When they pa.s.sed through the airlock Golath had a strange feeling of being watched. He shook his trunk sharply. Zerft stood still and held Liszog back.
"What"s the matter?" Zerft asked.
Golath didn"t bother to answer. He had followed the broad-shouldered Zerft on their march and his wrath had grown steadily until it reached climactic proportions. "It"s nothing," he finally said with p.r.o.nounced disgust.
Zerft raised his arms and Golath saw that his trunk stiffened. Their eyes crossed in a blaze of hostility.
Liszog stepped between them, holding his injured hand. "Why don"t we go on?" he complained. "My hand hurts and it must be dressed."
Zerft relented a little and Golath blunted the challenge, swaying his trunk. Zerft turned around and walked off without a word, leading the way to the control room through the main corridor. When they reached the hatch, Zerft suddenly stopped in his tracks. Golath and Liszog rushed to his side.
Golath was so perplexed he forgot to breathe. A stranger lay on the trunk cleaner! Not a Unither-an Arkonide!
The machine tried in vain to find the trunk of the short-nosed man. The three Unithers were completely stupefied until the stranger croaked something in a thin voice. It was a signal for Golath to step to the trunk-cleaner. Liszog gasped in horror. Zerft pushed Golath aside and drew his thermo-beamer out of the holster. "An Arkonide!" he shouted, his face distorted in hate, as he aimed his weapon at the defenceless man at their feet.
50 ADVENTURES FROM NOW.
It"s a burning Brand in the World of a Hundred Suns
4/ SECOND THOUGHTS.
Terrania had one of its rare rainy days. Its houses were shrouded in grey silhouettes. The parks and promenades were deserted. All people remained in their homes or visited places of amus.e.m.e.nt indoors.
Perry Rhodan gazed absentmindedly at the pattern of raindrops the wet weather had splashed on his large windows. Finally he turned away from the window and went to his desk.
Reginald Bell, relaxing in a comfortable chair, smiled at his friend. He knew the tall lanky man too well not to be aware of his emotions. "You are worried, Perry," he said. It was more an observation than a question. "There is nothing to be concerned about at the moment. Pucky is busy building a new home on Mars for his rescued breed and everybody else is taking care of daily routines more or less." Then he added glumly: "Including both of us."
"You call it routine," Rhodan corrected his friend quietly. "I call it painstaking attention to details and sifting through acc.u.mulations of papers. It won"t be long before we will have to test the linear propulsion system of the Druufs in action. Then you will have more work than you like."
Bell made a futile attempt to put his red hair bristles in shape by smoothing them with his hand. He might as well have tried to comb a cactus. "It will be at least 50 years before we can install the new system in the first s.p.a.ceship. By then," he stroked an imaginary beard, "I"ll probably be collecting my pension."
"Does that mean that you don"t care to take the cell shower treatment next time?" Rhodan inquired in a mocking tone.
Bell gave him a sour look.
"Besides there is other work we have to do," the Administrator continued. "We must fortify our positions. Atlan is busy with his own problems and he won"t be able to help us when we need him."
Bell grinned smugly. "I believe the admiral bit off more of the cosmos than he can chew."
"I appreciate your penchant for loose metaphors but I would be grateful if you could express your opinions in a manner which would enable normal men to partake of your peculiar insights." Rhodan glanced expectantly at his friend.
Grand Marshall Reginald Bell, Deputy Administrator of the Solar Imperium, rose in a rather lax manner from his chair and went to the stellar charts at the wall. He made a sweeping gesture across a map and said: "Atlan"s Great Imperium! It will collapse unless he is willing to accept our active support. His race has degenerated so much that he can do nothing with his people."
"You forget the ship of sleepers," Rhodan reminded him. "Those Arkonides are not degenerated."
Bell snapped his fingers. "How much effect would they have over these tremendous distances? No, our friend will never make it without our a.s.sistance. It is only a question of time before he will appeal to us to send Terrans to the Great Imperium in order to breathe new life into his tired establishment and give it some l.u.s.ter."
Rhodan went back to the window. "I wonder how Khrest is getting along?" he said abruptly.
"Aha," Bell exclaimed, "that"s what"s been ailing you all this time. You worry about the old man."
Rhodan nodded. "We shouldn"t have left him alone. It was irresponsible."
"You shouldn"t think so," Bell replied. "I believe a man like Khrest is ent.i.tled to choose his way of dying and the Arkonide preferred to wait for his death alone."
"His strength was already at a low ebb," Perry Rhodan pointed out. "How can he help himself if something unforeseen happens?"
"Keep in mind that he has two robots for protection," Bell countered. "One of them has been programmed to send a radio message to Terrania if the slightest irregularity occurs. Not even Khrest knows about this precaution. Let him have his well-earned rest."
A few days later Bell would have liked to eat his words. But the two men dropped the subject for the time being.
