by Perry Rhodan
"Conditions must not return to what they were, in no event!" the physician protested. "In the future we shall take our fate in our own hands and will not allow ourselves to be ruled by the laws of the Master. Who is the Master anyway?"
"That," Pucky said tranquilly, "I would still like to find out before I take leave of you. Wait here."
And before anyone could respond, the mouse-beaver had disappeared. They remained behind in the dusky uncertainty.
• • •
The situation in the Command Room had meanwhile become more critical than anticipated.
Pucky and the three men had barely left on their expedition when an alarm sounded. The guards, so the report went, were banding together and marching through the corridors towards the Command Room. They were ruthlessly shooting anything getting in their way.
That was the declaration of war!
The Commander issued the order to counterattack.
Section heads distributed weapons and organized combat groups. The dreaded moment of the outbreak of hostilities had arrived.
The Commander was still issuing orders when the intercom connection was interrupted. The current had failed. The real rulers had attacked.
But they were minutes too late.
The men already knew what they had to do.
One of the assault parties led by M4 and M7 rushed ahead of the guards, reaching the corridor leading to the Command Room before them. They laid a trap and waited in feverish tension for the robots.
They did not have to wait long.
The guards came marching, their arms bent at right angles, ready to shoot.
The two mechanics knew that the time of cunning had come to an end. Now it was a matter of who was quicker and stronger.
It was a weird sight, the 20 guards marching in their usual order. It seemed as if the desire to kill had etched itself into their metal foreheads, although their rigid facial expressions showed no change whatsoever.
M7 waited until the first row had passed the hidden marksmen and were a scant two meters away from him. Then he gave the prearranged command.
His energy ray ripped the first giant off his feet and hurled him against the wall. The detonations that immediately followed destroyed two more guards.
Rays flashed from all sides, putting the awkward guards out of action. It all went much easier and quicker than they had dared to hope. Before they could organize any defense, the once so-dreaded guards were destroyed.
However, three men paid for the battle with their lives.
The door to the Command Room opened. The Commander stepped out into the corridor with O1 and O2 and stared in silence at the horrible scene. Trembling, he wiped his eyes before saying: "The first attack of the guards... how long will it take until they come again?"
M7 managed a cramped but relieved smile. "These here," he answered pointing at the motionless metal bodies, "at least these here will never attack again. I think we will make it. How many guards are there altogether?"
"Around 100, I think," the Commander haltingly estimated. He had to admit that he did not know exactly. "The battle is not won yet."
"We know that," M7 replied and signaled to his men. "But we are not alone. All over the ship the guards are being awaited by our assault units. Soon we will be the masters of the ship and able to live our own lives—until we have reached our destination."
The Commander nodded and returned to the Command Room. He was followed by the two officers.
"What now?" O1 uttered uncertainly. "The energy for the intercom is cut off. We are blind and mute..."
"I shall see what the Master has to say," the Commander replied and opened the door to the adjoining room. "Perhaps he is ready to surrender. You never know..."
But as he entered the room and looked at the large screen his heart skipped a beat.
Grinning and with mouse ears perked, the face of the peculiar creature that had so unexpectedly rushed to their aid was looking down at him. Pucky had taken the place of the Master.
• • •
The mouse-beaver was very familiar with this type of large spherical ship, for after all the Solar Empire was equipped with several units of this superclass. There was no corner in which he could not find his way.
PS5 had explained to him that there must still be nine or 10 of these curved rooms, perhaps containing other blocks with slumberers. The gigantic ship had been wandering through space for millennia. Generation was, replaced by generation—and the surplus vanished into the converter.
That is at least what had been believed thus far. But now a new picture presented itself.
Those sentenced to death were not dead but conserved for the future. The Arkonides in the glass blocks were not only the ancestors, they were all those who had meanwhile 'died'.
As said, Pucky was familiar with the ship and he could figure out that the rooms containing the blocks were not the center of the ship but merely surrounded it. There still remained a room in the form of a hollow sphere that had a diameter of about 200 meters.
If it were accordingly arranged, it would have room for more than 100,000 people!
Pucky shuddered. No one had thought of that possibility! Whoever conceived of this insane plan must have either been mad himself or a desperate genius.
And he, Pucky, had severed the chain!
He jumped blindly but not without concentration. As he materialized he saw at first glance that his deductions had been correct.
The first thing he felt was the unimaginable coldness that penetrated his fur and ate at his skin. He knew that he must not remain there longer than a second if he were to avoid becoming the victim of the cold. One look sufficed, however, to reveal the truth.
Heaped like packages in the enormous spherical room lay thousand of Arkonides, frozen and apparently dead. The men and women were naked and if Pucky had not known that they were merely sleeping, the sight would have terrified him. So this is where the generations had remained, which for millennia had disappeared into the depths of the ship.
Why?
