by Perry Rhodan
He was not alone in the mammoth control central of the Titan, as they had named the stolen battleship. Measuring approximately one mile in diameter, it was the largest known spacesphere in the universe, the latest product of Arkonide technology.
Perry Rhodan's almost ascetic figure leaned against the navigation console and he appeared to feel at ease in this position. His lean face revealed a mixture of suspense and serenity. It was as if all troubles had fallen away from him, or at least as if none of them were plaguing him just now—because there were more than enough to go around.
"That, if I am permitted to make the observation, is an all-out fleet deployment," said Bell musingly, as though indifferent to it all. But an inner concern was in his voice.
Rhodan nodded casually. "You named it, my friend," he murmured. "Question is, under whose orders—the robot brain on Arkon or the Zarlt."
Bell refrained from answering, because he couldn't. He resumed scanning with the screens and dedicated himself to the assigned task.
The Titan lay on the border of the spaceport, close to the highway leading to Tagnor. The bottom half of the mighty sphere rested in a vacated hangar, which had been placed zealously at their disposal by the Zarlt. Of course, not without ulterior motives: he still kept on hoping that Rhodan would reveal to him the secret of how he had broken through the defense ring of the Arkon System.
He had been hoping this already for several weeks without any results and finally his patience seemed to be exhausted. Rhodan was waiting calmly for the precise moment when the Zarlt would drop his mask.
The door opened and in waddled a king-size Mickey Mouse with a rusty brown pelt. It was perhaps three feet long, had large ears, a pointed snout and a broad, flat beaver tail. In its brown eyes sparkled a trace of deviltry.
The curious creature squeaked "Hello!" in purest Intercosmo and made itself comfortable on a couch. It watched Bell pensively for awhile but he studiously ignored it, concentrating on his videoscreens. Eventually it sighed resignedly and turned to Rhodan to complete the announcement it had started to make. "More Mooffs have arrived."
This attracted Rhodan's attention. "Who's bringing them in?"
"Ships of the Zarlt's fleet but I found out that they are not the ones who are responsible for the actual transport. They're trans-shipping cargo from alien ships out on the edge of the System."
"Aha!" Rhodan said. "I was afraid of that. The unknown Masters haven't given up yet."
"Do you want Tama and me to continue our mission?"
Rhodan nodded briefly. In his opinion it was a senseless massacre if more Mooffs continued to be brought to this world as replacements; but on the other hand the situation would become dangerous if the Mooffs gained the upper hand. It was at least necessary to keep their number from growing any larger.
The Mooffs—!
They represented the basic problem. Someone who remained shrewdly in the background was causing the telepathically endowed methane-breathers to be brought to Zalit, already packed in appropriate glass pressure chambers, in which the 5 foot jellyfish creatures crouched. In addition to telepathy, they commanded a certain suggestive faculty, although by Earthly standards somewhat weak. In spite of this they had succeeded in bringing the Zarlt and the ruling echelons of Zalit under their influence—which they had been commissioned to do. The Zarlt was thus meant to conquer the Arkonide Empire for an unknown race of beings—this much Rhodan had learned already but not a thing more.
Nevertheless it was enough to burden him with a weighty decision.
The mighty galactic empire of the Arkonides was not ruled by humans but by the largest positronic brain of the known universe. Quite aside from the fact that it's difficult to show sympathy for a machine, the robot Regent of Arkon had not treated Rhodan very well. He pursued him and regarded him as a sort of Public Enemy #1. The Arkonides themselves, decadent and indolent bon vivants, concerned themselves very little with happenings within the Empire. They relinquished all responsibility to the robot brain and were convinced that it ruled as they would rule. There was actually some sense to this and yet Rhodan could not quite buy the idea that hundreds of intelligent races were dependent on the logical decisions of a robot.
