by Perry Rhodan
The corridor rose gradually and ended in a funnel-shaped cave, its walls becoming higher and receding to the sides.
Bell attempted to orient himself but aside from the fact that the twilight zone was about 5 miles away, he recognized nothing familiar. The plateau with its stones and boulders distributed at random and the blue fleshy plants appeared to be the same everywhere on Gom.
"Under the circumstances," Bell said with a sigh of relief, "I'd say that we can catch up on our sleep. Maybe this two-headed fellow will have recovered by the time we wake up."
He stepped once more to the exit of the cave as a routine followed by every responsible leader before ordering his men to sleep in dangerous surroundings.
But it turned out to be more than a routine.
The others heard him utter a loud gasp. As he stood there half erect, he obstructed their view but they could see a bright light glistening outside and felt the ground vibrate under their feet a few seconds afterwards.
Bell turned around and announced: "Too bad we won't get our sleep. We're having visitors!"
He dropped to the floor and crawled to the side so they all could look out. They leaned forward and saw medium-sized, disk-shaped spaceships dropping from the dark sides by the dozen. Blasting glowing particle-streams from their forward jets, the disks braked their speed and landed smoothly. The vehicles formed a wide semi-circle around the rock which sheltered Bell and his companions. The semi-circle had a radius of about 2 miles. For awhile nothing else happened but then they noticed some movement around the disks. Bell picked up his binoculars and pressed them against his helmet.
What he saw was not very encouraging: 5 of the monstrous Bios bred by the Aras on Laros disembarked from each ship. Since a total of 40 craft had arrived it was easy to figure out that a fighting force of about 200 of these repulsive creations had been assembled. They seemed to know their target and marched from all sides to a point which was only a few hundred feet away from the cave. From there they advanced straight to the cave with their weapons ready to shoot.
"It appears," Bell said nonchalantly, attempting not to betray his anxiety, "there's going to be some trouble."
4/ BATTLE WITH THE BIOS
The relationship between the Aras and the Goms was of a far more complicated nature than Marshall had heretofore assumed. The Goms were an extremely important source of organic matter for the Aras, enabling them to breed their abominable test-tube products. The Aras were not satisfied with collecting from the Goms what they could under natural conditions without destroying the species. They determined the most favorable environment for the rapid proliferation of the Goms and deployed the 'newly-born' Bios to construct a system which permitted the Goms to multiply at a terrific rate, ensuring an abundant supply of organic material.
The possibilities of communication between the Aras and the Goms were, however, strictly limited. The Aras were no telepaths but they knew that the Goms possessed this and other parapsychological gifts and they realized that their own artificial creatures, the Bios, who were made of the same basic substance as the Goms, also were endowed with certain telepathic features.
The first facilities installed by the Aras on Gom were immediately taken over by the Goms. As soon as the Aras became aware that it was possible for them to communicate with the alien Goms by using the Bios, they applied their knowledge effectively.
By this method they began to learn some definite facts about the peculiar beings they dealt with. They found that the Goms could not be considered primitive creatures when joined together in a unit and that they might represent a danger even to the Aras. True to their mentality the Aras regarded the Goms from then on not simply as suppliers of cell-plasma but also as potential enemies who deserved special attention because of the vital importance of their base on Laros.
Since that time a group consisting of 20 man-made Bios was permanently stationed on Gom for the purpose of maintaining and enlarging the underground birthplaces. At least this was the version told the Goms. Actually the Bios watched the Goms and constantly sent up-to-date information about the events on Gom to the Aras on Laros via efficient transmitters built into their bodies without their knowledge.
The Super-Gom located in the section of the widespread subterranean layout where Bell's troop had intruded had called for the assistance of these 20 Bios at the moment of dire peril. When Marshall succeeded in turning the Bios around, the Aras on Laros instantly learned by means of the automatic transmitter what was happening on Gom. It didn't take much to connect this information to the suspicion that the Bios had run into the same people who had recently caused such havoc on Laros and were forced by the Goms during their flight to land on that planet.
The Aras reported the news to the assembled Springer patriarchs, whereupon the patriarchs deemed it advisable to deploy the Bios of the Aras in order to apprehend the fugitives.
Consequently the Bios boarded a small fleet of patrol ships on Laros and flew to Gom where they put down exactly on the spot where the little party had been pinpointed by highly sensitive direction finders.
Nobody on Laros had any doubts about the outcome. They were familiar with the conditions on Gom and they knew that the fugitives were unaccustomed to the harsh life there. They considered it a miracle that the escaped men had survived as long as they had and nobody expected much resistance to the Bios, who were at home on Gom and equipped with heavy weapons.
The only difficulty that could possibly arise stemmed from the order the patriarchs had given to capture at least one of the fugitives alive. They needed somebody for interrogation. This order had been clearly impressed on the Bios and they knew how to proceed.
• • •
Bell was tempted to withdraw with his party into the airshaft. However he would thereby forfeit the possibility of capturing one or two of the enemy's craft and lose the chance of final departure from Gom.
This latter prospect caused him to make his stand in the cave.
