7/ AMNESTY?

 

Fij-Gul had given his report to Wee-Nii and then returned to his company of men. He expected to find the two technicians back at the barrier or at least to see some sign of them. But such was not the case.

Deeply bewildered and with growing anxiety Fij-Gul had stood guard with his company at the periphery of the protective shield and he was relieved after 5 hours of duty.

Meanwhile an idea had occurred to him. As soon as he was relieved he went back to the Record Office again and asked an attendant to bring him the two instruments which translated the languages of the Weelie-Wee colonists and the people of Aurigel.

Now that he sat in front of the instruments the task he was about to tackle seemed more difficult and even if he were successful he still didn’t know whether it would turn his suspicion into certainty. All he knew was that the aliens from Aurigel pronounced the name of their spaceship like Feeh-Leh-Dii but to obtain the desired answer from the translators he had to pronounce these words himself and he had no reliable method to judge what source of errors would be introduced by his faulty pronunciation.

Finally he hit upon an idea. He knew that Feeh-Leh-Dii meant something similar to ‘Lovely Woman’. Therefore he spoke the words "Lovely Woman" in his own language into the Aurigel translator and waited till the instrument performed the translation with perfect enunciation.

He listened carefully to the sound and it seemed to him that the name of the alien ship was indeed taken from the Weelie-Wee language and was not an original word of the Aurigel race. This was exactly what had puzzled him during his reflections and why he sought to alleviate his suspicion and ascertain the true facts.

Then he placed the microphone of the Weelie-Wee set before the loudspeaker of the Aurigel translator. In this manner he avoided the necessity of speaking the foreign language himself. Then he said for a 2nd time: "Lovely Woman!"

He waited anxiously to see how the Weelie-Wee translator would react to the input. If the words Feeh-Leh-Dii actually originated from the Weelie-Wee idiom the Weelie-Wee translator would have to transmit the Whistlers’ words for ‘Lovely Woman’.

His breathless tension was rewarded when the Weelie-Wee instrument picked up the words from the Aurigel translator and clearly pronounced in the Whistler’s own language: "Lovely Woman!"

Fij-Gul was stunned although this was precisely what he had expected to happen. He forced himself to go over his train of thoughts again and could find no mistake. If the aliens from Aurigel had given their ship a name which stemmed from the Weelie-Wee language, then the probability was very great that they didn’t come from Aurigel—if such a world existed at all—but from Weelie-Wee.

And this was something he had to report to His Excellency as quickly as possible.

 

* * * *

 

So it all had been a hoax!

They had boasted of their fleet’s invincible might and the high level of their technology in order to instil in him and to divert his attention from Weelie-Wee to the legendary world of Aurigel which probably didn’t even exist.

Somehow they must have overwhelmed Sey-Wuun and captured or demolished his ship before coming to Heeninniy to finish their work so that the 8000 miserable and primitive settlers would have peace and quiet.

Quiet! He would make them quiet!

Iiy-Juur-Eelie didn’t doubt for a moment that Fij-Gul’s hunch was right. He dismissed Fij-Gul after promising him that he would promote him to Colonel at the next occasion and he informed Gii-Yeep that he wanted to see the prisoners at once in his office. Yes—all of them!

He pictured in his mind their mortification when he told them to their faces where they came from and accused them of lying. He would ridicule them and gloat in their fury and helplessness. He would drag them before his people and they would pour their scorn on them. He would…

He was interrupted by Gii-Yeep’s call. His voice sounded hysterical as he shrieked: "The prisoners have escaped, Your Excellency!"

 

* * * *

 

"Damn it! Shoot at it if you can’t break the switch panel!"

Walsh nodded, raised his pistol and blasted the switch panel. The awesome energy of the ultrasonic pistol ripped the metal plate apart and turned the wires and connections behind it to dust.

The elevator cabin was stuck and nobody would be able to move it until the wiring was repaired.

Five elevator shafts led up to the highest floor of the main tower and to block them meant to frustrate the adversary’s ability to move in on them very quickly. If the elevators were out of operation, their foe had to come up the stairs and the only staircase leading up to Iiy-Juur-Eelie’s private quarters on the highest floor could easily be defended by 3 men, at least as long as until the ruler had been captured. Then all attacks should cease because it would endanger the life of his august personality.

However they hadn’t reached that point as yet. There were still several guards in the upper corridors who were unaware of the trouble which threatened them. Nor did they know below and in the other towers where the fugitives had gone.

