by Perry Rhodan
The robot spoke again. "It is an honor for Commander Lathon to be able to greet his guests."
That was a request to come along. Rhodan walked towards the robot, which thereupon turned and went out into the corridor which began just on the other side of the inner hatch doorway. The 'guests' followed it.
After the first few shocked moments, Rhodan's mind began to operate at full speed again. Naturally, the Arkonides regarded him and his companions as prisoners. The question was only what they intended to do with them. Rhodan did not consider it a bad idea to calmly request to be taken to the nearest spaceport of the Terran fleet. The war between Arkon and Terra had not been officially declared and since according to Arkonide practice such a declaration was just as necessary to establish prisoner of war status as it was in Terran practice, it would be best not to mention the attack on Grautier to Commander Lathon and act as though it were a simple case of picking up victims of a shipwreck. Or in other words: the best thing to do was play dumb.
The control room of the LanZour was almost empty, occupied only by two men sitting or half-lying in comfortable armchairs, and the medium-sized circular chamber, when one ignored the many instruments for the moment, gave the impression of a theater lounge during the intermission of a poorly attended play.
As the robot and the four Terrans entered the room, one of the two men raised himself out of his repose into an upright sitting position. The robot allowed the Terrans to step past it and it announced impassively: "Four survivors from the exploding planet, Master."
The man in the chair made a bored hand gesture signifying understanding, agreement and dismissal. The other Arkonide evidently found the affair of so little interest he did not even bother to look around.
They were Arkonides—with all the lethargy and boredom of their race. Rhodan glanced furtively at Atlan and saw the Admiral's expression twist in contempt.
On the way to the control room they had taken off their spacesuits and left them behind in the vicinity of the decontamination hatch to have the radioactive dust removed. For the first time in many hours they were able to move freely and this relief alone raised their spirits and energy considerably.
The Arkonide who had sat up looked his guests over for some time. In the meantime the robot had left the control room. Rhodan tried to find out from the vid screens what was happening out in space but nothing of the LanZour's surroundings were to be seen.
"So," Lathon finally said in Arkonese. "Here you are."
Rhodan glanced to the side. For such deep discussions Reginald Bell was responsible, not he himself. Bell understood the gesture.
He nodded grimly and confirmed the Arkonide's comment. "That's right, here we are indeed. Thanks for the rescue!"
Lathon brushed it aside. "Duty," he answered tiredly. "Nothing but part of our duty. I see one of you is an Arkonide."
"You're seeing correctly," Bell answered in a friendly manner. "He's a survivor from the time when Arkonides could walk across a room without collapsing in exhaustion."
If Lathon understood the insult, it did not make any impression on him. "What is your name?" he asked, looking at Atlan.
Atlan clenched his teeth and did not reply.
Lathon was undisturbed. He turned his seemingly lethargic attention back to Bell.
"Where are you taking us?" Bell wanted to know. Lathon raised his hand and pointed languidly at the vidscreens. "How should I know?"
That took Bell's breath away. With the last of his self-control, he hissed: "I must have been under the mistaken impression you were commander of this ship!"
"Oh, but I am. Does that mean I have to know where the ship is going?"
Cheerfulness was an effective release for Bell's astonished agitation. He laughed loudly. "No, not at all," he said goodnaturedly. I only thought you might have known by chance."
Lathon made a sign of denial. Speaking seemed to be an effort for him but he seemed to find the conversation interesting enough to make that effort. "We could try to find out from the guiding positronicon where it's directing the ship," Lathon suggested. "However, first I don't know if it would give us that information and second, we'll find out anyway when we get there, right?"
Bell nodded. "Of course. Quite right." He turned to Rhodan and added lowly and angrily in English:
"You talk to the idiot! He's driving me up the wall!" Rhodan turned to Lathon. "Nevertheless, I would be very grateful to you if you'd ask the positronicon," he told the commander. "It will make us uncomfortable if we don't know where we're going."