The peculiar behavior displayed by the Bios after they had approached the cave within 600 feet reinforced his intention. Instead of opening the attack and using the best chance their superior power offered them, the androids took up positions behind big boulders and remained out of sight for the next few hours.
Marshall and Betty tried to read their thoughts. However the brains of the Bios were so small that it was impossible to contact them telepathically over a distance exceeding several yards unless a special effort were made. They did receive some isolated thought-impulses from time to time whenever one of the Bios suffered pain because he fell down or was burned, for example, inducing his brain to emit stronger waves, but this did nothing to enlighten them about their plans.
More revealing were the swirling vapors rising at times from behind the rocks where the Bios had taken cover. Bell drew the conclusion that their opponents were busy driving underground shafts toward the cave and after he had wracked his brain over this unexpected precaution he got the idea that the Bios had instructions to capture their victims alive and to take them to Laros for questioning.
He discussed it with Marshall, who lent credence to his hypothesis.
"They've got different types of weapons," Bell noted. "This cloud of stone dust is probably caused by a disintegrator. I'd say that these fellows will pop out of the ground right under our noses in about half an hour."
Marshall couldn't help noticing that Bell took a lot of time with his preparations in spite of the alarming aspects of their situation. He assigned everybody a place near the exit and advised Betty Toufry to keep an eye on the rear of the cave because nobody could predict where the Bios would emerge. He talked so slowly that he gave the impression of wrestling with some problems between his words.
This was indeed the case as Marshall realized after his thoughts had reached a certain' degree of articulation. Marshall admired Bell's sense of responsibility when he finally came to a decision somebody else would have taken without further reflection.
"Tako!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Would you be able to hop into one of these disks with one jump?"
The Japanese closed his eyes to narrow slits and peered at the little spaceships. "If I can have 5 minutes for concentration I can probably do it."
Bell looked pleased. "Very good. Then we'll make it snappy. I imagine that the vehicles are not empty. I guess that at least one Bio stands guard in each ship because the Aras and the Springers must have caught on to our tricks by now. Be sure to have your weapon ready when you make your jump!"
"Yes, sir. What am I supposed to do with the ship when I've gained possession?"
Bell's eyes bulged in astonishment. "What are you supposed to do with it?" he roared. "Bring it here, of course, so we can say goodbye to this hellhole as soon as possible!"
Tako grinned amiably. Then he squatted in a corner from where he could see a number of the disk-shaped vehicles and concentrated.
The others took up their positions as instructed by Bell. Nobody had to tell them that now all depended on how quickly Tako seized one of the spaceships. If he failed there would be nothing left to do but to await his return and try their luck by fleeing.
Meanwhile Marshall listened attentively to the Goms in the depth of the ground below hoping to hear something from them. They made no sound and when he received no response after his desperate telepathic efforts, he conceded that his hope for intervention on their behalf in the impending struggle was preposterous. Therefore he concentrated his attention on the clouds of dust and steam erupting from several spots behind the large boulders, which became thinner the farther the Bios dug forward under the ground.
Tako vanished silently and without prior warning. His place was suddenly empty.
Marshall had watched him and kept his eyes glued on the row of flying disks. Of course it was difficult to take them all in at once but Marshall was fairly certain that the Japanese had reached his goal in a single jump since he didn't show up anywhere on the rocky plain.
Bell, who was lying at the front of the cave, didn't notice when Tako left. He stared out, bored by waiting, and noticed that one of the creeping blue plants rooted near the entrance of the cave began to move.
He looked around and saw that all other plants similarly bestirred themselves; they retreated with jerky movements into the holes in the ground from which they grew.
Bell studied the horizon and discovered a small spot in the left quarter of the horizon where the red circle of light drawn by the sun Gonom looked more washed out than normal. The light seemed to rise higher than elsewhere as if coming, from a far distant fire. Bell turned around and called to his companions: "There's a storm brewing! This could mean our salvation!"
The blurred spot at the horizon kept growing at first; then it paled against the horizon and a few seconds later the towering cloud of dust, and pebbles raised by the storm became clearly visible.
"Everybody back 6 feet!" Bell ordered. "Remember each stone weighs twice as much here as on Earth!"
As Bell crawled back he noticed that Tako was gone. Marshall told him that the Japanese had already left 5 minutes go.
"Good grief!" Bell spluttered. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner? What's he doing now?"
He called the Japanese but Tako didn't answer.
Bell reached for the small transmitter and switched it on because he believed the range of his helmet-radio might be too short to reach the little spaceships, particularly if they were protected by defense shields.
In the excitement over the disappeared Japanese everybody's attention was diverted for a few seconds from the upcoming storm. Now it was suddenly upon them and the sharp but short trembling of the ground barely enough to warn the occupants of the cave.
Instantly a wall of dust and stones was thrown up so high before the cave's entrance that it hid the dark sky. The rocks and stones released from the power of the storm pelted the ground before the cave with a thunderous roar, raised new swirls of dust and blotted out what had been left of the dim light.
