Heat crawled after them, and after a short while Roderich was drenched in sweat. He glanced back over his shoulder and realized in horror that the atom fire had reached the corridor and was eating its way through it with an insatiable appetite.
"Faster!" Sharita called. "Faster!"
Roderich concentrated entirely on running and paid no more attention to anything else. He tried to visualize lightness in his legs and imagined strength flowing through him. He adjusted the rhythm of his breathing to the beat of his running steps, and forgot everything else. At least that was his intention. But after about half a kilometer, the heat had grown almost unbearable, and every gasping breath he took seemed to burn his lungs. His legs grew ever heavier, and never before had he envied Tru'lhan and Yu'lhan more for their agility.
Something approached from in front of them. Spotlights glared, then dimmed their light so the runners were not blinded.
"Gliders!" Sharita exclaimed. "Icho Tolot is sending us two gliders!"
Roderich realized that Yu'lhan and Tru'lhan were pulling him up with them. Nearby Grresko was hissing as though he could frighten the atom fire that way and thereby slow its progress. His hands found something to hold onto and someone close by said, "Hang on!"
He was clutching a landing skid-like extension on one of the gliders. In its transparent pilot cockpit sat an Akonian. Other hands held on to the skid and the glider turned, heading back in the direction from which it had come. Accompanying it was a second glider, also with passengers hanging on from the landing skids.
The atom fire followed them like a monster that did not intend to let its victims escape, no matter what. The red glow of the atomic decay rapidly ate through the corridor's walls, ceiling, and floor, giving off a heat that sucked the last remnant of strength out of Roderich. He felt his fingers loosening from the skid even though he wanted to keep holding on ...
Suddenly he lost a large portion of his weight. The heat remained, burning in his lungs with each breath, but he was considerably lighter and needed less strength to hang on ...
A spaceship appeared in the glider's spotlight beams, black and sphere-shaped, with a diameter of about 100 meters. Icho Tolot's ship.
"The artificial gravity's failed," Sharita said and let go as the glider still stood at a height of more than five meters. She floated to the floor as light as a feather.
"The atom fire probably reached the gravity generators," Catchpole replied.
The atomic combustion came out of the corridor they had just left, spreading along the walls of the huge room in which they now found themselves. Roderich looked around while he and the others raced towards the ship with long, leaping strides. Robots had already begun to dismantle the Halutian ship—some segments in the lower half of the outer hull were missing. The robots no longer moved, and some of them appeared to have fallen from great heights.
An extended ramp led into the ship. Denetree stood there and waved.
"Icho Tolot is in the control center and getting everything ready for take-off!" the young Lemurian called.
Roderich glanced around the vast room once more, as the darkness gave way to the dark red of the atom fire. There was no sign anywhere of shaft openings that would allow the spaceship to leave the base buried deep within the asteroid's interior.
In the ship, not only light and a pleasant coolness awaited Roderich and the others, but also a higher gravity that all too clearly reminded him of his exhaustion. They hurried through brightly lit corridors to the control center. There was not enough room for everyone, so Terrans and Akonians sank to the floor in the corridor just outside to rest. Roderich staggered past them and leaned against the wall in the control center entranceway.
Icho Tolot sat at the controls of his ship. Sharita and Echkal cer Lethir stood next to him.
"I have made contact with the base's communication system," the four-armed giant rumbled. "Or rather, what remains of it."
Sharita lifted her head. "Can you hear us?"
A crackling hiss came out of the com speakers.
"A teleporter field transported my ship here," Tolot said. Four hands whisked over the controls and operated switching elements. The ship's systems hummed softly and the rumbling of the engines grew louder. "There is no conventional way out." The display screens showed a reddish brown glow approaching the black spacesphere.
"The Paratron screen will protect us from the atom fire, won't it?" Sharita asked.
