Prisoner of Time

by Perry Rhodan

  Lost in thought, Rous walked straight into Steiner's back. The physicist had stopped cold.

  "What is it?" Rous started to ask, then saw the staring, mask-like expression on Steiner's face, his raised arm and the wide eyes on the other men. He followed their line of sight...

  All the blood left his face and it seemed as though his heart ceased to beat. For long seconds his reason refused to accept what his eyes saw.

  What they saw meant that all the men would have to remain in the alien dimension for the rest of eternity for there was no going back now.

  What they saw was that the shimmering ring of light had vanished.

  3/ THE TIME EXPEDITION DISCOVERS

  THE DRUUFS

  After Rous recovered from the first few seconds of fright, his reasoning began to function again. The ring of light was no longer present-that was a fact pure and simple. But its disappearance had caused a few changes which could be of enough importance to have an effect on the Terrans' fate.

  The sky was paler, as if something between it and the viewer had been removed. The clouds still blocked the hidden sun but it now was evident that it was a red sun. The entire sky was red.

  And Rous noticed something else: The black wall had disappeared!

  He could now see unhindered to the distant horizon but he was seriously disappointed. The landscape behind the wall did not look much different from that in front of it. Even so, high mountain peaks could be seen, reaching up into the burning sky as though to extinguish it. Wide valleys with silvery streams seemingly engorged with blood stretched out towards the far mountains. Variety in the scene of wild nature on the alien planet was provided by scattered forests and plains.

  But otherwise-no living creatures!

  Meanwhile, Ivan Ragov had broken out of his stare. "Good Heavens! What happened? The light-ring..."

  "...just went out!" Steiner said with an unnatural calm. "Maybe someone on the other side turned the LFG off."

  "Who...?" asked Rous. "The time front rolled over the Gazelle. And if our calculations are correct, then all of Tats-Tor has vanished from our normal universe-or at least all the living creatures on it. I don't see anything-shouldn't they all be here?"

  This time Harras was the better logician. "There weren't any settlements between our campsite and the capital city. Just 100 kilometers of open plains and forests. So we'd have to walk 100 kilometers before we found the Arkonides and Springers that have come into this dimension."

  Rous had other worries. "How are we going to get back to our own plane?"

  Steiner shrugged and looked at Ragov. The Russian laid his hand on the grip of Steiner's beamer and murmured: "We aren't exactly defenseless if someone attacks us. But for the time being I think we ought to stay around here so we would find out immediately if the ring comes back. It might be just an interruption of power in the Gazelle..."

  "Rather improbable," said Harras, shaking his head. "But you're a botanist-you wouldn't know about these things. Somebody turned the machine off. That's the only explanation I can make."

  "There are a thousand other possibilities," Rous told the technician, "and there isn't a one of them that would explain it beyond all doubt. And if we don't find a way to get back, we may never find out. But Ragov's right: we should stay here in the area, or at least one of us should."

  "Does that mean you still feel a desire to go running around the neighborhood?" asked Steiner. "What do you hope to gain by it?"

  "Well, the wall has disappeared. That's one advantage. There's nothing more to stop us from exploring this world where time is 72,000 times slower than normal..."

  "You're forgetting something," the physicist told him dryly. "You're forgetting that you can't move any faster than you could otherwise. Even if you exert yourself, it will still take you 12 seconds to cover 100 meters. To walk a kilometer will take you 10 minutes if you walk at a pace of six kilometers an hour. I admit that the petrified figures over there would need some years to cover the same distance but that doesn't mean you're relatively faster. Besides, I'm beginning to gradually get worried. Is there anything to eat here?"

  Rous shrugged. "An expedition would be necessary just to find that out as well as anything else. We'll have to leave a watch behind-but who? Each of us is important enough to make a decision difficult. Shall we leave it to chance and flip a coin?"

  "If you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings that would be the best solution," Harras agreed and reached into his pocket. He drew out a coin, a Solar. He weighed it thoughtfully in his hand. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to spend this...?

