Klein was startled. "How can you be so sure of that?"
"I can get through it. But why should I still hold back with anything? We no longer have anything to conceal from each other. You wanted to send me to Rhodan to warn him, isn"t that so?"
Klein nodded.
"Well, I had the same idea you did. I already have warned him, Mr. Klein. I would strongly suggest that you not enter the tunnel after this midnight. That is the deadline Rhodan set when he learned of the planned nuclear attack."
Klein stared at Tako, completely baffled. Then he added with a tone of hope, "You were right, Tako, when you said that Rhodan already has more friends than he dares to hope for."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
The man was a j.a.panese, Rhodan noticed at once. The man bowed deeply and humbly, his face smiling like that of a child.
"Please don"t be frightened, Mr. Rhodan. But I have come here to warn you of a great danger."
"How did you get through the energy barrier?" Rhodan asked, recovering from his initial shock. Probably he had only overlooked this young man here in the bright desert sun. "I noticed you so suddenly. You seemed to appear out of nowhere."
"I am capable of teleportation."
John Marshall whispered I in Rhodan"s ear, "He is a mutant. Just like I am. He can transport himself from one place to the other without any interval of time. He has come from down below there."
"From down below?"
"Yes," replied Tako. "I came from down there. From an underground shaft running below your domain. But a" He hesitated and turned to Marshall. "How do you know this?"
Marshall stepped closer. "I am a mutant, the same as you are, Tako Kakuta. That"s your name, isn"t it? You are capable of teleportation, and I can read minds." He stretched out his hand in a friendly gesture. "We are colleagues in a certain way. You have come to help Perry Rhodan."
Tako shook the hand held out to him. "Yes, that is why I have come here. He has prevented the atomic war. All mankind should be grateful to him for having saved their lives. But human beings are unfortunately rather stupid."
Rhodan had completely regained his composure. He had found the second mutant. What he had only presumed so far had now been confirmed. This would provide a real basis for his secret plan to gather around him a small group of mutants who would be able to aid and protect him with the help of their superior abilities.
"What is the great danger you came here to warn of, Tako?"
"A special detachment is busy constructing a tunnel that will end 150 feet directly below your s.p.a.cecraft. Tomorrow they will explode there a hydrogen bomb. I doubt that anything will remain of your installations unless you take some fast counteraction."
"They"ll detonate a bomb directly underneath our base?" Rhodan grew pale for a fraction of a second. Then his brain began to work with lightning speed and comprehended immediately the proper defensive measures.
"Thank you, Tako. I think that it is not advisable you to return to the outside. You may stay here with if you wish."
"Gladly. But only later," the j.a.panese said modestly. "I a.s.sume that you are going to defend yourself against the nuclear attack. It is my duty to prevent loss of life among my comrades. May I ask you what you plan to do?"
"I haven"t decided yet in detail," admitted Rhodan. "In any case, I won"t start with any counteroffensive before tonight. Will that information be enough for you?"
"I will take care that n.o.body will remain inside the shaft tonight."
Rhodan put his hand on Tako"s shoulder and spoke with appreciation. "You display a very humane att.i.tude, my friend."
"Anyone would do that in my position, that is, anyone whose parents lived through an atomic attack. We will meet again very soon. Till then, Perry Rhodan."
The j.a.panese vanished right in front of their eyes. No trace remained of his presence. In the distance the two men could make out the glittering shapes of the s.p.a.ceships. Someone was walking toward them, still far away.
"What was he really thinking?" inquired Rhodan.
John Marshall replied with emphasis, "His thoughts his words were exactly the same."
"Good. Then. he spoke the truth. Let"s go-here comes Reg."
"Reg?"
"My friend Reginald Bell, second pilot and technician of the moonship Stardust."
They met up with Reginald Bell about half a mile from the centre of the base.
"Glad you"re back with us again, Perry. And you brought along a visitor. Introduce us, will you?"
But before Rhodan had a chance, John Marshall remarked dryly, "To begin with, I never use any hair oil, my dear Mr. Bell. That"s the way my hair is naturally, smooth and slick. Secondly, you are no great beauty either. And finally, it"s none of your infernal business how I managed to get into Perry Rhodan"s good graces."
Bell"s red hair stood up like a brush, and his lower jaw dropped. With a helpless expression he stared first at Marshall and then at Perry Rhodan.
"For crying out loud!" he said. "That guy knows exactly what I was thinking to myself!"
