Odd, he thought, why didn't the Arkonides pay any attention to the landing of the Akonian ship? Hadn't they even noticed that their communications with Arkon 1 had been interrupted? Or...?

  It posed a question which spurred Pucky to act with utmost speed. Could it be the Akons who issued the orders? Perhaps they had directed the Arkonides to attack Arkon 1 and 2?

  But why did this require such exorbitant amounts of equipment? Something was definitely wrong. Pucky abandoned any further attempt to gather information by telepathy and concentrated instead on the highest building near the landing field. It had a flat roof and numerous superstructures which would offer him convenient hiding places.

  The jump went smoothly. He retreated a few steps to a safe spot where he would be protected from inquisitive eyes. But there was little likelihood that the roof of the administration building—which was where he had landed—would be watched. A few helicars were standing at the other end. Their construction differed somewhat from those of the Arkonides to which Pucky was used. Did the Akons...? But this was ridiculous. Why should they have brought their own helicars? Nevertheless—there was an undeniable difference.

  It would not be easy to detect him from the field unless they were looking for him with binoculars. There were apparently hundreds of people in the building below him. It was difficult to separate the flood of thought impulses. Many of them were too confusing, as if a large crowd of people was talking in a big hall.

  Finally Pucky succeeded in picking out sequences of impulses which emanated from three or four men who were engaged in a conversation. The impulses appeared to be related and seemed to come from the same room a few stories below. If necessary he could determine the location of the room and teleport himself. But why? He remained still and listened.

  "...the fleet is set to start after two more revolutions of Arkon, my august Imperator. As we have no time to lose, I suggest that we send out the first vanguard of ships today."

  "I am Imperator and I will determine when the fleet will start, Gagolk! How dare you give me instructions? You may be Commander of the Fleet but only because I appointed you. The takeoff will be in two days! Is that clear?"

  Another man interjected: "The Imperator is right as always, Gagolk, although I am personally inclined to agree with you. Time is of the essence and the element of surprise is our best ally. But how could those upstarts on a distant world suspect that we have learned of their existence? I believe it is safe to trust Metzat III."

  "Whatever you say." It was Gagolk again. "You have more experience with these underdeveloped races. I hope that the commander of the colonists' spaceship has spoken the truth. His report seemed highly confused."

  "Why should he lie?" inquired Metzat III, who was called Imperator.

  Imperator? Of what? Pucky pondered the question for a few seconds without coming to a conclusion. There was only one Imperator of Arkon and that was Atlan, Gonozal VIII. Anyway, it would be cleared up. Later.

  "...never the reasons, my august Imperator. The reports are correct, I'll vouchsafe their accuracy. Admittedly the colonists have changed and only bear a resemblance to us but one must consider the environmental influences they have been exposed to in the course of many generations. Other examples have given proof that five or six generations are enough to produce apparently new races."

  "I don't doubt the origin of the colonists," Metzat replied in an ill-tempered tone. "I merely wonder what purpose they could accomplish by lying. Well, we'll soon find out whether their claims are correct. In any case, the fleet will depart the day after tomorrow. The newly discovered race will be conquered or destroyed. Those are my orders, Gagolk!"

  "They will be obeyed, my august Imperator!"

  Pucky tuned himself out again from the conversation and sat down in deep thought. What he had just monitored was ostensibly a reasoned plan of action. In reality however it was utterly absurd. There was no Imperator by the name of Metzat III! Neither had any colonists landed recently who had reported a newly discovered race that had to be subdued or exterminated. Moreover Arkon 3 had been cut off by an energy screen established by the Akons. Therefore it must be the Akons who acted out this farce. But why? Besides, Pucky had determined beyond doubt that the men were Arkonides, not Akons.

  What kind of a game was being played here? Where was he anyway? This was not the spaceport as he remembered it from his last visit on Arkon 3. It had been much larger and more modem. And as far as the spaceships were concerned...

