"Down flat on the bottom of the boat!" Rhodan shouted. "Keep your guns up!"

Marshall and Okura complied at once. An automatic cannon began to chatter and a second one joined in. Rhodan could, feel the boat jerk and he heard above the din how the motor changed its sound. Then he saw the shadow of the first helicopter on top of them.

He didn't know whether Okura or Marshall had already fired as he saw no flashes from their weapons. He braced the b.u.t.t of his thermo-beamer against his chest so that the barrel pointed straight up and pulled the trigger.

The discharge was completely free of recoil. As if fired from a toy, the brightly flashing beam shot up in the dark and caught the helicopter before it peeled off to the side. There was a thunderous detonation as its fuel exploded and a rain of luminous metal parts fell hissing into the water around their boat.

The second machine observed how the first one was brought down and turned away in time. Far out it continued flying in low circles around the boat.

Rhodan kept low and crawled forward in the boat. Marshall was lying as he had been ordered. He grinned when he saw Rhodan.

Son Okura got up on his knees and watched the second aircraft flying around the boat. Rhodan switched on his wristband transceiver and scanned the frequency range of the receiver. He could hear nothing except the static of the atmosphere. The helicopter pilot had so far not considered it necessary to inform his base about the incident.

Rhodan was certain that he either would report the skirmish or attempt a second attack.

They waited for the next sortie.

Okura raised his right arm. "The circles are getting tighter," he called.

Rhodan looked over the rim of the boat but couldn't see a thing. "How close is it now?" he asked.

"Average distance about 500 feet," the j.a.panese answered.

Rhodan reflected. "Let's show them what we think of them!" he called to Okura.

They're making a mistake, Rhodan thought. They want to try out how far we can shoot with our rayguns. They don't know that an impulse-beamer works with maximum energy, to the limit of its range. They think they can wait till we fire the first shot and still scram in time

Okura kneeled behind the wall and supported his raygun on the rim. He pressed his eyes together and tilted his head forward when the infra-red beam of the vehicle swept over him.

Then he took careful aim. Rhodan saw his fingers curl around the trigger but was startled nonetheless when the finger-sized blue-white beam flashed. from the muzzle.

Raskujan's helicopter didn't have a chance. It dropped into the ocean and exploded, hissing violently.

Rhodan breathed a sigh of relief. He went past Marshall to the motor. In his haste he had only been able to tie up the rudder loosely and now -

He was taken aback when he reached the stern. He saw a frazzled piece of the strap he had used to fasten the rudder lying on the bottom. No sign of the rudder could be found.

He went down to examine the motorblock encased in a light metal box. He discovered the trace of a sh.e.l.l and the spot where it had exploded. It had torn off the rudder and demolished the motor.

Rhodan banged against the metal housing with his fists. Previously it could only be removed with screwdrivers and boltcutters. Now he shook it loose with a few knocks and was soon easily able to pull it down with his hands.

He saw at a glance what had happened. The sh.e.l.l had exploded near the small efficient turbine. The turbine was no longer recognizable, just a formless lump of metal blackened by powder.

Rhodan got up. He felt weak in the knees but soon regained his strength.

"The boat is intact," Marshall announced happily. "All bullet holes have probably sealed themselves. We haven't taken on any appreciable quant.i.ty of water."

Rhodan's face was set. He walked stiffly through the swaying boat toward Marshall. Marshall noticed how serious he looked. "What . . . ?"

Rhodan put his hand on his shoulder and said quietly: "Start making your calls again, Marshall. Our motor is destroyed and we can't repair it. I figure we're about 130 miles from the coast of the northern continent and about 8o miles from the southern sh.o.r.e. We can move neither forward nor back. Try once more to get in touch with the seals."

And with a cheerless smile he added: "Otherwise we'll have to swim."

Chapter Two.

S.O.S.! "SAVE US, SEALS!".

Raskujan had argued with Tomisenkov for almost an hour, forgetting that it was quite unnecessary for him to have discussions with a prisoner. But then came the report that two more of the unusual bursts of light had been observed over the open sea. As he hadn't heard from the helicopters since he sent them out on their mission, he began to worry about them and had Tomisenkov taken away by the two guards before he witnessed the failure of the task force and gloated over it.

Tomisenkov walked willingly between the two guards across the landing site devoid of any vegetation. The two guards delivered him to four other guards posted at the gate, who took him to his own tent where a personal guard took over.

Tomisenkov studied the layout of the prison camp for very good reasons. He memorized daily without a map what his trained eyes had seen. He could have found his way with closed eyes. Thus the pitch dark night of Venus was the best time for his scheme because Raskujan's soldiers would stumble blindly around in the dark to which they were not yet accustomed.

He laid his plans calmly-and methodically. His tent had no floor cover. The soil of the ground had been solidly compacted. Tomisenkov took off one of his boots and began to sc.r.a.pe the ground and fill the boot with the removed soil.

After a few minutes the boot was full and Tomisenkov packed it in tightly to the top. He weighed his odd tool in his right hand. It had the similar feel and weight of a sack of sand.

Then he looked around in his tent. It was fairly small and well-lit. Tomisenkov picked out a corner best suited for his purpose.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do much about the electric bulb illuminating his tent. Of course, he could have broken it, but then -

He squatted in the rear corner of the tent with his back toward the entrance and stared ostensibly at the ground. Now that everything had been prepared, he started to yell.

"Guard! Guaaaaard ! "

He sounded terrified and the result was immediately apparent. The entrance to the tent was flung open. Tomisenkov turned his face around and tried to look frightened.

"What's going on?" the guard shouted.

Tomisenkov was breathless and made a few gestures with his hands. "Here . . ." he panted, "in the corner ... quick!."

There was a great variety of monsters on Venus, among them those that could bore their way through the ground and pop up unexpectedly in the middle of a tent. The guard was aware of the peril. He entered with his gun drawn and motioned Tomisenkov to the side as he approached the corner.

Tomisenkov made way for him. "Sort of a worm ... !" he groaned. He positioned himself so that he cast his shadow into the corner the sentry examined. When the man had pa.s.sed him he picked up the boot filled with dirt.

"Get out of the light!" the guard ordered and waved his hand without looking back.

Tomisenkov got out of the light - a step behind the back of the guard. He made sure that the guard was unable to see his shadow. Then he raised the heavy boot and whacked the guard over the head. The man toppled forward to the ground.

Tomisenkov proceeded to empty the soil from his boot and stamp it back into the ground with his foot. Then he took out the rope he'd fashioned from the tent's fabric and tied the unconscious man up. He also stuffed his handkerchief into his mouth and fastened it so that the victim couldn't push the gag out with his tongue.

Finally he shoved the sentry behind his cot to keep him out of sight of a casual glance from the entrance. He placed the gun on the bed where the guard could see it when he woke up.

Then he left his tent. He had no trouble getting to the largest of the tents 300 feet away-even though sentries tried to look as if nothing could escape them.

Actually they're scared, Tomisenkov thought contemptuously. They're afraid that giant white worms or voracious scaly vermin will crawl out, of the ground and drag them away.