So far everything had come off almost without a hitch. They had already run into 15 Whistlers whom they had to knock out and tie up to keep them from spreading what they had seen. None of the 15 had dared to offer resistance when they pointed the funnel-shaped pistol barrels at them.

They had accomplished the move from the adjacent to the main tower without being noticed and now in Iiy-Juur-Eelie’s own quarters, where he dictated absolute quiet, the danger of detection was even less.

Luun-Syr told them that they had reached the 150th floor and since there were only 156 floors in the tower they were almost close enough to their goal to touch it, although the question remained whether Iiy-Juur-Eelie actually was in one of his rooms.

After they obstructed the elevators on the 150th floor they left Milligan, Walsh and Everdon behind as guards. The 3 men took up position at the top of the stairs leading down to the next floor and had every intention of making it as hard as possible for anyone who tried to ascend the steps.

Two more men, Farnway and McLeigh, were assigned to maintain liaison with the 3 in the rear and to give them any information they might require. But first they accompanied Chellish and the others as they pushed upwards.

The main corridor of the 151st floor was completely empty except for a single sentry who leaned in a casual manner against the wall on the landing of the stairs. He failed to notice the men who sneaked up the flight of stairs and began to move only when Chellish threw a coin far down into the corridor so that it made a clacking noise which aroused his curiosity.

Chellish and Mullon quickly jumped up and noiselessly followed the sentry who was seized, bound and gagged before he could reach the coin. They put the Whistler down near the stairs since there was little likelihood that he would be detected by his comrades.

The situation on the next floor was the same. For a 2nd time a coin thrown into the corridor caused the guard to leave his post in order to investigate the noise. He was grabbed by Chellish and Mullon just as noiselessly as the Whistler before him and tied and gagged.

The guard on the 153rd floor suffered the same ignoble fate. Chellish began to hope that they could gain just as easily access to the highest floor but when they approached the 154th floor, they heard a lot of shouting from below.

The Whistlers had discovered that the elevators were stuck and since they must already have learned that the prisoners were loose it wasn’t hard to guess who was to blame for it and where to look for the fugitives.

Chellish saw another sentry appear over the railing. However there was no time to put him out of action without being seen. Chellish pulled out his weapon and fired a shot. The guard silently collapsed across the railing.

"Run up!" Chellish shouted. "They know what they’re up against!"

The shouting below grew louder. They could hear banging and running as well as Milligan bellowing: "Don’t let ’em get out!"

Meanwhile Chellish rushed up the stairs. At the other end of the corridor he saw a group of 3 guards. He dropped to the floor and started to shoot them up. One shot hissed close over his head but then his weapon took its toll and the Whistlers crumpled to the floor where they remained motionless.

Down below the noise had faded away. Only once did he hear Milligan’s roaring voice: "We’re holding them back! Go and get the old man!"

Chellish grinned as he darted up the last flight of stairs with all the vigour he could muster. He had expected that the top floor where Iiy-Juur-Eelie lived would be the most difficult to invade. But strangely he met no resistance as he reached the top of the stairs with his men. They ducked and peered down the empty corridor. The office of the despot was located at the far end and the door was half-open. Behind the door knelt a few guards who held their weapons ready to shoot.

Chellish cautiously raised the barrel of his pistol over the edge of the last step and took careful aim. At the moment one of the Whistlers noticed him he pulled the trigger with a scattered shot, tearing a gap in the line of guards. The uninjured ones retreated deeper into the room and took cover behind the doors.

Chellish was satisfied to see that the defenders knew nothing about tactics. They seemed to think that it would be easy for them to repulse him when he tried to reach the door to the office through the corridor. But of course he didn’t come alone. He had seven Terrans at his side and each one now held two weapons in his hands. The corridor was wide enough for their array side by side and Chellish marched toward the entrance under the protective fire of his comrades.

The two door wings turned into brown dust under the ultrasonic energy. The large room lay open before Chellish and he saw the last of Iiy-Juur-Eelie bodyguards seek cover behind tables and chairs. But the one person he didn’t see was the tyrant.

Chellish kept advancing. When he paused under the wide door, flanked by his comrades, the last of the bodyguards came out from their hiding places and threw away their weapons. They stretched their arms straightforward as a sign of capitulation and they no longer held weapons.

Chellish made them leave the room and put them in O’Bannon’s custody. O’Bannon took two more men to help him, and Chellish began to search the spacious room with the others.