"I'll gladly fulfill your wish," Lathon answered. "I need only to call for a robot to ask the positronicon." He pressed a button on the small control panel built into his chair.
"There are a few other things I'd like to know," Rhodan went on. "Like what happened to our men who..."
"Oooh!" Lathon interrupted him plaintively. "I don't think I can remember all that. You'd better ask that robot there directly." He pointed to the hatch, which had meanwhile opened to allow a robot to enter.
"I'm ready," it declared.
"Go ahead and ask," Lathon directed. "It knows what to do."
Rhodan proceeded systematically. "First: at the time of the attack, the base on Grautier was occupied by 152 men, who tried to escape the exploding planet in light transport ships. Is anything known of where those men and ships are?"
"Second: two hours after the beginning of the attack my companions and I were held up by an Arkonide robot. Did that robot come from this ship, the LanZour?
"Third: where are we being taken?
"Fourth: we wish to be taken to a small Terran Fleet spaceport whose coordinates I can give you. Can this request be granted?
"Thank you—that's all. Are you able to repeat my questions?"
The robot did so. Then it crossed the room with heavy steps and stopped at one of the control panels where it made a number of connections. It seemed to be in direct contact with the guiding positronicon, for as it turned around again to give its answer, Rhodan and the others heard no other sound than the clicking of a control knob.
"Question one," began the robot: "15 Terran transporters have been brought aboard Arkonide ships; 134 Terrans are now prisoners of the Arkonide fleet."
"Question two: the LanZour sent three robots to the exploding planet to rescue possible survivors." Rhodan smiled grimly as he remembered how Reginald Bell had been 'rescued'. "Two robots returned and the third was lost completely."
"Question three: the LanZour will arrive at its destination in a few minutes. Otherwise no answer."
"Question four: the request cannot be granted."
"End."
Rhodan was staring at the floor. He had been already expecting a flat no in answer to his fourth question but what depressed him was the loss of 18 who apparently had been unable to leave Grautier in time. He thought of Mike Judson, the base commander. Judson was not a man who would leave his post as long as others were in danger. So Mike Judson belonged to the 18 who had met their fate on Grautier.
That hurt. Bitter fury rose in Rhodan's mind. The Regent had attacked Grautier without warning because it was in its way or it thought that it was the Earth. There were other ways in which Grautier could have been gotten out of the way, ways in which all could have been saved, but the Regent had gone to work with the soullessness and ruthlessness of a machine.
Rhodan looked up. "Thank you. I'm satisfied."
The robot trudged out. Hardly had the hatch closed behind it when it opened again to allow entry to another robot. It trained its eyes on Lathon and reported: "We are at our destination, Master. Another ship will take on our guests. We have been requested to hurry."
Lathon gestured tiredly. "Always this bothersome rush!" Then he stood up. "I'm so sorry that I have to lose such an interesting guest as you so quickly, Perry Rhodan." Rhodan gave a start at the mention of his name. Up to now he had not known that Lathon knew who he was. "I hope that you will have a good trip, Lathon said in conclusion.
He bowed and Rhodan returned the gesture. Then the Terrans turned and followed the robot out. They returned to the hatch through which they had come half an hour before. The inner hatch was open and two tall figures in spacesuits stood in the small airlock, making impatient gestures.
Four more spacesuits lay ready in the airlock. Rhodan put one on. One of the two figures pointed impatiently at the helmet. Rhodan understood: he was supposed to turn on the helmet radio.
He did and a deluge of Arkonese words spoken in an odd dialect poured out of the speaker.
"...faster, blast it! We don't have any time to lose. It's swarming with Terrans outside. Hurry!" One of the Arkonides pulled a short-barreled weapon out of his pocket and waved it around.
Rhodan tried to understand what was going on here. Terran ships were in the vicinity, so why were they transferring them here of all places? If he called for help now, would the Terrans then be able to get them out of this? The question could not be answered until he had a look out into space. Besides-the minicom had been taken away with the spacesuits for decontamination. It was certainly pointless to ask for them. The robots on board the LanZour would not give them back.
