2/ CHLORINE WORLD

 

We knew more now about the interrelationship of physical laws in the Druuf universe than we had known months before.

At that time Rhodan had stood in bewilderment on various alien planets which had been afflicted by the unknown Druuf phenomenon. Although outwardly they had seemed to be undamaged and everything on the surface appeared to be intact, organic life itself was missing. It had taken a long time to postulate the existence of another time-plane from an analysis of the evidence at hand.

By now we knew that penetrating the superimposed continuum was merely a question of energy output. It was a plane of existence which was parallel to our own but with the difference that each universe had its separate time reference.

During the last expedition, alien life forms had been discovered which we had called the Druufs. But we still didn’t know with whom we were dealing in actuality. The rulers of the other time-plane had remained invisible to us. Their robots and subjugated races had not been able to enlighten us.

But everything served to convince me that events I had witnessed 10,000 years ago were directly connected with present happenings. The time-rate differential made such a conclusion possible.

At the moment we were concerned chiefly with our newly calculated law of reference points. Once a coördinating field was built up, it was to be deduced from this law, within 99.99% of probability, that a single dimensional jump would bring us out onto a planet within the Druuf time-plane. The materially stable mass content of the alien zone began to play a vital role for us.

The huge antigrav platform with its so-called semispace generator had already disappeared through the circular ring of glowing energy. We had tied in 3 power stations from the giant Drusus to the warp-field generators. The energy thus available would have been enough to provide the entire Solar System with power for a period of 10 years.

Close above the surface of the synthetic planet, Wanderer, hovered that 1500-foot shape which we had variously named ‘lens field’, ‘light ring’ and ‘ring field’. The expression ‘inter-zonal vector tensor and field alignment’ might have been more exact, although even that did not seem to embrace the essentials.

I stood next to the lower wall of our largest transport disc, which was 40 yards in diameter. Made of light steel plate, it held the antigrav installation in its centre. The 2 vibro-beam propulsion units that had been installed on deck did not have sufficient thrust for undertaking a long journey but in the present case it wouldn’t make much difference whether we went through the ring at a pedestrian pace or with the speed of sound.

It looked as if the children of titans had been playing on the platform. Machines were lying and standing about everywhere, their massive stone and plastic bases torn from their foundation by pure force.

It had already become a problem to stabilize the fully overloaded flying platform. Mass was mass, even though it could be made weightless through operation of the antigrav equipment. At the last moment I had ordered the installation of a gyrostabilizer unit so that we could at least have some assurance that our weird vehicle wouldn’t flop over on us.

We had also placed the Physiotron in the middle of the platform and close by the high-powered reactors had been installed as the energy source. We had not been able to take along the bulky and complicated transmitter for wireless transmission of the power. The great hall of the cell shower now looked as though a bomb had exploded there. Rodes Aurin, the weapons officer of the super battleship, had gone to work with powerful tractor beams after Homunk had shown him where to unleash his forces.

When I thought about our jury-rigged conductor for handling a 3,000,000-volt potential, my hands began to tremble. Somehow the work energy required had to be brought into the cell shower’s field projectors. Since we couldn’t employ the wireless power transmission method, we had to fall back on the tube-field isolators of the Drusus. In my capacity as a high-energy engineer I had received the assignment to install the hurriedly assembled power equipment and have it ready for operation.

Homunk had mentioned that the Physiotron alone needed about 600 megawatts at full load; an incredibly heavy power intake for such a relatively small apparatus. Whether or not the high voltage would be transformed properly in the incomprehensible devices hidden in the bases of the equipment, I could not be sure. Homunk had learnedly taken me to task, informing me that my calculations concerning the necessary insulation were illusory.

So it was not surprising that the antigrav platform seemed to be in chaos. Reginald Bell had taken one look around and merely shrugged. I could only force a small wretched smile to my lips but quite definitely I would not have wished to be in his shoes. Under these circumstances, to get into the machine where all these forces were to be let loose was more than a foolhardy undertaking.