"Yes," Icho Tolot confirmed. "And even if the fire reaches the reactors and an explosion results ... I am rather certain that the released energy can be diverted without our being endangered." One of the four hands stroked the central console almost gently. "This is a good ship."
There was a squealing and crackling in the communication system loudspeakers. "Danger ... " the voice rasped. "Radiation ... weapon ... "
Denetree darted past Roderich. "The weapon that killed Torg Kaltem ... " the Lemurian exclaimed worriedly.
Sharita understood at once. "If the atom fire reaches it, there could be a sudden burst of radiation. Will the Paratron screen protect against that, too?"
Tolot hesitated. "I don't know what kind of radiation it is."
"We shouldn't run any risks," Sharita said. "You saw what happened to Torg Kaltem. How do we get out of here?"
"By force." The Halutian pointed to the readouts. "We are about a thousand meters from the surface of the asteroid here. It should be possible to make a hole in the rock layer with the Transform- and thermo-cannon. However ... "
Sharita nodded slowly. "I understand." Somewhat louder, she said, "You have helped us and we are very grateful for that. In order to escape the radiation, we must use our weapons, and that means destroying a large part of the base."
"The base ... is being ... destroyed ... anyway," the voice squealed. The words could hardly be understood now. "Life is precious and ... must be ... preserved. Take ... all necessary ... measures."
"What about you? What about all of you?"
"We are ... singing ... " came the puzzling answer. Those were the last words they heard from their helper.
Sharita exchanged glances with Lethir, then nodded to the Halutian. "Very well. Take us into space."
Icho Tolot's arms moved.
The black spacesphere spat the energy of a star.
The display screens glared and filters automatically switched in. They were not intended to protect the Halutian's eyes, but those of the Terrans, Akonians and the Lemurian.
Standing in the entrance to the control center, Roderich anticipated vibrations, loud thundering, and the like, but the floor beneath his feet did not even quiver. A change could hardly be detected in the quiet, placid humming of the ship's systems.
"The asteroid is breaking apart," Icho Tolot announced.
And his ship leaped into space. Stars appeared on the large display screens and a projection field showed the asteroid dissolving into a ball of fire, silently expanding and then quickly fading. After not even ten seconds, the light of the explosion was lost in the darkness of space.
Icho Tolot checked the readouts. "The sensors indicate no harmful emissions."
Sharita stepped to the middle of the control center, and from there looked out into the corridor. "Everybody healthy and happy?" she asked.
"Healthy, yes," Roderich responded, "but I'm not so sure about happy."
Echkal pointed to the main screen. "I wonder what became of our helper."
"That's something we'll never know." Sharita returned to the side of the Halutian sitting in his large chair at the control console. "Please take us back to the PALENQUE and the LAS-TOOR near the fifth planet. Let's find out how Perry Rhodan is doing."
37
Deshan Apian
Lemuria, 4589 dT (51,811 B.C.)
"Tamaha is dead, Mira," Deshan said.
He sat once more in a small boat, surrounded by consoling silence. No wind blew on this cold winter's day, and the surface of the water was as flat as a mirror. The lig
ht of the sun over the mountains filtered through a thin cloud cover, and so the colors of the Valley of Silence appeared muted. A gray layer seemed to lie on everything, on Deshan's soul as well.
"Our little Tamaha," he said to the still water. "Do you remember, Mira? Do you remember how much we rejoiced over her birth? I feel as though I held her in my arms just yesterday, but eighty-four years have passed since then. Milissa is eighty-two, Erron eighty. Many of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren also have children. I wish you could see them. But Tamaha is dead."
Today the lake stretched silver-gray around him, not turquoise. Chroniclers were still trained in the white buildings of the Center for Memorial Contemplation on the southern shore. There, Deshan was considered a living legend. Over the years he had attained a very high Merit status, and his immortality was as little a secret as that of Paronn. The Twelfth Hero Vehraáto and his Chronicler, two wanderers through the ages.
