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DORGON - Die Fan-Serie des Perry Rhodan Online Clubs

Shadows over Siom Som

A Soman has returned home—but much has changed

Previously in Dorgon

In the year 1291New Galactic Era (the year 4878 A.D. of the old Terran calendar), Perry Rhodan and the other immortals are fighting in various galaxies against forces controlled by the mysterious Torr Samaho (see Perry Rhodan booklet novella episodes 1800 to 1999). Homer G. Adams is the only cell activator bearer holding the fort in the Milky Way and is forced to confront a new threat: the terrorist organization Mordred!

Mordred tries to destroy Camelot, the secret project launched during the 13th Century NGE by Perry Rhodan and the other immortals (see Perry Rhodan booklet novella episode 1800, “Time Lapse”), but is defeated upon Rhodan's return to the Milky Way (see the Mordred campaign). However, Mordred was only the beginning. Behind it looms Dorgon! No one knows exactly who or what Dorgon is, and Perry Rhodan is warned to beware of Dorgon's revenge.

As Rhodan himself has to go into battle against Materia and Torr Samaho (see the Materia campaign, Perry Rhodan booklet novellas 1950 to 1999), ten Camelotian ships, including the Ivanhoe, leave for M 100, the Dorgonian home galaxy. Leading this expedition are the Saggittorian Chancellor Aurec and Homer G. Adams. Joining them are Cauthon Despair, once Modred's second-in-command and now a repentent ally of Perry Rhodan, Joak Cascal, a veteran of the Terran Solar Empire who was thrust 1,400 years into the present era after being trapped in a space-time fold, Sandal Tolk, a comrade of Joak who also made the journey through the space-time fold, Will Dean, a League of Free Terrans agent, and Sruel Allok Mok (“Sam”), the Somian ambassador to Camelot.

At the same time, the Cosmocrat Sipustov instructed the renegade Order of the Knights of the Deep that had established itself in the distant galaxy of Shagor to venture to Dorgon to prevent a great calamity. However, the Knights were wiped out due to the betrayal of one of their own apprentices and the intervention of the diabolical Cau Thon. Only a small group of Knights managed to escape, and they are proceeding with their mission.

Meanwhile, Sam and Will Dean went to Siom Som to ask the races in the galaxies within Estartu's sphere of influence for help against the powerful enemy, Dorgon. However, their plea is rejected, and what's more, Sam and Will became the target of an intrigue instigated against them by Triaz, an influential Soman who appears to be collaborating with the Dorgonans. In the end, Sam and Will escaped, and Will sets out in pursuit of Triaz. Meanwhile, Dorgon continues to cast its shadows over Siom Som …

Main characters

Will Dean – The former TLD agent uncovers a conspiracy

Tory – The Elfahdan meets some strange beings

Zaracus – A Dorgonan with a desire for glory

Triaz – A Somian traitor

Salaam Siin – The Ophalan faces some important decisions

Sam – The ambassador tries everything to get help

1. Betrayal

Dean slowly leaned back. With its drive shut down, his ship was drifting through empty space. Beyond the protective hull was the vacuum and total emptiness that is characteristic for much of the universe.

Stars were sparkling in the blackness and shed some light, but not much of it reached the lonely traveler. He felt lonely, almost as empty as the space surrounding his ship. He sighed softly. Then he pulled himself together and sat up in his command and pilot seat of the small spaceship.

In his mind he could see the slim figure of the bird-like being, Triaz, whom he had mistaken for Sam. Triaz obviously had committed treason not only against his people but the whole galaxy, when he had Will Dean arrested and Sam charged on the basis of falsified evidence …

Triaz had tried to discredit Sam in order to prevent the government of Siom Som, more precisely, Salaam Siin, the Ophalan leader of the council, from sending a fleet to the aid of the Terran expedition to Dorgon. During all this, he had also been able to disable Will for a while. Luckily, the Terran had been able to escape with a trick. Shortly after Will's escape he had been able to prove that Triaz had set a trap for Sam. However, the traitor had been able to escape.

And then it happened. Near a small white sun without planets, the Soman's ship had gone into an orbital position. Dean hid himself in a nearby swarm of asteroids. Skillfully he set the ship down on one of the asteroids and activated his scanners. Even now Dean's ship was still standing on the asteroid.

But he did not pay any attention to the asteroids flying around his space jet. He only had eyes for the Eagle ship.

An Eagle ship, which up to now, had only been flown by the Dorgonans. These ships were built in three sizes. This one belonged to the medium class. It was 1,500 meters long, 2,100 meters wide and 1,400 meters high.

Majestically that vessel floated towards the small ship of the Soman. It looked as if an eagle was plunging towards its prey. But unlike an eagle, the Dorgon ship was slowing down. A docking bay opened on the front side, and the Soman's ship slowly drifted into the hangar. To the hidden observer the whole scene resembled the caricature of an eagle feeding. However, the Terran suppressed a smile. The situation was just too serious.

During the whole process, massive radio transmissions were being exchanged between the two ships. Dean listened carefully to the communications without being able to understand anything, because the Syntron had not yet been able to break the encryption of the messages.

Finally the first translated texts came in. The former TLD agent's suspicions were confirmed. The renegade Soman indeed had contacts with the Dorgonans. Obviously both sides had an agreement. A lot of things suddenly became clear to him. Especially, how the traitor had been able to put falsified evidence in Sam's room without getting caught. In the end it had only been luck that Will had caught him in the act.

What was supposed to happen now still remained unclear for the Terran. Curious, he waited for what would happen next. He did not have to wait long. The Eagle ship slowly moved out and left its position.

Dean started the engines of the small ship and started the antigrav unit. He rose up a few meters and then slowly accelerated. He followed the ship and the Dorgonans. When the ship vanished into hyperspace, he immediately followed.

He was lucky. The ship clearly showed up on the screen of his hyperspace scanner. He turned over control to the Syntron with the orders to follow the ship.

Dean slowly got up and went to another console. He activated the recording unit of the transmitter and recorded a message onto a data chip. Then he compressed and encrypted the text. Now he only had to wait until the Dorgonans left hyperspace, then the text would automatically be sent to the members of his expedition.