Rhodan had turned on the gyrostabilizers. After 2 minutes the heavy Arkon steel oscillating components had reached 200,000 revolutions. I waited in suspense, expecting them to fly apart, but nothing happened.

Standing silently beside me was Khrest, who cleared his throat nervously. I glanced at him briefly, noting that he appeared to be utterly exhausted. We had worked together for 5 days in order to come up with all the necessary data.

Rhodan weaved his way cautiously between all the machinery. When he came up to us he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"In spite of the deep-sleep treatment, Bell has gotten still younger," he said quietly. "Not at the same rate as before but the process hasn’t been halted. The time has come!" Involuntarily he touched his lower lip with his teeth. "Atlan, are you sure this thing’s going to hold together?" He pointed at the chaotic assembly of equipment.

"When I think of those power mains—!" I answered somewhat gutturally and left the sentence unfinished.

He walked slowly over to Capt. Rodes Aurin, who had a small special commando unit standing by to ward off any possible attacks. 4 small ships from the Drusus were also ready to go into action in case of any trouble. I had been hoping to keep these 200-foot ships and their considerable mass outside the Druuf-plane as long as possible. Even the powerful radiations from their propulsion systems and the weapons reactors were undesirable. It had been proved before that the time-ratio over there, unstable at its best, could change rapidly under alien influences. It was problem enough that we had to haul the indispensable big reactors with us.

Rhodan beckoned to me but I only nodded in return. It would have been senseless to mull over any further misapprehensions. These little savages from the Earth were about to show a former admiral of the Arkonide Imperial Fleet that they were more on their toes than he was.

I didn’t feel well and Khrest wasn’t much better. What was revealed in our expressions. was something that was entirely indiscernible to Perry Rhodan. The Terranians undoubtedly had a younger nervous system than my own kind. For this reason we were equipped with other characteristics; at least those Arkonides who had remained mentally sound.

I listened to the thundering of the vibro-propulsion units. Everything on the floating platform was weightless. Nevertheless the 2 weak engines had to be held at maximum thrust to give us any forward motion at all. To me it seemed to take an eternity before we even reached the ridiculous speed of 25 miles per hour. Moreover, even this slight movement increased the wind resistance so that no higher velocity could be obtained.

We crept toward the shimmering light-ring with nerve-wracking slowness. Before we reached it, I took one last look around. Almost all of the Mutant Corps members were present. Pucky was already on duty ‘over there’. He had been assigned to watch the robot Homunk. We had agreed amongst ourselves that this perfect machine was less concerned about Bell’s life than it was about the composite being who was its master. The Druuf plane of existence was more closely related to the intermediate realm of semispace than it was to our own universe. Perhaps Homunk believed that ‘over there’ he might have an opportunity to discover It.

At this close range the shimmering aperture in the void could not be encompassed by a single glance. When we were only 10 yards away from it, Rhodan issued instructions for us to close the pressure helmets of our spacesuits.

It was possible for us to emerge in an airless world or even in a place with a poisonous atmosphere. When overlap effects occurred and oxygen-breathing life forms simply disappeared, one could be sure that a breathable mixture would be found on the other side. It was different when one merely entered the realm of the Druufs at random. Of course the laws of mass were applicable; but they applied also to uninhabitable celestial bodies.

The transition occurred soundlessly. The leading edge of the platform simply disappeared as though it had never been there. As the energy field approached me I checked for my weapon involuntarily. At the same time I noticed that Rhodan also touched the butt of his destructive thermo-gun. I smiled. How much alike we were!

The crossover succeeded painlessly. The temporary flickering in front of my eyes ceased. When my vision cleared I could again make out the front part of the platform but the rear portion was not yet visible since it was still in the normal universe. I had to confess that this was the strangest transition I had ever experienced.

