by Perry Rhodan
It was my first lesson concerning the new Perry Rhodan. He sought continuously to twist harmless statements around so as to give them another meaning. "You misunderstood me, Perry. I meant yourself, your personality-to put it simply, my friend. This other matter-well, we're going to find a cure for it."
He glared at me suspiciously but apparently made a struggle to control himself. "Let's hope so. Welcome on board."
He reached out his giant hand. Taking a deep breath I was about to grasp it but then I drew my own hand back suddenly. I had never seen such a tense stare in a man. Something within him actually did seem to be lurking, as though waiting in ambush! Mercant had described the situation precisely. My extra-brain reminded me of the Security Chief's admonishment. Rhodan believed he was abnormally strong.
"Good luck to our joint venture," I said, and I shook hands.
I was startled because my hand seemed to be enclosed by a sponge. If I had gripped harder it probably would have harmed him. I saw his twisted mouth. He pressed with all his strength but I hardly felt anything. Nevertheless I gasped sharply and spread my legs like an overpowered wrestler, throwing my right shoulder forward. Then I recalled the mock antics of Earthly wrestlers and knew what I was supposed to do. I grimaced and slowly went to my knees. He finally let go then and I was able to withdraw my hand.
His laugh was repugnant to me. Yet I told myself immediately that this was only a demonstration of his sickness and it was not right for me to have any feeling of aversion. When I attempted to smile, however, he again twisted its meaning.
"I could have crushed you, Arkonide," he asserted, obviously pleased with himself. "I'll grant you, you're strong. Do you still remember the duel we had in the Venus museum? I've never forgotten it. I remember every detail as if it were only yesterday. You tried to humble me then."
"You were about to kill me, friend. You were armed with a modern weapon and mine was quite ancient."
"That's cowardly hogwash! I had thrown my beamer away by the time you came at me with your rapier. I grabbed a rapier too and fought fair with you. Today it would take more than that to overcome me."
My extra-brain provided me with an eidetic memory. While these long-gone scenes raced through my mind as in a fast-motion film, I remained expressionless. I could see out of the corner of an eye that Mercant was growing tense. For the moment my extra-brain had taken over my conscious actions and I hardly recognized my own voice. "Oh, are you sure you can still remember accurately?"
"Such things I do not forget. That was when we made peace. I discovered your true origin. Or are you trying to infer that I would have shot you even though you weren't adequately armed?"
"No, you really didn't shoot. I misled you with a psychological trick so that you wouldn't use your energy gun."
"If that's what you call smashing my ankle with your sword. But forget it, Arkonide, just remember that today you wouldn't have a chance with me."
He turned about ponderously and headed for the main flight console. Which apparently put an end to the reception. Mercant was eyeing me urgently. I nodded to him and looked about for Pucky. The mouse-beaver was lying all rolled up in a spacious flight seat.
Hadn't he caught any of this or noticed anything? I felt as though my head were on fire. My extra-brain was busy dissecting Rhodan's declarations word for word. It was an unpleasant process but I had to wait it out. Finally I heard from that sector of my mind which had been activated thousands of years ago. I was given a curt report.
A number of contradictions. Rhodan is a sportsman and athlete. He must be able to differentiate between an ordinary sabre and a two-edged Viking longsword! Besides that, you were armed. You had an impulse-beamer and a shock-gun.
Mercant approached me. "Aren't you feeling well, sir?" he inquired. His smile was almost too innocent.
"Everything's fine," I told him evasively. "But thanks."
Rhodan began to shout orders. "Mission briefing in five minutes!" he yelled at me. "Your robot fleet will form the outer defense ring. I will personally lead the attack. Colonel Claudrin...!"
The Epsalian hurried forward.
"You will please come to attention!" bellowed Rhodan. "Don't you know who is standing in front of you?"
The colonel stood stiffly at attention. For my part I became the more silent.