  After some tosses eliminated the others, only Josua was left and he had to remain behind.

  Rous pointed to the isolated tree that resembled a gallows. "Josua, our Gazelle stands 10 meters to the right of that tree, though in the other dimension. Let us know as soon as the light-ring appears again-your transmitter still works, doesn't it?"

  A brief test showed that the transmitter built into Josua's ring still functioned.

  "Very well," said Rous, putting his hand on the African's shoulder. "You have nothing to fear in this world because no one can do anything to you. You're faster than anything that can possibly exist here-with one exception. But to face that would mean giving up all hope. So long, Josua. We'll be back soon."

  The African watched them go, not very happy, and tucked the beamer Harras had given him into his belt. He admitted to himself only reluctantly that its possession made him feel a little better.

  Meanwhile, Rous and the other four men neared the river that had flowed between them and the wall. They went somewhat slower once they reached the point where the black wall had towered above them. Rous stretched his hand out but his eyes did not deceive him. The wall had vanished. It had not even left the slightest trace behind on the stony ground.

  "If we go on, we'll have to bear in mind the risk we're running," said Rous thoughtfully, looking at his companions. "What if someone turns the LFG back on while we're on the other side of the wall? How will we ever get back inside the energy dome? Have any of you considered that yet?"

  "We'll just have to take that risk," answered Steiner impatiently. "Anyway, we've left Josua behind. If anyone turns the device on again, it could only be Rhodan. It wouldn't be difficult for him to go looking for us. No, I don't have any hesitation about continuing. We can't exist without food and water."

  Rous pointed to the petrified waves on the river. "The water can't be especially refreshing. I'm beginning to doubt if we can exist at all in the other world. See that grass there? Can any of you move it? No, no one can, because it offers us too much resistance. It's the same with everything that lives or exists here. We'll starve or die of thirst if we don't find a way back."

  "Well, anyway, I've brought along a good supply of energy tablets," said Ragov suddenly, a sly smile evident in his eyes. "I believe they survived the spring through the time barrier without any damage.

  Rous looked at him for a bit before he shook his head and said: "You should have said something before now, Ragov! You would have spared me a few worried minutes."

  "So your joy should be all the greater now," the doctor told him, giving each man a small packet. "Be careful with them! You're receiving an emergency food ration and some water tablets. By spacing out the supply, a man can survive for a week with them. In any event, we won't be starving for awhile. Now, let's go on, shall we?"

  They went on.

  The character of the landscape soon changed. The stony plains gave way to a grassy steppe, which proved no more pleasant for walking. The grass with its unbending and extremely sharp blades was extraordinarily dangerous. If he wanted to avoid being wounded, one had to avoid every single blade of grass, for the blades were like steel knives.

  The men were happy when the grass became lower and was at length replaced by a cushion of moss-which was just as hard but not so impeding. Even the plastic soles of their boots seemed to be uncomfortably hard and unresilient, although that could hav
e been due to the men's imaginations.

  The terrain rose uphill.

  Steiner wiped the sweat from his brow. "Time may go by more slowly here," he groaned, "but you sweat just as fast anywhere it's hot." He had stopped and looked over the plains. Josua stood watch somewhere down there but as yet he had not reported.

  They stood on a small plateau. The terrain behind them sank into the broad plains while in front of them it rose onwards towards the summits of the mountains. After two hours of walking they had not covered more than 10 kilometers but the curiosity driving them on to learn what lay beyond the mountains let them pay no mind to their strenuous efforts.

  And then they saw a movement.

  It started over in the western horizon where the thickest masses of clouds covered the sky and-as it doubtless had for hours, local time-it rained. The raindrops there would fall unendingly slowly, reaching the ground only days later. It was madness to think of it.

  The movement that caught the Terrans' eyes started in the clouds and resembled a beam of light snaking quickly down to earth, reaching the surface in one or two seconds. The light-pattern did not dissolve but remained suspended between the earth and the sky.

