Now Rab confronted a similar situation altho the civilization had obviously not yet reached the age of space traveling. Here the natives had also left for no apparent reasons and without any clues to their destination.
However Rab could not let this be of concern. The robot had its task and would carry it out. This was all that mattered and nothing could deter it from its duty.
The suction fields functioned perfectly and collected the valuable spores in the ship. They passed thru a huge system of filters into silos to be stored. Drops of a binding agent were injected. An oily sediment of the spores formed at the bottom and grew thicker, slowly filling up the storage space with a highly concentrated mash of nutrients . The contents of a full silo was enough to feed the population of an entire planet for many seasons.
Rabotax 3 was unaware how marvelous this operation was. Rab didn’t realize what blessings it could bring to the Galaxy nor imagine how disastrous its prolonged absence was for those worlds which had been visited by the Scout and the planting ship but not his own.
The circles Rab drew became larger and the silos kept filling up, rendering the atmosphere of the planet pure again.
As far as Rabotax was concerned, the effect it had on the surface of the planet was normal altho it was remarkable in the eyes of the observers who continuously and unobtrusively watched the robot’s activities.
The Sirius had moved as close as one lightyear to Azgola. Rhodan stood in the Command Center and studied the picture screen intently. The enormous magnification enabled him to discern many details but the great distance made much of it look blurred and unrecognizable. From a distance of one lightyear Azgola was merely a point of light without magnification, hardly bigger than an average star.
But Pucky was close, as close as tho he were standing in the Command Center of the Sirius.
“They’re following the harvestship,” reported Betty, who maintained contact with the mousebeaver. “The ship takes a long time to finish the harvesting of a certain area. Pucky believes it will take a week to do the job at the pace they’re going.”
Reginald Bell listened, unable to suppress a grin, half amused and half worried. Rhodan glared at him and Bell’s. grin instantly faded.
“A week…?”
“If we wait that long…”
“We won’t,” Rhodan said to Betty. “Now that we . have that transmitter again, we’re going to use it. There’s no reason to wait since the Azgons have been taken off their planet.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “It would be best if the Azgons could return to their home but it’s impossible with all that menacing moss growing there. There must be a way of eradicating it without making the planet uninhabitable. Maybe we could use cold?”
Pucky’s latest observation rendered further speculations superfluous. Betty transmitted the thoughts of the mousebeaver immediately and so directly as to make everyone in the Command Center believe that Pucky was among them.
“The moss… it’s withering away. It looks shriveled. It’s the truth, by George! It couldn’t be an accident…”
“Quiet!” Rhodan demanded. “Betty, tell Pucky to describe exactly all the details. What’s happening to the moss?”
“It’s wilted without a doubt! We’ve jumped to some other places where the ship has harvested the crop but it’s everywhere the same. How does harvesting the spores affect the moss on the ground like this?”
“We don’t know, Pucky, but we’ll find the answer. It’s the solution to our problem. Stay with the ship and make sure that you can confirm the facts. Does the moss die out after the harvest?”
3 more hours elapsed before it could be established with final certainty that the lichen died as soon as the planted area had been harvested. It appeared to be leached of its vigor after having served its purpose. It suddenly proved to Rhodan that the extinct race of lizards were humane creatures. They had developed a strain of moss which would destroy itself after the harvest so that it could do no harm to other creatures. However they had failed to take into account that even a robot could not be made to be foolproof or that, as in this case, the transmitter sending orders to the robot could become defective. But this did not detract from their good intentions and moral persuasions. It affirmed once more the experience of Perry Rhodan that intelligent beings who had no resemblance to humans could think much more humanely than humankind. The physical life-form made no essential difference when it came to rational and civilized achievements.
“Excellent, Pucky. But you’ll have to remain 3 full days on Azgola as planned. We’ve got to make sure there’ll be no surprises.” Betty gave Rhodan’s message to the mousebeaver.
“I’m already satisfied that this is the case,” the mousebeaver rejected it as an unreasonable demand. “I’m now weighing a ton, not to mention Ras. You won’t have a scale aboard the Sirius big enough to weigh us.”
“I’ m glad to see that you haven’t lost your penchant for exaggeration,” Rhodan retorted. “You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll be back in trim when we meet again on Arkon 2.”
“Hey, what did you say?” Pucky asked, astonished. “Betty must have heard you wrong.”
“No, she didn’t,” Rhodan informed him. “I’ll see you on Arkon. You’ll go aboard the harvestship as soon as I give you the order and you’ll have to do this even before we can know whether the robot will follow the orders of our special transmitter. You might be in for a few bad surprises.”
“I’m too fat to get excited about surprises,” Pucky replied. “But let me remind you Perry, 50 more pounds and we can’t jump anymore.”
Silence. This was a possibility which Rhodan had not foreseen. Altho he was certain that the weight as such did not prevent a teleporter from performing a jump, the mental strain played a considerable role. The constant gain of unwanted fat was undoubtedly a severe strain. A teleportation jump required total concentration and if Pucky’s mind was distracted by his increasing corpulence his ability to concentrate was impaired. He had a tendency to think that fat people were mentally lazy but he was right to be worried.
“Let’s say 2 more days. Then we should know enough. Do you think you can take it on the chin that long?” “2 days-? I’ll try. I hope I won’t get a permanent double chin.”
“Stay in those areas that have already been harvested ” Rhodan advised. “Maybe you’ll even get some of your appetite back.”
“Food? I don’t think I’ll ever eat again,” Pucky said in disgust.
“Is that so?” Rhodan murmured with a smile. “I’ll remind you of this the nextime I catch you in the kitchen of the Sirius up to your elbows in fresh vegetables.”
Pucky didn’t bother to reply. His thought impulses were shut off abruptly.
*
The harvestship continued to ply its rounds for almost 3 days, filling half its silos. The job took less time than Rhodan had anticipated. The blooming moss was killed wherever the suction field touched it and no new spores were produced.
There was no indication that the robot had become suspicious. After finishing its task it would continue its journey to Mechanica and deliver the collected crop of spores without requiring additional orders.
Meanwhile the special impulse transmitter, flown back from Terra, was made ready. It had been constructed in strict accordance with the description found on Mechanica. The frequency was set to conform with the harvestship transceiver and there was no reason to expect that the robot would know the difference. It would have to assume that the impulse signals came from Mechanica, the home of the extinct race that had created it, and be obliged to carry the order out without hesitation.
At least that was what Perry Rhodan hoped for.
The final briefing was transmitted by both Betty Toufry and John Marshall.
“How do you feel, Pucky? How are you 3 fellows getting along?”
“Don’t ask!” the mousebeaver exclaimed dramatically and Betty tried to convey his emotions. “I’m sure I weigh 500 pounds.”
“You’re putting me on!”
“But it must be close to 200 pounds,” the mousebeaver replied firmly. “The same goes for Tako and Ras must be about 300 pounds. He looks like a chocolate pudding.”
“Dr. Manoli will give you the works. He’ll have you back in shape in no time,” Rhodan promised, wondering whether to be amused or worried. He had trouble picturing a 200 pound mousebeaver but he realized that such a ludicrous incongruity was possible. “You won’t have to wait much longer now.”
“Is it time for action?” Pucky sounded relieved. “Great! When can we take the big jump? Or shall I go alone…?”
“Nobody’s going alone!” Rhodan interrupted Betty as she transmitted Pucky’s response. His own telepathic ability was too limited to pick up Pucky’s impulses. “You’ll all jump together but only when I say the word. We don’t want to put the robot on the alert so that it can take defensive action. If it gets a chance to use its hypnotic beamer, I don’t know where we’ll wake up, if ever.”