For these reasons it had seemed at first reasonable to him that the Zarlt of Zalit should seek to destroy the Brain and take over the government of the Empire himself. But then the Mooffs had come upon the scene. At first it was believed that they were the principal string-pullers behind the events. They dominated the Zalites' minds and provoked them to revolution against Arkon. And then even that deduction proved to be erroneous. The Mooffs functioned under the orders, or pressure of unknown entities, who intended by this means to harvest the fruits of revolt. Aside from all this, it was revealed that the Zarlt was an assassin and a tyrant who would have become a criminal even without any suggestive assistance from the Mooffs.
Rhodan now perceived his opportunity to prove to the robot brain of Arkon that he stood on the side of the Empire and did not intend to add to his troubles. He had arrived at this point in his deliberations when Bell broke the silence.
"The communications center is buzzing, Perry. You want to look-see or should I go...?"
"Thanks. You stick with the screens. I'm on my way."
The communications center was in an adjacent section.
"What's up?"
One of the Com officers handed Rhodan a dispatch. "A message from Major Deringhouse. Hyperspace transmission."
Major Deringhouse! Rhodan took the dispatch without reading it immediately. He returned to the command center, where Bell looked at him expectantly. Deringhouse commanded the spacefleet of Earth and stood in battle readiness. Nevertheless, the robot brain could have learned from the Springers the planet of Rhodan's origin. And if this were the case, the Earth would be in the greatest danger. A single robot ship using Arkonide gravitation bombs—could convert the Solar System into a radioactive cloud.
Then again, the Earth was 34,000 light-years away...
Against the danger of source detection, Deringhouse had sent the hyperspace message from an arbitrary point in the Milky Way.
Bell asked, "Well?"
Rhodan looked at the dispatch. He read it aloud: "To Perry Rhodan, Arkon Sector. Re your inquiry Springer leak. Venusian positronic brain fed all available data. Computation gives 99.08% certainty Springers have not revealed Earth position to Arkon. Lots of luck. Here all quiet and set. Deringhouse."
Bell gave an audible sigh of relief. "So the good old Earth is still with us! A lot of times you can forget that she's an eternity away. Light takes 34,000 years to get from here to there."
Rhodan interrupted him. "No lectures just now, please. That message is no guarantee Earth's out of danger indefinitely. On the contrary! The robot brain on Arkon is searching for us. If the Zarlt gets tired of our game, he can reveal our location. So in one stroke he can demonstrate his loyalty to the Brain and make it easier for him to outsmart it later."
"Why don't we beat him to the punch," suggested Bell. He grinned confidently. "Let's tip the Zarlt's hand. Then the robot brain will be our friend and maybe it'll make us a present of this stolen ship."
"I can't see it quite your way but something like it," admitted Rhodan. "But don't let's forget that the Mooffs are behind the Zarlt and behind the Mooffs again are hiding some unknown entities. To find the latter is our true mission." He paused for a few instants but before Bell could manage to put in a word, Rhodan continued: "In my opinion it will be best to solve this task step by step. And the first step is: the Zarlt! We should approach this problem from the inside, though. John Marshall has established contact with the leader of the underground movement, a former admiral named Zernif. We'll lend him our support in his plans."
"And what are those plans?"
"To avenge the murder of the old Zarlt and to install his rightful successor."
Bell glanced up. "Does the new Zarlt acknowledge the rule of the robot brain over the Arkonide Empire?"
"Yes, he does, because there is no better solution available at present. The Arkonides are no longer capable of ruling an empire with a diameter of nearly 230 light-years."
"That means we'll be helping the Brain?"
Rhodan stared at the wall. "Yes." He spoke softly and with an undertone of resignation.
• • •
Perry Rhodan's Mutant Corps constituted the greatest mental power bloc in the known sector of the Milky Way's margin. Through the constant pollution of Earth's atmosphere in the past decades considerable changes had been caused in the brain structure of some people who had been born during and after that time. These changes made them mutants. Whether these acquired traits were inheritable had not yet been determined.
The mutants were of two types: positive and negative. It depended on the political use made of their special talents which group they fell into: all the members of Rhodan's Mutant Corps, naturally, were of the positive variety, numbering among them telepaths, radiopaths, teleporters, seers, hypno-suggestors, frequency detectors and telekins. One of the mutants was even capable of releasing atomic explosions over great distances by the sheer power of his will.
