Part 7 (1/2)
”Not one word!” Cardif confirmed. ”They must have determined by tracking that the fleet of robots.h.i.+ps was no longer at the front. But what does that mean, Springer? And why did Arkon demand that the Mounders stop flying security for Archetz? There's some purpose behind it, but what?” He drummed his fingers on the screen. The movement was all that revealed his extreme exasperation. His face remained composed.
Neither c.o.kaze nor his two eldest sons disturbed Cardif, who was deep in thought. Finally the Terran said: I suggest that the c.o.kaz 2 still remain on Archetz but I would like the planetary stations to keep a special watch on the area surrounding the Rusuma System from now on. I know that something dangerous is in the making... but what?”
From two localities far removed from one another the flight of the Druuf scouts.h.i.+p was observed: from the Drusus and from Arkon 3!
The newly developed special tracking device stayed dead on the track of the s.h.i.+p from the other universe. Its linear hyper-propulsion developed emissions like an endlessly long string, by which the course of the s.p.a.cecraft could he followed. The Indian, Rabintorge, whose ingenuity had been responsible for its speedy completion, had once contended that the linear hyper-propulsion would press one of the four constants out of its natural bedding in the time-s.p.a.ce structure and thus trigger off the tracking effect.
This contention was never seriously contradicted. It remained to be seen whether it stood the test of later examinations. The basic requirement was fulfilled, however, namely the availability of an apparatus which enabled them to discover the Druufs when exceeding the speed of light.
Atlan relied on the tiny hyper-transmitter which Tako Kakuta had un.o.btrusively dropped on entering the airlock of the Druuf s.h.i.+p. Every five minutes it beamed an impulse that was picked up by the antennas of the robot computer on Arkon and immediately evaluated by the positronicon. An enormous celestial chart with a light beam thin as a hair drawing nearer to the Rusuma System every five minutes indicated to the Arkonide the unbelievable speed with which the Druuf s.h.i.+p was racing through the universe, accelerating from second to second at that, although the s.h.i.+p had far exceeded the speed of light already.
Rhodan and Atlan were wis.h.i.+ng the best for this Druuf s.h.i.+p, aware as they were of all that depended on this reconnaissance flight.
Tako Kakuta, the teleporter, and Dr. Brigonne, the astronaut, wished the same. They were both a.s.signed as astronauts to the s.p.a.cecraft of these monsters. Their task was twofold: to allow the s.h.i.+p to arrive over the planet of Archetz and to remove themselves immediately if the crew should suddenly turn hostile towards them. The latter was Kakuta's job and the small j.a.panese with the childlike face was very exacting about his duty. He did not budge from Dr. Brigonne's side.
Brigonne, on the other hand, had long since stopped worrying whether the Druufs might become a menace. He was in his element and for the first time experiencing a flight faster than speol which produced a transition shock that could be measured but was not felt bodily. Only he did not understand why the Druufs were flying so slowly through hypers.p.a.ce. For thanks to Ellert's information he knew that with linear hyper-propulsion they could reach light-speeds of astronomical proportions.
Once humans were in possession of linear hyperpropulsion there would be no more boundaries to flight into the far reaches of s.p.a.ce and bodily stress would be relegated to history just like those primitive rockets in the museum used by Perry Rhodan and Bell on their first flight to the moon that provoked joking admiration. Or so, at least, Terran scientists thought.
Cheating your way into hypers.p.a.ce in this fas.h.i.+on, without losing sight of the target star, had to seem unreal to any human on his first flight with linear hyper-propulsion. But the experience of seeing the target star coursing toward one and already heading for the next, compelled the belief in faster-than-light flight.
Brigonne was not able to interpret what they were doing. The Druuf s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, constructions of a different universe, were totally incomprehensible in their technical design. It remained a puzzle to him whether they were cartographically recording the entire route.
Kakuta and Brigonne had quickly become accustomed to the fact that they were twice as fast in their movements as the monsters, who were at a disadvantage in relation to all creatures in this universe because they were bound to their own Druuf time.
The two Terranians communicated over helmet radio. They had not yet thought about whether they were in breathable atmosphere. At that moment the eight Druufs in the s.h.i.+p Central were having some problem. They were grouped around a strange apparatus, flailing their arms wildly. The two pilots were the only ones to remain in their seats but they continually turned their round heads to the side and seemed to be very tense.
”Brigonne, do you know what's going on?” Kakuta asked the astronaut, moving even closer to him so he could teleport himself and the doctor out into s.p.a.ce at the first sign of trouble.
”No idea.” Brigonne's voice sounded hoa.r.s.e but Tako Kakuta knew that it was not fear that caused this change. It might be the uncertainty of neither knowing nor understanding anything.