  Pucky began to study the vessels closer. They were of normal size and the accustomed spherical shape but now he noticed that the bulge of the equatorial ring containing the propulsion system was much smaller than that of the Drusus . Neither were there any recesses for retractable energy cannons. The powerful telescopic guns were constructed in an unfamiliar design. They looked much bulkier. Only at a first superficial glance could these ships be mistaken for the heavy battleships of the Arkonides.

  But this realization did nothing to solve the puzzle. Before he continued his investigation he wanted to see more of Arkon 3. It was possible that he had wandered into a training camp where exercises and manoeuvres were held using older ships of a type unknown to him.

  He concentrated on a jump of more than 1,000 kilometers and materialized in a fenced-in area between crates and spare parts. When he saw several armed guards he took cover between the crates and kept a watchful eye on his surroundings.

  First he tuned in telepathically on the guards. He found nothing suspicious except the amazing fact that their minds were also occupied with the imminent military campaign. Arkon's empire had to be expanded. A new enemy had appeared who had to be defeated. A new people who had just begun to travel in space. The entire fleet would set out in two more days to invade the home planet of the people and subdue them.

  Pucky shook his head in frustration. He was unable to make sense of it. What was going on around here? Was everybody insane? If there were to be a military campaign, Atlan would have been aware of it as well as Rhodan. A new people? Who were they supposed to be?

  He took another jump and landed on the dark side of Arkon 3. This time he rematerialized between two spherical spaceships which were illuminated by floodlights and being loaded. Pucky was astonished to see that most of the work was done by Arkonides instead of the usual work robots.

  By Arkonides? Since when did the Arkonides do the work instead of using help from their satellites? They always left the physical work to their robots, of whom they had an abundant supply. Had the Robot Brain ceased to function even inside the barrier?

  Incidentally, where was the Robot Brain? Pucky tried to orient himself. He was on the night side and at a spaceport he had never seen before. Yet he believed that he knew Arkon 3 fairly well.

  At the same moment he happened to look at the star-studded sky. Although he did not know the constellations very precisely he was familiar with certain groups of stars. They looked the same as viewed from Arkon 1. The most prominent of them was the Polar Ring. Similar to the position of Terra's North Star it was virtually at the zenith of Arkon 1. Here, seen from Arkon 3, it appeared to be just above the southern horizon. Its shape was unmistakable.

  But now? Pucky was startled when he finally located the constellation. He did not know exactly why but it seemed to have changed somehow. The ring of the five main bright stars appeared to be tighter and, apparently, more radiant. Unfortunately he was unable to make a comparison with the other constellations since he failed to remember them well enough. But the Polar Ring itself caused him to delve into various speculations, all of them so weird and fantastic that he soon stopped trying to figure out why the appearance of those stars could have changed.

  However he decided to approach his task with more skepticism than previously. He transported himself to the spot where the Robot Brain was located, relying on his memory. When he materialized again, he realized that he must have made a mistake because he was at the same place where he had first landed coming from the Drusus . Nearby was the big rock under which he had slept. The fleet was still down there and in the process of being outfitted for its departure two days later. The sun was shining brightly as before but it had moved closer to the horizon.

  Pucky concluded that he had miscalculated his teleportation because there was no sign of the positronic robot's subterranean installations. He failed to detect the protective energy screen which normally surrounded the zone. Furthermore, the spaceport below on the plain looked quite different. Its dimensions seemed to have shrunk.

  And what about the plain and the plateau? There was no plateau near the Robot Brain.

  Pucky began to regret that he was unable to get in touch with the Drusus . He had nobody he could consult or who could give him at least some information. He was left to his own resources in a situation which battled him to the extreme.

  Suddenly he noticed a growing influx of thought impulses and he ducked instinctively. A shadow flitted across the rocky landscape—an airglider. It was a small craft and—as Pucky quickly determined—occupied by a single pilot.