Rhodan had sealed the spacesuit and Atlan and Bell were also ready. Only Fellmer Lloyd had difficulty with putting his on. Rhodan helped him and in so doing saw through the faceplate that Lloyd's face was dark red and sweat was pouring in streams down his forehead.
"Is something wrong?" Rhodan asked, taken aback. "Don't know, sir," Lloyd groaned. "Don't seem to feel well..."
"It looks like fever," Rhodan murmured more to himself and at that moment the terrifying thought occurred to him that Fellmer Lloyd could have swallowed too much radioactive dust. Under certain circumstances Gamma Fever, or 100 Rem Fever as it was also called, quickly appeared after being exposed to radiation between 50 and 100 rem. It was fatal only in especially severe cases but it was always an unpleasant, long-lasting disease.
"Hurry up!" he ordered Lloyd. "These men seem somewhat more energetic than Lathon. You'll be taken care of."
Lloyd did not even have the energy left to close his spacesuit. Rhodan had to do it for him.
"Ready?" asked one of the two aliens.
Rhodan nodded. They understood the gesture. The robot disappeared through the inner hatch, which closed after it, then the outer hatch swung open.
The view was the usual one: the sea of stars with so many more of them than in the Earthly sky that they formed a carpet of light in which single points were hard to make out. In the middle of the luminous expanse was a round dark hole: the aliens' spaceship. It was at least 10 kilometers away.
A small auxiliary craft was secured to the outer surface of the LanZour. Rhodan and his companions climbed into the craft under the aliens' surveillance. One alien sat down in the pilots chair in front of them and the other sat down behind them.
Rhodan thought regretfully of the weapons they had taken with them from the bunker on Grautier and which were now still in the spacesuits they had left behind. It would be a daring but promising venture to take over the auxiliary and—
The craft moved out. The LanZour quickly grew smaller on the vidscreen and at length was nothing more than a dark hole in space, appearing just as the aliens' ship had earlier. Meanwhile the metal hull of the latter gradually became visible, shining dully in the starlight.
The transshipping proceeded fast and flawlessly. The aliens, whoever they were, seemed to hold the Terran fleet in great respect. The four Terrans were taken through a rollband corridor and up an antigrav lift to the control room of the ship. If the ship had taken off in the meantime, it was not noticeable.
In contrast to the one on the LanZour, the control room of the alien vessel was filled with feverish activity.
There were a few small robots, nimble as weasels, apparently performing orderly duty, but organic beings were in the majority. Now that Rhodan watched them bustling about so busily and heard them talking with one another, it suddenly occurred to him who they were: they were Ekhonides, inhabitants of the planet Ekhas somewhere in the depths of the galaxy. They were emigrants from the Arkonide Imperium during its golden age and had retained the vitality of their—race up to the present.
Space was in motion on the panorama screen. Thin colored haze spreading at the screen's edges showed that the ship was on the verge of plunging into the ranges of relativistic speed—probably to reach hyperflight speed as quickly as possible. Nothing more was to be seen of the LanZour.
The largest part of the control room crew did not concern themselves about the Terrans. Finally two men—one of them was the captain, to judge by his rank insignia- walked up to Rhodan and his companions.
The commander opened the discussion with the statement: "You are my prisoners."
"By what right do you consider us prisoners?" Rhodan asked in return. He had taken his helmet off and could speak freely.
The commander laughed mockingly. "My orders are to bring you to a certain destination and there turn you over. The party employing me will take care of the legal problems."
"Our friend the Robot Regent," asked Rhodan sarcastically,
"I am not authorized to give out information, either concerning the reason for your being taken prisoner or its purpose. You will have three men and a robot to guard you. Give the robot your names and any other important data so that I can at least know who I have on board my ship, By the way, we'll be at our destination in 20 hours. If you still have any questions, you can ask them there."
