by Perry Rhodan
Rhodan turned around slowly. "And what might these more conventional means be, Thora?"
"Spacefights! This is what this fabulous ship has been intended for originally. On our way back to Arkon we will approach each of the systems and examine them for inhabited planets."
"You are forgetting two things, Thora," Rhodan interrupted. "First of all, between here and the planet Arkon lies a distance of some 34,000 light-years, filled with more solar systems than you could ever explore. Secondly, the planet of eternal life-if it ever did exist-is supposed to have been located here in the Vega system. This planet has migrated to some unknown place. It could be anywhere in the universe. What guarantee do you have that it took off in the direction of your home planet Arkon? It could just as well have taken the opposite direction. We don't even know its speed. Perhaps it still continues to wander, a planet without a sun, rushing through the universe. A restless, immortal wanderer. No, Thora, your proposition is unacceptable."
"Why don't you suggest a better one!" Thora challenged him furiously. "But make it a good one, please. Otherwise we will have to wait a very long time before you bring us back to Arkon."
"I understand, Thora." Rhodan's voice sounded suddenly very weary. "That is your main concern: Arkon! I promise you will see your home planet again as soon as we have solved the Galactic Riddle and have found the planet of eternal life."
Thora turned away abruptly. Her beautiful face became a rigid, hostile mask. Khrest noticed this change with dismay. He tried to reconcile the two opposing views. "You must show some understanding for Thora, Perry. Our scientific council ordered her to explore this sector of the galaxy. Only because of our unforeseen crash-landing on Terra's moon have you had the opportunity to take possession of our technology and our knowledge. It is true, we permitted it, and even helped you with this, as we hoped this would enable us to return to our home some day. But now, our goal is being pushed farther and farther ahead into the future."
"Didn't your expedition set out on a search for the planet of eternal life?"
"Yes, but..."
"But that is exactly what I am trying to accomplish! We are both working toward one common goal. I can't understand Thora's attitude."
"Just consider, Perry." Khrest began anew but was abruptly interrupted. A red light bulb lit up in front of Rhodan, who automatically flipped the switch of the intercom. Maj. Deringhouse's face appeared on the visiscreen.
"Yes, Deringhouse, what is it?"
"My pilot Sgt. Groll has just reported back from his mission with Lossosher, the Ferronian scientist Lossosher urgently wants to talk to you. He claims to have found the planet of eternal life."
Utter silence reigned for a few moments in the control room. The news came like a shock for everyone. Thora breathed hard, while Khrest managed to hide his feelings behind an exterior mask of indifference. Bell's mouth was wide open; he was overwhelmed by the announcement Rhodan commanded: "Have Groll and Lossosher report here immediately."
The Ferron soon arrived and with a triumphant gesture he handed Rhodan the photos he had taken of the pyramid. Groll stood next to him. It was obvious that he felt ill at ease.
"We found the pyramid on the second moon of the 13th planet," Lossosher said, "close to a shaft that led deep inside a rocky plateau. We entered this underground tunnel and penetrated deep below the surface where we discovered highly complex technical installations. It was the general belief of our scientists that this moon was uninhabited and had always been so. It still appears this way. These installations seem to be the remnants of a dead civilization. On the other hand it could just as well be that energy center which tore the former 10th planet of our solar system out of its established orbit around the Vega sun and changed the planet to one of the moons of the 13th planet. if this theory should prove to be true then 13B would be none other than the planet of eternal life."
Rhodan had listened intently to Lossosher's report. He held the photo in his hand, glancing at it, repeatedly as if he could not decide what to do with it. Finally he inserted it quickly into the proper slot of the positronic brain. He pushed a button and set an externally involved procedure in motion. Optical lenses focused on the inscription, reproduced the symbols in electronic impulses which were sped on their way instantaneously. Thus the process of decoding was set in motion.
Rhodan glanced at Lossosher. "Did you find any trace of life on this moon?"
"Yes, just a Topidian lizard. Sgt. Groll shot him."
"A Topide? How is that possible?"
Groll spoke up. "Probably a survivor of the recent invading forces. He must have escaped from the holocaust of our space battles. His lifeboat was severely damaged when he crash-landed on the 13th moon. He must also have discovered the underground tunnel. In any case he awaited us there when we descended into the shaft."
