They clambered up the trees on some vines. Okura led the way and set the pace because he was the only one who could see in the darkness and was also the most handicapped of the three. Okura had a birth defect that impeded his walking. Though he always endeavored to keep pace with other people, there were occasions - such as the present one - when he was forced to slow down by his enc.u.mbrance. Despite their extended rest they were all close to the breaking point and Okura felt it worst.

However, Rhodan didn't fare much better. There was no time to take care of the wound in his shoulder. He felt the injury throbbing again and his blood running hotter through his veins than before. The damp air of the jungle was laden with bacteria and his wound was bound to start festering or he would get a fever.

Perhaps both!

He knew that it was time to take a 30 hour rest to recuperate from the hardships which had abused their bodies. But 30 hours were too valuable at this time to be used for repose.

Thora was in danger and with her the Venusian base as well. Although Rhodan had great respect for Thora's resoluteness, there was a grave possibility that she would be unable to withstand indefinitely the inquisitionary methods of Raskujan. And even if she didn't give Raskujan information enabling him to gain immediate access to the bulwark, he had a great number of capable technicians and electronics experts available who would reap more knowledge from Thora's allusions to the workings of the positronic brain in particular and the structure of the base in general than the New Power would want them to have in their possession.

Therefore, Thora had to be freed. And since the liberation of Thora from the heavily guarded post was, without adequate means, likely to be doomed to failure from the outset, it was imperative that Rhodan first remove the barrier of the positronic brain so that he could obtain the necessary equipment.

This didn't pose any undue difficulties except that they had to take into account the considerable distance separating them from the circ.u.mference of the defense screen girdling the fortress.

It was impossible for Rhodan to identify himself before reaching the border of the field. He had no practical means permitting him communications across a long distance. Only when he faced the protective mantle would the positronic brain examine him and determine that he was the one for whom the fortress opened its gates at all times. From then on everything else would be easy going.

The quagmire below them strained their patience. Since the j.a.panese, too, was unable to look through the dense foliage, they had to cut off a piece of a branch from time to time, clean away the leaves and drop it down, listening to the sound of its impact to guess the kind of surface it was.

For hours on end they heard only the splash of the weighty object landing in the heavy mora.s.s.

Rhodan was fully aware that the whole undertaking would have been an act of folly without the mutant ability of Son Okura. At 217:00 o'clock they stopped for another break. Rhodan would have very much preferred to go on a few hundred feet more because Okura claimed that the trees farther ahead were much closer together than where they had stopped, leading him to the conclusion that the swamp ended there. But by that time n.o.body was able to lift a leg, let alone move along a vine stretched between trees with the whole weight of his body hanging from his hands.

The swamp was sufficiently devoid of animals climbing about in the trees for Rhodan to deem it unnecessary to set up a watch. All three of them fell into a deep coma-like sleep - till they were suddenly awakened by a noise, not because it was very loud but rather because it was so uncommon in these surroundings.

The whistling of helicopter engines and the rattling of machineguns!

It was too far away to have been meant for them. The sound came from northwest and Raskujan's gunships seemed to have detected something there to shoot at.

Rhodan looked at his watch - set for Terrestrial time and saw that about three hours had pa.s.sed since they interrupted their journey. It was shortly before 220:00 o'clock.

Although the shooting soon ceased and the helicopters flew away, Rhodan was interested to know what had caused the commotion. The origin of the noise was in the direction of their march anyway. The three hours of rest had sufficiently restored their strength - at least temporarily - so that they were able to leave at once.

Son Okura's conclusion proved to be correct. A few minutes after their departure they noticed that the ground below was solid again. They climbed down and thereafter made better time.

Half an hour later the terrain began to rise. They had reached the foothills of the mountains and regarded it as a friendly fate. The mountain they-were approaching was the same one where the fortress was located.

They constantly heard the helicopters whirring above them, sometimes close over their heads and sometimes a little farther away.

Raskujan's men had found the burned out metal pile of the gunship shot down by Wla.s.sow just as Tomisenkov and his group slipped into the jungle. As Tomisenkov had foreseen, they first flew along the path broken by the dinosaur, scouring it for the fugitives. When this proved fruitless they changed their tactic and drew wide circles over the land, stopping at regular intervals to lower a man on a cable with a winch to look around below the roof of leaves.

