"Alright. I'll lie down a little. Keep your eyes open. I'll tell Breshnjew to relieve you in one hour."

Major Pjatkow carried very powerful night-binoculars which were equipped with a small infra-red searchlight and filter.

With these binoculars he detected the campground in the dell close behind the eastern rim of the plateau. He posted his men in a circle around the camp and instructed them to overpower and seize the sleepers at his command.

Taking a second look, he then noticed one of the fugitives was absent. Six had been reported missing together with the Arkonide woman - among them Wla.s.sow who, as was taken for granted, had made common cause with Tomisenkov.

Yet Pjatkow counted only five sleeping figures. One was gone.

Where was he?

Pjatkow took the chance of weakening his small troop of soldiers by sending one of his men to track down the sixth fugitive.

Then he waited.

Breshnjew had not yet shown up. He probably was still sleeping. Alicharin didn't mind. He wasn't tired and he liked gazing into the dark although there was nothing to see.

There was a faint rustling. It came up the wall, slithering and sc.r.a.ping. Now it sounded right below. and behind. Alicharin crawled five feet over to the side and noticed that the noise was still vertically below him.

He uttered a curse and ran fifteen feet farther. The noise was there, too. He had to move another 30 feet away before he left the rustling and sc.r.a.ping down there behind him.

He kneeled down and waited. Something seemed to move in the darkness but he was unable to see what it was.

Then a dark shiny object appeared over the edge of the rock. The movement Alicharin had seen came from two shapes looking like feelers attached to the black substance.

Alicharin jumped up.

Ants!

He was considerably relieved to notice that the insects didn't move in the direction of the camp. They crawled in a wide swath over the rocky ledge and moved rustling and crackling through the bushes - each one as long as two hands of a grown man!

Nevertheless, Alicharin walked to the campground. Venusian ants were unpredictable insects. Besides, n.o.body knew whether they had a sense of smell that would enable them to locate human prey.

Tomisenkov must be warned.

"'There-!"

Alicharin hit the ground instantaneously and noiselessly when a shadow loomed out of the darkness in front of him. For one second he felt like fool because of his timid reaction. It probably was Breshnjew coming to relieve him.

Yet it couldn't be Breshnjew!

Or anyone of Tomisenkov's team. The man was very tall, over six feet. Alicharin could clearly see his silhouette from below against the gray sky.

The stranger pa.s.sed Alicharin only six feet away, moving cautiously and constantly turning his head. He hadn't discovered the ants yet but the neighborhood gave him the creeps anyhow.

Alicharin's thoughts were in a dither. He remembered the helicopters he'd heard more than an hour ago.

Perhaps he'd been right after all?

He followed the man crawling behind him. To his right less than five feet away was the army of ants.

The tall man stopped at the rim of the rock. He looked right and left and suddenly discovered the ants. Alicharin, saw him raise his submachinegun in horror and spread his legs to gain a secure stance.

At this moment Alicharin jumped him.

The man, scared to death by the ants, offered no resistance. Alicharin kicked dim behind the knee and hit the back of his neck with the edge of his hand.

The man toppled forward screaming in panic. He tumbled into the midst of the ants. He flailed around to defend himself against the insects inundating him. His submachinegun was flung in a wide curve over the rim of the bluff.

Alicharin crawled back and hid for a short time in the bushes. Then he darted forward again. The campground was in danger! The man, who had been a.s.sailed by the ants and killed in the meantime, hadn't come alone.

But Alicharin had taken less than ten steps when he noticed that he was already too late to bring help. He saw shadowy figures moving swiftly in the campground He could hear m.u.f.fled shouts. Somebody cursed - it was Zelinskij's voice.

Too late !

Alicharin whipped around and tried to get away from the scene of the raid as quickly as possible.

Chapter Five.

CLIMAX ON VENUS.

Nothing could be found at the place where the shooting fray must have occurred. By now they were about 600 feet above the level of the coastal plain. They had no way of knowing that the shooting was merely a decoy for Pjatkow's secret landing on the plateau.

Rhodan had monitored for awhile the intercommunications of the helicopters with his wristband radio. They revealed clearly that Raskujan's fliers were on a hunt for escaped prisoners. Rhodan a.s.sumed that some of Tomisenkov's followers had broken out. He didn't learn that Thora had managed to gain her freedom. The reports mentioned only "fugitives."

In the meantime Rhodan and his companions were only a few more miles away from the periphery of the barrier. Rhodan decided to take a rest for an hour before tackling the last stretch.

Raskujan was filled with pride and triumph. His two most important prisoners were hauled before him in the command center of his flagship. He looked at them with a cynical smile and asked: "What did you expect to accomplish with your escapade?"

Tomisenkov had not yet had a chance to clean up and to improve his battered appearance. His hair was mused up and his old ragged uniform had been torn in the hand-to-hand fighting with Pjatkow's soldiers.

Thora had not taken part in the brief fracas. Soiled, but unbowed, she stood before Raskujan.

Neither Tomisenkov nor Thora answered the colonel.

"Aha!" Raskujan snickered. "Still as proud as ever!" He sat down comfortably and folded his legs. "I regret your stubbornness," he continued. "You're opposing the only real power on Venus. Why?"

Thora smiled scornfully. Tomisenkov snorted, "Because we can't stand you."

Raskujan didn't let this irritate him. "I've a more businesslike att.i.tude," he gently chided Tomisenkov. "The three of us ought to be united. I'm convinced that together we can establish a superpower such as the world has never seen before."

Tomisenkov grinned contemptuously. "This presupposes the condition that Rhodan won't bother you."

"Oh!" Raskujan gestured. "He's left me alone for a whole year and why shouldn't he leave me alone in the future? Besides," he nodded to Thora, "if I can enter the fortress with your support, it'll be impossible for Rhodan to land on Venus against my will."