They found Iiy-Juur-Eelie cowering behind a huge piece of furniture. He trembled and his face was ash-grey. It never occurred to him that he could have taken a weapon like his bodyguards and defended himself.

Chellish took Luun-Syr’s translator and told the frightened man to come out. Iiy-Juur-Eelie obeyed immediately. Chellish let him sit down on a chair and asked Mullon to watch him. Then he sent Farnway and McLeigh down to Milligan with instructions to retreat to the highest floor.

Milligan and his two men stationed themselves at the top of the staircase and kept the besieging Whistlers from moving up by giving them notice that any further attack would jeopardize the life of His Excellency.

After order and quiet had been restored by this warning, Chellish began to talk to Iiy-Juur-Eelie. "We won’t make many demands," he said calmly. "All we want is that you safeguard our departure by accompanying us and to give us your assurance that you won’t take any retaliatory measures against our friends the partisans."

Iiy-Juur-Eelie stared at Chellish without answering.

"Well?" Chellish goaded him after awhile.

The President-King seemed to awake from a state of deep thought. Suddenly his vacant eyes sprang to life again and he screeched in fury. "You don’t have a chance, you idiot. We’ll overrun Weelie-Wee and crush you lock, stock and barrel."

Chellish didn’t show the horrified shock that overcame him. "How do you know that we come from Weelie-Wee?" he inquired just as calmly as before.

"We’ve our means of finding out your secrets," Iiy-Juur-Eelie retorted, foaming with rage when his adversary failed to give him the satisfaction of looking horrorstricken. "You should have been a little smarter when you picked a name for your ship."

Of course, Chellish thought, how stupid! First we go to all the trouble of learning French flawlessly and then we chose an English name for the Fair Lady. "This doesn’t change the situation one iota," he stated sharply. "We must leave Heeninniy without being molested and you’ll have to accompany us so that our friends won’t suffer your persecution. If your race ever decides to dare a hostile move against Weelie-Wee, which we call Grautier, you won’t live to see it."

Iiy-Juur-Eelie slumped forward. His rage seemed to have evaporated and turned into resignation. "You don’t leave me any choice," he said softly. "I bow to your conditions."

"You’re acting very sensibly," Chellish answered. "We don’t have any time to lose. Who must be notified of your decision in order to avoid any unpleasant incidents?"

"Gii-Yeep," Iiy-Juur-Eelie murmured weakly. "Use the set over there. It’ll connect you directly with him."

The set didn’t look unlike a telephone on Terra. Chellish lifted the receiver and Gii-Yeep answered in his unmistakable hissing voice. Chellish put the bilingual converter close to the set so that he got the translation: "The prisoners must be on the way to you, Excellency. I urgently request you…"

Chellish interrupted him. "This is Chellish speaking. Iiy-Juur-Eelie is already in my power. Now listen to me, I’ve got something to tell you!"

At first there was no response. The shock of the information must have dazed Gii-Yeep. It took him awhile before he found his breath again. "I’m listening!"

"The President-King has guaranteed us safe conduct," Chellish advised him. "I demand that you provide an escort for us that will take us safely and without delay to the airport. You’ll force us to take the life of your ruler if you commit any overt action against us. Do you understand me?"

Again there was silence at the other end. Chellish concentrated closely when Gii-Yeep finally began to speak again and he was made to realize that his strategy was miscalculated and all his efforts were in vain, because the Whistler declared: "I can’t abide by the decision of His Excellency. As it was obviously made under duress I don’t consider it as binding. I shall not furnish an escort for you and will do my best to surrender you to just punishment."

Chellish had trouble keeping his composure. "I advise you to think over carefully what you’re doing," Chellish urged. "The life of the President-King is in our hands. We have no wish to kill him but if you insist on harassing us…"

"This is extremely regrettable," Gii-Yeep answered, "But there is apparently nothing I can do about it. You seem to forget that our government is not ruled by a despot. The Council of Ministers would never forgive me if I were to let the enemies of our world and our race get away for the sake of sparing the life of one man. Notwithstanding, I’m willing to offer you a compromise. Set His Excellency free and surrender without resistance. The Court will show you leniency for this conciliatory gesture when you’re brought to trial."

Chellish laughed bitterly. "Thanks for your advice," he jeered. "You didn’t believe that we would accept it, did you?"

"I’ll be patient with you. Our side will do nothing for one hour. When the hour is up, I’ll call you again and you must give me your final answer."

 

* * * *

 

It was all over! They were done for!