Pucky could not find the answer. He had long since teleported himself back, landing in a room filled with humming machines that lay outside the ring with the blocks. Robots were moving back and forth silently, paying him no heed. They were checking the generators and control panels. This must be the gigantic Central Control Room of the ship's interior.
In the background there was a wide door. It was not closed. Pucky crossed the room and without hesitation went straight through the doorway. His supposition was confirmed.
He was standing before the solution.
• • •
It occurred to neither PS5 nor D3 that robots had the ability to learn. R75 would have never suspected that, either. And so it came about that the attack of the guards completely took them by surprise.
At first they again heard the scraping sound somewhere at the back of the hall. The wide door opened slowly, then some of the guards entered and slowly marched towards them.
The psychologist mumbled in fright: "They are coming! Where is our little friend? If he doesn't appear we will have to escape without him."
"We can hold them off for a few minutes," the physician reassured him and pulled his raygun. "Let's take cover behind the glass cases. They would not dare to endanger those."
R75 joined them but then he decided to reach safety in time. He rushed to the exit hole—and was met by a blinding flash that at once extinguished his consciousness and his life.
Two robots were standing at the opening, cutting off the path of retreat.
PS5 watched R75 die. He felt as if his heart suddenly stopped as he realized that there was no way out.
The other guards had come closer and stopped.
It was the same cold, metallic voice they had heard the other time. "Give up your resistance! You have entered the forbidden regions of the ship and must die. The law prescribes that."
PS5 pulled himself together. "Your law no longer exists!" he called
out loudly, hoping to draw the mouse-beaver’s attention to the danger that had arisen. He did not know where their ally was keeping himself. Perhaps he could hear him. "There is no chance of our surrendering. We must fight."
"That is pointless!"
The guards opened fire without further warning, shooting above the glass cases so as not to damage them. Then they grasped the situation. In a regular pincer movement they closed in on the two men while the two robots at the exits also advanced with drawn weapons.
The two men exchanged a short glance, then they nodded. If they had to die, it would not have been in vain. They had called the revolt to life and started the ball rolling. Their lives had been meaningful and, if need be, their death too would be meaningful.
Their concentrated fire hit back at the guards. The robots no longer returned it. Motionlessly they stood in their original positions, weapons raised to fire.
But they remained that way.
Two or three of them sank in the flames of the destructive energy rays, then the two men stopped firing. Why should they destroy an opponent who no longer defended himself?
"Why aren't you fighting?" PS5 called excitedly. "What's going on?"
No answer!
Instead all at once the air glimmered between them and the mute robots. The little mouse-beaver reappeared. Paying no attention to the enemies, he waddled the few steps over to the psychologist and proudly squeaked: "They are done for! I switched off the electricity in Central Control. As the robots are all on remote control, you are now free."
"Remote control?" stammered PS5. "What... now what is that supposed to mean? What have you found? Where were you?"
Pucky grinned in amusement.
"We'll meet at the Commander's room. Wait for me there. I still have a trifle to take care of."
And again he vanished.
6/ FINAL REVELATIONS
"I have been occupied with the Master," Pucky reported a half-hour later to the men assembled in the Command Central. The officers and all section heads had come to be briefed on the new situation. "He consists of a plastic film which is synchronously connected to a speaking robot. Here on the screen in Central Command the impression is created of a living man speaking before a camera. In reality the robot is talking. A bit complicated, I would say, but still the show was not without effect for many millenniums. So the orders were issued and the ship was ruled by means of that picture robot. It seemed absolutely as if at least one of the ancestors was still living and directing the flight. Actually all of these ancestors are still alive, although not consciously. They were removed to the cold sleep from which they will awaken only when the appropriate machinery is activated.
"Death in the converter was—just a pretext. Everyone picked up by the Death Squad was frozen, remaining in the glass cases a few weeks for observation and then properly stacked in the storeroom. That way the slumberers do not take up much room. Down below, in the center of the ship, there are about 100,000 people resting! The nucleus of an entire planet population, just as was planned.
"But something did not go according to the plan!"
Pucky paused briefly and enjoyed the astonishment and admiration of the listening men. They were Arkonides, as he had assumed, but why should he tell them everything now? Why should they know that their race had ruled the Milky Way—or at least had ruled it until they met with the same fate as the crew of this ship?
Let them solve the puzzle themselves some day!
"During the early centuries of the flight, which was to be nothing but an experiment, the robots obeyed the orders of the various commanders. One day they outwitted the commander then in office and replaced him with his successor. With the aid of the telecast they conveyed to him the new instructions that were valid until today."
The men listened in silence. They grasped nothing.
Pucky continued: "I do not know why the ship is flying along at this relatively slow speed. Perhaps the hyperjump system failed, so that only normal flight remained. But there is neither navigation nor steering. If the present course is retained within about two centuries it will enter the gravitation field of a large sun about which 20 planets are revolving. I had that worked out by the computer of my ship. So in two centuries you will reach your destination. And then what the ancestors wanted will occur. You will orbit around the sun. This will automatically engender a process that will awaken the slumberers. One after another. And then the ship will land. The people will populate the planet. A new civilization will begin—if the planet can support life."