The new coordinates would be inserted automatically. Thus his friends would know where he was at the moment and what he had found out. Now all he could do was wait. He returned to the command seat and sat down. He placed his legs on the console in a sweeping motion. Of course he had deactivated the sensors before doing so. There was nothing else to do. Slowly he relaxed a little.

The former TLD agent was observing the screens in front if him as if he was watching a gripping holo-thriller. What might have confused someone who watched the scene was the fact that only the red swirling of hyperspace could be seen on the screen.

They had been flying around this galaxy for quite a while now, and the only thing that the Terran could make out clearly was the Eagle ship's signal on one of the consoles. The ship did not show any signs of leaving hyperspace soon.

Will took the time to think about the situation. Perhaps he had been hasty to follow the Soman alone, but there had been no alternative. Sam had been stuck on Som because of the trial, and his ship had not been available for that reason as well. Dean had barely been able to get hold of one of the jets before the spaceport had been cordoned off.

In the meantime the situation on Som surely had eased. The Ophalan Salaam Siin was known to be a reasonable being. Surely he had figured out in the meantime what really had happened. Sam probably had been set free and was thinking about how he could get to Will's ship. Therefore, Will had to supply him with information first. That was exactly what he intended to do during the next stop.

2. Somewhere in Siom Som galaxy

The Elfahdan did not know what hit him. A hard punch slammed into his exoskeleton and he tumbled backwards. With the help of his mechanical muscles he barely managed to stay on his feet but by then the attacker had already reached him and continued pummeling him.

“You damned Elfahdan traitor,” the Pterus growled. Another punch hit the head of the creature. Despite the exoskeleton, the Elfahdan could feel the pain from the hit. The armor was built to compensate hits, but it was not able to compensate all the force that was applied with that blow.

The Elfahdan desperately tried to defend himself. In the end, he saw no other option but to open a hatch near the knee and ooze out of his armor. The Pterus was so enraged that he did not even recognize that his victim had abandoned the armor. Infuriated, he continued hitting the now relatively motionless armor.

Tory moved a few meters away from his artificial skeleton and risked looking back. To his horror he could see that it was already starting to give way in some places. Tory was sure it would slowly be torn apart by the mad Pterus.

The Ophalan who came around the corner at that moment had a different view. He saw what the Pterus was doing and took the initiative. He started to sing and used his voice in a destructive way. The Pterus pressed both his hand to his ears and took a step backward. Tory acted quickly and oozed back into his artificial body through the opening near the knee.

The moment he regained control over his body, he ran over to the Ophalan. He tried to get his body to safety behind the much smaller frame of the Ophalan, which of course was not possible.

The Pterus had recovered from the sonic attack and took his hands away from his ears. He still looked angry, but definitely cooled down.

“Remember that lesson,” the Ophalan sang. “The times of the Eternal Warriors are over. Behave yourself like one would expect from a civilized being.”

The Pterus looked at the Ophalan for a long moment. His face showed surprise and caution. He slowly retreated from the Ophalan. When he saw that the singer did not intend to follow him, he turned around. His steps quickened, and he hastily disappeared around the corner. The street was now empty.

The Ophalan turned to face the Elfahdan. “My name is Venslaa Triid. I hope you are okay.”

The Elfahdan bowed slightly. One of the hinges of his exoskeleton squeaked slightly. Obviously it had sustained some minor damage.

“My name is Tory. I am pleased to meet you. I am okay, but I think my exoskeleton needs some repairs.”

“That isn't a problem. Let me help you with that. Just follow me and don't be afraid. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

The Ophalan turned around and moved off to the busy streets that were only a few hundred paces away. Vasaak was a dangerous district where nobody went without a good reason. They had only been in the outskirts, so they were able to reach the busier parts of the entertainment districts without another attack.

“What is an Ophalan doing in this part of the town?” The Elfahdan had thought long before posing that question.

“Business,” the Ophalan replied curtly. Curious, Tory waited for a more detailed explanation, but none was forthcoming. Obviously the being was not willing to say anything more about this.

“And where are you taking me?”

The Ophalan glanced at him. “You seem to be quite inquisitive, Elfahdan. Sometimes it is better to be quiet and follow in silence. There are things in our galaxy that are not the way they are supposed to be. Since the Heraldic Gates closed down, probably forever, a lot has happened. And not all of it for the good. Now follow me without saying anything and wait for what is coming.”

The surprised Elfahdan fell silent without ever getting an answer to his question. On the other hand, he had a feeling that his companion had told him more than he had wanted to. His hints had been vague in any case. What did he want to tell him with these words anyhow?

The Elfahdan jogged alongside the Ophalan in silence. They were a strange sight, the small singer leading the big Elfahdan around. They moved slowly through the capital of Trenyra II, a world located on the western side of Siom Som.

Kenyon was a place where many races of this galaxy came together. Especially Elfahdans, Somans, and Ophalans were the most prevalent here. Much scarcer were Pterus, who still faced much distrust because they were remnants of the Upanishad. At least it was now known who the Twelve Eternal Warriors had been. They all were surely dead by now. However Pterus still remained creatures that people did not care to meet, obviously with good reason, as proven by Tory's clash with the Pterus.

Despite the many questions he wanted to ask, Tory remained silent and followed the Ophalan without saying a word. There seemed no other choice than to respect Vensalaa Triid's wishes. Thus, the two very different creatures moved through the streets of Kenyon in silence.

At the corner of a street, the Ophalan suddenly stopped. He motioned towards the entrance of a building that looked like a house of ill repute. Tory's amorphous body started moving nervously, which caused his damaged exoskeleton to squeak even more.

“Don't be afraid,” the Ophalan stated. “They won't hurt you. We'll meet inside that building. Just go in there and sit down at a table. Order a Beron and wait until they call you. I will announce you to them.”

“What do you mean, you'll announce me? Can't I just come along?”

The Elfahdan did not feel good about entering that house alone. The Ophalan waved a few of his tentacles. He brusquely pointed at the door.

“Don't make a scene, Elfahdan. Just go in there. It won't be long.”

He turned and went into a small lane between two houses and entered one of them through a side entrance. He did not look back.

Tory looked at the door for a moment and asked himself what might be coming next. This just was one of those days where you were better off if you stayed in bed, at least judging by the way things had gone until now.