They had played for high stakes and lost. After putting all their courage, determination and ingenuity on the scale, the balance had tipped to the other side. The predominance of an entire race had decided the outcome.

Within reach of their goal, their plan had been inexorably thwarted. Their own as well as Grautier’s situation was more than ever imperilled.

Chellish looked at the grey-faced, frightened old man who cringed in his chair and looked small and miserable despite his height of 2.60 meters. Iiy-Juur-Eelie, who had ruled Heeninniy like a tyrant and at the bitter end, had learned that his subjects considered his life worth less than granting impunity to 10 enemies of the state.

Mullon, O’Bannon and the rest of the men faced Gii-Yeep’s decision with calmness. They had no illusions about the seriousness of their situation and they knew what was in store for them. They had not yet come to a conclusion but Chellish had no doubt that they would vote for the honourable resolution; namely, to defend themselves when the only other alternative was unconditional surrender.

Chellish pulled himself out of his brooding. Something had to be done! They couldn’t sit around and wait till the Whistlers started the attack. They had to occupy the strategic points of the floor and eliminate everything which could become a hazard to them.

The Whistlers had doubtlessly put the elevators back in operation. Chellish assigned two men to the task of controlling the elevator shafts continuously and to snap the cables with their guns as soon as they started to move upward.

Next he made an inspection of the extensive equipment in Iiy-Juur-Eelie’s office. There were numerous instruments, telephones, videophones; intercoms and similar instruments. Chellish tested them but somebody had already cut off all connections before he got around to checking them. Only the line to Gii-Yeep was still open but nobody answered there either.

This was the work of Gii-Yeep! Chellish grudgingly gave respect where it was due. The man had not only shown admirable circumspection at a dangerous moment but he had also disregarded the tradition of the personality cult which had fettered the politics of Heeninniy ever since Iiy-Juur-Eelie had taken over. He had probably severed the connections because he must have anticipated that his boss would attempt to summon help from other parts of the planet.

Meanwhile O’Bannon had completed his task of posting the men at the important points of the floor. Chellish made the round and approved of his placements. Their position would enable them to keep the Whistlers at bay for a few hours.

Perhaps several hours of bloody fighting could induce even a tough man like Gii-Yeep to relent in his demand for unconditional surrender. If they succeeded in knocking out enough of his men, he would see the light and accept certain conditions.

Almost 50 minutes had elapsed since the ultimatum. Chellish returned to Iiy-Juur-Eelie’s office and waited for the telephone call from Gii-Yeep.

 

* * * *

 

"What did you decide?"

"There’s nothing to decide," Chellish answered grimly. "If you’re not ready to obey our demands, you’ll have to come and get us by force."

Gii-Yeep hesitated a minute. "No conditions!" he proclaimed. "We’re coming in!"

"Why must you persist in behaving so unwisely?" Chellish tried a conciliatory tack again. "Why don’t you want to contribute your part for the peaceful co-existence of two races in the universe…"

"Two races?" Gii-Yeep exclaimed scornfully. "Are you calling your handful of people on Weelie-Wee a race?"

He knows it too, Chellish thought. Well, why not? There was no reason to assume that Iiy-Juur-Eelie was the only one who knew the secret. "Nevertheless," Chellish began again.

Suddenly he noticed that Gii-Yeep was no longer on the phone. The connection was still intact and he could hear a muted but highly excited conversation at the other end.

Something seemed to have crossed up Gii-Yeep. But what? Or had he already given the order for the attack?

Chellish waited impatiently with taut nerves. After about 5 minutes he heard the other receiver picked up again and Gii-Yeep’s tense voice: "Wait a minute! Don’t do anything!"

Then Gii-Yeep put the receiver back and left Chellish up in the air and wondering what had happened.

Suddenly he heard Milligan’s wild, almost hysterical cry: "A ship! One of ours! It’s the Solar System, boys…!"

Milligan stood at the window and enthusiastically waved his arms as he shouted at the top of his lungs. Chellish dashed over to him and looked out the big window which gave a view across the city all the way to the airport.

The tremendous body of a spherical ship descended at the airport—a ship huger than Heeninniy had ever seen before. A colossus of energy and firepower with a diameter of 200 meters! Chellish saw that Milligan was right. It was indeed the cruiser Solar System of the Terranian Spacefleet as he recognized from all unmistakable details!

 

* * * *

 

Now Chellish remembered what he had previously forgotten: Capt. Blailey had hinted earlier on Grautier that Terra planned to establish a base on Heeninniy for its Spacefleet. He didn’t know the reason or its purpose but the information was obviously correct.