"Yes, Reg. He can read minds," said Rhodan, who could hardly refrain from laughing. "If I were you I would be more careful in the future; or if you want to have the luxury of your own private thoughts, why don"t you surround your brainwave field with a protective barrier, the way we learned during our hypno training? By the way, allow me to introduce you to the first known telepath to develop in a slowly awakening mankind."
"Glad to know you," mumbled Reg, who was still struck with awe at this frightening display of invasion of privacy.
"My pleasure," replied John. "At least you will keep your thoughts nicely fenced in from now on and not embarra.s.s any strangers with your critical silent remarks."
Rhodan interjected abruptly, "Is everything okay here?"
"Everything is fine, boss."
"Good. Let"s go. I must have a talk with Khrest at once. It"s urgent. They are getting ready to attack us. They plan to blow us all up. Nice, friendly people around here, don"t you agree?"
"Real nice of them. But how do they propose to do that?"
"They built a shaft from their lines to a point immediately below our position here,"
"How did you find this out?"
"I can tell you that only later. There"s not enough time now."
Khrest was waiting for them in front of the s.p.a.ce sphere. Eric Manoli was at his side, and Dr. Haggard stood a few paces behind them. In the background Thora was busy supervising a few robots who were building some machinery.
"I am happy to see that you have returned safely," Khrest greeted his first and foremost ally on the planet Earth. "Was your mission successful?"
"Please, Khrest, will you call Thora immediately? We must act at once, otherwise, we shall be lost. The power blocs of the world are collaborating, and that makes them dangerous for us. They failed to penetrate the energy screen, but they have found another way to get at us. They drove a shaft to right underneath this s.p.a.ceship. Tomorrow they will explode a hydrogen bomb down there."
"You brought a guest with you?" inquired Khrest, without even mentioning the threatening danger. "He is a telepath-I can feel it. That means that mankind has overcome another hurdle toward maturity. Welcome, Mr. Marshall. My brain has the same capacity for telepathy, but I don"t make much use of it. What did you say, Perry? A shaft? A bomb? Thora will be pleased to hear that."
The irony was not lost on them. Thora"s reaction to the news was full of hatred and disdain. "They"ll never learn. The time has come to teach them a good lesson that they won"t soon forget."
The five men sat together with Khrest and Thora in a comfortably furnished cabin of the s.p.a.ce sphere. Dusk was falling outside in the desert.
"I strongly warn you against any rash decision." Khrest chided her. "All that is necessary here is to foil their aggressive and destructive plans."
"If I had my way I would exterminate the whole race," replied Thora fiercely.
"This would be not only most unwise but also most dangerous. You, know we can"t return to our home planet, Arkon, without help. And who knows whether another intelligent race can be found within a radius of 500 light-years."
These sobering words had there intended effect on Thora. She nodded her consent, though reluctantly. "I"ll abide by the decision of the majority. What are we going to do?"
Rhodan bent forward. "Is there any chance of destroying this tunnel from where we are?"
"Yes. The direction finder has already indicated the position of the tunnel. I will apply the focal ray projector."
"What is that?"
"A special kind of energy. It emanates from the generator and the transformer in the form of harmless waves, and only when it arrives at its intended destination is it changed into a destructive type of energy. That means that from here I can send an energy ray through any matter, Without damaging it. But one mile from here, or even 150 feet below the ground, the desired destructive effect will take place. The direction finder indicates the exact location of the tunnel. I focus on this point with the focal ray projector. This will cause the whole shaft to liquefy into molten rock. Will that do, I hope?"
Rhodan smiled gentry. "It will certainly do. A great deal can happen before they decide to attack us anew. I hardly believe that they will consider us their deadly enemies for very long. It seems that gradually they learn to look upon us in a different way, to realize that we can offer them a great many advantages. We already have many more sympathizers among mankind than we imagine."
"That would please me greatly," said Khrest with warmth.
Thora interrupted, "When is the action going to take place?"
Rhodan looked at his watch. "Ten hours from now, Thora. There won"t be a living soul in the tunnel at that time."
She did not look at him. "All right. But rest a.s.sured Rhodan, this will be the last time that I will be considerate of the feelings of anyone. The next attack will be answered by a total destruction of your race. It might be wise to inform your people accordingly."
She got up and walked haughtily out of the room without so much as turning around once.