An alien world lay before us. It was as though some unknown force had set us down intact upon a desert island. It was a chlorine planet whose poisonous gases had been stirred up by a storm and which now attacked our unwieldy structures on the antigrav platform. Immediately our radio voice com deteriorated. We were no longer ‘at home’!

The platform began to sway dangerously. About 100 feet ahead of us we could see the glider which had carried Homunk and some of our men through the lensfield. I saw Rhodan jump to the controls of the gyrostabilizer. At most the rpm could not be increased more than another 50,000 without exceeding the tensile strength of the whirling metal. The exposed gyros created the illusion of weird vortices in the glimmering haze. When I looked at my hands they seemed discoloured and swollen. The small sun of this planet was a dim, greenish ball of light that was distorted in appearance due to absorption effects.

"This would be a great setup for a health treatment!" I heard someone say over the helmet intercom. It was Reginald Bell, who was bracing his legs to maintain his balance.

Suddenly everybody was shouting in confusion. Nobody had counted on this kind of wind turbulence.

I pushed my way through to the ship’s chief engineer. Gunther Forster was struggling to squeeze more power out of the propulsion units. I could see his widened eyes behind the bulletproof faceplate of his space helmet as I reached for the step-up switch controlling the 2 axial turbines. Forster had not taken the risk of using the present air as a medium of support and for jet action. Probably he had thought of the corrosive effects of chlorine gas and was also considering the return flight.

At the moment I didn’t care whether the equipment could stand up against overheating by chlorine gas or not. Before Forster could say anything, the suction turbines began to howl. I switched the full power of the propulsion units’ mini-reactors into the arc heaters and pulled down the control switch to the compression chambers.

Seconds later the auxiliary jets of the vibro-engines were spitting out superheated chlorine gas particles at a rate of some 12,000 feet per second. Some of the men dove for cover but the immediate additional thrust in a forward direction quickly stabilized the swaying antigrav platform.

Rhodan waved a hand at me but with the interference noises in the helmet speaker and the howling of the 2 jet engines his words were unintelligible. A hellish green abyss seemed to open hungrily before us.

It did not take more than a few moments before our previously snail-like pace had increased to an alarming extent. Homunk’s platform became more clearly discernible. When we were within about 50 yards of it, I shut off the auxiliary engines. Nevertheless our surge in velocity was enough to carry us beyond the other transport platform, which had already landed.

Rhodan acted swiftly. The sudden return of gravity forced me to my knees. He permitted our floating deck to drop so swiftly that I saw us already smashed to the ground on an alien world that was hostile to life. He braked the fall close to the ground but our landing was anything but ideal. I heard the grating and snapping of breaking metal and equipment. Some of the sturdy hydraulic landing struts were partially bent and others broke off like matchsticks.

After we finally came to a standstill, the gyros idled down to zero. Only the howling of the storm wind still pained my eardrums. Our freight vehicle was canted somewhat on its side but the machinery installed on the deck did not seem to be damaged.

"Sorry about the crash landing so close to Homunk," I heard Rhodan saying, "but we were fighting a power drain during that manoeuvre." His voice came weakly over the head speaker and was noise distorted by heterodyning. "Is anybody wounded?"

One crewman appeared to have broken his leg. He lay in my immediate vicinity and I could make out his pain-distorted features. However, he was the first to give a loud and clear answer: "Sgt. Tomenski, sir. Everything’s ok—nobody was even scratched."

He looked at me imploringly, signalling me to silence. I smiled and helped him to position his injured leg more comfortably. A feeling of affectionate camaraderie came over me. It was not just for the sergeant but for all humankind. In their own way they were something to behold, these little barbarians!

The only creature present who wore no spacesuit in spite of the chlorine atmosphere was the robot Homunk. When I saw the stereotyped smile on his bio-face I could not suppress a harumph of distaste. Here in this environment where everybody was forced into the protective shell of a spacesuit, this human-looking machine appeared somehow to be a monstrous creation.

