by Perry Rhodan
"When will this phenomenon take place again?" Rhodan wanted to know.
"Unfortunately," Atlan answered, "it last appeared a few minutes ago." He looked at the clock. "25 minutes ago, to be exact. At least we've calculated the speed of rotation: 3.6 hours. Since the effect shows up only on every fourth revolution, we'll have to wait about 14 more hours for the next appearance."
Rhodan leaped up. "That's nothing in comparison to how long we've been waiting in vain," he said, spirits rising. "If we can land a Gazelle on Wanderer, we've as good as won."
Atlan looked at him mockingly. "Sit back down, Administrator," he said. "There's more."
Rhodan became attentive. "Still more?"
"Yes. It concerns Nathan."
Rhodan sat down.
Atlan began again. "According to our understanding of it, Nathan's astral form can be considered to be a mixture of 4th and 5th dimensional fields. Our calculations have shown that there are influences between such an entity and semispace. For Nathan, semispace is a pole that attracts him to it. So he can reach Wanderer easily enough; he just can't get back. He's a prisoner there. That's why he hasn't returned yet."
Perry Rhodan looked thoughtfully at the grey cylinder lying on the floor in the middle of the room. "That means then," he murmured, "that we'll have to take his body to him."
"Exactly," Atlan agreed. "And there's still more."
Rhodan looked up in surprise.
"Don't be afraid, barbarian," Atlan grinned. "This is the last thing; we haven't found out anything more. Remember Ras Tschubai? A powerful force threw him back and knocked him into the structural compensator. Was it by chance? Could he have just as easily turned up in a supply cupboard? No, he couldn't have. The force that threw him back could only send him on a certain path and that path ended in the compensator. Why? Because the compensator maintains a residual 5th dimensional field even during its inactive phase. For a force operating out of semispace, that residual field is the only gate into normal space. Imagine a wall around semispace: the only hole through which Ras Tschubai could be sent was the residual field in the compensator."
He had believed that he would have to explain to Rhodan the consequences of this bit of knowledge but hardly had he finished when Rhodan leaped up again. This time the Administrator did not do so out of relief but because a thought had occurred to him—exactly that thought which Atlan had intended to lead him to.
"A hole in the wall!" Rhodan exclaimed. "That was what we were trying to create when we sent Rous through the mirror field. We failed with that—because the mirror field has a different structure than semispace, right?"
"Exactly," said Atlan.
"So we were on a false trail. Now we know that the compensator's residual field is such a 'hole in the wall'. We can't use the compensator itself to transport us to Wanderer because the compensator doesn't have the power to move us. But we possess another device that operates with the same effect as the compensator and we can do it with that. Is that your opinion, too, Admiral?"
Atlan nodded. His eyes were luminous and now showed no signs of fatigue.
"Then it's the teletransmitter," Perry Rhodan murmured, having suddenly grown thoughtful. "I'm surprised we didn't think of it before. I wonder why?"
A feeling of unbounded joy grew in him.
Now they knew how they were to reach Wanderer.
3/ MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
To Perry Rhodan it seemed like a sort of irony of fate that it would be none other than the device that It had created on Wanderer many millennia before which now would provide access to Wanderer and It. The effect of the teletransmitter could be best described with the illustration Atlan had already used: the field of the transmitter bored a hole through the wall that marked the border between 4th and 5th dimensions. Normally the area of the 5th dimensional continuum which could be crossed with the help of the teletransmitter was pictured in one's mind as a sphere. The transmitter made its way through it, boring a hole first on the near side and then on the far. The latter led back into normal space. Here the situation was different: since semispace was nothing more than a rudimentary 5th dimension, only one hole was needed in this case.
That meant that circuits in the transmitter would have to be altered. Atlan, who was in charge of the mathematical aspect, explained: "We have to find out which of the thousands of possible settings for the machine is the right one. That will be a difficult task. Mathematics won't help us a great deal with it... unless we wait until the calculations are finished and we don't have the time for that. We'll just have to experiment."