When he had woken up this morning, his mother had summoned him. She lived in Vasaak, which was why he had to enter that district. Not everyone who lived there made the place dangerous, but that did not help him. The whole day he had to listen to her complaining about how her exoskeleton was getting worse, her body was not as good as it used to be, how everything had become more and more expensive since the Eternal Warriors had left and how things had taken a turn for the worse since then. She had rambled on about such things over and over again. When she had finished, he headed for his own home again and had stumbled across the Pterus.

For a moment Tory thought about just turning around and leaving here. He would surely find someone else who could repair his exoskeleton. Why should he trust this being and its statement that it could help him? There was no reason to be so trusting.

On the other hand, the Ophalan surely would not have helped him if he had been dangerous. Tory decided to trust him. He entered the bar.

3. On board a Space-Jet

Will Dean was startled for a moment when the Syntron sounded an alarm. For a few seconds he did not know where he was, but then his memory returned. He must have fallen asleep. It was the best thing he could have done. If there was to be a confrontation with the Dorgonans, being fresh and rested could only be an advantage.

Something must have happened, or the Syntron would not have woken him.

“What's up, Syntron?”

“The Dorgonans have left hyperspace. Fourteen light hours in front of us is a sun with three planets. This seems to be their destination. However, I am not yet able to make out any base.”

“Stay with them. Has the message been sent?”

“Affirmative. I have not yet received a confirmation from Som.”

“Wait for confirmation. Follow the Dorgonans.” In anticipation, the Terran was leaning forward in his seat as the ship approached the system. It seemed uninhabited.

“Syntron, data about the system and our precise current location.”

The Syntron gave the coordinates.

“The system is located on the western side of Siom Som. We are exactly 2,412.2148454 light years away from Som. The star is a Sol type and has three planets. The first one has a surface temperature of 120 degrees Celsius.”

“Perhaps some Oxtornans would like to live there,” the Terran murmured with a grin.

“The second planet has a average temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and therefore is a little warm for humans. Other than that, it has quite agreeable living conditions. The third planet has no atmosphere. Average surface temperature is minus 180 degrees Celsius.”

“Where are the Dorgonans heading to?” Dean watched the dot on the scanner closely and tried extrapolating a direction from it. The ship approached the planet from “above,” at least if one used the orbits of the three planets as a reference.

“A projection of their course indicates that the Dorgonans will land on the second planet.”

“Great. Now we could use some Arkonides. They would surely feel comfortable on this planet.”

Dean thought for a moment.

“Syntron, wait until they have landed, then look for a landing site near their base. We don't want them to see us when we land.”

“Understood.”

The Syntron followed the Dorgonian ship and kept on the same flight path. It once again confirmed the probability of a landing on the second planet and then slowly accelerated. When the Dorgonans had landed, Will Dean's ship was one light minute away from the second planet. The planet, which he named Dune after an old Terran story about a desert planet by that name, quickly came closer. That story came from a time when humans were not yet able to travel in space, but a desert planet was a desert planet.

Half an hour later the space jet hovered above a small basin that was protected by a sand ridge. Slowly and carefully, the Syntron put the ship down.

4. The Dorgonans

Four soldiers surrounded the Soman who did not feel very well about being in this situation.

“So you failed in getting rid of this Sam. I am disappointed. I expected more from you.”

The Soman opened his beak, but said nothing when he saw the Dorgonan making an angry horizontal gesture with his hand. It was quite clear what he implied with that motion. Don't interrupt me if you value your life, Soman. That was what the gesture implied and Triaz knew exactly that he was close to loosing his life in that moment. He was a traitor, but he was not stupid.

“Tell me, Soman, what value is there to a creature that does not fulfill the expectations that were set for it? None, correct? What value do you still have for me, can you tell me that?”

The Dorgonan fell silent. He had put his hands on his hips and looked the Soman right in his small black eyes that could glow so spiteful.

“Well, I'm waiting for an answer.”

Triaz was not surprised by the Dorgonan's volatile character. If you deal with the devil you could get your feathers burned quite quickly, as every Soman knew. He opened his beak again, but still was not ably to say anything. Fear was creeping up his spine and had settled in his heart, which began to beat faster. A Soman was not able to sweat, but foam was building in his mouth and was dripping from his beak.

“I know the situation on Som very well, nothing has changed there. Even if the important people there no longer trust me, I still know many of their secrets. You can't kill me …”

At that moment he knew that he had made a mistake. You do not tell someone who feels that he has absolute power what he may not do.

“How dare you …?” The voice of Zaracus, the leader of all Dorgonans in Siom Som sounded surprised, even slightly amused. He did not seem to be genuinely angry.

“Forgive me, Sir.” First rule in case of danger: show obsequiousness. “I did not want to … I mean …”

Zaracus waved his hand. “Yes, yes. Get this thing out of here; I can't stand his sight any longer. I will decide later what to do with him. Until then, vermin, you can think of a reason why we should not kill a traitor. Get out of here.”

With these words Zaracus turned away from the soldiers, who saluted him. He did not even acknowledge their deference.

Angrily he strode to his command seat which was located on an elevation in the middle of the command center. Six steps led up to it, causing subordinates to always look up to him, even when he was sitting. Slowly he went up those steps and sat down. His gaze fell on one of the displays that were integrated into the armrests of his seat. His eyes went wide when he saw an energy spike.

“Something is wrong here,” he shouted. “The ship has landed a while ago. Where do these energy spikes come from? Scanners!”

He spun his seat around. A threatening glance hit one of the officers present, who immediately ducked down scared and checked the scanners. There was nothing to see. The officer checked the records over the last five time units and discovered that his commander was right.

“Energy spike at 130 degrees west. Energy source unknown. It is not a Dorgonian generator, and it is not a planetary energy source either. We have an intruder.”

“Alert! Someone has followed us. This Somian fool has led them to us.”

Sirens sounded, lights came on, but only blue lights, which indicated a problem of minor importance for the Dorgonans. Shuttles were manned and crews prepped. On the commander's order, the shuttles emerged from their underground hangars. The search had begun.

5. A sinister encounter

Feeling uneasy, the Elfahdan looked around the dark room inside the bar. Then he headed for the dirty counter. He put the elbow of his exoskeleton on the counter and immediately withdrew it. A giant cockroach was crossing the table right in front of him. This was a disgusting sight in Siom Som as well.