Rhodan jumped down from our platform. The local force of gravity stood at 0.95G, which enabled us to move around fairly easily. I stared, suddenly benumbed, as I saw the clear impressions his feet were making in the ground. They had pressed deeply into the moss-like vegetation. At first I marvelled that any kind of life at all had developed in this devil’s kitchen but then I realized to my horror what had so suddenly attracted my attention to those footprints: how could Rhodan’s boots have made such deep imprints? Moreover: how did it happen the storm whipped the vapour scuds past us so swiftly? Until now it had been our experience on the worlds of the Druuf that events transpired at a rate that was 72,000 times slower than normal. Under such a condition the air should have been practically motionless and the vegetation would have to be as non-resilient as steel.

This realization came like a bolt from the blue. Rhodan also seemed to have noticed it. He stood there as though suddenly rooted to the spot, having taken very few steps from the spot where he had landed.

With grim humour I called to him: "Well, Barbarian, is the expert stumped at last—or am I mistaken? This planet is subject to a time frame that’s practically identical with ours. Events happen at just about normal speed. How does that tie in with your theories?"

Before Rhodan could make some response, somebody gave out a shrill laugh. It was Bell. When I turned toward him I saw that he was already opening the transparent safety lock of the Physiotron.

Khrest, the old man of my people, tapped me with his finger in dismay. In my agitation I waved him off, knowing what he was going to say.

Now the situation had become much more critical. If we were to come under attack we would not be able to take advantage of our faster time-rate. If the unknown enemy were only half as fast in his reactions as we were, it would be dangerous.

Rhodan didn’t waste any words. Anyway, everybody had become aware of the phenomenon we were facing. Khrest had already withdrawn to the computer we had brought along. I was relying on this first-rate scientist, who was probably among the last of my people who were still not deteriorated in mind and spirit. Even so, he could hardly maintain that personal initiative in which we had excelled so outstandingly thousands of years ago. When I thought of my old cruiser commanders…!

It took a great effort of will to suppress the memories that welled up within me. The heyday of the Arkonides was past. I was a puzzling leftover from the old days, and Khrest, whom I considered to be weak and of limited vitality, represented the new kind of Arkonide. Thus he belonged to the most capable representatives of the Great Empire.

Capt. Rodes Aurin didn’t waste a single second. His loud commands rang out in every helmet speaker. 30 heavily armed men of his special commando group jumped down from the platform to disappear like phantoms into the greenish mists.

3 other men ran back toward the clearly visible energy ring that formed the lens. Glowing brightly and only slightly distorted at the edges by light refraction effects, it seemed to hang suspended in the corrosive chlorine atmosphere. The 3 soldiers had received orders to cross the inter-zonal field immediately in one-man fliers at the first sign of danger, in order to alert the commanders of the Guppies that were waiting on standby for takeoff on the other side.

Owing to the interference effects of the lens, we ourselves were forced to operate at least 300 yards beyond it.

The next 30 minutes were devoted to our indispensable preparations. I took charge of the power supply for the Physiotron while Rhodan kept a strict eye on our perfect robot. Both platforms were so close to each other that their edges touched.

I looked worriedly at the 2 cannon-like power projectors by means of which our transport platform was to be enclosed in a shielding field that was to separate 2 continuums. The calculations were set; it was now only a matter of watching to see that the semispace to be simulated did not come too close to the real thing.

Bell was already standing in the cage of the cell shower. He acted calm and collected but those who knew him better knew that he was under tension.

After about 40 minutes I had finished my system checkout. I still didn’t like to think about that main power line. It was possible that chemical processes in the chlorine atmosphere could make my high-tension insulation break down. The do-or-die safety factor allowed for an extra 500 amperes. If the breaker switches were to break down under a peak load, Bell would be utterly lost. During his full dematerialisation, such an abrupt power loss could not be risked.