Hadn't Rhodan stated that he could recall every single detail? Why was it then that he had spoken of a rapier and not of a heavy blade almost 40 inches in length? And since he was a logical thinker basically, how could he also infer that I had smashed his ankle? With a light rapier? A strong bone structure like that? How great would the force of impact be per square centimeter from such a thin blade? With the most powerful thrust possible, would it be able to shatter an anklebone?
Absolutely not!-my extra-brain informed me. At most the tissue and sinews could have been cut!
At the time I had taken cover behind a Viking boat after Rhodan had traced me with a special device in spite of my deflector screen. He too had been invisible until he decided to cut off his screen. Didn't he remember that anymore either? Perhaps he had just not wanted to mention it. Our duel had been decisive. It had taken place under such unusual circumstances that the prelude was actually more worthy of mention than the actual sword fight.
I was very troubled by Perry's mention of a rapier. Such an error could not slip past Rhodan, even if he were ill. I observed him closely and listened carefully to the commands he was giving. When he wasn't in an outburst of rage or indulging in some ridiculous form of reprimand, he spoke as clearly and rationally as ever. He couldn't be feeble-minded! He had a magnificent command of the linear warship's complicated systems and circuits.
By a special inner command I turned off my extra-brain. It was useless to brood over long past events in the midst of preparations for a major mission. After all, Perry didn't have my kind of photographic memory. Moreover in his high state of irritability he might have considered it patronizing of me if I had pointed to his error. He had reached a stage where he would tolerate no corrections from anybody. I refrained from broaching the subject again, although I still wondered why he had even mentioned our fight in the Venusian museum-especially at the moment of our meeting again. But now there were more important things to discuss.
10 minutes later I appeared in the officers' wardroom of the Ironduke. The commanders of the Terran fighting units were channeled in to our meeting through a space-com conference hookup. Each of them was instructed as to what position his ship was to take in the attack formation. Over my command transceiver I issued instructions to the robot Regent, who in turn programmed the 10,000 remote-controlled warships accordingly.
Two hours after my arrival on board the Ironduke the Terran Fleet got underway. We required about 15 minutes of real time for all units to reach light-speed. Seconds later the most massive simultaneous transition occurred which I had ever experienced. As a precaution, all hypersensor equipment had been shut off. Almost to the exact second, 8,000 Terran warships disappeared into hyperspace. The plan provided for a surprise appearance in the double-sun system of Aptut. No one there was to be given a chance to escape.
The Ironduke went into its direct linear-flight mode under protection of its Kalup absorption field. At millions of times the speed of light we hurtled toward the easily recognizable double sun and it emerged with breathtaking swiftness out of the swarm of other stars. There was no shock of transition, nor were there any noticeable physical hardships involved. I refrained from informing Rhodan that the Regent was working on the development of a similar means of propulsion. The brain was in possession of complete details based on the Akon models. It would not be long now before I also would have the new type of ships.
It only took us a few minutes to traverse the small distance of 418 light-years. At the beginning of the flight the cosmonauts had not made any complicated hyperjump calculations with all their associated chances for error. Instead, they had simply sped forward on a straight line of optic
al sight. Nevertheless we arrived in the Aptut System together with the transition-type ships. It was another demonstration of the immeasurable superiority of the linear spacedrive. The normal ships would not have been there yet if their commanders had not been furnished beforehand with the exact transition data.
I knew what terrible effects our mass arrival would have on the sector of space surrounding the double sun. The hyper-grav shockwaves would put a severe strain on the gravitational fields of the outer planets. In fact the first reports came in a few minutes later from the astronomical observer stations. The three outermost planets had been knocked out of their orbits. However, these were uninhabited ice worlds, so according to that we had not caused any appreciable damage.
