by Perry Rhodan
"Gii-Yeep," Iiy-Juur-Eelie murmured weakly. "Use the set over there. It'll connect you directly with him."
The set didn't look unlike a telephone on Terra. Chellish lifted the receiver and Gii-Yeep answered in his unmistakable hissing voice. Chellish put the bilingual converter close to the set so that he got the translation: "The prisoners must be on the way to you, Excellency. I urgently request you..."
Chellish interrupted him. "This is Chellish speaking. Iiy-Juur-Eelie is already in my power. Now listen to me, I've got something to tell you!"
At first there was no response. The shock of the information must have dazed Gii-Yeep. It took him awhile before he found his breath again. "I'm listening!"
"The President-King has guaranteed us safe conduct," Chellish advised him. "I demand that you provide an escort for us that will take us safely and without delay to the airport. You'll force us to take the life of your ruler if you commit any overt action against us. Do you understand me?"
Again there was silence at the other end. Chellish concentrated closely when Gii-Yeep finally began to speak again and he was made to realize that his strategy was miscalculated and all his efforts were in vain, because the Whistler declared: "I can't abide by the decision of His Excellency. As it was obviously made under duress I don't consider it as binding. I shall not furnish an escort for you and will do my best to surrender you to just punishment."
Chellish had trouble keeping his composure. "I advise you to think over carefully what you're doing," Chellish urged. "The life of the President-King is in our hands. We have no wish to kill him but if you insist on harassing us..."
"This is extremely regrettable," Gii-Yeep answered, "But there is apparently nothing I can do about it. You seem to forget that our government is not ruled by a despot. The Council of Ministers would never forgive me if I were to let the enemies of our world and our race get away for the sake of sparing the life of one man. Notwithstanding, I'm willing to offer you a compromise. Set His Excellency free and surrender without resistance. The Court will show you leniency for this conciliatory gesture when you're brought to trial."
Chellish laughed bitterly. "Thanks for your advice," he jeered. "You didn't believe that we would accept it, did you?"
"I'll be patient with you. Our side will do nothing for one hour. When the hour is up, I'll call you again and you must give me your final answer."
• • •
It was all over! They were done for!
They had played for high stakes and lost. After putting all their courage, determination and ingenuity on the scale, the balance had tipped to the other side. The predominance of an entire race had decided the outcome.
Within reach of their goal, their plan had been inexorably thwarted. Their own as well as Grautier's situation was more than ever imperiled.
Chellish looked at the grey-faced, frightened old man who cringed in his chair and looked small and miserable despite his height of 2.60 meters. Iiy-Juur-Eelie, who had ruled Heeninniy like a tyrant and at the bitter end, had learned that his subjects considered his life worth less than granting impunity to 10 enemies of the state.
Mullon, O'Bannon and the rest of the men faced Gii-Yeep's decision with calmness. They had no illusions about the seriousness of their situation and they knew what was in store for them. They had not yet come to a conclusion but Chellish had no doubt that they would vote for the honorable resolution; namely, to defend themselves when the only other alternative was unconditional surrender.
Chellish pulled himself out of his brooding. Something had to be done! They couldn't sit around and wait till the Whistlers started the attack. They had to occupy the strategic points of the floor and eliminate everything which could become a hazard to them.
The Whistlers had doubtlessly put the elevators back in operation. Chellish assigned two men to the task of controlling the elevator shafts continuously and to snap the cables with their guns as soon as they started to move upward.
Next he made an inspection of the extensive equipment in Iiy-Juur-Eelie's office. There were numerous instruments, telephones, videophones; intercoms and similar instruments. Chellish tested them but somebody had already cut off all connections before he got around to checking them. Only the line to Gii-Yeep was still open but nobody answered there either.
This was the work of Gii-Yeep! Chellish grudgingly gave respect where it was due. The man had not only shown admirable circumspection at a dangerous moment but he had also disregarded the tradition of the personality cult which had fettered the politics of Heeninniy ever since Iiy-Juur-Eelie had taken over. He had probably severed the connections because he must have anticipated that his boss would attempt to summon help from other parts of the planet.
Meanwhile O'Bannon had completed his task of posting the men at the important points of the floor. Chellish made the round and approved of his placements. Their position would enable them to keep the Whistlers at bay for a few hours.
Perhaps several hours of bloody fighting could induce even a tough man like Gii-Yeep to relent in his demand for unconditional surrender. If they succeeded in knocking out enough of his men, he would see the light and accept certain conditions.
Almost 50 minutes had elapsed since the ultimatum. Chellish returned to Iiy-Juur-Eelie's office and waited for the telephone call from Gii-Yeep.
• • •
"What did you decide?"
"There's nothing to decide," Chellish answered grimly. "If you're not ready to obey our demands, you'll have to come and get us by force."
Gii-Yeep hesitated a minute. "No conditions!" he proclaimed. "We're coming in!"
"Why must you persist in behaving so unwisely?" Chellish tried a conciliatory tack again. "Why don't you want to contribute your part for the peaceful co-existence of two races in the universe..."
"Two races?" Gii-Yeep exclaimed scornfully. "Are you calling your handful of people on Weelie-Wee a race?"
He knows it too, Chellish thought. Well, why not? There was no reason to assume that Iiy-Juur-Eelie was the only one who knew the secret. "Nevertheless," Chellish began again.
Suddenly he noticed that Gii-Yeep was no longer on the phone. The connection was still intact and he could hear a muted but highly excited conversation at the other end.
Something seemed to have crossed up Gii-Yeep. But what? Or had he already given the order for the attack?