"And you killed a defenseless person in distress?" Rhodan blamed the sergeant. "You know very well that such an action is punishable according to the laws of the Third Power--according to all interstellar conventions."
"I acted in self-defense. The Topide pointed his gun at me. My aim was better and faster. So he was killed instead of me."
Lossosher came to his rescue. "It happened exactly the way Sgt. Groll has told you. He was only doing his duty. He defended our lives when we were both attacked and in danger of being destroyed."
Crackling, sounds came from the loudspeaker near the ceiling. The acoustics of the positronic brain were warming up. Then the mechanical, soulless voice announced: "Translation completed. The result will be in form of a written report. End of message."
Rhodan turned to Khrest. "That was fast. Faster than I expected. The inscription was probably not even written in a code. It had just to be translated. This would indicate that the message was not of special importance. Lossosher, I'm afraid, you are going to be bitterly disappointed."
The Ferron was about to reply when the electronic brain spat out a white slip of paper. Rhodan seized the strip and read aloud the transcription of the message that had been engraved on the small pyramid of moon 13B.
"Many ways are leading to the light. Some are only detours. The trail points toward the right direction."
"What do you make of it?" asked Lossosher.
Rhodan smiled. "It's meant to comfort those who have either lost the right track or never even found it. There are detours on the path that will solve the Galactic Riddle. I believe, however, that the direct way is faster, even if it is more difficult. Thank you, Lossosher, you have rendered me an invaluable service. And many thanks to you, Groll."
Groll left, his face a stoic mask, while Lossosher had trouble hiding his disappointment. After the door of the control center had closed behind the two men, Khrest remarked, "I feel sorry for Lossosher. He had hoped to bring you some valuable clue. Is his discovery of any real significance, Perry?"
"Yes, but only indirectly, Khrest. It's some diversionary manoeuvre. Just imagine: a hollow moon, that could be an inhabited planet, that serves only the purpose to divert our attention from the right path! What kind of people these must be to have hatched out such tasks for us to solve!"
"A race of mental giants, no doubt!" Khrest's voice expressed admiration and awe at the same time. "What a memorable occasion when we meet up with them. I hope we will prove worthy."
"In case we do find, them," Rhodan said in a serious tone, "then we are worthy, my friend."
"True. If we do find them! Sometimes I believe it would be wiser to give up our search. But there is more to our endeavor than merely finding the secret of immortality. If we can establish contact with a race of such superior intelligence, capable of laying a trail throughout thousands of years-beings that have become the masters of all dimensions-such a contact might save the crumbling empire of the Arkonides!"
"Or help the rising empire of Terra, Khrest!"
Khrest and Thora remained silent. They exchanged quick glances and left the control center.
Bell waited until the door had c
losed behind them. "You should not speak so frankly with them, Perry," he warned. "They still believe in the supremacy of their galactic realm. They have no idea that you plan to become heir to their fading empire. It would not be advisable to make them our enemies..."
"Khrest has no illusions about Arkon's future." Perry shook his head. "He fully realizes that his own race has become too weak to continue as the ruling force in the universe. He knows that mankind will become part of the heritage of the Arkonides. There is no doubt in his mind that this will be the best possible solution. He is on our side, Reg."
"You must be right, Perry, otherwise we would not be sitting here in the command center, in control of a spaceship that could return Khrest and Thora in no time to their own home Planet. What are your plans now?"
Rhodan sighed. "Just wait and see what develops. We have no choice. We will never arrive at the solution to this galactic chain riddle if we overlook one of its links. And the underground vault in the Red Palace of Thorta was exactly that: one link in a long chain."
Bell left and Rhodan remained alone, sitting in front of the grand console of the computer brain. Fascinated, he observed the, swift dance of the little bulb that indicated the varying signals, listened to the inscrutable hum coming through the Arkonite metal of the hull. He could feel the vibrations of the positronic brain in action. Would the mechanical mind find the answer?
A long path stretched ahead of this intrepid astronaut, a path which, he intuited, would lead through not only space but time. Journeys end would be at eternity's threshold. When the time came, would he have the courage to cross this threshold? For the destiny of mankind, he must not fail!
Next time--
Quest Through Space And Time