The teletransmitter, which at one time had given valuable service to Perry Rhodan as a weapon superior to all others, was built securely into the ship. The beginning of the transporter beam where the object to be displaced had to be positioned so that it could be subject to the 5th dimensional force, could be adjusted at will. For the sake of convenience, Rhodan had the unit installed in the control room so that the necessary tests could be carried out there. Rhodan began the series of experiments with a number of small lumps of metal, placing them where the transmitter affected them. At the same time, an adjustment had been made on the machine's controls so that the transmitter would no longer function in the usual manner. The second hole in the wall, leading out again of the 5th dimension, had been stopped up, so to speak. When one of the test objects disappeared it could only mean that it had been transported to Wanderer.
The experiments began, although they were not very promising. When Rhodan, sitting at his place, switched on the transmitter for the first time the lump of metal began to change shape. An invisible force mashed it flat against the control room floor. The sides of the original cube had been about two centimeters long, now it had become a kind of pancake almost a meter square. Rhodan turned the transmitter off at that point.
A small detail of the machine's setting was changed, then the second attempt was undertaken. It failed just like the first. Despite yet another adjustment, the third attempt did not achieve the desired result either.
Atlan, following Rhodan's emphatic request to get some sleep, had retired. He had asked, however, that he be awakened as soon as any successes had been achieved.
Midnight passed and the date shifted to April 26. The time remaining to Rhodan was now only a little more than 140 hours.
Then, towards 03:00 hours in the morning, an attempt finally succeeded! Instead of flattening out, as had happened to its predecessors, the small piece of metal simply vanished completely from the control room floor.
At last an attempt to reach Wanderer by means of the available equipment and resources had succeeded.
Atlan was awakened. He had slept only five hours but that had been enough to make him completely fresh and full of energy. He had another piece of metal disappear for him, then made a suggestion. "We don't know yet what role the size of the object plays in the transmission. It could be that a man or even a Gazelle would be smashed flat just like the first dozen pieces of metal. We should try to send a robot to Wanderer first."
Perry Rhodan agreed. One of the battle-robots aboard was ordered up to the control room. The robot was a monster weighing several tons; it was equipped with weapons built into its arms that could replace the firepower of an entire company. Its design followed the Arkonide pattern but it had been built on Earth. The powerful automaton stepped without objection to the place where Perry Rhodan had indicated. Then Rhodan informed it of its mission.
Undisturbed, the robot answered. "Yes sir. I am at your disposal."
Rhodan stepped backwards to his control panel, not letting the robot out of his sight. With glowing eyes, the robot looked straight ahead.
Perry Rhodan slowly counted down: "...4... 3... 2... 1... now!"
The knob clicked lightly on the control panel but only Rhodan heard it. The sound was swallowed up for the others by the high-pitched noise emanating from the robot, the sound of rending metal. The men watched with terror in their wide eyes as the mighty robot changed.
The robot took a short, wavering step forward as something took hold of its metal shoulders and ripped them apart. The chest seemed to rip and tear while the metal groaned and screamed, twisted into unnatural shapes. The robot started to defend itself but too few of its bodily functions were still intact for it to succeed. It fell to the ground and at the same moment the uncanny force that had flattened the small pieces of metal before was upon it. Within moments there was nothing left of the once powerful battle-robot but an ugly grey pile of metal that was no longer able to move. The noise died away. Remaining in the room was only the stench of overheated wires and glowing half-conductors.
It had all taken place in two or three seconds. When Rhodan shut off the transmitter, the fate of Robot CQ-1238 was already sealed.
Rhodan looked over at Atlan.
Atlan caught the glance and raised his eyebrows. "I thought as much," he said simply. "The basic setting is right but an adjustment will have to be made for the size and weight of the object being transported. Evidently we'll have to recalculate our figures for each amount of mass we try to transmit. For that we'll have to run a series of experiments with a variety of objects of different sizes. That won't take so long because we can retain the basic setting."
Rhodan sighed and looked at the automatic calendar.
