by Perry Rhodan
She noticed him after she left the air taxi and stared at him. She vacillated, thinking about Arkonide informers and comparing the stranger she had met yesterday for the first time in the corridor with Asargud.
Fellmer Lloyd stepped out of the little spaceship's shadow and walked toward the antigravitor where the two would meet as he sensed she wanted to. They descended one floor together without saying a word and as she walked across the corridor, he broke the ice by asking her: "You knew Asargud well, didn't you? We're both from Prebon and I stopped here in town to see him before I go on tomorrow. Could you tell me where I could find Asargud?"
She was still afraid he might be an Arkon spy. She looked straight ahead and walked more stiffly. Lloyd shared her inner struggle almost physically. It became clear to him that the girl had liked Ralph Sikeron and had been quite friendly with the agent. "I'm a friend of Asargud's," Lloyd tried to encourage her. "I don't belong to those seven who've inquired about him yesterday." The implication should be obvious to her.
She turned her head and looked at him questioningly with her expressive dark eyes.
• • •
Ralph Sikeron, Perry Rhodan's cosmic agent, had lost his life on his mission to Volat. He had been murdered and his body had disappeared.
Fellmer Lloyd could give up all attempts to get in touch with the audio-monitor. Ralph Sikeron no longer existed.
Kuri Onere the young girl of the Springer race working for the Uxlad clan, didn't implore him to keep the secret nor did she beg him to avenge Ralph Sikeron's death. She merely looked at him with her dark eyes and waited for his response to the revelation.
"Why do you do this for Asargud, Kuri?" Lloyd inquired, although, he already knew her thoughts by telepathy.
Her eyes flashed and she answered with great determination and pale lips: "Because he was a decent man, a Prebonian... not one of those rotten Springers!" Her face expressed strong despise.
"But Kuri, you're a..."
She tossed her head back in a gesture of pride. "Yes, I do belong to the Galactic Traders. Until eight years ago my clan was rich and respected. My father owned 28 spaceships before the Uxlad clan became powerful and cheated us out of our Skog monopoly. My father was ruined after a year and I have to earn my bread from this despicable Uxlad clan." Her eyes were aflame with irreconcilable hate and a turmoil of implacable thoughts had been aroused behind the beautiful high forehead of the girl. Kuri Onere had been left alone without parents and family. That she was alone could have been. The reason she befriended Ralph Sikeron. However this was all she knew about him and could tell Lloyd.
Guardedly he asked further questions, hinting at the Arkonide administration of the planet Volat and pointing out that murder was strictly punished under the jurisdiction of the Great Empire. "Did Asargud ever mention that he had enemies, Kuri?"
"Never! But the last time I saw him, he gave me the impression that he had discovered something terrible. He was very upset although he didn't want to show it. We hardly had time to talk and he must have been aware that he was to die soon. I didn't take it very seriously and I'd have given it no further thought but now that you ask, I remember that he said to send his friend to the Omniscient Mother if he vanishes without return. That's exactly what he told me the last time we met."
"Omniscient Mother?" Fellmer Lloyd was careful not to smirk. The title could refer only to the natives of Volat. He had encountered and observed a few of them yesterday for the first time.
These natives originated from a rare of insects and had enjoyed a peaceful existence prior to the colonization of their planet by the Arkonides. The Volatians looked grotesque to people who were not used to dealing with non-humanoid races. The thin sections of their bodies had a partially horny scale and insect legs. They had extra-large facet eyes with feelers extending above them. Despite their 6-foot height they not only looked harmless and placid but also behaved like it. They were, moreover, very intelligent. Their contempt for the Arkonides and Springers did not stem from false pride. It was a result of their attitude toward life which was filled with spiritual values and strange customs and rites.
When Fellmer Lloyd reiterated "Omniscient Mother," Kuri Onere confirmed it and commented: "I'm not in the habit of ridiculing the curious customs of the Volatians. Asargud must've been a wonderful person if he succeeded where every Springer failed and was able to communicate with the Volatians in the wild forests."
