Hours passed and it got dark. Fortunately the last clouds disappeared but there were only few stars in the sky. Here at the outer reaches of the Galaxy the enormous difference between the collection of suns at the center of the Milky Way and the dark depths of eternal light became obvious. Of course there were also stars in the firmament. However most of them were not lone suns but distant islands of worlds and spiral nebulas which sent their weak lights across millions of lightyears to the Azgo star.
When Pucky woke up again, it was not by accident. Impulses hammered incessantly against his subconscious mind and disturbed the peace of his sleep. It finally penetrated that somebody was. calling him.
Pucky! Answer me! This is Betty!
The mousebeaver sat up. Ras and Tako had stretched out next to him. Both slept deeply without noticing the disturbance – they were unable to receive thought impulses.
Yes, what’s up? I was sleeping.
Listen, Pucky! The harvestship has reached the planet and begins to fly around it at a low altitude. We can’t observe much from here because we are too far away. It has to be done on the spot. Now it has stayed for some time already on the day side. It probably has begun the harvest.
We’re going to take a close look.
But be careful! The ship must not learn of your presence.
Why not? Pucky complained. The robot that’s steering it must expect to meet inhabitants on the planet although it doesn’t know them. I don’t think it’s dangerous if it notices us.
That’s not it, Pucky, Betty Toufry warned again. Under no circumstances must the robot be allowed to see that you are teleporters. That would make it suspicious. What would happen if it changes its intentions and vanishes, not to be seen again?
You’ve got a point, Pucky admitted. Alright, we’ll watch our step. Wait for me, Betty. I’ll report to you as soon as we sight the ship.
It was a simple matter for the telepathic girl aboard the Sirus to remain in constant touch with Pucky and his companions. All she had to do was to listen in on their conversations to know what was going on in Azgola.
“Hey, time to get up!” Pucky ended Tako’s slumber with a poke in the ribs and Ras jumped up when the mousebeaver pulled his hair none too gently.
They discussed their plans and decided to leave the island immediately. They would have to return later on to pick up the two Azgons if they had the necessary time. If not, Rhodan would have to arrange their evacuation.
They held hands and jumped first into the city with which Pucky was already familiar. From there they preferred to take shorter jumps to avoid the risk of falling from unknown heights. They jumped toward the sun and they soon reached daylight. When they finally materialized on the peak of a 4000 meter-high mountain they had reached their goal.
The peak was a small plateau covered with many boulders which provided them good places to hide. It also gave them an excellent view in all directions and especially overhead.
“There it is!” Pucky exclaimed, ducking instinctively into the shadow of a rock. “A tremendous crate … !” Tako and Ras saw it too. High above them, toward the
east, a huge vessel was suspended in the air. One side gleamed silvery in the rays of the sun still low on the horizon. The other side looked almost black. There was no sign of propulsion yet the ship floated quietly and slowly as if it had no weight.
Under the body of the ship shimmered forcefields – at least that’s how it looked. They swirled around in circles and broke the light which made them visible. There were 8 such fields which formed gigantic funnels underneath the ship moving along with it.
“Suction fields,” Ras whispered. “They suck in the spores that fill the air. Very simple, come to think of it.” “And how do the fields suck in the stuff?” Pucky
inquired, intent on remitting the information to Perry Rhodan.
Ras shrugged his shoulders. “We can only make assumptions,” he replied evasively. “The inflowing air is filtered and blown out at the other end. The spores are retained and collected. That’s the way it must be done but how it functions exactly I know as little as you do. Maybe it is a kind of magnetism.”
“Magnetism?” Pucky asked, astonished. “Are you trying to tell us that the spores are magnetic?”
“Well, it’s not like that,” Tako smiled, studying the large vessel attentively. “But the cells of the spores emit a certain radiation to which the suction effect can be attuned. The energy of the suction fields is related to the radiation of the cells. They behave like a magnet attracting iron. Maybe that’s how it works.” He didn’t realize how close he had come to the truth.
“Nonsense!” Pucky decided rashly. Then he grimaced foolishly when Betty silently rebuked him at the behest of Perry Rhodan. The experts aboard the Sirius had made similar assumptions to those Tako had voiced. Without mentioning Betty’s reprimand, Pucky added meekly: “But anything is possible, no matter how crazy it appears to be.”
“It’s not as crazy as all that,” the Japanese lectured him. “They did something like that already 100 years ago on Terra when they harvested coffee. The ripe beans were charged with static electricity and sucked up with magnetic collectors. Why shouldn’t the extinct lizards have thought of the same idea?”
The harvestship had moved away and then returned in a wide curve. The 8 suction fields still shimmered below its vast hull.
“I’d love to jump aboard and take a look at what they’re doing there,” Pucky said suddenly.
“We’ll get that chance soon enough,” Ras replied. “To tell the truth, I’m not exactly looking forward to it.”
“I do! I don’t want to get fatter.”
Ras quickly glanced at Pucky before he raised his eyes to watch the ship again. “You’re about as fat as you can get now,” he claimed. “You look like a stuffed sausage.”
Pucky gave no answer but he cursed vehemently in his thoughts and Betty was shocked by the incredible language her usually so amiable little friend used.
3/ IN THE REALM OF RABOTAX
Rabotax 3 materialized precisely at the predetermined position. The robot carefully steered the ship into the solar system and headed for the 2d planet, which was its destination.
Rabotax had no feelings but was constructed so as to be able to perform independent deliberations without further orders if it was in the interest of the builders and masters. And Rabotax reflected seriously as to why it had happened that it had waited so long idly in the void between the stars before being called to work again.
If the masters had found a method of feeding themselves without Rabotax’ help, it was most illogical to put Rab to work once again. On the other hand it was equally illogical to keep Rab waiting such a long time if they had failed to develop such a method. Either way, there was no satisfactory answer.
It was a beautiful planet, Rabotax 3 noted. The homeworld of the masters must have looked like this when it was still warm and fertile. Then the sun died and with it the spores sustaining their lives. But at the same time the robot civilization was born.
Rab issued an order and the gigantic machines started up as so often in the past when the harvesting trips followed each other at short intervals and were not interrupted by extended pauses. The machinery began to hum and vibrate thruout the ship. The inductance field was generated to activate the cell radiation of the spores. Then the suction fields were turned on and the process of harvesting began.
Rabotax 3 knew that its work was beneficial to the inhabitants of a planet and that the entire race would be doomed to perish if it failed to perform its job. Nothing else could arrest the process of being smothered in their own fat. However this had happened only once when the masters had insisted on making the experiment. Rabotax had to intervene at the last moment to save the race that had not learned to gather the nutritious spores.
The planet seemed to be uninhabited. There were deserted cities and an excellent road system but no people or other intelligent beings. They must have abandoned the planet even before the Scout arrived.
The memory bank of the robot had already recorded a similar case. The Scout had once found a suitable planet for seeding on the other side of the Galaxy and initiated the process. There were all the signs of a superior civilization but one that no longer existed. Magnificent cities and well-preserved spaceports were a testimony to a highly intelligent race. A net of traffic arteries, plainly visible from outer space, connected the cities of the continents. The ships were waiting to be launched but there were no people to use them. Nobody lived in the cities which lay deserted in the warm sun. The air was good and clean but no one was left on the planet to breathe it. The populace had emigrated to unknown places. Rabotax had never been able to determine where its inhabitants had gone.