Without taking his eyes off the observation screen, Rhodan asked: “What would he want to hide from us Betty? He probably does it instinctively and without deliberate intention.” He shook his head.
Betty held another opinion but remained silent.
The Sirius stopped its flight at a safe distance.
Atlan had kept Rhodan informed about the situation on Arkon 2. He had described it as not serious but highly unpleasant. The Arkonide administration officials who were mostly degenerated and phlegmatic had gained so much fat that they moved even less than usual. It affected not only their physical but also their mental activities. The absence of instructions from Arkon 1 or 3 contributed to a general atmosphere of a lazy holiday and everyone enjoyed the languorous life. They failed to realize the real danger brought on by the propagation of the fatmoss and the dissemination of its spores and could feel only the happiness of their good fortune which relieved them even of the trouble of eating.
All connections to the other planets of the Imperium had been disrupted and no trade whatsoever was conducted anymore. This trade was vital not only to the normal existence of Arkon 2 but its interruption at the central source lead the whole mighty stellar realm to the brink of disaster.
Under these deteriorating conditions the commander of the harvestship arrived as a savior. Nonetheless, the rash response was to hold him also responsible for their predicament. The flight of the robot was monitored with extreme suspicion by all command stations of Arkon and the ship was kept under close surveillance. However there was no general battle alarm in effect because the most dangerous weapon of the harvestship, the narcosis guns, had been put out of action.
The spore-laden atmosphere of Arkon 2 was rent apart with a whistling sound as the harvestship hurtled thru it without noticeably slowing down its speed. Only after circling the planet 3 times did it begin to decelerate. Then the suction fields began to shimmer in the air and gather up the spores.
Rhodan took a deep breath. “I believe we did it,” he said slowly.
Bell kept his eyes glued to the observation screen. “Looks like it. It’ll take at least a week to finish the harvest on Arkon. Till then we won’t have to worry about surprises.”
“Shall I call Pucky and the others back?” Betty asked. “No,” Rhodan replied, shaking his head. “It would be too risky. The robot has accepted their presence and is now used to it and they can also exert some pressure. We don’t know how it will act when it feels free. It is not a robot in our sense. I am certain that the radically different mentality of the lizards had left its distinctive mark on the structure of the robot. Moreover, it won’t hurt our teleporters anymore to stay aboard the ship and begin their reducing cure. They no longer have to inhale the spores and they have nothing to eat. They’ll let us know when they get too hungry.”
“Hm, too bad,” Bell murmured, disappointed. Rhodan looked at him, a little puzzled. “What’s too bad?” he drawled.
Bell sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I would have liked to see Pucky’s paunch. He must look like a balloon.”
“Is that so?” Rhodan chided him. “Pucky sacrifices his pride for us and you want to poke fun at him. Is that nice, my fine friend?”
“Who said I wanted to laugh at him? I only wanted to. see him.”
“You’ll get to see him soon enough,” Rhodan grinned. “He won’t lose it all in 6 days. He’ll get rid of his fat when Dr. Manoli treats him.”
Bell hid his displeasure and resumed his observation of the harvestship, which slowly drew circles over the plains of Arkon 2, sucking up the air in its funnels.
Rhodan turned to Betty. “How are Pucky and the others getting along?”
Betty called Pucky at once.
We’re fine, thank you, Pucky reported. We can stand it. Rabotax is a good fellow.
Who?
Oh, the Commander of the harvestship. Its name is Rabotax.
A good fellow?
Speaking figuratively, of course. We’re getting along splendidly. It promised to put in a good word for me with the masters.
“I don’t get it,” Rhodan admitted.
Pucky explained it to him and added: “I’m sure we can come to terms with it when we tell it the truth. I’m inclined to believe that it’ll cooperate with me even without your impulse transmitter.”
“We won’t take that chance. We’ll get the transmitter back in 3 or 4 days and then we can see. Don’t forget that the fatmoss is also smothering 2 other inhabited worlds and we’ll have to clean them up too.”
“And what are we going to do with all that pap? Let me tell you that the silos will be running over when Arkon 2 and two more planets have been harvested. You’ll have to find a place for the stuff.”
“I’ve already taken care of that, my little friend. Atlan has agreed to store the nutrient either on Arkon 3 or one of the colonial planets. I believe we can make good use of it later on.”
As Pucky failed to make any further comment, Rhodan suggested: “If you feel like it you can come here for awhile. After all we’re in sight of each other and you can jump back anytime.”
“No!” Pucky hastened to reply. “It is better if I keep an eye on Rabotax.”
“Really!” Rhodan was astonished at his quick answer. “Didn’t you just tell me that we can depend on him?” Pucky refrained once more from answering. Altho
Rhodan was mystified he did not delve deeper into the matter. The mousebeaver’s sudden change of mind baffled
him. Why did he refuse to visit the Sirius with a quick jump? He had taken it for granted that Pucky would welcome the change.
“Very well,” Rhodan finally decided. “Please yourself. One more question. Do you have any complaints, I mean healthwise? Are you famished?”
“Everything is in excellent shape,” Pucky replied, “and we don’t feel hungry either.”
Rhodan was at a loss to understand Pucky’s response but he thought that the mousebeaver must have some reasons of his own to make such claims. It was apparently useless to insist on further questioning his motives. “Alright. But let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
The conversation broke off rather abruptly but Rhodan had a strong impression that Pucky was far from unhappy about it. On the contrary, his behavior exuded much satisfaction. Why, Rhodan was unable to figure out.
Nor could Bell come up with some plausible reason. He gave up his speculations in utter frustration.
6/ KNOCKOUT MISSION: MECHANICA
The harvestship spent 6 days to collect the spores and exterminate the lichen from Arkon 2. The Arkonides began to slim down naturally. In 2 or 3 weeks they would be able to forget their weird affliction.
Meanwhile the impulse transmitter had been brought back from Terra. The repair had been a simple job for the technicians and they gave assurances that they had eliminated the trouble and that the transmitter was now in perfect condition.
Rhodan waited patiently. Finally, on the 7th day, the robotship finished its work. The suction fields were shut off and the continuous circles were given up for a straight course. The harvestship slowly ascended to the stratosphere, where it waited for new orders.
Rhodan took his time. Being confident that the impulse transmitter functioned satisfactorily, he decided to eliminate first the only source of danger which still could haunt him.
Atlan informed him that the first relief teams had landed on Arkon 2 and that the fattened officials had been aroused from their lethargy. Arkon’s trade center became active once more.
Now the main transmitter on Mechanica had to be destroyed and orders to this effect were issued to Col. Jefe Claudrin without further delay.
At this time the Ironduke was in orbit around the system of the red sun Outside.
A magnified picture of the 2d planet was in the center of the observation screen. Claudrin studied it carefully as he had done almost uninterruptedly for 6 days. He had taken only short breaks to give his body the minimum of sleep it required.
Mechanica was about the size of Mars. Most of its surface was a desert but previously it must have been fertile land. Empty cities and huge automatic control stations were located at many places in the desert. They showed no signs of destruction except the normal dilapidation wrought by the passage of eons.
Claudrin knew that most of the narcosis guns had been destroyed on their first visit but he was also aware that a sufficient number of them were still left in a condition where they constituted a real danger. Thus it would be necessary to launch a surprise attack before he landed. Experience had taught them that the automatons reacted with reliable precision but much too slowly.