The noise in the helmet-mikes grew with such infernal fury from one second to the next that Bell's order "Tone down outside mikes!" was understood only after the second repetition and by Bell's wild gestures.
The sudden quiet was a welcome relief. In reality the vibrating air outside filled each helmet with a muffled droning but tortured ears could no longer perceive it.
"Switch on your lamps!" Bell yelled at the top of his voice. He had already lost his feel for appropriate level of sound.
The lamps lit up but didn't penetrate very far into the grinding mass the storm had driven in and around the cave, covering their spacesuits with a thick layer of dust.
"I don't believe..." Bell blurted and the continuation of the sentence was supposed to be reassuring.
But Betty screamed a wild anguished cry in the middle of his remark: "The Bios! Over there!
In the dusty haze filling the cave Bell could barely see Betty, who was stationed farthest behind at the other end. He vaguely made out her arm pointing stiffly somewhere to the rear in a frozen gesture. But he distinctly recognized the round flat face of a Bio emerging for the fraction of a second in a break of the turbulent eddies of dust.
An instant later it was blocked out again but soon the grey-skinned arm, thick as a tree trunk, poked out of the dust and Bell saw how the hairless robust paw of the artificial monster turned up the barrel of his weapon.
Bell was overcome by an uncontrollable rage. "Fire!" he roared with a breaking voice.
Simultaneously he blasted away. The glaring energy beam shot into the whirling dusty darkness with a hiss that made the dead outside mike of their helmets reverberate. A drawn-out tortured shriek was the response.
"There're more of them!" Betty cried out. "They're coming from all sides."
Bell had intended to fall back to catch his breath for a few seconds. But wherever he swerved his head the lamp in his helmet revealed the fuzzy outlines of the huge grey figures stomping closer.
He kept shooting, twirling around like a top, unaware that he was screaming like a madman and not hearing the terrible outbursts of the wounded though they were shrill and loud enough to be picked up by the mikes despite their being almost completely toned down. When he later thought back, it seemed a miracle to him that he hadn't killed his own people in this furious last-ditch fight for his life.
He ignored everybody else. He wasn't interested whether they still defended themselves or had crumbled under the onslaught.
The first line of Bios was slaughtered as quickly as they came in. But for each one put out of action two new ones took their place. The ring around the desperate little band drew tighter and it seemed only a matter of minutes till the artificial giants would reach out and knock the weapons out of their hands, ending the struggle.
The fact that it didn't end just that way amounted to a veritable miracle.
Ever since the walls of the cave had been destroyed by their attackers Bell had had to fight two enemies: the Bios, who maintained their advance with undiminished tenacity, and the force of the storm, threatening to sweep him away although he pressed with all his might against the ground. As soon as he had his first breathing spell he tried to sneak behind a boulder which seemed to be massive enough to withstand the fury of the elements but he had barely started to move when suddenly a broad-shouldered shadow loomed next to him in a crouching stance.
Bell pulled his gun around and simultaneously turned his head in its direction, causing his helmet-lamp to hit the shadow and letting him see two heads in the darkness. "Ivan!" Bell shouted ecstatically. "You came at the right moment!"
Ivan Goratschin seemed to hear nothing. He rose like a somnambulist, took a few faltering steps forward, then stood like a rock.
Somewhere behind the shroud of darkness, dust and stones, a streak of lightning flashed so strongly that the blackness was turned into bright daylight for a moment. Somewhere out of the chaos burst a roar louder than anything that had come
through the microphones until now and whirling masses of hot air seized Bell and his people, carried them upwards and hurled them again to the ground a few yards away.
Then it was quiet—impenetrable black silence.
• • •
The first sensation Bell experienced after a long time was a feeling that his body had disintegrated in a heap of painful parts. After he regained consciousness he barely dared breathe because the slightest movement hurt him unbearably.
He opened his eyes and saw that the usual dusk of the twilight zone had returned.
Where were the Bios? What happened to the storm?
Bell rolled over on his side and tried to recognize the red rim of the sunlight but all he could see was a faint red shimmer high on the firmament and a black, dense wall below it.
There was no trace of the Bios.
"Marshall? Betty...?"
He really didn't expect an answer but he had hardly called the names when 4 voices simultaneously replied: "Here, sir! I'm all right! Where are you?"
The voices sounded strong and happy. Bell was pleased to detect a note of having been missed. "I'm here!" he exclaimed. "That's about all I can say."
He raised himself with great effort, groaning under the pain it caused him. Then he supported himself on a flat rock, peering over its top. About 150 feet away he detected the double-headed Ivan, who stared back at him from a similar cover. "I'm coming," Bell muttered.
At the sight of Ivan he suddenly remembered the miracle which had saved their lives from the ferocious Bios.
Ivan had suddenly recovered. He got up and apparently intuitively grasped the situation in an instant. Ivan's most remarkable distinction as a mutant was not the fact that he possessed two heads but his capability of acting like a living fuse. It was a simple matter for him to initiate by sheer will-power the fusion process of the atomic nuclei of carbon or calcium. The result was a hydrogen-like explosion whenever the mass of the two elements became critical.