100 ADVENTURES FROM NOW.
It"s the End of-(no, we won"t tell!)
5/ "THERE"S ONLY ONE WAY TO DEAL.
WITH AN ARKONIDE!".
It was believed the reflexes of Unithers were considerably slower than those of Earthlings. Due to their bulky physique their movements seemed slow and c.u.mbersome to human eyes. But the speed with which Zerft had pulled out his beamer to shoot Khrest contradicted these a.s.sumptions.
But Golath was just as swift. He instantly lashed out Zerft"s out with his trunk, curled it around Zerft"s hand and pulled it aside. Zerft lost his balance and reeled back. He trumpeted his rage and tried to tear himself away.
"You mustn"t kill him!" Golath shouted.
However the rabid Zerft refused to listen. He threw the ma.s.s of his 400 pound body against Golath, who was forced to release his grip on Zerft"s arm to parry the thrust. The two brown Unithers rammed each other with the force of giants. Liszog wailed and implored them to stop their fight while the prisoner watched the battle in silence.
Zerft"s gun clattered to the floor and Golath managed to kick it out of range. Zerft wound his trunk around Golath"s head and began to twist it, making him close his eyes and groan under the painful pressure. His hands clamped Zerft"s chest in a vice. The room reverberated from the noise of their violent clash. Golath knew that the other one had terrific strength but had underestimated his brute power nevertheless. He would take his last breath in a few more seconds unless he succeeded in breaking the murderous grip. Golath hooked his leg into Zerft"s knee and tried to pull him down but Zerft stood like a rock. Golath was in the throes of despair. Zerft"s trunk was clamped around his neck and cut off the circulation of his blood. The lack of blood and air robbed Golath of his ability to think clearly and made him feel dizzy. He made fierce attempts to free himself from the arms Zerft held around his waist. Zerft counteracted by leaning back. Golath abruptly lunged forward, forcing Zerft to take a step back. He stumbled and Golath kept pushing instinctively. They crashed to the floor, both trumpeting furiously. The contest grew more and more savage and Zerft had all the advantages.
Liszog felt compelled to make a decision. The fear that Golath might be killed goaded him into taking action. He knew that Zerft would never be in a position to get the ship of the Arkonide started and take it back to Unith. Thus the young Unither raised the barrel of his thermo-beamer. He hesitated for a moment, staring at the ponderous opponents rolling on the floor. "Stop it!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "If you don"t break it up at once, I"ll start shooting."
The interlocked bodies at his feet ceased their combat and jumped up, gasping for air.
"What"s this nonsense?" Zerft screamed menacingly. "Put that gun down!"
Liszog"s hand trembled and he had trouble looking into the eye of the older man but he kept his weapon pointed at Zerft and Golath. "Throw your thermo-beamer over to me, Golath!" he demanded.
Golath sneered but complied and tossed his weapon at Liszog"s feet. "Now we"ve got a new leader," he taunted Zerft.
The young exile kicked the gun away before he spoke again. His injured hand had stopped bleeding. The stranger attentively observed the scene without uttering a sound.
"I"m putting Golath back in charge again," Liszog announced.
Zerft exploded in a curse. Only the threat of the gun kept him from hurling himself at Liszog. His eyes glowered, full of hate.
"Very good," Golath exclaimed with satisfaction. "Give me my weapon, boy."
"No," replied Liszog, shaking his trunk firmly.
Golath looked at him in astonishment and new respect. "I can do nothing without a weapon," he said. "I can"t order Zerft to do anything unless I can back it up with a gun."
"I know," Liszog admitted. "I"ll give it to you later. First, I have to take care of something else."
"What"s that?" Golath muttered.
Liszog pointed his trunk at the Arkonide. "I"m going to kill him," he explained.
Zerft jumped on Golath"s back and clutched his arms around him. Golath could feel his hot breath puffing down his neck. "Go ahead, boy!" Zerft yelled ferociously. "I won"t let Golath bungle that job again."
Liszog went to the trunk-cleaner and switched it off as the prisoner followed him with his eyes without revealing the slightest emotion. The Arkonide was released.
"Shoot him and we"ll never see Unith again," Golath said in a calm voice.
Zerft gave him a vicious jab. "Shut up!" he snarled.
The old man had been constrained for such a long time that he apparently was too weak to get up by himself. Liszog stared at him, pondering what to do.
"Wait a minute, Liszog!" Golath exclaimed hastily. "This Arkonide is the owner of the little s.p.a.ceship. He knows how to deactivate the protective screen. If you kill him he won"t be able to tell us how he does it."
Liszog looked doubtfully at the other two. Zerft growled angrily but released his grip on Golath.
"He won"t volunteer the information," Liszog said sceptically. "As you can see, he"s very old and old men are not afraid of death. We have no way of forcing him to tell us how we can get into his ship."
