised the barrel of his pistol over the edge of the last step and took careful aim. At the moment one of the Whistlers noticed him he pulled the trigger with a scattered shot, tearing a gap in the line of guards. The uninjured ones retreated deeper into the room and took cover behind the doors.
Chellish was satisfied to see that the defenders knew nothing about tactics. They seemed to think that it would be easy for them to repulse him when he tried to reach the door to the office through the corridor. But of course he didn't come alone. He had seven Terrans at his side and each one now held two weapons in his hands. The corridor was wide enough for their array side by side and Chellish marched toward the entrance under the protective fire of his comrades.
The two door wings turned into brown dust under the ultrasonic energy. The large room lay open before Chellish and he saw the last of Iiy-Juur-Eelie bodyguards seek cover behind tables and chairs. But the one person he didn't see was the tyrant.
Chellish kept advancing. When he paused under the wide door, flanked by his comrades, the last of the bodyguards came out from their hiding places and threw away their weapons. They stretched their arms straightforward as a sign of capitulation and they no longer held weapons.
Chellish made them leave the room and put them in O'Bannon's custody. O'Bannon took two more men to help him, and Chellish began to search the spacious room with the others.
They found Iiy-Juur-Eelie cowering behind a huge piece of furniture. He trembled and his face was ash-grey. It never occurred to him that he could have taken a weapon like his bodyguards and defended himself.
Chellish took Luun-Syr's translator and told the frightened man to come out. Iiy-Juur-Eelie obeyed immediately. Chellish let him sit down on a chair and asked Mullon to watch him. Then he sent Farnway and McLeigh down to Milligan with instructions to retreat to the highest floor.
Milligan and his two men stationed themselves at the to
p of the staircase and kept the besieging Whistlers from moving up by giving them notice that any further attack would jeopardize the life of His Excellency.
After order and quiet had been restored by this warning, Chellish began to talk to Iiy-Juur-Eelie. "We won't make many demands," he said calmly. "All we want is that you safeguard our departure by accompanying us and to give us your assurance that you won't take any retaliatory measures against our friends the partisans."
Iiy-Juur-Eelie stared at Chellish without answering.
"Well?" Chellish goaded him after awhile.
The President-King seemed to awake from a state of deep thought. Suddenly his vacant eyes sprang to life again and he screeched in fury. "You don't have a chance, you idiot. We'll overrun Weelie-Wee and crush you lock, stock and barrel."
Chellish didn't show the horrified shock that overcame him. "How do you know that we come from Weelie-Wee?" he inquired just as calmly as before.
"We've our means of finding out your secrets," Iiy-Juur-Eelie retorted, foaming with rage when his adversary failed to give him the satisfaction of looking horrorstricken. "You should have been a little smarter when you picked a name for your ship."
Of course, Chellish thought, how stupid! First we go to all the trouble of learning French flawlessly and then we chose an English name for the Fair Lady. "This doesn't change the situation one iota," he stated sharply. "We must leave Heeninniy without being molested and you'll have to accompany us so that our friends won't suffer your persecution. If your race ever decides to dare a hostile move against Weelie-Wee, which we call Grautier, you won't live to see it."
Iiy-Juur-Eelie slumped forward. His rage seemed to have evaporated and turned into resignation. "You don't leave me any choice," he said softly. "I bow to your conditions."
"You're acting very sensibly," Chellish answered. "We don't have any time to lose. Who must be notified of your decision in order to avoid any unpleasant incidents?"