  It took Pucky no more than a second to make a decision. He concentrated his mind on the Arkonide at the controls of the craft and forced him to land. By telepathy he obtained the information about the control panel from the brain of the pilot and he succeeded, by using his telekinetic powers, in moving the arm and the hand of the pilot in accordance with his will.

  The man landed without knowing why. Pucky disrupted a crucial connection in the airglider by twisting it telekinetically. Thus he prevented the Arkonide from leaving again even if he desired.

  The mouse-beaver waited out of sight as the pilot climbed out of his little cabin and looked helplessly at his machine from all sides. Obviously it had not penetrated his conscious mind what had caused him to land. Pucky kept in constant touch with his thoughts and verified his assumption. Moreover he learned that his reluctant guest was a high officer of the fleet.

  Pucky hopped out from his hiding place and approached the startled Arkonide, who would have been a little astounded by the sight of an animal on the military planet but could not trust his eyes to see a creature dressed in uniform. His hand reached for the heavy raygun in his belt. It was a simple matter for Pucky to use one of his favorite telekinetic tricks. Before the hand of the Arkonide touched the weapon it flew through the air and hit the ground a hundred meters away between some loose rocks.

  The Arkonide stared after his raygun in utter consternation. He slowly pulled his hand back. Then his face turned to Pucky with bulging eyes.

  "Didn't you catch on yet?" the mouse-beaver asked, convinced in his belief that everybody had heard of him. "Since when do you greet your friends with gun in hand? Oh—you are worrying about the airglider! Don't let that bother you: I'll take you back."

  The Arkonide stood still in a daze. He understood every word Pucky spoke but his mind refused to recognize the mouse-beaver as an intelligent being. This was so unusual as to puzzle Pucky. The Arkonides all knew him. Why didn't he?

  "Now tell me what has been going on since the Akons landed on Arkon 3. Don't hold back! We want to help you. Gonozal VIII is deeply concerned about your fate ever since the connection with the military planet was interrupted."

  The Arkonide uttered: "Gonozal...?"

  Pucky became suspicious. It was unheard of that an officer of the spacefleet did not know who his supreme commander was. "Gonozal, the Imperator!" Pucky prodded him.

  "I don't know what you are talking about, whoever you are," the officer replied, squinting in temptation at his gun lying out of reach. "Who is Gonozal?"

  Pucky's suspicion increased and took shape. Was it possible that the Akons had robbed the Arkonides stationed on Arkon 3 of their memory? Perhaps that strange energy screen produced such an effect. In that case the officer was not responsible for his strange behavior—and a few other circumstances could be explained by the same token. Pucky did not yet know how wrong he was and what a surprise was in store for him.

  "Gonozal VIII is the august Imperator of Arkon," he explained cautiously. "A few days ago an alien ship landed on this planet—a spherical ship with flattened poles. Its crew set up an impenetrable energy field around the planet and since then all contact was broken off. We suspect that the Akons wanted to isolate Arkon 3. They also have prevented all functions of the Robot Brain."

  "Robot Brain...?" the officer wondered out loud.

  Pucky realized that the amnesia of the Arkonide was incredibly far-reaching. He even had forgotten the existence of the Robot Brain. He decided not to discuss it any further but to clear up the central core of his latest observations. "I will explain everything to you in due time but I want you to answer a few questions first. To begin with I wish to know what the objective of the military campaign you are preparing is. What is the name of the race you have recently discovered and that shall be destroyed? Where is the world they inhabit located? Do you know?"

  The Arkonide hesitated. Pucky applied another useful telekinetic method. He stopped the flow of blood to the brain center of his will control. The Arkonide was still in a position to think clearly but he now involuntarily revealed all his secrets. "The colonists who arrived in the ship with the flattened poles you mentioned informed us about a very belligerent humanoid race. Their spaceships roam as far as Arkon and they constitute a grave danger to us. We have to repulse or destroy them. The coordinates of the hostile system are unknown to me but I know that they come from the 3rd planet of a minor solar system."