Although he had not put it in so many words it was clear that Liszog had already given up his intention of shooting the prisoner. Golath bent down to pick up his own and Zerft"s weapon. "He will show us the way to enter his ship himself," Golath contended. His trunk swayed slowly and his eyes brightened happily.
"You see, Liszog, he"s out of his mind," Zerft sniped.
Golath ignored his remark. "We are going to lock up the Arkonide but we will give him a chance to escape during the night," Golath proposed.
"Are you crazy?" Zerft shouted beside himself. "You want to let him get away?"
"Yes," Golath confirmed. "It must seem like a perilous flight to the prisoner but we will do nothing to prevent his escape. We won"t even be aboard the Kaszill when it happens."
Liszog blinked his eyes in confusion. His face showed already the first sign of doubt that he was correct when he had restored Golath"s leadership.
But Golath continued. "We are going to hide out near the ship of the stranger. When he comes he will be in a great hurry since he must expect to be followed. He will be anxious to get as quickly as possible into his ship and leave this planet. He won"t take much time to look around before switching off the protective screen. As soon as the screen has collapsed we"ll jump out. He will be so surprised that it will be easy to overpower him. Once we are inside the ship all our other problems will be solved."
"It won"t work," Zerft said glumly. "What if he lifts the screen only for a short moment?"
"All we have to do is hide close enough to the ship," Golath retorted. "Remember it will be dark and the eyes of Arkonides are not able to see in the night any more than ours are."
"The plan is simple and it makes sense," Liszog agreed. Golath looked elated. "But it will be absolutely necessary that you restrain your squabbling for the duration?" Liszog remonstrated. "If you insist on antagonizing each other you"ll ruin everything."
"It won"t be my fault," Golath said in a conciliatory tone. He extended his trunk toward Zerft and curled the tip in the traditional gesture of friendship.
"That"s alright with me," Zerft murmured reluctantly but without moving his trunk. Golath"s face grew pale. It was a severe insult.
"Why don"t you give Golath your trunk?" Liszog cried accusingly.
Zerft looked at him grimly. His eyes were still full of hate and he clenched his fists, repressing his anger. Golath lowered his trunk and refrained from saying another word.
Liszog went to the trunk-cleaner and pulled the Arkonide up from the bench. The prisoner was so old and weak that he almost tumbled to the floor when Liszog let go of him.
"What a grandiose plan!" Zerft snorted. "How do you expect this ancient relic to break out of here and run to his ship? I think he"ll drop dead first from feebleness."
"Don"t underestimate him," Liszog warned. "He"s neither young nor strong but he"s no coward. He showed no fear when we confronted him. He deserves our respect because he is a brave man."
"He"s an Arkonide!" Zerft replied ominously.
Liszog led the prisoner to a chair and the old man sat down, exhausted. Zerft eyed him with hostility.
Golath felt his confidence growing again. Thanks to Liszog"s intervention he was back in command and Zerft was laid low. Golath was smart enough to know that Zerft was his worst enemy, not the Arkonide. However, for the time being they were pulling at the same rope together and the obstreperous Unither had no choice but to knuckle under to the demands of his companions. Golath could not have cared less about the fate of the Arkonide and he had no scruples to leave him behind on the planet as long as he did not offer resistance.
A feeling of p.r.i.c.kly heat in his trunk brought Golath back to the present. He turned on the trunk-cleaner and stretched himself out on the bench in pleasure. The spring-loaded buckles embraced his body with gentle pressure and the soft pad floated down to hold his forehead in place. Then the rinsing spiral slid smoothly into his trunk and he relaxed with a deep breath.
He looked at Liszog, who was in a pensive mood. Zerft fidgeted impatiently with his tattered clothes. "Keep an eye on him," Golath warned. Then he closed his eyes and swooned under the soothing ma.s.sage of the rinsing arm.
It was a harrowing sensation for Khrest to hover continuously on the threshold of death. He knew that he was still alive merely due to the dissension that had arisen between the Unithers. He had already twice stared into the muzzles of the rayguns which threatened him with an inglorious death. At those moments Khrest thought of the promise he had given Perry Rhodan. He was resigned to the probability of being killed but the loss of the s.p.a.cejet troubled him deeply.
Now that the worst danger was over, Khrest hoped to get another chance to safeguard the s.p.a.ceship. The return of the aliens to their ship was proof that they had not yet cracked the protective shield. However they would persevere in their efforts. They had to gain possession of the s.p.a.cejet if they wanted to leave the planet.
Khrest was only too well aware to what length intelligent beings could go in a desperate situation. His opponents were determined to try anything. They were strong, young and had powerful arms to boot, whereas he was alone.
The despondent Arkonide tried to figure out what an old tired man caught in a predicament such as his could do. His body was almost completely stiff from lying immobilized for so long. He was glad when Liszog led him to a chair. His blood circulation slowly returned to its normal course and his headache subsided.