The telepath John Marshall was the official head of the Mutant Corps. Originally a native of Australia and now a citizen of the New Power, he had always been a champion of the unification of Earth. Now since this goal had been achieved and Earth was no longer divided by squabbling factions, Marshall accompanied Rhodan on his flight to Arkon.
Marshall's Mutant Corp had gone with him. Pucky, the little mouse-beaver, was of course a member of this elite organization. He was not only a telepath but a telekin and teleporter. These manifold parapsychological talents automatically caused Pucky to be regarded as a universal genius, a fact of which he was inordinately proud. Despite this little 'human' weakness (he prided himself on being an animal) everybody was very fond of the little guy whom Rhodan had found on the Planet of the Dying Sun.
Pucky and Tama Yokida, the Japanese Telekin, were presently engaged in an important task: to eliminate the dangerous Mooffs whose suggestive powers exerted a detrimental influence on the Zalites. The two mutants combined their telekinetic talents to alter the molecular structure of the pressure chambers in which the Mooffs were housed. They concentrated their efforts on a single spot which caused a leak through which the life-supporting methane atmosphere escaped, resulting in death for the Mooffs.
The daily alarm drills had come to an end. Rhodan was satisfied that each member of his crew was sufficiently familiar with the giant ship to reach any place needed for a particular purpose at optimum speed—no small feat considering the volume of a mile-wide hollow sphere.
The two Arkonides Thora and Khrest were with Rhodan in the command center. The tall Arkonide white-haired woman with the golden eyes was quietly sitting in her armchair, her gaze steadily fixed on Perry Rhodan. Khrest was standing near Thora's chair. He, too, was an albino type, like the rest of his race. Nothing seemed to unite him any longer with his own people ever since his clan had been deposed from its position as the ruling class. For the past six years the robot brain had assumed the reign over the Empire—and Imperator Orcast XXI was nothing but a puppet.
13 years ago, Thora and Khrest had crash-landed on Terra's moon and had placed in Rhodan's hands the means needed to make Earth a cosmic power factor.
Rhodan came directly to the point. "The Zarlt has finally dropped his mask. I have just learned that though he has not revealed our exact position to the robot brain, he has however indicated in his message to Arkon that his spacefleet has succeeded in tracking down our location. He has requested reinforcements in the form of robot-guided battleships. This was followed by a radioed warning directed at us, forbidding us to take off from here."
"All this seems to make no sense to me," remarked Khrest. "Why doesn't he simply tell the Brain where we are?"
Rhodan smiled. "Just try and put yourself in Demesor's shoes, then you won't have any trouble figuring this out. Demesor wants to outwit the robot brain in order to seize power himself. The Titan is Arkon's mightiest ship but it is in our possession. What profit will Demesor derive if the Brain takes the Titan away from us? That's why he is requesting reinforcements, so that he can capture the Titan for himself. Next he probably intends to push forward to Arkon for he assumes, after all, that we penetrated the fortress barrier only with the help of the Titan. And how could he possibly know the truth: that we accomplished this feat only thanks to the teletransmitter aboard the Ganymede?"
"Of course, that's it," said Khrest, remembering bow they had started out from Earth with the Ganymede and that they had stolen the Titan only afterwards. "Well, Perry, it looks as if the Zarlt has sadly misjudged the situation—fortunately for us."
"I'm quite concerned that he doesn't find out his mistake for the time being," replied Rhodan. "It's far more important to us to convince the Brain on Arkon of our loyalty. Would you have any suggestions, Khrest?"
But before Khrest had a chance to answer, Thora interjected: "Why don't we simply establish contact with the Brain?"
Rhodan turned to the beautiful Arkonide woman with a friendly smile. "We've already tried that but the Brain doesn't react. Could be that it is not constantly tuned in on hyperwave radio reception. Perhaps we ought to come closer to Arkon."