But when I looked at Rhodan I gathered the impression that he would have made the same manoeuvre even if those planets had been inhabited. No matter how much I struggled against it, my friendly feelings for him were fading more and more. My reason kept telling me that sheer desperation might bring a man to such action. But when I would rationalize in this manner my incorruptible logic sector interfered. It gave me to understand that Perry Rhodan's outstanding character would never permit him to send millions or perhaps billions of living beings to their certain death, merely to gain a slight advantage in time.
After the tumult of the fleet's emergence into the Einstein universe had subsided, we flew in star formation to those planets which our mass indicators soon designated for us. The first sign of the presence of intelligent beings turned out to be a spaceship. It was stranded between the 16th and 17th planet. Apparently it had been heavily damaged by the hyper-shockwaves, because its engines were no longer functioning.
I had never once doubted the Regent's calculations but the Terrans seemed to have held some reservations in that regard. When the energy tracers reacted so strongly that the howl of warning sirens became audible in every section of the battleship, I knew that we had won. Such an energy reaction could have only one cause.
And in fact the sixth planet soon appeared on the screens in 3D relief. Apparently this world was surrounded by a high-intensity defense screen. Since no orbiting power stations were spotted anywhere, it canceled all possibility of this being an Akon settlement. Accordingly, only Antis could be involved here. No other race in the galaxy was capable of building such a gigantic energy screen without the help of titanic power installations.
Rhodan's orders became a veritable torrent of shouted words. I listened carefully but he made no mistakes. His planning was swift and precise and there was not a single contradiction. I ignored the harshness of his tone as well as the insults he yelled even at the top command. Jefe Claudrin was at the end of his self-control. Bell came in and tried to distract Rhodan's attention from the Ironduke's commander. Major Hunts Krefenbac, the First Officer, looked at me imploringly. Mercant had told me that this officer had been severely humiliated by Rhodan.
As I came forward, Perry got up from his special flight seat. They had built an adjustable chair for him. When he saw me he turned ponderously in my direction. His eyes seemed to glow balefully. In that moment their effect was inhuman.
"Is that it?" he shouted at me. "Is that Trakarat?"
When I did not answer immediately he staggered forward and grasped me heavily by the shoulders. "You will answer me, Buster!" he yelled, more loudly and angrily than before. "Tell me if that's Trakarat!"
I shoved my arms between his and simply spread them apart. His hands slid from my shoulders. It took little effort on my part. "Take it easy, little Barbarian! You may call me Atlan or friend but not Buster."
There was a sudden silence in the Control Central. The only sound was the roaring of the engines in their full-power braking manoeuvre. The men were holding their breaths. Thus it had come to our first test of strength.
Rhodan stared at me rigidly. To my surprise he did not say a word. There was only a slight twitching of his facial muscles.
I continued: "You should know that an ally is not to be treated in this manner. If you wish to forget our friendship then I demand the required diplomatic courtesy from you. If this is not granted by the First Administrator of the Solar Imperium, then I shall be obliged to withdraw my fleet."
"Your moronic motor-mouth!" He spoke the words in icy tones.
It hit me harder than if he had shouted at me again. This surprising self-control did not indicate a psychopathic change in personality. He had deliberately sought to insult me!
"It would be more becoming of you to improve your vocabulary."
He laughed suddenly. His eyes were treacherous and his answer was not any too diplomatic. "You are free to leave the system. You've done your duty, Arkonide."
I did not become aggressive nor did I reveal how deeply he had cut me. On the other hand, I began a psychological campaign against Perry Rhodan. Before the flight my logic sector had advised me to do so.
It was at that moment that the two rings of the sixth planet were sighted. They were visible on the viewscreen of the electronic telescope, which was working at its full 30,000-magnification factor. When Rhodan saw it a triumphant expression came to his face. "You can go now," he repeated.
"Thanks very much but I'll stay," I said decisively. "I have received certain information which indicates it's quite possible that your misguided son is residing on the principle world of the Antis. You must have let him go free during your operation against the Antis on Okul, didn't you? I'd be very interested to see how Thomas Cardif has turned out during these past months. This time, friend, I shall find him."