Three men and a robot marched in from somewhere, the men looking as unfriendly as the robot. Rhodan noticed it in passing: something else had him considerably more occupied at the moment. "Give the robot your names!" Did that mean the commander had no idea who he had on board as prisoners?
The Ekhonide was about to turn away.
"One more moment," Rhodan stopped him. "You know that I'll protest this treatment at the first opportunity that presents itself. And you can be sure that Perry Rhodan will see to it that..."
The commander made a scornful gesture. "Oh, Perry Rhodan!" he said contemptuously. "Don't you know yet that he was blown up with his base?"
Rhodan knew what he had to do at that moment but he found it difficult in that second of surprise to display all the necessary horror in his expression. "Rhodan...!" he exclaimed. "Blown up?" Then he forced a laugh. "Surely you can think of better things to do with your time than trying to intimidate us."
It did not seem to interest the Ekhonide, who answered: "Believe what you want to. It's not my affair. I pick you up someplace, I take you someplace else, and that's all I have to do with it."
"That still doesn't change the fact that your method of operation is a violation of galactic law," Rhodan answered coldly. "I'm a free Terran. Terra and Arkon are not at war with one another so no Arkonide or anyone else has the right to treat me as a prisoner."
The Ekhonide seemed to find the discussion unpleasant. "Go away!" he said roughly.
He turned away for the last time and returned to his post. The guards drew their weapons. The Ekhonide who had brought them there opened the hatch door.
At that moment the sirens howled into life. Rhodan stopped where he was, rooted to the spot. The noise ran through him with prickling excitement. Alarm for the Ekhonides meant that Terran ships were nearby. Ignoring the weapons trained on him by the guards, Rhodan turned and looked at the vidscreen.
In the middle stood a bright, bluish-white glowing globe. Far behind the Ekhonide vessel a bomb or a ship had exploded.
The sirens died and the excited talking of the Ekhonide's became understandable. Tracking results were being announced. Not being familiar with the Ekhonide coordinate system Rhodan could not make anything out of their data. He understood much better what had happened when someone loudly cried out: "That
's the LanZour! The Terrans have destroyed it!"
Yes, Rhodan thought, according to the direction it could well be the LanZour.
Meanwhile the Ekhonide commander was giving instructions with a calmness that Rhodan was forced to admire. To reach escape velocity all the sooner, the ship was accelerating with the aid of an auxiliary engine. The radar operators searched feverishly for further indications of the presence of Terran ships but found none before their own ship went into transition.
The distortion pain was brief and not especially intense. Rhodan estimated the difference between the two points of the spring at no more than 10 light-years.
The Ekhonide, still a little numb, looked over at him. "We've escaped from the Terrans once more," he said. He did not seem to be proud of it. "Just once I'd like to have a ship large enough to offer them resistance!"
Rhodan nodded and turned away. The semicircle of guards closed in behind him and his companions and drove them through the hatchway.
On the way to the nearby cabin in which they were going to be quartered, Rhodan thought about the LanZour. He had a suspicion and the longer he played with it the more he became certain of it.
Lathon had known who he was. The Ekhonide did not know. The Robot Regent on Arkon knew the Terran mentality and as a skilled tactician must have decided to keep a secret any information about Perry Rhodan's capture. It knew that the Terrans would take the galaxy apart to get the 'Chief' back if they had to when they learned he was still alive. If they continued to believe that Rhodan was dead they would remain quiet and, what was more, they would need another few years to take care of the resulting confusion.
It was best for the Robot Regent that no one in the entire universe knew that Perry Rhodan had been taken prisoner.
That threw a special light on the fate of the LanZour. Lathon could not be prevented from learning the identity of his prisoners but he could be prevented from passing the information on to someone who was unauthorized to know.
No Terran ship had the LanZour on its conscience. The Regent itself had issued the order to the guiding positronicon to blow itself and the ship up.