  Steiner stared at the apparition for some time, then said: "What is that?"

  Rous had gone pale. He saw his suspicions confirmed. "Lightning, Steiner. Everyday run-of-the-mill lightning-though slowed down 72,000 times. It could be that the lightning bolt out there will remain in the sky for the next 10 hours. Did you see it? It took a good two seconds to reach the ground from the clouds. That means that..."

  "No!" the physicist interrupted, shaking his head without comprehension. "It can't be true! If it were, it would mean..."

  "It's nothing but a logical conclusion, Steiner. If everything in this dimension moves more slowly for us because we live at a rate 72000 times faster, then light will be slowed down too! So light, Steiner, has a velocity of four km/sec in this time plane. We don't know yet what will result from that but you can see from the lightning out there that there will be results of some kind."

  "Lightning can stay visible in the Earthly sky for one or two seconds. That means that the bolt out there in the west could remain in the sky for 20 or 40 hours, held there by the incomprehensible natural laws of the different dimensions. Those laws, however, seem to be fundamentally similar."

  So-relatively speaking-the speed of light was 300,000 km/sec here too.

  "Does the red sun have anything to do with that?" asked Harras, pointing towards the south where the sky burned like fire.

  Rous nodded. "It's what gave me the idea in the first place. The extremely slow speed of the sunrays are a clear example of the results of the Doppler Effect. I'm surprised we can see anything at all, really."

  "If we're here for awhile, I'll look into that," Steiner promised. With narrowed eyes he regarded the lightning bolt, which was not changing at all. "SPEOL here is only four km/sec. What would happen if I fired my beamer? The neutrons have certainly retained their own rate of time."

  Rous shrugged. "I wish I knew..."

  The Terrans walked on, each absorbed in his own private thoughts. A brief inquiry to Josua showed that nothing had changed. The African was told to climb through the light-ring as soon as it had appeared and he had radioed the others, and turn off the LFG for two hours. That would give them time to walk back and the black wall would not be a barrier.

  Andre Noir was the first to notice the rising temperature. "It's getting rather warm out," he said, looking up in the direction of the hidden summit. "Why are we going to all this effort and trouble, anyway? I've wanted to ask why all this time but I assumed there was some special reason for us to go on foot. What is the reason, Lt. Rous?"

  "You're thinking of the Arkonide battle-suits, right? Yes, there is a reason we're walking. Consider the terrible speed flying would mean on this world. I can't say this for sure but certainly we'd burn up at a speed of a few meters per second."

  Steiner's face took on a grim expression as he bent to pick up a stone. Which is to say he wanted to pick up a stone. He was not successful. The inertia of the small rock had increased its weight 72,000 times.

  Rous could not hold back a smile. "I know just what you wanted to do but I could have told you it wouldn't work. The stone is subject to quite another set of laws, laws we don't have any control over. I know, now, too, that unless we operate an LFG very skilfully we'll never be able to take a prisoner out of this world and into ours. But if you want to see my suspicion confirmed, use some object that we brought with us. A coin, perhaps. Throw it into the ravine there and we'll see what happens."

  The men were all happy with the idea of being able to stop for a rest and not having to walk any farther. And the thought of perhaps flying instead of walking had a positively exciting effect. But if Rous were correct, they would have to give up all thought of flying.

  Steiner drew a heavy platinum coin from his pocket, looked at it regretfully for a moment, then stepped up to the edge of the ravine. The rock walls were steep, plunging almost straight down for a hundred meters or so. At the bottom was a green meadow.

  "You only have to drop the coin," said Rous, trying to keep his inner tension from showing. "That would be enough."

  Noir, Harras and Ragov crowded around Rous and watched in suspense as Steiner raised his arm for a throw and then hurtled the coin far away.