Chellish waited impatiently with taut nerves. After about five minutes he heard the other receiver picked up again and Gii-Yeep's tense voice: "Wait a minute! Don't do anything!"
Then Gii-Yeep put the receiver back and left Chellish up in the air and wondering what had happened.
Suddenly he heard Milligan's wild, almost hysterical cry: "A ship! One of ours! It's the Solar System, boys...!"
Milligan stood at the window and enthusiastically waved his arms as he shouted at the top of his lungs. Chellish dashed over to him and looked out the big window which gave a view across the city all the way to the airport.
The tremendous body of a spherical ship descended at the airport-a ship huger than Heeninniy had ever seen before. A colossus of energy and firepower with a diameter of 200 meters! Chellish saw that Milligan was right. It was indeed the cruiser Solar System of the Terranian Spacefleet as he recognized from all unmistakable details!
• • •
Now Chellish remembered what he had previously forgotten: Capt. Blailey had hinted earlier on Grautier that Terra planned to establish a base on Heeninniy for its Spacefleet. He didn't know the reason or its purpose but the information was obviously correct.
That the invasion began just at the time when 10 Earthlings were in the most desperate peril of their lives on Heeninniy was a coincidence albeit an incredibly fortuitous accident destined to save their forfeited lives.
Two more cruisers landed behind the Solar System. Chellish and his comrades watched the manoeuvre with tense elation. However their anxiety was not completely abated since the arrival of the ships didn't mean
that they were already saved. Nobody aboard the Solar System and the two other cruisers was aware of their precarious situation and they had no way of contacting the ships, a fact which Gii-Yeep probably knew.
Another miracle would be required to achieve their rescue-and it happened. Half an hour after the arrival of Terra's warships the contraption the technician Wiir-Nee had built according to Chellish's instruction for generating an artificial gravitation field exploded with the force of a small atom bomb. Wiir-Nee had performed the assembly of all parts, which had been constructed in utmost haste, at the southern outskirts of the city in the vicinity of the landing field. The explosion, which ensued when Wiir-Nee flicked the crucial switch, totally demolished two towers at the edge of the city and damaged many more.
The Terranian ships considered the detonation a hostile act and immediately launched five auxiliary ships of the Gazelle type which hovered over the city with orders to stand by and observe the situation.
In the meantime the Solar System had established communications with the Fair Lady and gathered all information about the events on Heeninniy. The blast of Chellish's contrivance served to speed things up considerably. Lt.-Col. Sikerman, who was in charge of the expedition, later admitted that he had originally intended to let a few hours go by before disembarking his first team in his effort to get in touch with the local authorities.
Now the picture had abruptly changed. Two Gazelles swooped down on the inner courtyard of the President-King's palace. They pressed their demand to talk to His Excellency.
Gii-Yeep relinquished every thought of resistance when he learned that the intruders belonged to the same race as the 10 men he besieged up in the tower and, even worse, knew about the presence of their compatriots.
• • •
Seldom had a commander of a spaceship been received with so much joy as Sikerman when he stepped out of the elevator of the main tower to announce personally to Chellish and his comrades that they were free.
He briefly outlined the purpose of his mission. The Fleet needed a base in this sector of space which had heretofore been regarded as unimportant but now was rapidly becoming a focal point of Galactic politics. Then he insisted on hearing on the spot a detailed report about the venture of the Fair Lady and its crew.
After Chellish had complied with his wish, Sikerman remained pensive and silent for awhile. Then he said with a chuckle: "I must say you're a veritable daredevil! If one considers how slim your chances for success were, you certainly made the most of them."
Chellish and his mates returned to the Fair Lady. Lt.-Col. Sikerman insisted on henceforth carrying on the negotiations with the government of Heeninniy himself on behalf of the Solar Imperium. However it was not entirely clear who the government of Heeninniy was. Iiy-Juur-Eelie was forced to resign under the pressure of the circumstances and the Council of Ministers was dissolved by Gii-Yeep. There was every reason to believe that a legal opposition would flourish once more on Heeninniy and that the bitter interlude of underground activities by the guerrillas could finally cease.
Chellish and his friends felt greatly relieved to be freed of their responsibilities. They took two days to recuperate from the rigors of their adventure and prepared to take off the third day on their flight to Grautier.
Lt.-Col. Sikerman had assured them that from now on Grautier would be under the protection of the Solar Imperium and that he would intercept the spaceship of the Whistlers which headed for Grautier before it was too late.
• • •
Before departing, Sheldrake, Loewy and Krahl dug out the radio transmitter they had buried a few nights before in the ground under the landing field in order to confuse the defense forces of the planet by misleading signals.
As they got ready for the liftoff, O'Bannon, Mullon and Milligan were in the Command Center of the Fair Lady with Chellish.
Chellish manipulated a few buttons and said whimsically: "How does it feel to be protected by the fleet of Terra after being banished from Earth?"
Mullon grimaced. "Don't remind me! I wish we had known in the first place that we made fools of ourselves. We still could be living on Earth as decent, peaceful citizens."
O'Bannon grunted in agreement and Chellish added cheerfully: "Perhaps there'll be an amnesty which will allow you to go back to Earth. You deserve it, in my opinion. I haven't seen anywhere a more stalwart and upright bunch of people than you."
"Thank you," Mullon replied simply.
The last hatch of the vessel rolled shut. The Fair Lady was ready to soar into space.
THE AMBASSADORS FROM AURIGEL
Copyright © Ace Books 1975
Ace Publishing Corporation
All Rights Reserved
The next adventure...
Renegades of the Future!