"Ready," I said over the helmet intercom, trying to sound as calm as possible. "How far along are you with your semispace generator?"

"Providing that it works—we’re also ready!" Rhodan answered, somewhat hoarsely. "Bell, can we begin?"

Bell’s voice sounded mild but carried a tone of unwonted gravity. "I’m ready for anything. And thanks a lot for all your efforts. Pucky, come on, little guy—let’s mop up those tears."

Homunk gave me a signal. Both reactors showed a green light. I turned them full on. The surge was rugged. As though mesmerized I looked over at the blue-white beams of energy which had built up inside the contracting vortex compression field. This was also a form of power transmission but not as effective as that which had been under the control of our missing collective entity.

My insulation shields held up, although the 2 thermal converters were handling an initial potential of 3,000,000 volts. Whatever might be happening in the base of the Physiotron was beyond me to imagine. I had only seen some small leads connecting to the base terminals, so in all consciousness I hadn’t dared to load them with more than 1,000 volts at 80 amps. What they were receiving now and apparently conducting without any trouble must be virtually a ravening, primeval force, considering the size of the equipment.

Bell, whom we had just seen intact, suddenly became a phantomesque shadow. A millisecond later all we could make out was a pulsing, reddish glow that took on a spiral form, seemingly suspended in the lines of force that had been built up by the Physiotron.

I was the last man to jump down from the platform and in a few fast strides I was at Rhodan’s side. When I got there, the robot threw a switch.

A powerful roaring sound startled me. When I looked back at the cell shower it was hardly discernible. A pale spherical vortex had completely enclosed the antigrav platform.

It took us 5 minutes to find the right adjustment. When we reached maximum power for the 4-D isolation screen, we were sure that an almost natural condition of semispace must have been created inside the reflector fields.

Rhodan looked at his watch. He seemed to be quite calm. "If everything works, we should be witnessing a phase shift. Probably everything will work out in the long run. He won’t feel any of it."

From then on we remained silent. The special commandos were on the alert for any sudden threat and we found it quite a task to suppress our prevailing state of nervousness. Bell had to remain in the cell shower approximately 90 minutes. It was his only chance.

As the spherical vortex writhed slowly in its weird contortions, I could hear Rhodan’s breathing become louder in my headphones. Homunk had charge of the Physiotron controls.

30 minutes later we had the visual impression that the formerly solid cell shower was as thin as a post; but from the side it seemed that the apparatus had widened considerably. This was unquestionably the effect of the semispace condition, of which we had been only too well aware, ourselves, but a few days before.

Khrest approached us in a state of agitation. His aquiline face was visibly tense. His voice sounded in our pressure helmets while the outside vapours kept condensing and crystallizing on our faceplates. I worriedly felt the various sections of my metallic spacesuit. It was not a pleasant experience to be working in a chlorine atmosphere.

Khrest communicated to us the readout results of the portable computer. According to his findings, the relative time-lapse ratio was 1 to 4.26374, which filled me with more alarm than before. It meant that our rate of movement here was only 4 times faster than that of a potential enemy.

The full impact of this figure enabled us to realize the true magnitude of the storm around us. The measured wind velocity of about 44 miles per hour must have been in excess of 175 miles per hour in the other timeframe! From experience we knew that our physical organisms tended to equalize the effects of these differentials. Why this was so could not be explained with certainty. Much more disconcerting, however, was the unavoidable fact that such a low differential as 1 to 4 could be found on any planet within the Druuf time-plane. This brought new and weighty mathematical problems into the picture which we could not get involved in at the moment.

When Rhodan had also finished studying Khrest’s data, there was a sudden alarm. This came precisely 56 minutes after Bell had entered the Physiotron. Rhodan stiffened visibly as we stared at each other momentarily.

"What do you make of that, Admiral?" he asked me. "Were you ever in a situation similar to this?"