"To Arkon?"
"Why not?"
"I believe," said Khrest, "that it is not so much the actual distance that prevents the robot brain from receiving you, I'm more inclined to assume that the Zalites have placed a magnetic barrier—bell around their planet which has a polarizing effect. Incoming transmissions pass through unhindered while outgoing messages are held back. The process is of course also reversible. This would explain why the Brain has remained silent."
"This means it would be enough," stated Rhodan, "if we were to merely pass beyond Zalit's atmosphere in order to establish contact with the Brain on Arkon."
"Theoretically—yes!" Khrest confirmed.
Rhodan paused to reflect for a moment. "You're probably right. But if we give it a try we shouldn't forego the proof." He turned around to face the control panel. He depressed a button. A voice came on.
"Send John Marshall at once to the command center!" Rhodan informed the man on the other end of the intercom. "It's urgent! And have Lt. Tifflor come too."
He turned off the intercom and turned to the two Arkonides, explaining: "Even a robot brain should not be expected to believe a stranger's word of honer."
"Have you worked out some plan already?" inquired Thora.
Rhodan nodded to confirm her assumption. He could not help gazing at her severe yet beautiful face longer than he actually intended. What a change had come over her! He could scarcely believe that only 13 years ago she had regarded mankind as a barbarian, uncivilized race. Her arrogance had been limitless and her hatred without precedent. And now that she recognized how lifeless the spiritual inheritance of the Arkonides had become and how vital on the other hand the young race of Earthlings was, an inner transformation had taken place in the proud woman which manifested itself not only in a revision of her entire view of life but also especially in her personal attitude toward Perry Rhodan.
Previously Rhodan had only suspected it but today he was certain that he was secretly in love with Thora. However this love was doomed to remain unfulfilled for an eternity was separating them. There was no longer the abyss of a 10,000-year-old culture standing between them–but eternity. For Rhodan had been given the life-prolonging biological cell-shower from the Immortal, which had been denied to Thora. Rhodan was no longer growing old; however, Thora...
He interrupted his reverie. At this time there was no solution for this problem nor any answer for his questions. Some day, however, as he realized, a decision must be made. He was longing for that day as much as he was afraid of it.
"Yes, Thora, I've a plan. We'll pay a visit to the robot brain."
"How?"
"We'll go by the Gazelle."
"With the long distance reconnaissance craft? To pass through the ring of fortifications?"
Rhodan smiled and shook his head. "Not a visit in person, Thora. We'll move away for just a few light hours to get beyond the radio-barrier belt. Then we'll establish video connection with the Brain. We want the Zarlt to remain in the dark about all this so we'll have the Gazelle catapulted from the Ganymede with the help of the teletransmitter."
"A splendid idea, Perry," Khrest commented. "I'm in favor of it. But what will you tell the robot brain?"
"The truth. I'll also give it my explicit acknowledgment as regent of the Empire."
Thora looked crestfallen. "You want us to express our consent that Arkon is no longer ruled by our own people but by a robot?"
"First of all, we have no choice in the matter, and secondly I don't consider the Brain's reign to be a disadvantage for the Arkonide Empire. Just look at that Orcast, Thora. Do you honestly believe he could hold the decaying realm together?"
"Certainly not Orcast," Thora agreed. A bright glow came into her golden eyes. "But the Zoltral clan is not so decadent!"
Thora and Khrest were members of the Zoltral clan.
"There will come a time when the Zoltrals will rule again," Rhodan said emphatically. "At that moment we can still negotiate for the Brain to abdicate. But right now it is imperative that we win the robot brain's confidence."
Thora's gaze rested for a long while on Rhodan. Then she lowered her head. "I'm afraid I have to admit you are right, Perry. When will we start?"
Rhodan did not answer for at that precise moment John Marshall and Lt. Tifflor entered the command center. Tiff, as he was generally known, greatly resembled Rhodan, although he was 20 years his junior. He had excelled in several special missions and enjoyed Rhodan's unlimited confidence.