At this moment a Springer left the antigrav shaft and walked into the corridor. Fellmer Lloyd almost could feel in his bones that danger approached in the person of the Galactic Trader but it was already too late for them to leave or avoid him.
A burly Springer passed them, eyeing the pair suspiciously. He sniggered when he recognized Kuri Onere and made a nasty remark.
When he was two steps ahead of them he suddenly turned around, stared inquisitively at Fellmer Lloyd and asked in a sharp tone: "Are you going to the Asargud Company?"
The mutant chose an offensive tactic. The chaotic thoughts of the Springer were influenced by suspicion, anger and insolence and the reference to the 'bosses' cropped up again. It all was poorly defined and coordinated, proving to Lloyd that he dealt with a man who was stupid and arrogant.
Fellmer Lloyd, looking complacent as usual, kept his cool. With exaggerated awkwardness he looked up at the Galactic Trader and said slowly with great deliberation: "Do you have to make suggestive remarks to every girl you see, Springer?"
The trader, who was a head and a half taller than Fellmer, came menacingly close. "How dare you...?"
Kuri Onere stopped him with a hard slap across his mouth but her threat to report the annoyance to the administration was more effective.
The Springer jumped back in cold fury. He muttered a curse and disappeared behind one of the doors.
His thoughts were vicious and Fellmer hinted at one of them: "I don't think you have to go back to your job. How much does this Springer have to say around here, Kuri?"
"Not only does he belong to the Uxlad clan but he's Aser Uxlad's youngest and most spoiled son—a loafer, a know nothing and girl chaser."
"Does he have more than one boss, Kuri?" Lloyd inquired.
Without hesitation Kuri blurted out: "Aser Uxlad is the uncrowned king of his clan. There is no other boss but him!"
• • •
Fellmer Lloyd's parapsychological sense organ was suddenly struck by a signal beam.
He was born with this phenomenal gift and had acquired his telepathic abilities only later in life. The mental sensor was part of his nature. He didn't have to concentrate and 'reach' for it. It came to him, warned or informed him about the brainwave patterns of people or other intelligent beings around him who came with good or evil intentions.
Four Springers were speeding up the antigrav shaft to the 212th floor!
Aser Uxlad's youngest son had been aroused by feelings of vengeance and the fact that Kuri Onere had talked in the corridor to a total stranger like a good friend had caused him to take some countermeasures.
The action of the Springers had been started without a clear aim. When they emerged from the elevator and saw only Kuri Onere in the corridor and no trace of the Prebonian, they became apprehensive.
Jidif, a spindly Springer with shifty eyes, reacted at once while his three companions tried to pressure the girl. With his pocket transmitter he notified another accomplice in the lobby, who summoned three robots and programmed them quickly with his instructions. The machines were turned into lethal menaces for Lloyd from which there was virtually no escape.
There was only one antigravitor in the entire office building of the Uxlad clan. It measured 30 meters in diameter and went from the basement to the roofport. During office hours it was usually crowded with hundreds of people and humanoid beings going up and down so that Fellmer Lloyd preferred not to use it. When he explained to the amazed Kuri Onere that a gang of Springers would soon be on his heels, she gave him a magnetic key without another word.
Ralph Sikeron had camouflaged his activities with the greatest skill and he pretended to run a company which conducted a transport service between stars. Fellmer Lloyd abstained from rummaging through the drawers. Often it was better to hide something in plain sight where nobody would think of looking.
So he didn't touch any of the numerous papers lying about, checking them only with his eyes. He was in the second room when he heard a noise at the entrance door.
His pursuers tried to break in by force. Jidif had concluded that the Prebonian was still on the 212th floor.
Fellmer Lloyd, looking as sluggish as ever, didn't lose his composure. He analyzed the four brainwave patterns while his eyes searched for a clue which Sikeron might have written down somewhere.
