by Perry Rhodan
Now the ray-beams swung round and aimed at their next objectives. Before the electronic brain of the mutant master's defense installations managed to register the disaster, all the cannons except for two had been disabled. And both these cannons sank through the softened ground into the subterranean shafts. This merely saved them from instantaneous destruction. The energy fingers emerging from the mighty rayguns of the Good Hope V melted the exits of the shafts at ground level, forming a glass-like, extremely hard glaze which sealed the pit-mouths absolutely airtight. This eliminated all artillery pieces that the supermutant could have deployed against Rhodan and his men.
And this is what they had been waiting for.
The alarm signal was resounding in shrill tones throughout the ship. Hatches opened. Out of one, a wide ramp descended at a slant toward the ground. Seconds later, twenty Arkonide fighter robots were advancing steadily toward the farm house, nestled among towering trees. The house contained the entrance to the super-mutant's underground fortress. Their left arms were held at an angle. They had no left hands. In their place was a conical-shaped opening which tapered off at the end.
They were followed by the soldiers, armed with handy pulse-ray guns and automatic weapons. Gas grenades were dangling from their belts.
Rhodan had remained in the command center and watched on an observation screen the various phases of the attack. For the time being he didn't dare deploy his mutants; they formed, so to speak, his reserves.
The picture screens had been coordinated in such a fashion that Rhodan was sitting in a glass house. Nothing could be missed by him this way. And thus he was the first to recognize the mutant master's counter measures, which soon became generally noticeable to a disastrous extent.
• • •
Clifford Monterny was staring in a blind rage at the controls of his automatically guided cannons. The electronic brain no longer reacted. The needles on the dials pointed to Zero. All his artillery pieces had been canceled out.
But if Rhodan were to believe that he had won the battle, he was sadly mistaken.
Although Clifford Monterny had counted on instantly finishing off any attacker with the concentrated fire of his 20 heavy guns, he had nevertheless calculated the eventuality that he might fail in it. This is where his small but slavishly devoted mutant army came in.
His hands turned a dial on the intercom set. A screen lit up and the head of a Caucasian became visible.
"Roster Deegan," said the supermutant, "summon all the other mutants for immediate action. Especially the telekineticists. Rhodan is attacking us with his robots. Under no circumstances must they reach the house. Come here to the command center and direct from here our counterattack."
Two minutes later Monterny's Telekinetics entered the fray.
• • •
The robots were marching straight ahead, followed by the soldiers.
They had covered about half the distance that had separated them from the house initially. There were another hundred yards till they would reach the farm house, across dried out meadows with occasional groups of trees. Over to one side was a heap of neatly stacked wood logs. The landscape looked peaceful now; there was nothing out of the usual to be seen.
But impressions can be very deceiving.
Rhodan was sitting in the command center of the Good Hope V, manning the controls and waiting for further developments. Granted, the defense weapons of the enemy had been silenced, but Monterny had not yet been defeated. A man who has set out to conquer and rule the world does not give up after the first try. He has many aces up his sleeve. Rhodan wondered what his next manoeuvre might bring.
The front row of the advancing fighter robots suddenly stopped in their tracks as if they had run into some solid obstacle, an invisible wall. One of the machine men began to stagger, lost his balance and fell flat on his back. He made no attempt to get up. The others—Rhodan couldn't believe his eyes—were lifted off the ground and rose slowly up in the air, hesitantly, in an irregular fashion. Then they started to twist and twirl around their own axis, finally drifting to one side.
Several of the robots began to shoot wildly in all directions. The recoil from their pulse-ray guns pushed them in the opposite direction. They were turning rapidly like pinwheels, sending forth deadly fingers of energy, and drifted back to the ground where a part of their number was rendered harmless by the soldiers.
The second row of robots became the victim of a more skilfully executed assault. Monterny's mutants learned fast. The five robots, marvels of electronics, were hurled through the air by some uncanny force, then slammed violently against the quickly activated protective screen surrounding the Good Hope V. Their limp figures crashed to the ground where they remained motionless. Their sensitive inner workings couldn't stand up to such ruthless treatment and tremendous stresses.
But even before the third row of the robots could be incapacitated, something took place which Rhodan had halfway expected.
The soldiers of his little army suddenly began to behaving very strangely. Some of the men sat down on the grass, put their dangerous weapons carelessly on the ground next to them and started to unpack their K-rations. Apparently they planned to have a picnic before continuing their mission!
Telekineticist and hypnos, thought Rhodan in mild desperation. Anyhow, Monterny's mutants displayed a certain sense of humor, otherwise they would have ordered these soldiers to kill each other off.
Rhodan prepared instantly for a counter-blow. Its success would depend on whether the supermutant himself had carried out this action or his mutants had. According to Rhodan's experiences to this moment, Monterny was the only living mutant who could repel the effects of the psychobeamers.
Now John Marshall the telepath gave a signal to Tatjana. The young Russian girl, filled with zeal to make up for her previous mistakes, jumped out of the hatch of the Good Hope V and ran down the slanting ramp as fast as her legs would carry her. She carried a silver rod in her hand, which she pointed in a direction that clearly indicated how familiar she must be with the underground headquarters of Monterny. She held the rod at a wide angle, pointing at a spot left and front of the house.