A Drall turned around and looked into the wide eyes of the Elfahdan. The insectoid bartender looked angry for a moment, but then began to grin. He went over to the Elfahdan and grabbed the cockroach in front of Tory's eyes. His mandibles opened and closed again and then the primitive insect had left this world forever. “What can I get you?,” the bartender asked while he reached for a glass that was not particularly clean.

The Elfahdan pressed his hand on his mouth and shook his head. “I won't be needing anything for the next few hours, thank you,” he replied. The Drall shrugged and then moved on to another guest.

Tory backed away from the counter and turned around. A look around revealed a multitude of shady characters from all parts of Siom Som. If Vasaak was one of the most dangerous districts, this hole had to be one of the most dangerous bars in the whole city. Filth was everywhere, and that included the dirt on the tables as well as the vermin sitting at the tables. It was frightening.

A barely clothed Mandinka was dancing on one of the tables. Slowly she removed one piece of her clothing after another. The concept seemed rather strange for the Elfahdan with his exoskeleton. Just as she was revealing her third breast, Tory felt a hand on his shoulder.

The Elfahdan slowly turned around. He expected to see the face of the Ophalan. Instead, a Pterus was standing behind him. The humanoid opened his mouth, revealing a row of crooked teeth.

“Hey, Elfahdan, what are you doing here,” the creature mumbled. “I thought you bastards had moved to another galaxy.”

The drunken Pterus roared with laughter and had already forgotten about Tory. Fascinated, the Pterus was starting at the Mandinka's third breast and then fell backwards onto a stool that was right behind him. He turned around. The Drall put a mug with some local beverage on the counter, and the Pterus took a deep gulp. A moment later, loud snoring indicated that the drunk had fallen asleep.

Tory was truly appalled at what he was seeing. Normally the Elfahdan did not go to such establishments. He was a well mannered Elfahdan who had been raised by his mother in the spirit of the former Upanishad. Of course he had not fulfilled any of the steps of the Upanishad since it did not officially exist any more in Siom Som. Only some standards of the former times had survived. Because of that, the Elfahdan could not understand such behavior.

Unfortunately, Tory had never been very skillful and agile. Even as a child he had been teased. He had ruined his exoskeleton on several different occasions, which had not pleased his parents as they always had to look for quite expensive replacement parts. That was the main reason why he endured those agonizing days with his mother without complaining.

Tory carefully sat down on another stool in his exoskeleton. For a few minutes he looked around in shock, until he saw an Ophalan emerging from a door on the side, who briefly beckoned Tory, and then vanished quickly. The Elfahdan got up and followed the creature. He entered a corridor that led to the showers.

The Ophalan was awaiting him in one of them. He motioned again for Tory to join him. The Elfahdan hesitated. Just when he wanted to ask what this was all about, the floor vanished. It had only been a projection and now they were standing above a dark shaft that turned out to be an antigravity shaft.

Slowly they descended. Above them, the projection of the floor returned. They could see into the empty cell from below.

Tory remained silent. He only looked down into the darkness. He wished that he had not gone with the Ophalan. But now it was too late.

The darkness changed into a gray twilight. A corridor, which led in only one direction, became visible. At the end of the corridor, the Elfahdan could see a light.

“This is our destination. There you will learn why I led you here. But first we will take care of your exoskeleton. Come.”

6. The desert planet

The space jet lay buried under the sand of the desert. Will Dean had instructed the Syntron to collapse the ledge under which the jet had taken refuge. At the same time he had taken all the reactors offline. The surface of the jet was designed to reflect any scanning activities. So he was quite well protected from being discovered if his landing should have been noticed anyway.

Since he had also deactivated the Syntron because of its energy consumption, Will Dean went to the scanners and activated the passive scanner. He sat down in his seat and watched the screen, waiting eagerly for something to happen.

He did not have to wait long. A shuttle appeared not far away, shortly followed by a second and a third one. Altogether there were ten shuttles, manned by Dorgonian soldiers.

One after another they landed. They remained where they were without anyone leaving the shuttles.

After half an hour the first shuttle took off again, shortly thereafter followed by the second one. One by one all of the shuttles had taken off again and the sand above the space jet was as empty as it had been before. Nothing indicated that something had been standing here a few moments ago.

Relieved, Will activated the Syntron and returned control back to it. He climbed into a SERUN and prepared to leave the ship.

“Syntron, I will leave the Jet. I will try to infiltrate the station of the Dorgonans and cause some trouble over there. If something should happen to me, it is up to you to inform the fleet about what has happened here. If I should not return, everything depends on you. So be careful. Nobody is allowed to enter the ship, except myself or another member of our expedition.”

“I understand. Good luck, Will Dean.”

Although the Terran knew that the Syntron had no feelings, for a moment he thought that the computer was serious. Perhaps because it was talking to him with a female's voice, he was only too eager to accept it as some kind of companion. One of the dangers of modern space flight is that if you are alone on long flights you can develop all kind of strange quirks. On the other hand, Will had not been alone that long to develop feelings for his Syntron. He pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the current problem. He had to get out of the buried jet.

He went to one of the airlocks and erected a defense force field right in front of it. Then he opened the airlock. He synchronized his own defense shield with the parameters of the Space-Jet's energy field and then just stepped right through the barrier in front of the airlock. Thus he prevented any sand from getting inside the jet.

His own shield displaced enough sand to let him step outside the ship. Will Dean activated his antigrav unit and started to ascend with the help of a few gentle thrusts from his propulsion unit. The pikosyn regulated this maneuver, and the sand was running down the Terran's defense shield like water from a body emerging from water. Not long, and a small mound formed on the flat surface of the sand, which was finally broken up by the energy sphere. The Terran emerged from the dunes like an apparition.

As soon as he stood safely on the surface, he shut down the force field. The emissions of the pikosyn were so weak that they could not be detected from more than a few meters distance.

He ordered the computer to project a map onto the inside of his helmet. His suit remained closed. Inside the SERUN it was a comfortable twenty degrees Celsius, while the outside thermometer showed 48 degrees Celsius. Slowly the Terran began his march following the direction indicator on the inside of his helmet. The servomechanism of his suit helped him by relaying his muscle movements to the integrated servos and allowed him to walk great distances without tiring. The SERUN was even able to move forward without any muscle movements from its wearer. If he should loose consciousness for some reason, the suit would still be able to walk without his help.