My auxiliary brain, which was practically identical to the photographic memory portion, signalled to me with a painful intensity. Again my abnormal urge to recount the past welled up within me. I suppressed the impulse and restricted myself to a hasty description of what I had done in a similar situation 10,000 years before.

Rodes Aurin called us. His face appeared on the tiny vidscreens of our wrist receivers, whose speaker outputs had been fed into our helmet phones.

"We have a hypersensor bearing, sir," he announced. "5 shockwaves all at once but no amplitude variations like you’d expect from a normal hyper-exit manoeuvre in Einsteinium space. We get fairly constant residual quanta. Looks like somebody were sliding out of hyperspace instead of just a straight jump—sort of calm and easy-going. And that, sir, is no ordinary space warp!"

Rhodan looked at me helplessly. However I remembered only too vividly an incident that at the time had meant the beginning of the end.

"Attack!" I shouted quickly. "Attack at once! Just don’t wait for anything. The sensor indications are valid, however strange they may seem. Those creatures whom you call Druufs control a method of surpassing the speed of light which is different than ours. They don’t make a transit jump through the 5th dimension like we do—they fly through it! Do you know what I mean?"

"Not entirely. To what extent do they fly?"

"They just don’t make a hyperjump in the true sense of the word," I said excitedly. "It was a puzzle to me at the time, too, until it suddenly burst on me. They conquer hyperspace in one long flight but a million times faster than light. Because of the different physical laws in that sort of para-void and considering the alien plane of reference there, it seems completely commonplace to them. By use of this system their destination star always remains visible. Also, they are not dematerialised as we are in our violent form of hypertransit jumps. For example, the Druufs pick out a specific distance they want to travel. Accordingly they figure out what multiple of trans-light velocity is required in the 5th dimension and their travel segments are chosen accordingly. It’s pure flying but a million times faster than possible in Einsteinium space. In the 5th dimension the ultimate speed attainable is a billion times higher than possible in our universe. No, don’t ask me how the Druufs come out of hyperspace. I presume it happens with a very short explosive shock but it’s not comparable to our transitions. They simply go in, orient themselves and come storming out. The sharp spikes on our sensor readouts indicate this kind of shock wave. The more stable wavelines represent their approach speed. We’ll still register a hardly noticeable jolt but by that time they’ll be here."

"Aurin, does that check out?" asked Rhodan over the radio voice com. "Do you have any sharp starting spikes like that?"

"Yes sir, exactly that," answered the captain excitedly. "I think I’m getting an idea of what’s going on. Orders, sir?"

Rhodan looked at me again. I was deeply disturbed. Memories assailed me more and more. My Arkon-activated extra-brain was merciless. Khrest placed a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. Since he also stemmed from a noble family, he naturally had received the dubious advantage of a government-sanctioned brain activation. Normal Arkonides had never come in contact with this experience. Only especially deserving and highly stationed people had been permitted to have the unused portions of the brain awakened.

Rhodan didn’t wait any longer. Once Terranians have made up their minds, a variety of things are liable to happen.

Before I could properly collect my wits about me a series of flashing blue furies shot out of the lens into our view. I had been figuring on the 4 guppies on standby alert but here suddenly were all 40-fighter units—the full auxiliary complement of the super battleship Drusus.

I saw Rhodan grinning. Apparently he also was unaware that his efficient 2nd officer, Lt.-Col. Sikerman, had taken the precaution to launch the entire guppy fleet. Behind the powerful 200-foot ships hurtled a pack of 3-man fighters through the light-ring—which made things all the merrier!

All crews on board the new contingents still had the advantage of a full-scale time-rate so for about an hour at least they would be 4 times faster than the most modern Druuf ship.

I went for cover as the pilots seemed to go mad, hurling their ships onto the target course at a horrendous acceleration. Searing hot shockwaves beat down upon us and the poisonous gases of the planet were gripped this time by a real hurricane.