• • •
In the depths of the vast hangar, Reginald Bell was busy getting a Gazelle-type space-scout ready to go: Reginald Bell, #2 man of the Solar Imperium. Bell had been one of the first to learn of the results of the mathematicians team. He had been assigned to land on that portion of Wanderer that appeared in normal space once every 14.4 hours. No one knew how much time it remained in normal space or how large it was.
Reginald Bell knew what kind of an assignment that was. He had taken it on himself because he too had been instructed to find Wanderer and enter the Physiotron. Bell had been the second man to take part in the cell renewal 62 years before. If he were not able to find Wanderer within the allotted time and receive the life-prolonging treatment, he would age into a more than 100-year-old man within hours and die after two days at most. That alone was reason enough for Reginald Bell to take on any assignment that contained within it the chance of reaching Wanderer one way or another. However, he had turned down the offer of a full crew for the Gazelle. Most of the small spaceboat's functions could be taken care of automatically. Bell was confident that he could accomplish his mission with only the help of one companion, assuming the mission could be accomplished at all. He had asked Lt. Tompetch if he would come along and Tompetch had agreed with a happy grin as though he had no idea he had just obligated himself to a suicide mission. Bell had explained that to him and emphasized that he could decide to back out if he chose.
To that Tompetch had answered: "You know, I've been a second looey for far too long, at least in my estimation. If there's anything I can do to become a first lieutenant, I'll do it. Do you think that if we're successful I could get a promotion out of it?"
Reginald Bell had not missed Tompetch's characteristic wink while asking the question. Bell replied that a promotion was not at all involved and furthermore, if they were not successful, he would personally see to it that Tompetch was busted back down to corporal. Tompetch went along with it but winked again.
Bell had begun at midnight to prepare the Gazelle for its flight. Under normal conditions no preparations were necessary: the spaceboat pilot requested permission to take off, glided to the hangar airlock, waited until the hatches opened, and flew out. But here the situation was different. Extra equipment which could indicate the relative position of the Drusus to the Gazelle was necessary, as well as a timesaving electronic control system which cut the time for regulating controls from microseconds down to nanoseconds. In this situation the lives of the two men could depend on how quickly the controls could be adjusted. Finally, a pattern had to be made, containing what the robot Homunk had called Perry Rhodan's 'individual vibrations' 62 years before. The vibratory pattern, broadcast by a telepathic augmenter, would serve to open up the forcefield over Wanderer when the Gazelle prepared to land. Reginald Bell had at first believed that he could finish up all these preparations in three or at most four hours. But when 06:30 hours rolled around, Mike Tompetch had not been able even to get the vibratory pattern ready, and of all the things they were taking, that was the most important.
The mathematicians had calculated that the visibility phase of a part of Wanderer's surface would begin at 0857.34 hours. How long it would last, no one knew for sure. It was hoped that it would endure long enough to allow a Gazelle to land. But again, no one knew.
Tompetch brought the vibratory pattern shortly after 07:00 and it was installed in the telepathic augmenter. That took another ½ hour. Bell took no more time with it, not even to run a test. The pattern had to be perfect, else the Gazelle and its two occupants would go up in a gaseous cloud upon impact with the forcefield around Wanderer.
The Gazelle stood ready to go at 07:45. Bell reported the fact to the control room and received permission to take off along with Rhodan's last admonishment.
"Be careful, Reggie! You know that your safety margin could be only a matter of a few centimeters. If you aren't in the precise location, you won't even see Wanderer's surface, let alone be able to land on it. And even if you are in the right spot... you know you have only a few seconds time to penetrate the forcefield and land. If you succeed in landing, make your way immediately to the Physiotron. You have everything you need with you. Don't wait for me. We'll keep working with the teletransmitter. If we don't come up with anything in the next 15 hours, we'll come to Wanderer the same way you did. In any case, we'll get in touch with you as soon as we reach Wanderer. Is everything clear?"
"Perfectly."
"Then good luck, old pal!"
"Thanks, Perry, and... don't forget to come, too!"
"Right!"
The connection was broken. At 07:50 the Gazelle began to glide towards the inner hatch of the hangar lock. The hatch passageway was crossed within a few moments. At 07:54, the small discus-shaped spaceboat left the huge body of the Drusus and headed out into space at a moderate speed.