On impulse the teleporter switched on the special Druuf transmitter installed in his s.p.a.cesuit which enabled him to communicate with the monsters. At the same moment he had a Druuf standing before him and over the loudspeaker he heard his words: ”Switch off!”
Tako Kakuta did not wait for him to repeat the demand but he stopped to think about it. There was only one explanation for the fact that the Druuf had immediately noticed his switching on the device: they were tracking!
And he thought he knew what they were seeking: the tiny hyper-transmitter in the airlock!
He quickly turned to inform Brigonne but first he turned on the scrambler. Gradually he began to believe in the vast capabilities of these intelligent beings and that they knew exactly what was said between him and Brigonne.
The astronaut quickly recognized the incomprehensible gibberish coming over his helmet microphone and found the appropriate counter-scrambler on the third try.
Brigonne just listened to the beginning. ”Kakuta, what can we do to prevent their finding the directional transmitter? We must keep Atlan informed. The boss explicitly repeated that to me!”
Kakuta's childlike face looked at him guilelessly through the faceplate of his helmet. ”Would you like to tell me how they are going to find that tiny transmitter in a few seconds, Doctor?”
”Well, what are the Druufs up to now?” Brigonne made no bones about the fact that he was feeling very uneasy.
Three Druufs stalked out of the Central on their clumsy columnar legs but they did not leave empty-handed. All three were carrying heavy apparatuses and it was obvious that they were using them to track a transmitted ”Brigonne, how much flight time left?”
”That's asking more than I know because I don't know how high they're going to accelerate.”
”But no longer than three hours?” Kakuta hastily asked.
”At our present acceleration, no. By then they would already be on the return flight. I hope we two will be with them,” the astronaut pessimistically added.
”Then you distract their attention for 10 seconds. They mustn't notice that I've left Com Central. Can you manage that?”
”What are you up to, Kakuta?”
”Can you manage it, Doctor?” Kakuta's eyes were suddenly flas.h.i.+ng.
”Naturally. When I cough you...” This was followed by hefty nodding.
The teleporter saw no other alternative. He had to avert the danger by staking everything on one card. But first Dr. Brigonne had to act swiftly and surely to divert the attention of the suspicious Druufs.
During this period the thread of light on the celestial chart in the dome of the positronic computer continued to move a little bit every five minutes. Atlan, the sole observer-Atlan, fated to remain unaging for 10,000 years, his life full of inconceivably rich experiences-was staring with eyes torn wide open at this gleaming emission line that visibly grew every five minutes.
Converted into astronomical terms it signified that the acceleration of the Druuf scouts.h.i.+p was continuing. Atlan did not sense, however, that in those very minutes the Druuf s.h.i.+p was racing towards disaster.
Dr. Brigonne had to divert the attention of five Druufs. Two of them were seated in the c.u.mbersome pilot seats, the other three were standing in front of some machine, constantly turning around to look at the Terranians.
Tako Kakuta felt the time running out. His opportunity of intervening to change the course of events was limited. The moment had to arrive soon! Why was Dr. Brigonne doing nothing? Why was he just standing around, not moving? Kakuta was very agitated but he mustered the reserves to control himself.
Finally Brigonne went over to the group of three Druufs. He approached them from the side. They seemed to be paying no attention to him-or were they observing him with their eyes on the temples of their bullet heads?
Brigonne switched on the communications device. ”Druuf, I must call your attention to an important fact. Here...”
He simply went over to a star map hanging on the wall and pointed at a certain spot. ”Here, right by this star cl.u.s.ter, there is... Druufs! It is important! Are you listening?”
And Kakuta heard Dr. Brigonne cough. The signal!
He hyjumped and rematerialised in the airlock containing the hyper-transmitter. When he came out of rematerialisation he was holding a beamer in each hand. His hands were steady as he welded shut the inner bulkhead with thermorays.
The two double welding seams he drew were so exact that they would be the delight of any autogenous welder. From bottom to top and from top to bottom again. He quietly counted to himself in the process: 5... 6... 7... 8!”
At 8 he was finished. He wheeled around. He still had two seconds left. The two thermo-beamers hissed into action and he drew a double seam across one third of the line represented by the seam of the sliding outer airlock door.
The metal, molten centimetres deep, slowly hardened as Tako Kakuta, protected by a softly humming transformer, reappeared in Com Central.
Dr. Brigonne was still standing in front of the star map, attempting to convince the Druufs of the danger presented by a super strong rotating magnetic field lying exactly in the s.h.i.+p's course.
”Then don't listen...” the teleporter heard him say over helmet radio after Brigonne knew that the mutant had returned. ”Then don't...” and he wordlessly walked away, switching off the communications device.
”Another 10 minutes,” Perry Rhodan said in a whisper to Bell, without moving his eyes from the special tracking device, ”then they will be over Archetz. I wish those 10 minutes were already over!”