"I like to think that she is with you now, Mira," he murmured, and looked into the smooth water that showed him the face of an old man. He thought of his dream on the night that Paronn had given him the Cell Activator, thirty-four years before. Since then, Mira had not even appeared to him in a dream, which he very much regretted. Often he missed her so much that it hurt, and then the yearning to be with her became almost overwhelming. He had only to take the Activator off and then wait a little until the door to the beyond opened—he knew that from Paronn.
But he could not bring himself to do it. Perhaps it was the fear of his physical end, but more likely curiosity to see what the future would bring. And Mira had promised to wait for him in a timeless moment that meant centuries for him.
Deshan was silent for a while.
"The Star Seekers are now officially recognized as the fiftieth Solidarity Community, and since last week we've had a Solidarity Taman on the Coordinating Council, which has grown to thirteen members," he said. A fish swam just below the surface of the water and seemed to be watching him. "Seventeen Exodus ships have set out. The latest one was the NETHACK ACHTON."
The fish swam away and Deshan raised his eyes to the gray sky, picturing the stars beyond. "The ships that left first, the AKAN HATA and the HENTECK AVRAM, have now been under way for twenty-seven years. They means they're now nearly twenty-seven light-years away from Lemur. On board, only a few months have passed. Those daring colonists are also wandering through time, like Paronn and me."
He lowered his eyes again, looked at his hands, and thought for two or three seconds that he could see in them the urn that had held Mira's ashes. The idea caused him new grief, and he pulled his thick jacket more tightly around his shoulders, as though he wanted to find refuge within its warmth.
"I'm sorry that I can't come here as often as I'd like," he said in a low voice. "Most of the time I'm with Paronn, and that often means stays in the orbital or Moon stations. From there he's organizing the construction of the next ships. There's no lack of Star Seekers who want to go with them when they set out, but there are constant problems regarding the supply of materials. It's true that collaboration with the Spaceflight Solidarity has improved since the fall of the First and we help each other where we can. But the construction of so many ships is enormously expensive and it really does swallow considerable amounts of resources. The construction stations at the libration points are frequently forced to shut down temporarily."
Deshan looked out over the lake and watched small waves form as the wind grew stronger. Not much time passed before the boat began to rock gently.
"This is my life," he said. "My life without you, Mira. Tomorrow I'm going back into space and I don't know when the next time I can come here will be." He leaned over, dipped his hand into the cold water, then raised it to touch his lips and cheek. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of you," he added, and that was the truth. "Wait for me, Mira and Tamaha. Have a little patience."
He looked across the lake and remained silent and lost in his thoughts, as the boat took him to the shore.
Deshan Apian did not entirely understand why Paronn often ran so many unnecessary risks. This meant that he had to be subjected to them as well if he wanted to fulfill his duties as a Chronicler properly.
The small spaceship that was to carry out the test floated near the gigantic, ring-shaped LEMCHA OVIR. The ship was in a high orbit over Suen with its construction almost complete. Soon a one-month check-out phase would begin in which all of the ship's systems would be thoroughly inspected and tested. With that the colonists, approximately 10,000 in all, could go on board. If everything happened according to plan, launch could follow in about two months. The LEMCHA OVIR would be the eighteenth Exodus ship that carried human beings to the stars. The Lemurian plant was scattering its seed pods.
The tiny ship consisted of just a small module that had room for three people—Levian Paronn, Deshan Apian, and the female pilot—and a large, modified ion engine. Paronn and his Chronicler sat in seats designed to compensate for the forces of acceleration, the backs lowered halfway to a full reclining position. Deshan and Paronn checked the belts of their safety harnesses. Meanwhile, the pilot in the seat in front of them fired the maneuvering jets and guided the test ship away from the LEMCHA OVIR.
"If the new technology functions, higher accelerations and shorter braking phases when they reach their destinations will be possible for the Exodus ships," Paronn said. He closed his helmet and connected his spacesuit with the on-board systems. His voice came out of the small com speaker inside Deshan's helmet. "That means the ships will reach their cruising speed sooner and can maintain it longer."