The sound outside the door grew louder. Lloyd drew his hypno-beamer and adjusted it to full force. If he was compelled to knock out the Springers and Kuri Onere was with them, it was unavoidable that she, too, would be put under hypnosis for several hours.
Lloyd turned back a leaf of the datebook lying on the desk and read the notations:
July 8
23,000 Dexresitik, bundled, SSog-6, arriving from Migf.
51,365 Klodexal, 100%, arriving on Derr-KL18 from Zalit, shipped on
Klo-22 to Orro, Mutant Master.
Mutant Master?
This time Fellmer Lloyd was visibly jolted. It was the clue which he had instinctively tried to find. Ralph Sikeron was still alive on the 8th of July, the day he made his first important discovery.
But why "Mutant Master"? He had died already half a century ago and nobody even remembered Perry Rhodan's dangerous old enemy.
Why did he write the ominous name of the Mutant Master after the entries of fictitious space transports? What did he mean by referring to a dead man?
The magnetic lock was demolished by a blast from a thermo-beamer and the door swung open in a cloud of foul-smelling gas.
It brought Fellmer Lloyd instantly back to the present. He pointed his hypno-weapon to the exit with a steady hand, pulled the trigger, fanning from side to side and immediately received the hypnotized brainwave patterns.
He ordered the four Springers to go down to the lobby at once and to tell their accomplice that the Prebonian had escaped in an air taxi.
But Fellmer Lloyd had made a tiny mistake: he had failed to calculate exactly the angle by which he scattered his hypno-beam so that not only his four pursuers and Kuri Onere were affected by his weapon but also three innocent men who were working on the other side of the corridor. As the three bystanders were not prepared for inner resistance like his attackers, they obeyed the mental command of the cosmic agent faster and arrived at the lobby a few seconds before the four Springers.
The eyes of the co-conspirator at the reception desk nearly popped out when the wrong Springer surprised him with the story that a Prebonian had gotten away from the roofport. He was even more amazed when the lanky Jidif gave him the same report without wondering about the other man.
When Jidif's companions tried to tell him the same story again in identical words, he realized what had happened to the men.
He was on the verge of pushing the alarm button and locking up the building like a prison when he remembered that the Arkon Administration was bound to hear about it and would order an embarrassing investigation. He cursed under his breath and withdrew his hand from the button.
4/ OUTSIDE THE REALM OF NORMALCY
Fellmer Lloyd had indeed fled Uxlad House in an air taxi and taken the hypnotized Kuri Onere with him.
The words 'Mutant Master' were harrowing his mind and the longer he pondered the more it troubled him.
Mutant Master and Three Bells!
The combination had meaningful implications. Half a century ago when the Mutant Master contested Perry Rhodan's power with his misguided mutants, Three Bells rang disaster for Terra and brought it to the brink of the abyss. But the Mutant Master was dead and most of his men had perished with him.
Fellmer Lloyd's worried mind gravitated more and more toward the possible existence of a secret organization whose aims imperiled Earth.
It was not inconceivable that the Galactic Traders had accidentally come across the Solar system and found Terra while cruising the length and breadth of the Galaxy. This could have put an end to the fallacy believed by the Arkonides and Aras that Terra had been destroyed.
He recalled that Uxlad's youngest son had thought about 'bosses'.
Did some of the Springer clans know the position of Terra and prepare for an independent surprise attack of their own fleets in the hope of pulling off a successful invasion?
Such an organization would be as detrimental to Earth and Perry Rhodan's plans as the conspiracy of the Mutant Master had been many years ago.
After dropping Kuri off at her apartment Lloyd returned to the Plana Hotel. He was already near the reception desk when he received a warning.
Officers of the Arkon Administration were waiting in his room to arrest him. Simultaneously he recognized three other agents of the administration sitting near a pillar—Springers.