The game of chance had begun. No one knew how it would end. The time remaining was now only 136 hours.
• • •
Gazelle G-203 floated motionless in space, motionless relative to the Drusus and to Wanderer. Reginald Bell had positioned the small spacecraft according to the figures given by the mathematicians. For lack of another system of reference, the position data had been given in the Intrinsic Ship's Coordinate System (ISCS), a system of coordinates whose focal point was the center of the Drusus. Planes were defined by the ship's three axis from which horizontal and vertical angles were determined. The third coordinate was the distance from the ship's center.
By 08:00, Bell had reached the calculated position with a few manoeuvres and corrections. From then on he sat back in his seat and stared at the vidscreen, now and then glancing at the sensor equipment, and occasionally spoke with Lt. Tompetch.
"How late is it now?" he asked at length.
"08:34, sir."
Bell figured it out in his head. Still 23 minutes and some seconds to go.
• • •
"Here," said Atlan. "This is the transport value, a function of the transport mass. A constant, slightly variable function. It will be difficult for us to make any more mistakes."
Rhodan looked at the diagram and agreed with the Arkonide. The transport value for a mass of 100 tons was only 3½ times larger than that for a mass of 100 grams. That meant that for the teletransmitter only five different control settings would be enough to cover the range from 100 grams clear up to 100 tons. Robot CQ-1238 would have been saved by a setting only I step higher. Perry Rhodan made another attempt with a second robot. It succeeded perfectly: the robot disappeared from the control room and there was no doubt that it had appeared on Wanderer at the same moment.
That was shortly after 08:30. At 08
:45, Rhodan tried again to radio Reginald Bell and Lt. Tompetch. There was no reply, since Gazelle G-023 was long since in the shadow of semispace by that time. Between normal space and semispace there could be no communication.
Perry Rhodan had a second Gazelle readied for takeoff and at the same time ordered the tele-transmitter's starting beam aimed at the outer hatch of the large hangar airlock. In this way difficult manoeuvres would be avoided. As soon as the Gazelle left the ship, it would enter the effective radius of the teletransmitter and be expedited to Wanderer. Rhodan set the controls himself, feeling uneasy as he did so. He missed the usual series of tests that would make sure of the safety of the undertaking. But finally he told himself that in the first place he could lose no more time and in the second place the transport value he had just programmed into the machine was the result of an exact calculation and so there could be no reason to worry.
It was 08:52 when he told himself that.
• • •
Shortly after 08:57 the matter sensor sounded. The warning device began to hum and on the register screen, almost in the center, a tiny point lit up and began to grow as Bell watched.
Reginald Bell's hand moved over and he switched on the telepathic augmenter. With the help of the installed pattern, it would broadcast Perry Rhodan's individual vibrations. Even before he could make out their destination on the panorama screen, he set the Gazelle in motion so that the point of light on the sensor moved closer towards the center.
Tompetch suddenly yelled, "There, sir! Look!"
Reginald Bell raised his head and saw a splotch of pale brightness appear on the panorama screen. It lay, like the light spot on the sensor screen, almost exactly in the middle of the forward screen-half and visibly increased in size as though it approached the Gazelle at an unheard-of speed. Bell repressed the fear the unusual sight aroused in him and gunned the motors for a higher velocity. As though slammed by a giant fist, the Gazelle shot forward toward the indistinct light. While Bell trained his attention solely on the instruments, Lt. Tompetch watched the panorama screen. He saw the bright spot quickly attain a shape and grow so large that details could be picked out. Tompetch saw a broad, blue-green surface that he took for a sea, an irregular coastline that seemed to bear thick jungle, a stretch of a wide river—and beyond, the unending void of open space. The apparition was perfectly round, cleanly cut without transition or middle ground. An island in space, seeming to mock all natural laws. Tompetch watched as the sea and the jungle-land expanded, finally reached maximum and began to shrink again. A double curve in the huge river had appeared last and it disappeared first as the impenetrable curtain of semispace started to close once more.