There was a roaring and thundering as though the end had come to this particular world. The fighter pursuit ships continued flashing through the lenticular forcefield. It was our bad luck to be right in the unavoidable approach lane. The daring rascals pulled their noses up precisely above our position. The attack force consisted of at least 2 squadrons.

When the wild pursuit groups had passed us, Aurin asked anxiously: "Do you think that will hold them, sir?"

Rhodan’s laughter made me catch my breath. There was something in his tone that dug at my nerves. He didn’t seem to think the Druufs were at all invincible.

A few moments later he turned to me. "OK, Arkonide, we took you up on your advice. Bell still needs 29 minutes. That’s how long our attack front has to hold out. What do you say our chances are?"

I looked for a place to sit down. When these Terranian barbarians became kooky and light on their toes like this it was usually a nerve-shocker for people like myself.

While I sat there silently, some crewmen set up next to us the hypercom equipment which had been ‘brought over’ from the other side. The viewscreen was subdivided into 4 sections and immediately we saw the faces of the attack mission’s commanding officers appear. Naturally Lts. Stepan Potkin, David Stern and Marcel Rous were among them. Apparently they were leading the pursuit ship formations.

"We have them, sir," reported Potkin with complete composure. "The hypersensors are operating. If they want to get at us they have to come out of hyperspace, so when they show their noses we’d better do something about it."

"That might be advisable," said Rhodan gruffly. "Based on our last encounter with them, a state of war exists between us and the Druufs. They’ve spotted us dead on. Apparently they’ve developed a method of detecting our lens-field whenever it appears. Such a force-ring probably causes a healthy shockwave in the 5th dimension. Get out into space and fan out into deployed positions. The approaching enemy units have to be held back at all costs. I still need exactly 25 minutes."

By now I had regained my composure. I was very familiar with the situation they were discussing. "Listen to me, Barbarian!" I interjected confidently. "Tell your men to close formation so that they can use their combined jets as a weapon beam. If the Druuf defence screens have not been changed they will become very unstable under hard radiation bombardment."

Rhodan didn’t object too strenuously to this because I was giving him some of my 10,000 years of experience. 3 minutes later the Terranian ships were in the thick of battle. Over the hypercom we heard a crackling and thundering as 2 powerful fleets encountered each other. The pickup mikes in the guppies and pursuit ships transmitted the battle sounds clearly, which must have been unbearable within the echoing confines of the crew compartments. I recognized the familiar clang and clamour of weaponry in action as prolonged energy beam shots and closed formation broadsides were delivered. The noise was strongest coming from the guppies because the circular compartments of the spherical vessels were more resonant.

We looked above but with the naked eye there was nothing to be seen. The combat was running its course in the depths of space. Now and then reports came through from individual commanders. According to them only 6 opposing vessels had been detected so far. 4 of the long, slender ship types had been shot down already. There had been no sign of survivors but it was presumed that the crews consisted of robots. The 2 telepaths on board guppies K-18 and K-6 had not picked up any mental impulses.

"So much the better," said Rhodan, checking his watch. "Just 4 minutes to go and we’ll have it made."

We waited impatiently but meanwhile I was wondering what Bell must have been feeling at this moment in the Physiotron. Probably nothing at all.

When the time was up and Homunk turned off the cell shower, we turned breathlessly to look at the nearby antigrav platform. The vortex screen disappeared. The outlines of the structure became more discernible.

Pucky had been standing close to me clutching my left hand. He suddenly, squeaked excitedly and threw his little arms up. "He’s alive!" I heard the supermouse yell out. "I’m getting his thoughts. He thinks he’s only been in there for a second or so."

I ducked away involuntarily as the air suddenly shimmered. Pucky disappeared in a flash but instantly he appeared in the middle of the silenced Physiotron, where he jumped up and threw his arms around the broad-shouldered human figure there.

Rhodan and I merely exchanged glances. We understood each other without need for words. At least we had achieved one goal in any case because Reginald Bell appeared to be intact. To what degree the cell shower had reverted the strange rejuvenation process, however, was still an unknown factor.