They had failed to notice him because he had entered the hotel together with a group of travelers. Unable to turn back, he stayed in the middle of the crowd that moved toward the robot reception clerk. It was not very difficult to hide among the people who were much taller than he but then the travelers were separated into three smaller groups who entered the three antigrav elevators to reach their rooms at the various locations without unnecessary waiting.
Lloyd peered between a gap at the Springers near the pillar. One of them got up and craned his neck, looking in his direction. Fellmer could easily guess without telepathy why the Springer, held his right hand in a pocket.
At this moment the Springers' thoughts concerned a Prebonian who had to be apprehended. Fellmer Lloyd must have had an astonishing resemblance to a murderer from Prebon!
That's all I need, he thought but at the same time he was relieved because he now understood the puzzling activities of the Arkonides.
Suddenly one of the travelers became annoyed because another one had pushed him roughly into the antigravitor. "You..." was as far as the jostled man got when Lloyd silently discharged his hypno-weapon and sent out a mental command: "Everybody into the elevator!"
Five victims obeyed. Fellmer joined his hypnotized subjects and almost reached the safety of the elevator when the Springer shouted across the spacious lobby: "There he is!"
Lloyd had already sensed the Springer's intentions before he shouted and was ready to take his countermeasures. He was aware that it was a simple matter to change the information automaton into a fighter robot. As three of the hypnotized tourists jumped out of the way, a thermo-beam flashed from Lloyd's weapon and instantly vaporized the positronic of the information robot that stood near the elevator.
Leaping past the staggering men, Lloyd, who now looked anything but clumsy, managed to get safely into the elevator. The travelers moved up behind him and obstructed the view of the Springers. The shot had created a panic in the lobby and the mad scramble of the crowd blocked the way of the Springers.
Fellmer Lloyd gained a few precious seconds as he descended to the fifth level below the basement. He dashed out and ran around two robot workers who paid no attention to him. Then he jumped into a freight elevator, disregarding a warning to keep out and went down four more levels. He sprinted along a lit but empty corridor with the speed of a pro.
As he raced through the corridor, he figured out his chances and kept his eyes open for the antigrav trash chute. The thought made him shudder and twisted his face in a grimace. He could smell the odoriferous refuse as he approached the chute despite the air filter meant to nullify the offensive odors.
; The antigrav chute was wide enough to admit a big Springer and there was more than enough room for the somewhat smaller Lloyd. Before taking his way out with the refuse of the Plana Hotel, Lloyd looked back and saw his first pursuer emerge from the antigravitor at the end of the corridor.
He dropped backwards down the chute and sank into an ocean of nauseating stench. He fought hard to suppress his urge to regurgitate as he floated down by controlled gravity.
Lloyd turned on a searchlight he had carried in his pocket but switched it off after a moment, preferring the darkness. He descended at a rate of two meters per second on his way to the sewer system of Kuklon.
Gurgling sounds warned him that he was getting to the end of the chute and he had to turn on his searchlight again as he feared he would choke or drown in the filth.
He saw that the tube ended just below him in an oval-shaped canal. He pressed his knees and his back against the walls of the tube and peered down. More by instinct than circumspection he tried to look up again and when he pointed his lamp upward he saw an enormous load of refuse coming down at two meters per second.
This forced him to move on. The retarding effect of the antigravity in the chute kept him from falling straight down into the dirty mess and he landed close to the side of the canal's wall, sinking up to his knees in the morass. He ignored the foul stench and looked desperately in both directions for a cross-canal.
The refuse poured down beside him. He shielded his eyes with his hands and momentarily held his breath but not without a satisfied grin on his face. This load of dirt was the best assurance for his escape.
Gritting his teeth, Fellmer Lloyd continued on his way. Half an hour later he found an exit from the stinking underworld but had to wait several hours underneath a manhole cover till nightfall when he could leave.
His appearance presented a disgusting mess and he stank to high heaven. He had to sneak like a thief through the hotel district of Kuklon until he managed to leave the elegant section of the city and found the shadier part of town.