They even whistled some tunes to hide their fears.

It took Tomisenkov 15 minutes to cover the distance of 300 feet.

When Tomisenkov reached the tent he saw that three guards were posted at the entrance. However, this was no problem. The walls of the tent didn't touch the ground except where they were fastened with ropes to the stakes. In between there was room enough for a man to squeeze through by lifting up the side.

Tomisenkov crawled in under the wall. A light was burning inside.

He heard a soft cry of surprise. He slipped inside and got up. He quickly put his index finger to his lips and made a warning gesture toward the entrance.

Then he took time out to greet Thora, the woman from Arkon, with a silent bow.

Thora's home was far distant from Terra and its solar system. Much farther than Tomisenkov could imagine in spite of his excellent education.

Thora, who was shipwrecked on the Moon in her exploration cruiser 10 years earlier, had begun to cooperate with Perry Rhodan, helping him to create the stable framework of the unprecedented New Power.

Until a few days ago, Thora had been Tomisenkov's prisoner.

"Regardless what you may think of me," Tomisenkov said hastily, "please, don't make a noise! I'm not going to harm you."

Thora gave no answer. She twisted her lips slightly and displayed a smile so derisive and ironic that Tomisenkov had trouble controlling his anger.

"I don't have much time," he continued. "The guards are inspected every 50 minutes. I'll have to leave here in 15 minutes at the latest."

Thora's scornful look irritated him.

He endeavored to formulate his offer precisely. "I'd like to work together with you," he began.

Thora didn't deem his proposition worthy of an answer.

"As you know," Tomisenkov went on, "it wouldn't be difficult at all to overpower Raskujan's guards. Our troubles would begin when we leave the camp. We'll have no weapons other than those we take away from the guards. Raskujan has helicopters and a lot of other equipment. He could catch us an hour after we made our escape. For this reason, we'd have to know where to go when we break out. It would be up to you to give us the right information."

Thora stared at him with unrelenting contempt. "And you think that I'd fall for such a clumsy trick!" she finally replied.

"No trick! Think about it. What reason could I have to deceive you? The simple fact is, we're both in the same boat. It doesn't serve any useful purpose to sit in, the camp with our hands folded in our laps while we wait for a miracle to happen."

Thora appeared to mull over his words. "And what guarantee do I have that your designs won't get me -to use one of your phrases- from the frying pan into the fire?" she asked skeptically.

Tomisenkov shrugged his shoulders. "If you can't see the difference between my goals and Raskujan's ambitions, you don't know people," he replied dejectedly.

Thora laughed mockingly. "All I know is that people have the urge to bash in each other's heads."

Tomisenkov got up. "Yes, of course," he muttered angrily. "Your race has never done anything like that. You were all born 'innocent babes and remained so forever." He gave Thora no chance to answer him. "I've offered you my cooperation," he declared. "At this point I think you'd benefit more from our collaboration than I. I'll stick to my offer. Think about it. I'll drop in again a little later to hear your decision. Goodbye!"

He bent down and crawled out under the wall of the tent.

Fifteen minutes later he returned to his own tent without having encountered any untoward incidents. The guard he had overwhelmed was conscious again and stared at him with wild eyes. Tomisenkov squatted down before him and said, "Listen to me, my boy. You can see that I've left your gun lying here. I took a little walk which you'd not have permitted me to do if I'd asked you. So I was forced to keep you out of my way for a little while and I'm sorry if I hurt you. In a few minutes there'll be the inspection of the guards. By that time you'll be free, your gun strapped on again. All I care about now is whether you're going to report this little affair or prefer to keep quiet about it. You can imagine that I won't tell them anything myself."

With these words he began to untie the soldier. He removed the gag last. "Get up, my boy," he told him.

The guard was dumbfounded and awkwardly arose. His first move was to reach for his gun. Then he stared suspiciously at Tomisenkov.

Tomisenkov returned his gaze without blinking. After awhile he asked: "Did I give you a headache?"

This seemed to surprise, the soldier. He shook his head. Then they both started to laugh. Tomisenkov gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "You're alright, Corporal," he said: "I'll remember you when this unpleasantness is behind us."

The guard left the tent and began to ponder what Tomisenkov could have meant. He was so busy thinking about it that he let the inspection pa.s.s and only said:

"Corporal Wla.s.sow! All is well."

For two hours John Marshall had continuously kept sending out his calls with his remarkable telepathic power. "Come help us, seals! We're friends in distress!"

Two hours he waited, hoping that the shiny, head of a seal would bob up from the water near the immobilized boat, but he waited in vain. Nothing showed up and the uninterrupted strain created a world of dancing colorful rings before his eyes.

The luring telepathic calls had drained his body of its last strength. He knew that the seals were not living in the ocean. They inhabited the environment of the coast, preferably sea inlets cutting deep into the mountains like fjords. The closest sh.o.r.e was at least 60 miles from the present position of their boat.

Marshall had tried very hard to bridge this distance but he could feel his head swimming and realized that he'd be unable to keep it up much longer.

A few more minutes, maybe eight or ten. That would be the end.

Son Okura crouched apathetically at the forward end. From time to time he raised his head and scanned the ocean. Nothing. No menace and nothing to interrupt the monotony of waiting in the night.

Perry Rhodan spent his time listening and meditating. He weighed alternative solutions to their. present situation in case Marshall's calls were without success. Rhodan knew very little about the seals. It had been determined that they possessed a certain degree of intelligence - enough to have a language of their own - and that they should thus be able to respond to a telepathic message. What he didn't know was how they would react to such a message, a.s.suming they received it. Perhaps it was a matter of indifference to the seals that they drifted helplessly out in the open sea.

His listening was concentrated on some noise he expected to hear within the nest hour. Considerable time had elapsed since they shot down the helicopters. Irrespective of what one might think of Colonel Raskujan's military prowess, sooner or later he was bound to dispatch a squadron of helicopters to check on the fate of the first two machines.

In that case it would be the sheerest luck if their floundering life raft escaped their notice.

n.o.body can depend on such luck when making plans, Rhodan mused philosophically. Son Okura's m.u.f.fled call aroused him. "They're coming!"

Rhodan jumped to his feet. "Who's coming?"

Okura too had leaped up and leaned far out over the rounded bow of the boat. Rhodan noticed that he looked at the surface of the water, not at the sky.

The j.a.panese stretched his arm out. "There . . . the seals!" Rhodan heard a slight splashing which didn't coincide with the rhythm of the ground swell. Something dark and shiny emerged a few feet from the boat and approached hesitantly.

"Marshall, come here!" Rhodan called.

Marshall pushed himself up from the side of the boat and staggered forward. Meanwhile the heads of other seals surfaced and came closer. Rhodan counted a total of 30.

It was obvious that Marshall was unable to stand it much longer. Rhodan patted him gently on the shoulder and said: "Only a few more moments, then it'll be over and done with. Explain our situation to them!"

Marshall leaned over the bow to get as close as possible to the seals and to support his tired body. He described in simple, easily comprehensible thoughts what had happened to them and the kind of help they needed.

Fortunately, the seals were not slow to understand and, most of all, they were eager to be helpful. Marshall advised Rhodan of their suggestion: "They can pull our boat if we've got enough ropes. They want to form teams of ten and take turns on the way."

Rhodan agreed. "That's about the way I imagined it. O.K., we've got the ropes."

They cut up the long anchor line in suitable pieces, used the landing ropes to make slings and tied them together, following the instructions by the seals as transmitted by Marshall. The entire task took less than 15 minutes. The seals slipped into the slings before they could sink and pulled them tight with their strong flippers. The thin ropes didn't hurt their leathery skin over the layers of fat.