That the invasion began just at the time when 10 Earthlings were in the most desperate peril of their lives on Heeninniy was a coincidence albeit an incredibly fortuitous accident destined to save their forfeited lives.

Two more cruisers landed behind the Solar System. Chellish and his comrades watched the manoeuvre with tense elation. However their anxiety was not completely abated since the arrival of the ships didn’t mean that they were already saved. Nobody aboard the Solar System and the two other cruisers was aware of their precarious situation and they had no way of contacting the ships, a fact which Gii-Yeep probably knew.

Another miracle would be required to achieve their rescue—and it happened. Half an hour after the arrival of Terra’s warships the contraption the technician Wiir-Nee had built according to Chellish’s instruction for generating an artificial gravitation field exploded with the force of a small atom bomb. Wiir-Nee had performed the assembly of all parts, which had been constructed in utmost haste, at the southern outskirts of the city in the vicinity of the landing field. The explosion, which ensued when Wiir-Nee flicked the crucial switch, totally demolished two towers at the edge of the city and damaged many more.

The Terranian ships considered the detonation a hostile act and immediately launched 5 auxiliary ships of the Gazelle type which hovered over the city with orders to stand by and observe the situation.

In the meantime the Solar System had established communications with the Fair Lady and gathered all information about the events on Heeninniy. The blast of Chellish’s contrivance served to speed things up considerably. Lt.-Col. Sikerman, who was in charge of the expedition, later admitted that he had originally intended to let a few hours go by before disembarking his first team in his effort to get in touch with the local authorities.

Now the picture had abruptly changed. Two Gazelles swooped down on the inner courtyard of the President-King’s palace. They pressed their demand to talk to His Excellency.

Gii-Yeep relinquished every thought of resistance when he learned that the intruders belonged to the same race as the 10 men he besieged up in the tower and, even worse, knew about the presence of their compatriots.

 

* * * *

 

Seldom had a commander of a spaceship been received with so much joy as Sikerman when he stepped out of the elevator of the main tower to announce personally to Chellish and his comrades that they were free.

He briefly outlined the purpose of his mission. The Fleet needed a base in this sector of space which had heretofore been regarded as unimportant but now was rapidly becoming a focal point of Galactic politics. Then he insisted on hearing on the spot a detailed report about the venture of the Fair Lady and its crew.

After Chellish had complied with his wish, Sikerman remained pensive and silent for awhile. Then he said with a chuckle: "I must say you’re a veritable daredevil! If one considers how slim your chances for success were, you certainly made the most of them."

Chellish and his mates returned to the Fair Lady. Lt.-Col. Sikerman insisted on henceforth carrying on the negotiations with the government of Heeninniy himself on behalf of the Solar Imperium. However it was not entirely clear who the government of Heeninniy was. Iiy-Juur-Eelie was forced to resign under the pressure of the circumstances and the Council of Ministers was dissolved by Gii-Yeep. There was every reason to believe that a legal opposition would flourish once more on Heeninniy and that the bitter interlude of underground activities by the guerrillas could finally cease.

Chellish and his friends felt greatly relieved to be freed of their responsibilities. They took two days to recuperate from the rigours of their adventure and prepared to take off the 3rd day on their flight to Grautier.

Lt.-Col. Sikerman had assured them that from now on Grautier would be under the protection of the Solar Imperium and that he would intercept the spaceship of the Whistlers which headed for Grautier before it was too late.

 

* * * *

 

Before departing, Sheldrake, Loewy and Krahl dug out the radio transmitter they had buried a few nights before in the ground under the landing field in order to confuse the defence forces of the planet by misleading signals.

As they got ready for the liftoff, O’Bannon, Mullon and Milligan were in the Command Centre of the Fair Lady with Chellish.

Chellish manipulated a few buttons and said whimsically: "How does it feel to be protected by the fleet of Terra after being banished from Earth?"

Mullon grimaced. "Don’t remind me! I wish we had known in the first place that we made fools of ourselves. We still could be living on Earth as decent, peaceful citizens."

O’Bannon grunted in agreement and Chellish added cheerfully: "Perhaps there’ll be an amnesty which will allow you to go back to Earth. You deserve it, in my opinion. I haven’t seen anywhere a more stalwart and upright bunch of people than you."

"Thank you," Mullon replied simply.

The last hatch of the vessel rolled shut. The Fair Lady was ready to soar into space.