Rhodan’s eyes began to stare blankly. He was listening inwardly. Since I knew that he had developed a slight telepathic ability I did not disturb him. In a few moments he turned to me, slightly nonplussed.

"The mousebeaver reports that Bell seems to be completely himself again. The boyish features have gone back the way they were before. Do you understand?"

I didn’t have time to answer him because at that moment a monstrous shape emerged far above through the dense chlorine atmosphere. Simultaneously we were contacted by the flight commander.

I saw the smooth, well-groomed features of Van Aafen appear on the viewscreen. As usual, the Major was cool, slightly reserved and pedantic. He was an outstanding cosmonaut who seemed not to have a nerve in his body.

"We have an alert condition, sir," he informed us. "A heavy enemy vessel has broken through the line and I am closing in with 8 guppies. I would suggest that you take cover."

His manner was such that he might as well have been describing crumbled cookies at a picnic. We dove for cover!

About 1000 yards away something bright and glistening flashed through the greenish chlorine air. A terrible clap of thunder reached us along with a powerful shockwave, which hurled me several yards over the smooth deck surface of the platform. An infernal roaring sound became audible. Close on its heels a new cyclone struck us and this time I was lifted up violently. Apparently we were being just grazed by the vacuum suction of a fast-moving spaceship.

Things happened too swiftly for immediate comprehension. Several shadowy shapes went by at a considerable height above us. Bright flashes of light illuminated the semi-darkness and then afar off, an atomic sun-ball seemed to inflate like a balloon.

Blinded by it, I closed my eyes and waited for what was to come. Somebody clutched my ankles, seeking support. We lay flat on the platform as the glowing hot pressure front of the explosion arrived. Like a world in collision. Minutes later I could not have explained how I lived through the inferno.

Almost benumbed by the experience, I helped Rhodan to his feet. Our 2 antigrav gliders had almost been capsized. The atomic blast had gripped them from underneath and spun them more than 50 yards across the flat terrain.

"That must have been at least 100 megatons!" groaned Rhodan. His left wrist seemed to pain him from a bad bruise. "Do you think these contraptions will still fly?"

"They’ve got to, sir!" said one of the crewmen. "All that equipment has got to go back—especially the Physiotron."

We turned to search for Bell. He waved at us from the other platform. So at least all was in order in that department.

I was already checking the propulsion engines when the major’s report finally came in. I heard Rhodan scolding him before I made out his words:

"Sorry, sir; that was apparently shaving it a bit thin for you. Stupid of the robot ship to explode like that. May I request further instructions?"

"The devil take you—and piece by piece!" retorted Rhodan. "You could have held your fire from the Druuf for at least 2 minutes. He would have been a few thousand miles away from us by then. OK, forget it! Stand by till we have these 2 freight decks secured. Then fall in behind with the whole formation. Use the pursuit ships as a rear flank protection. In an emergency the fighter jets can get through the lens faster than you could with your heavier guppies. Is that clear?"

"Completely, sir. May I presume to ask how things are with Mr. Bell?"

"You may," answered Rhodan in a more cheerful tone. "He was especially thrilled over that shockwave you sent us. Otherwise he’s doing fine and you can pass that along to the individual crews."

Van Aafen’s typical formality remained unshaken. "I’d appreciate it, sir, if you would convey to him my best wishes."

Rhodan merely chuckled but the repartee had only served to prove again what wonderful men and staunch friends he had on board his ships. 10 minutes later our loaded platform rose up from the ground. I guided it through the lens under full power, finally shutting down the auxiliary engines when the mighty curve of the Drusus loomed toward us from the ground.

Rhodan followed closely with the other platform glider. His radio dispatch had just reached the fleet squadrons. I was just opening my pressure helmet with a sigh of relief when the first of the guppies began entering the normal universe. That chlorine world had not been what you Terranians call a picnic!