The Commander glanced over at PS5. Somewhat helplessly he said: "And if it cannot?"
Pucky motioned with his hand to dispel the doubt. "Don't worry. Perhaps it was only coincidence that led the ancestors to choose this course but there is reason to hope. The sun I am talking about has at least three inhabitable planets."
"And who was the Master?" the physician anxiously inquired.
Pucky grinned again. "A gigantic robot computer in the center of the ship. It seized the power many thousands of years ago. Its intention was to land on the planet, awaken the slumberers and use them as slaves. A real robot civilization was to come into existence. The planet settled by you was to become the center of a gigantic empire ruled by the robot computer. A pretty surprise that met with failure, luckily. And basically we have one man to thank for all this. I am talking about T39, who is still slumbering below in his glass coffin. If he hadn't thought of his death and I hadn't been in the neighborhood... perhaps it might have all turned out quite differently. The robots would have noticed the revolution brewing and prepared themselves accordingly for the counterblow. I was able to switch off the central energy at the last moment, which would have been quite impossible without psychokinetics. Just one last reprogramming and the energy will belong to you, the people. With that I will have fulfilled the task here with which coincidence presented me. Perhaps it is possible that we meet once again. Perhaps we can endow your ship with the speed necessary to reach the planet within a few years. As I said... perhaps."
The Commander shouldered his way to the front. He stretched out both hands towards Pucky. "Your thinking is very human, although you are not a member of the human race," he said, deeply moved. "We thank you. Convey our greetings to your people."
Pucky nodded patronizingly. It amused him to be taken for the representative of Terra. "We will make efforts to help you, so that eternal peace will reign between us. But in the future take care that the robots remain your servants and do not become the masters again. Before I go I would like to speak to the technicians and scientists. Without the help of the reprogrammed robots, you are lost. But the Master..." he grinned triumphantly, "he is finished. The entrance to the cryonics system is open and one of you will take the place of the Master. But let the slumberers rest until you have landed. If a false alarm were to awaken them—an incredible catastrophe would result. There is room for more than 100,000 slumberers on this ship but only for a few thousand living beings. You see, the robots think in human terms too. They saw to it that only a few thousand people were alive at one time. And they lived a long time, since what you call a generation is 100 years to us. The time concepts have shifted."
He answered a few more questions, instructed the technicians about their responsibilities and then took final leave.
"Farewell, friends... and prove yourselves worthy of your regained freedom. Obey the commander but resist the orders given by a machine! The human being should always remain the ruler of the machine, which poses a great threat the moment it begins to think. But even if it is more logical, it can never be as intelligent as a man in the long run. Farewell..."
And before the bewildered eyes of the spectators, Pucky vanished like a good spirit which, after fulfilling its duty, returns to the realm of the inevitable.
Nothing remained but the now present that finally guaranteed a meaningful future.
The door opened and a guard appeared.
The Commander turned to him an
d said: "Section RC is dirty. See to it that a cleaning squad goes to work on it immediately."
In the robot's voice was the usual lack of expression as it answered: "The order will be carried out at once. Any other instructions, sir?"
The Commander smiled slightly as he pointed at the assembled men. "Yes, plenty. You will receive them from the various channels. You may go."
The men watched it in silence. They knew that a new era had begun.
• • •
Cadet Brugg was almost frightened to death when he heard a voice behind him saying: "You must have forgotten me by now, Cadet."
As he said this, Pucky waddled up to the dismayed man and, flashing his familiar grin, planted himself before the cadet, his tail serving as a support. "Well?"
"I thought..." stammered the cadet, futilely seeking an explanation for the whereabouts of the mouse-beaver in the past hours, "I thought..."
"There, there. Thinking is something one should just let be, if he is incapable of it," Pucky advised in a fatherly tone. Then his voice grew sharper. "Where are the carrots, young man?"
Although Cadet Brugg was almost twice as tall as Pucky, he did not answer, wheeling about on his heels instead. Ten seconds later he silently handed the mouse-beaver the plastic bag, which proceeded to disappear as quickly as Pucky did. Brugg was alone again in his domain but he did not feel like its ruler. To avoid any further trouble he had piled up over one hundred pounds of the accursed carrots, just in case...
Pucky had meanwhile materialized in Central Command. Unlike Brugg, Commander Wilmar Lund was not startled this time. "Well?" he asked. "What about that ship? You took pretty long. Almost three hours..."
"What are three hours if you have to correct the history of 10,000 years?" Pucky asked in return. He did not intend to completely inform Lund about all he had experienced and learned. That was a matter for Perry Rhodan alone to decide. A new civilization could represent enormous support for the Solar Empire but it could pose as great a threat as well. "The ship is drifting through space with no steering control. One day we shall have to see to it."