A long march lay ahead of him. The air was shimmering. The yellow ball of the Sol-like sun was mercilessly burning down on him. It was not able to affect him yet, but when he came closer to the station, he would have no other choice but to switch off the air-conditioning and continue without any help from his suit.

The Afro-Terran pushed those thoughts aside. At least due to the color of his skin he would not have to worry about getting sunburn. However these problems still lay some kilometers away.

For a second he thought about crossing the distance with the aid of his flight gear, but then decided against it. The presence of the shuttles was proof enough that he had been detected during his landing. He did not want to risk getting caught because of such carelessness.

In front of him there was only sand. Behind him, things did not look any different. Will's thoughts wandered. He did not pay much attention to the way he was walking, only to the indicator inside of his helmet. He left the surveillance of the area to the pikosyn.

In a thoughtful mood, he wandered on.

Zaracus was listening to the dispatches of the shuttles that had been sent out. They had found nothing. Nothing unusual anywhere! It seemed as if the intruder had been perfectly camouflaged. If they wanted to find him, a permanent surveillance of the whole compound would be necessary. Zaracus thought about not continuing the alert. They surely had better things to do. After all, they were Dorgon's beachhead in this galaxy. If he made no mistakes and was able to conquer this galaxy, he would surely be made governor. The governor of a whole galaxy! That would be quite an achievement. That was something to impress people with at home, because Dorgon had never attempted to annex another galaxy before. Siom Som and its neighboring galaxies, which made up the alliance Estartu, and the mysterious galaxy Galaxia had been chosen by Dorgon to be the first one to be incorporated into the empire. If Zaracus really should succeed in becoming governor of the whole galaxy, he would become a senator in all his glory.

On the other hand, such a position was on the edge of the empire, quite far from the emperor's palace and therefore not very desirable in the long run. But as a launching point for his career it would be quite suitable.

Zaracus pulled himself together. If he was not able to solve the immediate problem of an intruder, there was no need to think about his future. Failures were not welcome in the Dorgonian Empire.

“General alert for the station remains in effect. Watch for anything unusual. External patrols shall watch for anything that might approach the station. And I really mean external patrols. I know quite well that it is hot out there. Go!”

The soldier in front of him saluted, turned around smartly and left the room. His commands could be heard even in Zaracus' command center, who sat there smiling contently just for a second. Then he became serious again. His crew was not supposed to see him smiling.

7. Underground

Tory approached the light at the other end of the corridor with mixed feelings. Fear was slowly taking over. The Ophalan became more and more mysterious to him, and Tory asked himself how he had gotten himself into this situation.

The Ophalan overtook him to keep up with Tory's pace. The Elfahdan stopped and stood there for a moment in front of a door. Then he took a deep breath and made the final step.

The first thing he saw was an exoskeleton. Obviously another Elfahdan.

He wanted to sigh with relief but then he also saw the face of a Pterus. Scared, he wanted to turn and leave but then he noticed the Pterus was making a friendly face. He obviously did not want to hurt him.

Two Dralls and a Verson were present in the room as well, but they were not the ones that were making him apprehensive. More frightening was a humanoid who was also present. He was quite possibly the strangest being Tory had ever seen. That being probably wasn't even from this galaxy.

The stranger was nearly 2.5 meters tall and almost equally wide. His face was white and hairless. On his head he wore his hair in the style of a crew cut. The Elfahdan tried not to break into a grin. The stranger looked way too big to get into a fight with.

“Who are these people, and what is this all about?”

The question was surely not the most intelligent one he could ask, but it was the first one that came to mind.

The Ophalan waved and pointed to a bowl. “First take off your exoskeleton. Tray will take care of it. You can float around in this bowl in the meantime. Nothing will happen to you there. And don't be afraid of the Ertrusan here. He is from the Milky Way galaxy and has been here for a long time. A traveler who decided to stay with us. His name is Tronk Rudo.”

The giant nodded shortly. Uncomfortably, Tory mirrored the nod.

“While you are in the bowl and your skeleton is being repaired, we will explain who we are and what we want from you.”

After giving it some thought, Tory finally agreed and opened the lock at his knee. His amorphous body oozed out of the shell into the bowl, while the Elfahdan started working on the damage. Tory asked himself why he trusted these strangers. The only reason for his trust was the fact that the Ophalan had helped him in a fight that could have easily harmed him or even have killed him. Could this be enough? Judging from the fact that these people wanted something from him, he could not even be sure that they did not have any evil plans, but soon he would know. He decided to wait and listen to what they had to say to him.

8. On Som

Sam was relieved when he received the message. Will Dean was alive! The message stated that during his pursuit he had encountered the people behind the traitor and was now following them to find their base. The coordinates of that base would be found in the file attached to that same message.

Sam continued reading and checked the attached coordinates. He had the Siom Som prepare for launch. Only then did he read the message for a second time. He stopped short.

The first time he had only taken a quick look at the information. Now he was reading it more carefully and the first thing that caught his eyes was the word “Dorgonans.”

“Triaz has met with an Eagle ship of the Dorgonans. I will follow them,” was what Sam read.

Unbelievable, the Soman thought. These people seem to be everywhere. Have they a base, a secret station in every galaxy?

He decided to go to Salaam Siin immediately, who still seemed to be a little reserved towards him, although the Soman could understood why. Anyway, Salaam Siin was not the problem, rather the fact that the Ophalan did not trust him, especially since there was no reason not to.

On the other hand it really had looked for a moment as if Sam would be found guilty. All the evidence had been against him. He had been arrested and it had looked like this would be the end of their mission. But then Will had been able to escape and had exposed the true identity of the traitor, and after Triaz had fled, everyone was able to see the real problem.

And it wasn't Sam. No, the problem had been someone else. This other being was now with the Dorgonans and telling them all the secrets he had been able to get his hands on in the Senate.

As leader of the council, Salaam Siin had to be informed about what was going on.

Quickly Sam had his ship establish a comlink with the seat of government. Salaam Siin responded immediately. He seemed to be available to Sam at all times now. The Soman informed the Ophalan about the new problem.