  It described a wide are, then began to drop straight down-for at most a second, anyway. Then something very strange happened to it. At first the coin seemed to glow in a silver harshness, as though caught in the glare of a hidden spotlight. Then it became red, then white. A thin trail of steam marked the coin's passage. Finally, even before it reached the valley floor, the coin disappeared, dissolved into nothing by air friction.

  One of the men gave a disbelieving moan.

  Rous took a deep breath and said: "Just as I thought! And now I also know that a shot from our impulse-beamers will have devastating consequences. Can you imagine what they would be?"

  Steiner, who stepped back from the cliff's edge, nodded slowly. "I can imagine, alright. On the Earth a beam of light moving 72,000 times faster than the normal speed of light would not only leave a trail in the atmosphere but also in time itself. The whole structure of things could break up and fall apart. And here...?"

  "And here," said Rous with assurance, "we aren't even going to try it. I'm not going to run the risk of time... of time exploding!" he added decisively.

  He did not respond to the fact the faces of his men had gone pale. After glancing briefly back towards the plains, he started walking again.

  The others followed him.

  • • •

  The air around the summit did not move any more than that on the plains but it was less clear and warmer. One could hardly see 10 meters ahead. The exertion required to get there had not paid off for a wide overlook on the surrounding countryside was impossible. It was as though the more or less level mountaintop was enveloped in wispy cotton.

  "I'd like to know where the heat's coming from," Noir muttered. "Does anybody have a reasonable explanation right at the moment?"

  "Certainly!" Steiner said and bent down. He laid the back of his hand against the naked rock, then pulled it quickly away. Surprise showed in his face. Then he stood up again.

  "Well?" said Rous, hoping to encourage Steiner to reveal the results of his experiment. "What was it?"

  "The ground is hot," Steiner murmured indecisively. "You could say there's a fire burning under the rocks."

  Harras began to laugh. Steiner turned angrily towards him. "I'd like to know what there is to laugh about! Why can't there be volcanoes and such here?"

  "Fire!" Harras grinned without embarrassment. "I'm trying to imagine what fire would be like here. A game burns and requires time in which to do it. How would that look here? A flame held frozen by time..."

  "But just as hot," Steiner warned, pointing to the ground at their feet. "The warmth has had time e
nough to climb through the rock like on a ladder-millenniums, perhaps."

  Rous looked at the slope on the other side of the summit. "I don't know... possibly we're not on the highest peak. You've given me an idea, Steiner. If this is a volcano, then perhaps we're standing on the edge of the crater. That would explain the heat."

  Harras, who had walked a short distance away, called out suddenly: "Come over here, men! You'll be amazed! But be careful and don't slip..."

  Steiner and Rous moved immediately but Ragov and Noir waited where they were. They were not quite so rushed in this world of endless time.

  Rous felt the heat growing greater. He felt as though he was directly in the path of some heat source. Then he saw Harras waving to him through the haze.

  "Here's the crater itself," the technician called, indicating the red-glowing pit at his feet. "The lava's down there."

  The lava looked like a solid glowing red mass that did not move. But the frozen wave motion showed that the mass had been caught in the process of rising and would reach the crater's edge of some unguessable time in the future.

  "And thus the heat," said Steiner. "My suspicion was right and that's all I wanted to know. Who can tell how quickly this volcano eruption we're witnessing will take place?"

  "Volcano eruption?" Rous looked surprised.

  Steiner pointed to the lava. "What else? I'm convinced that the lava is rising. It will reach the edge of the crater in two or three years, perhaps sooner. In any event, it's no danger to us. And if this liquid fire begins to flow down into the valley, there would still be time to get to safety-although it would be questionable for anyone who's on the same rate of time as the volcano."

  "A volcano eruption!" murmured Rous, still amazed. "And we're standing here watching it! This is more astounding than the business with the insect's wings."

  Noir cleared his throat. "Frankly, it's getting a little too warm for me here. We probably can't go any farther in this direction because nobody knows how wide the crater is. So what'll we do? Go back?"