  This could have been a coincidence of course but an irrepressible feeling told Pucky that the Arkonide talked about Earth.

  The Earth—and newly discovered. This was simply too ridiculous for words after having established contact between the Terrans and Arkonides for almost one and a half centuries. And yet...

  "Who is Metzat?" Pucky inquired.

  The officer bowed mechanically and replied solemnly: "Metzat III is the august Imperator of Arkon. He is a wise and just ruler. His decisions are infallible..."

  "Nonsense!" Pucky interrupted him bluntly. "Gonozal VIII is the Imperator of Arkon—and nobody else."

  The officer stared at him. "There can't be two Imperators," he stated.

  "That's right," Pucky agreed with him. He realized that he couldn't get anywhere with the officer because he knew so little. He still failed to ask the most obvious question which would have explained everything. But it is so much easier to be smart with hindsight.

  "Who are you?" the Arkonide finally asked when the mouse-beaver remained silent. "To what race do you belong?"

  "I am Pucky of Perry Rhodan's Mutant Corps. Ever heard of him?"

  "No," the officer replied truthfully.

  Pucky was now resigned. "Give me your hand. I'll take you down to the spaceport. You would get blisters if you had to walk—and your airglider doesn't fly anymore. Well, come on. Teleportation is no magic."

  The Arkonide seemed to have a contrary opinion but he had at least heard something about teleportation. His thoughts were confused as Pucky found out when he seized his hand and jumped.

  They rematerialized on top of the same building where Pucky had been once before. Then he located the room previously occupied by the three or four men the mouse-beaver considered to be the key-persons. A second leap took them into the room, which was unfortunately empty. Those men who imagined themselves to be the Imperator Metzat and Fleet Commander Gagolk had left the room long ago.

  The officer dropped Pucky's hand in panic. "The Council Chamber of the august Imperator," he panted. "Entering this room without permission is a punishable offense. I don't know..."

  "What do you know?" Pucky growled, studying the huge stellar map on the wall. An ingenious system of reflecting mirrors caused it to look 3-dimensional and permitted excellent orientation in space. The Arkon system was clearly recognizable at the center of a bright cluster of stars. Farther out there were fewer stars and space looked emptier. Pucky tried to find Terra or at least its solar system. Although he was no expert in the field of astronautics he succeeded in locating the approximate sector by identifying the outstanding features of the most familiar stellar systems. Finally he pinpointed the terrestrial sun, which he recognized by its 10 satellite planets. The 3rd planet was marked by a red arrow.

  Pucky stood in front of the map, looking at Terra. The Arkonide whose brain he kept under control joined him and followed Pucky's line of sight. Suddenly he exclaimed with satisfaction as if happy to show off his knowledge for once: "That's it! That's the target of our foray. In two days we will have conquered its population or wiped it out."

  Pucky had feared as much, yet the confirmation came as a terrible shock. The Arkonides, allies of Terra and Perry Rhodan, were out to attack their friends! And they were determined to do it without knowing what they planned. They had lost their memories and had substituted them with new and fallacious ones. Or could there be any other explanation?

  He turned around and muttered: "So—that's the planet?" He realized how senseless it would be to tell the Arkonide the truth. He would be unable to comprehend it. "Can you tell me where I can find the ship of the colonists who have brought the news of that dangerous race they encountered?"

  "It is in a berth of the subterranean hangar," the Arkonide informed him against his own will.

  "Your name is Tanor as I can read in your thoughts." Pucky ignored the astonishment shown by the other. "Describe the hangar so that I can find it. You're coming with me!"

  "It is forbidden to get close to the ship. Besides, it is protected by an energy screen."

  "We are going to try it," Pucky silenced him. He became more and more obsessed with a tremendous fear that something much more horrible occurred than he had suspected. There could be no doubt that not only the Arkonides had changed but the whole planet as well. This was the place where the Robot Brain was situated! But look at it now! There were some installations of a modest spaceport which could stand no comparison with the one that should be here. "Give me your hand!"

 

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