"If it doesn't function, we'll be crushed by our own weight," Deshan said.
The pilot turned half around. "The safety systems will prevent that." A smile appeared behind the helmet's faceplate. "If the Absorber fails, the engine will shut down automatically."
"It's very reassuring to know that." Deshan turned to Paronn. "Why did you insist on taking part in this test flight yourself? Shouldn't two development engineers be sitting in our places?"
"I had a major part in the development of the Absorber," Paronn reminded the Chronicler. "And besides, what has become of your thirst for adventure?"
Deshan grimaced and checked his safety belt again.
"We can begin," Paronn told the pilot.
She operated the controls. "Engine ignition in five seconds ... four ... "
Deshan took a deep breath and enjoyed the last seconds of weightlessness that left his back completely free of pain. Then the pilot ignited the ion engine and outside the capsule's window the LEMCHA OVIR slid away. At the same time, Deshan felt his body regaining its weight, growing heavier with increasing acceleration.
"We have reached one gravity," the pilot said after a while. "G-force absorber now operating."
Deshan did not feel any change. His weight remained normal and familiar as the capsule's ion engine produced ever more thrust. He heard the humming of the engine turn into a loud droning, like that of a million insects close by, and he thought he could see Suen shrinking.
"We have reached four gravities," announced the pilot's voice in the helmet speaker. "G-force absorber operating perfectly. A portion of the energy is being converted and channeled to the navigation shield."
"A solution to two problems," Paronn remarked.
"We are now at six gravities ... "
Gradually Deshan's concern faded away. Everything really did seem to be functioning as planned. The droning of the engine grew still louder, and a slight vibration became noticeable.
And then a cosmic hammer fell on Deshan.
A fraction of a second later, there was only silence.
But during that fraction of a second, Deshan felt as heavy as a mountain, and his own weight threatened to crush him. It was a moment of terror that made his heart beat faster, and then the enormous weight almost instantly lifted from him.
"Well, well," gasped Paronn next to him. "Everything did function!"
"The
safety systems shut down the engine as expected," the pilot said.
"At an acceleration of ... ?"
"Eleven Lemurian gravities."
"That's enough for now. We can certainly improve the G-force absorber still more in order to attain higher accelerations."
"Everything functioned?" Deshan repeated. "We were almost squashed."
"But still only almost, my dear Deshan," said Paronn, in a good mood, and opened his helmet. "Take us back to the Moon," he instructed the pilot.
As the capsule flew back to Suen, the humming of the engine did not increase to a droning again. Paronn seemed thoroughly satisfied. "This is an additional important step. Perhaps it will soon enable even genuine artificial gravity. And we now have something that we can offer the Spaceflight Solidarity. Equipping its ships with G-force absorbers will lead to a considerable shortening of interplanetary flight durations." He gestured out the window as the round LEMCHA OVIR became visible in orbit over Suen. "It will be the first Exodus ship to set out for the stars with an Absorber system."
This time, only a few people were in the "Observatory." More than 100 had been present at the launch of the first Exodus ship, the AKAN HATA. Paronn, Deshan, and several engineers from the Moon base had gathered to watch the LEMCHA OVIR set out.
It was still a magnificent occasion, and the images were broadcast to Lemur. Hundreds of thousands of people could watch the launch of the great ship in three-dimensional projection fields or on vidscreens. But it lacked that fascination that had accompanied the launch of the AKAN HATA, since this was, after all, the eighteenth generation ship that was heading towards a distant destination somewhere in the center of the Galaxy. Only Paronn and the commander of the LEMCHA OVIR knew what that destination was.
Gray-white capture fields glowed on the sides of the ship, forming acceleration funnels and began to rotate to capture more neutrinos. The colossus started to move, its running lights blinking a last farewell to Suen and Lemur ...
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