Tomisenkov kept his little band together. Finally the terrain began to rise, at first gently and comfortably and then suddenly at such a steep angle that it required the skill of mountain climbers to ascend. Using their hands and feet they climbed up step by step on a 70 wall that was well overgrown with bushes and trees. At the top Tomisenkov expected to find one of the rocky mesas rising here and there high above the jungle. "Up there," Tomisenkov pointed out to Alicharin, "the trees are standing farther apart. We can see the lights of the helicopters and hide till they give up the search."

Half an hour later they reached the rim of the plateau. Tomisenkov's guess had been correct. As far as they could see in the darkness the vegetation was much spa.r.s.er but, on the other hand, dense enough so that the rocky surface could be seen from the helicopters only at a few places. Tomisenkov walked around these spots and looked for a location where he and his men could watch the searching aircraft.

They found the right spot. It was close behind the edge of the plateau. Toward the northwest a wall fell almost vertically down to the jungle. Behind the ridge lay a glen with a nearly flat bottom, well suited for a camping ground. Tomisenkov told Zelinskij, Breshnjew, Wla.s.sow and Thora to take a rest while he and Alicharin stayed together on the rocky ledge and kept a watchful eye on- the colorful lights of the helicopters.

Major Pjatkow - the man who had located Perry Rhodan's life raft and had dropped the bomb before the cave of the seals - had his radioman connect him with Colonel Raskujan. Pjatkow was one of Raskujan's favorite officers, so the connection was made without delay.

"I've got an idea," Pjatkow began without further introduction. "The search area is quite uniform, completely level up to the southern precipice of the mountain. But Tomisenkov couldn't have gone that far. There's only one other outstanding feature of the landscape, a vast mesa rising about 100 to 120 feet above the jungle. Tomisenkov needs a place from which he can observe our mission to see how close we get or when we'll break off our pursuit. He knows that we're forced to fly with our lights on. All he has to do is find a convenient lookout and watch us leisurely."

Raskujan wasn't quite convinced. "In which direction is this mesa located?" he asked.

"Southeast of the shot-down gunship."

"We figure it's Tomisenkov's intention to get to the defense screen of the fortress which is northeast." Pjatkow was ready with an answer. "I believe," he said, "Tomisenkov has thought along the same line. After we discovered a point on his route of escape, he realized his goal was known to us. Tomisenkov will march in any direction except where we're looking for him until we abandon our effort."

"H'm," Raskujan mumbled. ..

"I suggest," Pjatkow continued eagerly, "we secretly land two or three 'copters on that bluff and surprise Tomisenkov in his hideaway. If all other machines raise enough h.e.l.l it won't be difficult for us to set down on the plateau un.o.btrusively."

Raskujan finally consented. Pjatkow ended his conversation and instructed two other machines of his formation to follow him. They flew away northeast almost as far as the cliffs of the mountain, switched off their lights when they reached a point where they were sure they could no longer be seen from the plateau, then returned and approached the elevated plain from the eastern direction.

The aircraft touched down in a little clearing not far from the rim and the men climbed out. Pjatkow held them back for a few minutes to make sure that nothing suspicious or dangerous lurked in the shadows. Then he gave the order to move.

The men didn't particularly care for the task at hand. They had never left their camp except in helicopters or in relatively safe rubber boats but after marching for 20 minutes their fear of the unknown was beginning to diminish.

Pjatkow estimated the length of the way to be traversed to the. opposite rim as about three miles. He figured this distance could be covered, even in the darkness, in about one and a half to two hours.

Then he'd show *Raskujan that he was right!

Alicharin turned around.

"What's the matter?" Tomisenkov grunted.

A moment later Alicharin answered: "I believe I heard something . . . from over there! " He pointed across the mesa.

"Nonsense!" Tomisenkov muttered. "What did you hear?"

"A helicopter!"

"Do you still hear it?"

"Not now!"

"Well, well," Tomisenkov said, leaning again on his elbows. "How would they get in back of us? They're all out there in front.

Alicharin thought that the argument was rather foolish. Nothing was easier for a helicopter than to fly around the plateau and land on the opposite side. But as long as he was uncertain whether he'd heard right, he preferred to say nothing.

He was startled when machineguns suddenly began to chatter over the jungle. Tomisenkov raised himself up a little more and stared with amazed eyes into the dark night. Then he began to laugh. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "One of these idiots thinks he's found us."

The shooting didn't last very long. Without apparent reason it stopped just as quickly as it had started. Simultaneously the battery of lights began to move around irregularly. The helicopters broke off the search and veered away. Minutes later they were out of sight. Only the whistling of the jets could be heard for a time.

"I don't understand it," Tomisenkov commented. He remained still for awhile and then got up: "Are you tired?" he asked Alicharin.

"No, chief."