Rhodan watched Tatjana on the picture screen. He enlarged the image and could almost read her thoughts from the expression on her face. But John Marshall was able to directly enter her mind and learn from the source what mental commands she was issuing.
Her endeavors were crowned by success in barely one minute. It was amazing to witness what was taking place.
The robots who were still floating in the air lost their invisible support and fell to the ground. Most got quickly back on their feet again. As if nothing had happened, they continued advancing on the house, firing steadily out of their left weapon-arms and shortly reducing the building to a smoldering rubble heap.
The feasting soldiers abruptly stopped their little snack, stared dumbfounded for the fraction of a second at their opened tin cans, dropped everything, seized their weapons and ran after the marching robots.
Tatjana stooped for a moment, the while making sure that Monterny's mutants could no longer exert any influence on their attackers. She realized, however, that the most difficult and dangerous task was still ahead of her. Of course, she didn't know all the details of the mutant master's headquarters, and she had no idea how many people were housed here underground in the passages and chambers hewn from the rock, but she guessed that Monterny would have ready a few more tricks for an unpleasant welcome for his attackers.
She had to find a way of persuading one of the mutants to open the second access route to the underground fortress. She was sure she would be able to manage that with the help of the psychray.
Robots and soldiers came to a halt in front of the smoking ruins of the farmhouse. There was nothing for them to do here. Supposing the entrance to the subterranean labyrinth had been inside the destroyed farmhouse, it was unusable. Nobody could now enter or exit.
Tatjana loosened slightly the screeni
ng block around her brain to permit her to absorb the thoughts of other people. She concentrated on the familiar thought pattern of the supermutant and tried to establish communication with him. At the same time she kept her psychobeam pointing constantly in the direction of Monterny's command center; she was ready at any moment to close the block screen once more around her brain.
And then Monterny's voice, weakened to some extent by the residual protective barrier around her brain, was suddenly inside her head. "Tatjana, you've disobeyed my orders and betrayed our good cause. You've joined the camp of the most despicable enemy of all mankind and..."
"Enough!" Tatjana concentrated and flung back a denial. She felt fortified by the knowledge that John Marshall could 'hear' her and would transmit the entire conversation directly to Perry Rhodan. "All you say and all your work consists of empty phrases which serve to hide your true motive: violence. I've seen through you, Clifford Monterny. You have abused my idealism."
"You fool!" countered the supermutant without attempting to influence Tatjana with his hypnotic suggestions. He knew better: she was impervious to his powers. "You haven't a chance of overcoming my mutants."
"Rhodan's weapons are superior, Monterny. His mutants are far more capable than yours and he also has more of them. Give up!"
A wave of soundless, derisive laughter raced through Tatjana's and Marshall's brains.
"Give up?" mocked the supermutant. "When I give up, the whole world will perish along with me. If Rhodan is to rule over the Earth, then it will be a world without human beings."
"Thanks," Tatjana thought calmly. "You have just spoken your own death warrant. Just try and give a command to your mutants now. We'll see who is the stronger—you or us."
"Hold on," begged the mutant master maliciously. "It's to your advantage to wait. Perhaps you'll succeed in influencing my mutants. But your psychray has no power over me. Nobody can prevent me from issuing a command to my agents the whole world over who have been waiting to carry out their well-planned actions."
"Possibly," countered Tatjana. "But it won't do you much good to issue these commands; you won't be able to establish contact any longer with your agents. They've already been arrested and rendered harmless by the Security Services of the New Power. Don't forget that Rhodan, too, controls a most powerful mutant corps."
Monterny's thought-curse was more execrable than any spoken words. He betrayed his impotence. And it also told Rhodan that his opponent's strength had been broken. If only they would succeed now in penetrating the underground fortress—
Tatjana didn't waste any time. Her probing thoughts sought and found those of Roster Deegan. Assisted by the psychobeamer she gave him the urgent order: "Roster, open the emergency exit!"
• • •
Monterny could feel that Tatjana was now turning away from him to take up connection with his telekineticist. He guessed what she wanted from him and decided to use this opportunity to put to a test who really was the stronger of the two.
Being a telepath he understood the command she gave Roster. But since he was not only a telepath but a hypno he simply issued a counter-command.
Undecided, Roster stopped in mid-motion: slowly he resumed his seat. The supermutant was stronger than the psychray! Monterny felt triumphant—till abruptly Roster rose again from his chair. Slowly he walked to the door and out into the corridor.
For a moment Monterny stared after him, perplexed, then he cursed and applied his hypnotic power once more and with greater effort. But he noticed at once that his efforts were met by an intensive resistance which he couldn't overcome. He didn't know that meanwhile André Noir, Rhodan's hypno, had combined his forces with Tatjana's. Supported by Tatjana's psychobeamer he, André Noir, was superior to the supermutant.