His reaction was much more alarming than expected. He charged at me while shouting to the nearby officers to shoot me down. I placed my hand flat against his chest and shoved him back. In doing so, I only had the mass of his body to contend with. He was not able to show any serious resistance.
"Arrest him!" he roared. "Arrest him at once!"
No one moved, until finally Mercant stepped forward. "Sir, I am reminded of the Imperator's diplomatic immunity. We have no right to arrest His Highness."
Rhodan's cries subsided. Suddenly his look was rational as he stared at me. He was thinking things out. For my part I knew that mentioning Thomas Cardif's name had struck a sensitive nerve center.
"You will not take Cardif," he said with surprising calmness. "That is my affair."
"As you will," I granted him. "Nevertheless he must be captured and questioned by the mutants. It is known to me that he not only produced the narcotic elixir, Liquitiv; he is probably also responsible for your present illness. Who conducted the psychological interrogation when you were a prisoner of the Antis? Was it Cardif?"
"That's my affair," he repeated evasively. "You take care of your own business."
He pressed past me and walked over to the tracking center.
Mercant gave an audible sigh of relief. "Sir, you shouldn't irritate him like that."
"Do you think so? It seems to me he straightened out for a change. Don't you also think, Solar Marshall, that you let him get away with too much?"
Mercant looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and then turned away abruptly.
"That's something to think about," said Bell pensively. "Up till now we've always held back."
I wasn't able to carry out my probing any further at the moment. The first battleships of my robot fleet were dropping into the binary solar system. The Terran units had already come to a stop and had begun to encircle the ringed planet, whereas my own ships spread out into interstellar space to take up their programmed blockade positions. In the process one of the Zuku-class warships attacked an unknown spacecraft and crippled it. As I found out later, this was a Springer freighter.
I refrained from informing Rhodan about it. A suspicion was growing in me which I could not shake off. I waited another two hours until the encirclement of Trakarat was completed. On the planet itself nothing stirred. The great energy screen enclosed the beautiful world entirely.
The two rings consisted of cosmic dust particle
s which had been captured in the gravitational field of the planet. They revolved around Trakarat in a counterclockwise direction. The homeworld of the Antis was even more magnificent than Saturn. I was only indirectly interested in the rapid outputs we were receiving from the remote analyzers concerning density, mass, atmospheric composition, rate of rotation and whatever else was coming in.
Perry Rhodan was all over the place now, which was strange in a situation which should have been occupying him entirely with the thinking and planning aspects. Just as I was about to withdraw for a few minutes, a violent fight broke out in the Communications Central. When I ran to investigate I saw that Rhodan had jerked the duty officer out of his seat. When I entered he was shouting at him like a madman while threatening him with a deadly ray weapon.
The Communications Chief had misinterpreted orders under the press of confusion. As a result he had signaled the planet and challenged the Antis to surrender. If Bell and Mercant had not intervened physically their raving chief might have shot the man.
The mood of the crewmen had become tense. Even highly disciplined troops could not continue to stand for such behavior. Besides that, I knew the Terrans and their pride! Rhodan could pick on the wrong man and then there'd be a catastrophe.
After he had calmed down slightly, he shouted into the blanched face of the officer: "Nobody makes contact-is that clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Then don't forget it! You will issue instructions to all commanders as follows: Subject to penalty of death it is forbidden to contact or signal the Anti planet, without special orders, or to receive any incoming radio messages from them. Only the Fleet carrier band will remain active. All information is to be pulse-beamed over channel 38 using the 'Destination' code. All right, get going! Send that out!"
Bell looked at me uncomprehendingly. Mercant cleared his throat nervously and my mind started to race again. Rhodan turned around and came toward the bulkhead door but he stopped when he saw me. A wild rage seemed to twist his features. Or was something else there that I didn't know how to read at the moment? My own face must have looked like a wooden mask.