“The Dorgonans are here in Siom Som? I can't believe that!” The Ophalan fell silent again. Sam refrained from pointing out to Salaam Siin that it had been exactly this kind of thinking that had caused their current problems.

“At least the Terran is okay,” the Ophalan said. “I will assemble all available ships as soon as possible and send them to attack. Do you want to accompany them with the Siom Som?”

“That is what I intend to do. In addition, I would request that you accompany us. Then you can assess the scale of the danger yourself.”

It was plainly visible that Salaam Siin did not like this idea at all. He nodded very slowly and then closed the connection.

Sam also deactivated his terminal and leaned back. Then he got up and had the Siom Som prepare for take off. No one would stop them. Those times were past. It was time to rescue his second-in-command.

This Will Dean had quite a talent for getting himself into trouble. On the other hand they had to be glad about his hasty departure, because without it they would have never learned about the presence of Dorgonian forces in this galaxy.

Finally they had hard evidence to prove to Salaam Siin and the Council the danger they were all in.

All sections reported their readiness for departure. Sam only nodded mechanically and concentrated on the rescue mission. It was time for the ship to return to space.

9. The Dorgonian base

Will Dean now was within a kilometer of the station now and had crossed the line where he could move in relative safety of not being detected. He deactivated all energy producing systems of his suit but established a safety program. The passive scanners of his suit were connected to the pikosyn. If something was detected that might endanger his life, the pikosyn would be activated. The computer would then be able to activate any system it deemed necessary to save the life of its owner.

Of course Will had to open the visor of his helmet after deactivating the systems, which presented no immediate problem as the air was breathable. The only problem was the fifty degrees Celsius outside temperature that made it quite unpleasant without the luxury of the air conditioning of the suit.

At least he had a good view from the hollow, which was about the size of a meteorite crater. He was able to see some buildings that looked like he could gain access to the compound from them. Much of the station seemed to be subterranean. But this was hard to tell from his position, and he wanted to avoid an active scan at the moment.

Will was sitting on the edge of the crater sweating and watching the surroundings. He saw guards patrolling between the buildings of the station. Most likely they were Dorgonans, but he was not able to make out for sure.

Slowly he moved towards the compound, carefully trying not to be discovered. If the guards were equipped with heat sensors, they would not be of much use with all the heat around here. So Will was relatively safe while he moved over the yellow desert ground. He approached a shaft, which seemed to be used for ventilation purposes. It was not closed and secured, so Will decided to take the risk and open it. If there were an alarm, he would surely notice it at once.

He slowly lifted the lid and then climbed down a ladder into the shaft.

He was lucky, no alarm sounded.

Zaracus was startled when he saw the light flashing in his armrest. A silent alarm. Someone had just opened an access hatch to one of the ventilation shafts. Obviously someone really had landed on this world, and Zaracus had been right to divert some of the crew to guard duty.

“Alarm,” one of the officers present reported now as well. Zaracus did not say anything. He only nodded and directed the guards into the area where the intruder had caused the alarm. He would not get far in this station, that was sure.

10. A long story

A few hundred years ago, the Elfahdans were strong supporters of the Warrior Cult, known in the Milky Way as the Permanent Conflict. The Warrior Cult was created by the Eternal Warriors, who were appointed by the superintelligence Estartu as leaders of the sphere of influence with the same name.

In time, the Pterus, the race from which the Eternal Warriors were recruited, degenerated. They turned away from the teachings of Estartu, who was trying to accomplish a third way between Cosmocrats and Chaotarchs, and established a perverted ‘Permanent Conflict,’ which finally led to the Upanishad. The Elfahdans were the most loyal servants of the twelve Eternal Warriors.

One day, the Net Walkers appeared in Estartu's sphere of influence. Their main goal was to learn more about the Moral Code of the universe. Through the Eternal Warriors doings, however, the psionic net had been endangered. That was the reason why the Eternal Warriors and the Net Walkers fought each other. The Net Walkers tried repairing the damage to the net while at the same time discrediting the teachings of the Permanent Conflict.

Through the work of a few Galacticians, mainly Perry Rhodan himself, the true puppet masters behind the Eternal Warriors were exposed: the Pterus, whose job it was to keep the Eternal Warriors under control. Since the Eternal Warriors were all immortals and needed a cell regeneration every sixty-two Terran years, they were quite easy to manipulate. During the process of cell regeneration any doubt that might have been building up in them was simply eliminated.

In the end everything was exposed. Estartu was trapped in another universe, and the races in its sphere of influence saw that the Eternal Warriors had suppressed them.

At the same time, the sudden breakdown of 4 billion tons of para-dew within the Tarkanium led to a massive reaction by Dorifer. Dorifer lowered the PSI-constant to the same level as the rest of the universe, which made interstellar travel with PSI energy propulsion impossible. This also meant the end of the warrior cult.

At first, the Eternal Warriors under influence did not want to see a new age begin. This finally led to an expedition by Pelyfor, whose galaxy was called Muun. He traveled to the Milky Way to show the Galacticians who was more powerful. He was killed during that expedition, also destroying the myth of invincibility of the Eternal Warriors. After that, those Warriors who were still unsure were convinced to change their attitude. The first one to leave the dreaded way of the Permanent Conflict was Ijarkor, who had been ruler of the galaxy Siom Som.

Ijarkor used his remaining time to repair the damage and used his last years to help the beings he had been suppressing for centuries.

When and where he died is unknown to us.

We are the keepers of his ideals. We are representatives of the organization ‘Ijarkor's Helpers’ on the planet Trenyra II.

If you want to help us, you are welcome. If not, we will return you. You will not remember anything of what has happened here. Make your choice.”

11. Inside the Dorgonian base

Inside the air duct in which he was hiding Will could hear the movement of heavy boots. Nobody discovered him. He was lucky. When all was quiet again, he carefully loosened some fastenings and slowly lowered himself from a panel in the ceiling down into the corridor.

The Dorgonian base seemed to be huge. It looked big enough for him to operate inside for a while without being detected.

Carefully he looked around and then moved on. A glance at the scanners revealed that there were quite massive energy flows surrounding him. So he decided to re-activate the pikosyn and then generate a deflector field.

Invisible, Will walked the corridors of the Dorgonian base. He had activated his translator in order to listen to the messages that were being sent through the station. They were filtered by the pikosyn so that he would only hear the really important messages.