The fact that he had suffered a defeat had a crushing effect on Clifford Monterny. His technical failure to win the battle against his arch enemy Rhodan didn't especially affect his pride but he simply refused to believe that he should have lost out to him too in a mental contest.
He could have killed Roster but he refrained from doing so for this would have merely resulted in an undesirable reaction of the other mutants who might become critical in view of his current situation. He knew he could keep them in check if they confronted him alone but if they were mentally strengthened by Rhodan's mutants their two forces combined would easily outclass him.
Escape? Flee?
Monterny's lips narrowed to a pencil-thin line. Of course he had already considered such a possibility and had omitted nothing in this respect. His third destroyer waiting for him in his underground hangar, ready for any eventualities. This ship, barely 90 feet long, could be operated only by himself. Supplies of all kinds were stored aboard. It was well-armed. He could reach the speed of light with this craft. And on the planet Mars waited his last and most horrifying mutant to be used by his master for any action he would deem necessary—however monstrous it might be.
Why then should he wait till he would be up against the wall without any hope of extricating himself from this situation? Clifford Monterny made a renewed attempt to regain his influence over Roster Deegan but he soon had to realize that his efforts were in vain. Still he kept persevering. He was determined to give Rhodan as hard a time as possible.
While Roster was opening the emergency exit of the underground fortress and while Tatjana's attention was concentrated on this new task, the supermutant suggested post-hypnotic commands to his mutants and blocked off their brains with psycho-barriers. He knew only too well that it would only be a question of time till these blocks also would collapse again. But this step would insure a longer headstart for him and he desperately needed additional time.
But now he was no longer delaying what had to be done.
He cordoned off his thoughts against the outside world and made sure that even no telepath could be on his trail. Although this caused him at the same time to be completely cut off mentally from his men, it didn't matter to him any longer. He was no longer interested in what would happen in his lost realm He was now looking ahead; he had a more important task to pursue.
He hurriedly left the command center and ran along the main corridor. From behind he could hear shouts and the sound of shooting reverberating in the many underground passages; somebody was yelling sharp commands. This noise was interspersed with the rhythmical marching steps of the Arkonide fighter robots. Rhodan's forces had successfully invaded the mutant master's domain.
Clifford Monterny clenched his fists in desperate rage, uttered wild curses and hurried on. He turned into one of the many side corridors and increased his speed. If only he had thought earlier to arrange for some underground transportation system! But who'd have considered such a possibility that a seemingly unassailable hiding place would fall at the enemy's first assault? Monterny had to swallow a bitter pill and admit that he had underestimated Rhodan as an opponent.
The corridor seemed to stretch ahead endlessly. It was dimly lit by small lamps in the ceiling that occurred at regular intervals. There were dozens of similar passages and Rhodan's men would need a long time to discover this particular one.
A bend in the corridor. Then another turn. Then the path continued straight ahead. The supermutant had been clever enough to build his underground hangar sufficiently far from his command center. In case the center would be destroyed during some enemy action, the hangar itself would remain undamaged. Besides, nobody would suspect that Monterny's own emergency exit would be located almost a mile and a half from the main entrance.
The noise coming from behind had died down completely. Monterny slowed down. Heavy beads of perspiration were glistening on his bald head. His puffy features, which had been contorted with hatred and exhaustion, relaxed. The harassed look in his eyes gave way to a familiar expression of icy-cold arrogance. Nevertheless, Monterny was glad that no one could see him now. He, the great mysterious unknown person, who was so far superior to all other mortals, was running for his life, seeking esca
pe in flight!
The corridor ended before a smooth wall.
With trembling fingers Monterny felt along the wall until he found the slight bulge he had been looking for. He greatly pressed down on it; the wall slid up and admitted him to the hanger. The wall closed again behind him.
He was now in a moderate-sized hall, which resembled a shaft. The walls consisted of roughly hewn rocks; ledges and other promontories had been cursorily smoothed over. The rocky ceiling was nearly 300 feet above the floor. In the middle of this gigantic shaft, resting on its telescope supports, was one of the three destroyers that had been stolen from Perry Rhodan's fleet.
Clifford Monterny breathed a sigh of relief. Not even Rhodan himself could now foil his escape. If right after the takeoff he would accelerate to top speed, nobody would be able to catch up with him.
For a fleeting moment he thought of the abducted scientists who now would be found and released by Perry Rhodan. Monterny felt no regrets for he had made all their specialized knowledge his own; he no longer needed them. They had taught him how to pilot perfectly this stolen spaceship.
In a few strides he reached the telescoped supports and activated the control button of the entrance hatch. Immediately the hatch slid open, many feet above his head, and a ladder emerged and descended toward the floor of the hangar. While this was going on, he ran quickly back to the rock wall, pushed another button hidden in a little depression. Expectantly, Monterny gazed up to the ceiling of the shaft.
The massive rock wall, high above began to move sideways, opening the escape route. Bright daylight filtered down into the hangar.
Clifford Monterny didn't waste any precious seconds. He raced over to the descended ladder and climbed up the rungs. In a few seconds he had disappeared inside the destroyer. The hatch closed with a dull thud.