Still 40 hours to midnight.
Marshall had woken up long ago and taken over Rhodan"s post in order to give him a few minutes rest. Only Okura had been deprived of sleep the whole time. His eyes were still needed.
The seals pulled the boat steadily and reliably.
They had heard the helicopters a few more times. Each time the noise was a few decibels louder than previously. There could be little doubt that they were searching in sweeps either from south to north or in the opposite direction and that they were getting closer to the coast with each sweep, thereby nearing the fleeing boat more and more.
Marshall had warned the seals. They waited for his signal to slip out of the slings in case of attack and to swim away from the unsafe region. Marshall hoped that it wouldn"t come to that but he was none too sure that he had any right for hope.
Rhodan got up again after his short rest and told the j.a.panese to lie down. Okura went to sleep and from then on they depended solely on their hearing. The eyes of the "ultra-seer" were missing.
Shortly after 201:00 o"clock Venus time the observer of the leading unit of the helicopter squadron caught a tiny blip on his radar screen.
He notified the main flight group and learned that they had detected the same signal and it was determined that they had received a "true" reflex.
The precise position of-the object was ascertained and it was found that it moved with considerable speed in a northnortheasterly direction.
Five minutes after the observation was made, the group of gunships veered east and steered with top velocity toward the unknown object which meanwhile had moved close to the coast of the peninsula.
The major in charge of the helicopter patrol felt certain that the observed object was somehow connected with the disappearance of the two lost machines. He instructed his observers to lock onto the blip in sight and to turn on the infra-red searchlight as soon as they came within range.
Rhodan listened attentively.
At first he heard only the usual steady hum of the distant aircraft as it approached from the south and reached a high point somewhere to the side of the boat. They then returned again. Closer but still outside the danger zone.
Rhodan waited for the sound to fade away north but it didn"t happen. A new tone intermingled with the humming and caused a loud vibration.
Rhodan recognized what was going on in the darkness. The machines had discovered something, communicated among their units and coordinated their new course. For a few moments he hoped it wasn"t their boat they had detected. The boat was made of resilient plastic which was not the most suitable material for the reflection of radar waves.
Yet when the noise began to grow with menacing speed, Rhodan knew that he was too optimistic. The radar instruments of the enemy were better than he had a.s.sumed. "Marshall! Wake up Son!"
Marshall had been listening too. He nodded and went forward to arouse the j.a.panese. It wasn"t very easy to do but he had no other choice under the circ.u.mstances.
"Son!" Rhodan called. "They"re on the verge of attacking us. About 10 machines I"d guess. Keep your eyes open!""
And then: "Marshall!"
"Yes, sir! "
"Give the seals the alarm signal! Try to find out where we can take refuge if we survive the initial attack."
"Right away, sir!"
"Son!"
"Yes, sir!"
"How far are we from the coast?"
"Approximately 600 feet, sir!"
Rhodan uttered an angry curse. Why couldn"t they"ve detected the boat a minute later?
Meanwhile Marshall had been busy. The seals slipped out of the ropes with extraordinary skill and sped away toward the sh.o.r.e. Marshall turned around and reported: "The seals are living in coastal caves which are half submerged in water and open to the sea. They said they"d admit us."
Rhodan nodded affirmatively. "Very good! Have your weapons ready!"
The buzzing of the helicopters had become more discernible. The ear was now able to differentiate between the high whistling of the engine jets and the whirring of the rotor blades. Son was soon able to inform them.that he saw nine bright points approaching close to the surface of the water. "About one and a half miles," he added.
In the last few seconds before the seals abandoned the boat, they had pulled it about 150 feet closer to the coast. Now the distance was no more than 450 feet. Rhodan told his companions they"d have to swim the last stretch notwithstanding the peril posed by strange animals and plants hiding in the water.
"We"ll blast the gunships with our fire on the first pa.s.s!" he said. "If our aim is good we should be able to shoot down one of their formations. That"ll teach them some respect. The time they need to recover from their shock and regroup we can use to jump overboard and swim to sh.o.r.e. Carry the thermobeamer on your back and take at least one of the automatic pistols and plenty of ammunition with you. And above all try to reach the caves of the seals as quickly as possible. They can see us from the air when we"re swimming in the water."
He had hardly finished speaking the last word when Okura raised his area. "Caution! There"s the infrared searchlight!"
Only the j.a.panese could perceive the concentrated beam of rays from the helicopter patrol scanning the surface of the ocean. The glittering reflexes of the infra-red light on the water were good reference points for Okura to estimate the time it would take until their boat was detected.
"Fifteen hundred feet!" he called. "They"re coming straight toward us!"
That"s no surprise, Rhodan thought. All they have to do is to keep the radar blip in the center of the screen while they"re flying. There"s nothing to that.
"Six hundred feet!" Okura, shouted, covering his face with both hands. One of the searchlights had pinpointed the boat and blinded the j.a.panese although it was invisible to the others.
They had been discovered!
"Take cover!" Rhodan ordered.
The plastic walls of the boat offered a much more substantial cover than could be suspected at first glance. The synthetic material of the airtube was at least two and a half inches thick throughout. The collision with a bullet released heat which was used to draw the plastic material from the undamaged surroundings, thus sealing the hole. Any number of bullet holes and up to 15 hits by explosive sh.e.l.ls could be rendered completely ineffective by this method The 16th hit by an explosive sh.e.l.l would be something else again-
Out of the darkness an automatic cannon began a fusillade. The first burst fell short. About 50 feet over to the side Rhodan saw glittering water fountains spring up.
Okura threw up both arms as a sign that the helicopters had come within shooting range. Above the noise they heard Rhodan"s voice yell: "Fire!"
It was uncanny, silent fire that leaped toward the hostile machines. Rhodan made out a whistling and clacking shadow at which he aimed the barrel of his impulse weapon, squeezing the trigger hard into the b.u.t.t. He kept his eyes closed to avoid being blinded by the radiant beam of the energy discharge. He saw the glaring rays seize the big machine, deliver its entire energy to the body and installations of the craft and turn it with unrelenting rapidity into a lump of melting and steaming metal that finally exploded in a loud detonation on impact with the water.
The same spectacle happened at two more places. Rhodan was elated by a feeling of triumph when he saw the other machines turn tail and retreat with howling engines.
"All ready for a swim?" he shouted.
"Ready!" he heard Okura"s voice.
"Ready!" Marshall chimed in.
"Let"s go!"
They went over the side of the boat, hit the water with a splash and started to swim vigorously. The water was slimy and viscous but they made good headway and stayed together by calling out to each other from time to time.