As a result he discovered that his intrusion had caused an alarm after all. Besides that, he got a rough idea of where the Dorgonans were looking for him. This allowed him to slowly get deeper into the station. The pikosyn was building a crude map of the station using the data it got from the messages being sent around. The map became more accurate the longer the pikosyn was able to analyze the messages.

Will thought about his situation. The most important areas of the station certainly were heavily guarded so that a single person better kept his distance from them. But surely there had to be less important areas, or better, areas that were regarded as not so important, but where one could still cause quite a lot of damage.

Will consulted his pikosyn, which showed him a representation of the station with the areas where the crew most was likely located. Obviously these were not all the locations, but from the monitored messages Will could determine where Dorgonans were currently located. The goal was to locate sectors that were suitable for attacks and acts of sabotage and were nearly unguarded. The resulting confusion should make it easier for him inside the station for a while.

Finally Will found the right target.

The pikosyn projected a map of a section, which it labeled as a recycling station and where food for the Dorgonans was processed. A section that was surely of some importance but that did not hold many secrets that would justify a strong presence of guards. It was connected to several water tanks, which were quite important on this desert planet. Will Dean could hurt the Dorgonans quite badly if he would be able to place one or two bombs there.

Will checked his equipment. He had several grenades with him, but if he could find a Dorgonian weapons cache on his way, this surely would be helpful. On the other hand, a weapons locker would undoubtedly be well guarded.

He ordered the pikosyn to map out a safe route and slowly moved on through the station.

Where was this intruder? There was nothing to be found on the monitors except their own troops. The scanners did not detect anything as well. Either the intruder did not emit anything, or the emissions were not strong enough to show up above the station's own emissions.

All that remained was a thorough search of all the rooms.

As a precaution, Zaracus had the guards carry scanners that were able to pick up even faint traces of energy emissions. If the intruder or intruders had made themselves invisible with technical devices, they would surely be found.

In the meantime, the commander wanted to deal with the traitor. He had Triaz brought into the command center.

The Soman was trembling slightly when he was brought before the commander, but then he pulled himself together and looked Zaracus right in the eyes.

“Now, traitor, what have you to say for your defense?”

“Nothing,” Triaz replied. “You know as well as I do what useful things I still know. Decide for yourself what this is worth for you.”

Zaracus nodded. The traitor's attitude almost impressed him.

If Triaz had not been a traitor, Zaracus surely would have had some respect. But now …

“Traitors are not very welcome anywhere. They are useful. The bad thing about them is that if there are some on one side, there is a certain chance that there are some on the other side as well. People like you are needed, but you don't like them.

You can surely imagine what this means. We have enough information from you. In the meantime, we are about to be discovered in this galaxy. To make sure that you will not be able to get in our way, I wish you a nice death.

Take the traitor away and throw him into the converter.”

The guards nodded and dragged the shocked Triaz away . When he felt the hands of the guards grabbing him, he started kicking and yelling. Zaracus grimaced. Obviously this being had no style after all. Disgusted, he waited until the door closed behind him. The last thing he heard about the Soman was the confirmation of his death. After closing this unfortunate chapter, Zaracus turned his attention back to the more pressing matters of the intruders.

“Reinforce our space defense. He probably has informed his allies. We will most likely get some company, soon. We have to be prepared when the enemy arrives.”

The men nodded in agreement and watched their scanners even more intensely.

There was no sign of arriving ships, yet.

Dean sneaked into the recycling facility. No one seemed to be around. Only a few people were in this part of the station, so the saboteur could start his work unhindered.

First he hid two grenades in a machine responsible for the recycling of food. Then he looked for places to hide the remaining eight grenades that he was carrying. He placed them under the water tanks. When the grenades exploded, this part of the station would be flooded. It would also be better if he were in another part of the station when this happened. Perhaps he could use the resulting confusion to his advantage.

He set the timers of the detonators for twenty minutes and left. His pikosyn led him to a weapons depot near the command center where he could get some new grenades if the guards were diverted. If this worked, he could surely cause some damage in the center of the station.

Eagerly Will hid in an alcove close to the command center. In three minutes the grenades would explode. Patiently he waited. A few seconds before the explosions, he prepared to attack.

12. Ijarkor's Helpers

I'm in!” the Elfahdan spontaneously said.

The Ophalan nodded. “Welcome to the club. Let us fill you in.”

That moment Tory noticed the Ertrusan, who had until now been standing silently by but had obviously been very busy watching the communication devices.

“Incoming message,” the giant calmly stated.

A screen came to life. As Tory learned later, it belonged to a network of such devices, which were used to relay missions to the members of the organization. These missions normally took place on the planet, and most of them had to do with helping the victims of the Warrior Cult and their descendents.

Not this time!

A Pterus appeared on the screen. He had black, straight hair, a pockmarked face, and blue eyes. He nodded towards the camera and began to speak.

“This message is relayed to several of my organizations. I order you to fly to the following coordinates. Galacticians are in danger there. Help them. I owe them this.”

The screen went blank.

“I have the coordinates,” Rudo declared.

No one said a word. Tory looked around uncomfortably. Something had just happened. He just did not know what.

The members of the group uneasily looked at each other. The Ophalan opened his mouth and uttered a melodic sound.

“It was him!”

“Impossible! He is dead.”

“Who are you talking about?” The other members of the group only threw Tory a short glance.

“It was him! I have seen his image. It was undoubtedly him.”

“It is just not possible! He has been dead for several centuries. He didn't get his cell regeneration.”

“Whoever it was, we should stop wasting time and take off immediately. That is our mission, isn't it?” Tory interrupted the budding discussion and ignored the glances that were cast at him.

“He is right,” the deep voice of the Ertrusan growled. “We should not waste time with fruitless discussions. It couldn't have been him, but even if it was him, we will never know. Let's go.”

Calmly he sat down in a seat and awaited his first mission in the name of Ijarkor.

Just a few more hours remained before the ship would reach the coordinates that they were given in the message. Hopefully Will Dean is still alive.

Sam could not know what was going on at the same moment in large parts of the western side of the galaxy. A total of 1,000 ships took off from 517 different planets and set a course for a star that was only six light years away from the Dorgonian base. A whole fleet was on its way to help just one Terran. No one in Siom Som knew of this fleet, except the mysterious person who had sent them.