John Marshall interrupted the silence and addressed Rhodan. "Strange a she is lying. She is thinking differently from the way she speaks."
A gray dawn was rising far to the east.
The others were fast asleep. Perry Rhodan and Reginald Bell sat and waited together in the command centre of the Stardust. Again and again they glanced over at the clock on the wall. How slowly the hands were creeping ahead! Still four more minutes to go until 4 A.M.
Across the road they could see the lights burning in the s.p.a.ce sphere. A slender shadow showed itself from time to time behind one of the windows. It was Thora, standing in front of the electronic complex that she had called the focal ray projector. Her hand might at any moment grasp one of the many levers.
"Will she keep her word?" whispered Bell.
"I am sure she will," Rhodan rea.s.sured him. Then he continued. "Our j.a.panese friend must have been able to evacuate the tunnel, otherwise, he would have let us know. He would have requested a further delay. And with the four extra hours we gave them a Reg, she is starting!"
A green light came from the s.p.a.ce sphere. Its glow mingled eerily with the dawn"s light.
Deep below the surface of the earth, the unleashed atomic at forces melted the products of human technology to unrecognizable lumps of metal. The walls of solid rock turned to liquid streams that congealed in bizarre shapes. Layers of loose gravel slid down and evaporated with a hissing noise. Slowly the holocaust advanced toward the entrance of the shaft.
The soldier standing guard near the entrance first noticed a pleasant rise in the temperature of the chilly nocturnal air. Then vapours welled up from the tunnel and filled his nostrils and lungs with their acrid odour. Horrified, he sounded the alarm. A few seconds later the whole camp had come alive. Molten rock oozed out of the tunnel entrance and solidified in big chunks that effectively blocked the entrance. A huge, impenetrable plug had been placed in the steaming opening of the cave.
Klein turned away from the window. "That is the end of that tunnel, Tako. You rendered a tremendous service to us and to all mankind when you warned Rhodan. Also when I you made sure that n.o.body had remained in the shaft tonight."
"It was not easy to convince Colonel Cretcher that there was radioactivity inside the tunnel. Fortunately, I managed to hunt up a few ounces of uranium and place it inside the shaft."
Li and Kosnow got up and shook hands with the j.a.panese to thank him for his deed.
"You will say h.e.l.lo to Perry Rhodan from us?" Klein asked. "Tell him that he can always count on us. And don"t forget to mention that we are impatiently waiting for the day when we can join him officially."
"I will give him your regards, don"t worry," promised Tako. "There will be many opportunities for us to show him our loyalty. Good-bye for now.a"
A second later the three men were left alone.
And Tako materialized inside the command centre of the Stardust.
Reg was standing with his back against the window, yawning loudly. "It"s probably all over by now," he groaned. "I"m dead tired. I"m going to bed."
Suddenly a human figure appeared out of thin air about three feet in front of him. The man bowed slightly and said to Rhodan, "I have completed my mission, Mr. Rhodan. Now I am coming to offer my services to you."
Despite his swiftly reacting brain, Reg"s surprise was stronger than his logical mind. Although Rhodan had told him that Tako was a teleporter, this sudden apparition from nowhere startled him. First someone read his thoughts, and now this! He stood motionless and stared at the j.a.panese.
"Snap your trap, Reg, or you might swallow Tako!" Rhodan said. He turned to the j.a.panese. "I accept your offer, Tako. Your forces and Marshall"s combined represent a tremendous force. I know that we will be successful."
"If I had not shared this belief I would not have joined you," declared the j.a.panese, pride shining in his eyes.
Reg finally closed his mouth. He half shut his eyes and cautiously stretched out his hands. Then he placed them on Tako"s shoulders. "He is for real!"
"Of course he is," smiled Rhodan. "Or did you think was a ghost?"
"Can he do that trick any time and any place he wants to go?"
"Yes, indeed."
A sparkle appeared in Bell"s eyes. "Even to the s.p.a.ce sphere of the Arkonides?"
"And why not?"
Reg grinned hugely. "Tako, could you please check if Thora has already completed her counterattack against the enemy? It"s okay, Perry, isn"t it? There is nothing wrong with that?"
Perry Rhodan frowned slightly. "We would save ourselves a trip over there. What do you think, Tako-can you do that for us?"
The j.a.panese peered through the hatch toward the s.p.a.ce sphere. There were still some lights burning here and there.
"All right." Before Reg could say a word, Tako had vanished.