Tory had found an empty seat in the command center of the small but powerful ship. The Trenyra II awaited in silence until they arrived at the rendezvous point. When they finally reached the small red sun, they encountered another 400 ships, and more were arriving every second.

When the indicators finally stopped counting, 1,000 ships had arrived in this area.

It was unnaturally quiet on the bridge. Everyone seemed to fear that any word would disrupt this extraordinary moment. It had been a long time since different races in this galaxy had cooperated with such unity. This crisis had made it possible.

Several hours passed until suddenly the already familiar figure, who indeed looked very much like the long gone Ijarkor, contacted them again.

So get on your way to Ochymon – your help is desperately needed.”

13. Battle for Ochymon

Will ducked when he heard the explosion. Right after the explosion, which had surprised the crew of the station, there was a moment of dead silence. Sirens went off, and more and more Dorgonans ran past the Terran.

When the Terran's Syntron signaled that no one was near him, he ran, still invisible, towards the closest weapons depot and quickly took some weapons that would come in handy.

Then he started towards the command center of this station, which was now in complete chaos.

For a moment, there was an unnatural silence in the command center. Then all of a sudden, chaos broke loose.

“What happened?” Zaracus yelled. Then he realized that his question made no sense at all and rephrased his command.

“Damage report,” he shouted.

“Heavy damage to the supply section. Water is leaking into the station because several of the tanks have been destroyed. The computer core responsible for the recycling network has been damaged as well. A few million liters of water are on their way here.”

“Lock down the section,” Zaracus yelled, knowing very well that this order would cost some of his men their lives.

“Prepare the ships, perhaps we will be attacked soon. If the intruder became active it can only mean that the units he called will be arriving soon.”

“Perhaps they are not coming at all. Perhaps he only wants to distract us until he has found a way to contact his people.”

Zaracus angrily glanced at the officer who had made this suggestion. At first he did not want to acknowledge that anyone would question his orders, but then he nodded.

“You are right. Prepare the ships for launch, but we will concentrate on our search for the intruder. We can launch the ships if the attack really happens. Until then we will concentrate on what is happening inside the station.”

The officer nodded, relieved to have gotten away with his action. He was not sure what devil had caused him to contradict his commander. It would be better if he kept to himself for a while. Other than that, all he could do was hope that his commander would forget about this act of insubordination once the battle was over.

In the meantime the bulkheads had been closed, and the flooding of the station had been stopped. However, any supply of fresh water was also stopped for the time being. As long as the intruder had not been eliminated, this would not change. The remaining food supplies would not last long either.

Zaracus was far from being comfortable when he fell back into his seat. Somewhere in this station, the intruder was still lurking. Moreover, hostile starships might be on their way here. All in all, he had endangered this station by bringing the traitor here. If the emperor heard of this, he would surely have Zaracus shot at once. Or he would have deported him to some insignificant outpost, which would be even worse than being shot.

Ten starships emerged from hyperspace above Ochymon. Nearly an hour before the fleet of Ijarkor's Helpers received the order to advance, Sam and Salaam Siin arrived with their ships in the system that was mentioned in Will Dean's message. Immediately they set course for the second planet where they registered energy bursts of unknown origin.

Things were getting worse for the Dorgonans.

Will reached for one of the Dorgonian grenades he had acquired and attached it to his belt. It would have been quite useful to take some of those grenades with him and have them analyzed more closely later. At the moment, all he could do was have the pikosyn examine the inner workings of these grenades.

When he came to an open bulkhead, he abruptly stopped. Outside the station he could see three Eagle ships. He hesitated for a moment and then smiled. The command center could wait. Perhaps he could do something to help his friends from here.

He quickly passed through the open bulkhead and went outside. He saw that all three ships were ready for take off, so he felt quite safe from being detected. He had the Syntron activate the fuses, then he quietly entered the hangar of one of the ships, and from there, the adjacent reactor room. The Dorgonian soldiers were in quite a hurry. Nobody seemed to believe that the enemy could be right there among them. Dean attached a grenade to one of the machines and tried to leave the ship as fast as possible without being detected. The moment he passed through the airlock, it began to close. Dean turned around and scurried back towards the station.

Alarm!”

The officer's voice cracked when the scanners suddenly showed ten ships close to the planet.

“What is it now?” Zaracus asked, rolling his eyes and approaching the scanning station.

“I am reading ten spaceships approaching our position. It is a Terran starship and a few ships from Siom Som.”

“Only ten? Ignore them. We have to find this intruder.”

“But commander, …”

“What?”

“I think that perhaps we should dispatch a few ships.”

“This is now the second time, officer!”

The man flinched.

“Take a few of the men and take off with one of the ships. You will surely be able to finish those few intruders with it. If you are not successful, you'd better not come back here and face me ever again. Get out!”

The man saluted silently and hurried out of the room. A few minutes later the last preparations for take off were being executed. One of the three Eagle ships was about to take off.

Dean was running down the corridor, his deflector activated. When he reached the command center, he slowed down only long enough for his pikosyn to program some grenades. As this time they were needed for indoor use, and naturally the settings were different. What he planned to do was close to insanity. But if he was able to eliminate the command center, it would be no problem taking over the station from space. According to his calculations, the fleet would arrive soon. Hopefully he would survive long enough.

He took a deep breath and approached the door, which opened as he stepped closer. Heads turned in his direction but the people in the command center could not see anything. Of course it was suspicious if a door opened without any obvious reason.

Hands moved to their weapons, but before anyone was able to draw a weapon, Dean threw the bombs and dashed down the corridor. They were set to go off on impact. Dean only heard some horrified screams, followed by a hefty explosion. A shock wave swept through the corridor and knocked him down. His helmet closed immediately and a force field automatically activated to break his fall when he was thrown against the wall and rebounded on the floor.

Unharmed, he got back on his feet.

A look back revealed a cloud of black smoke coming out of the door behind which, up until a few minutes ago, was the command center.

Coughing could be heard coming out of it, shortly followed by some people emerging from the cloud.

Dean hesitated for a few moments, then drew his weapon. He switched it to paralysis mode and fired at the people down the corridor, who fell to the ground upon being hit. Shouts informed him that there were still people left in the room.

One of the Eagle ships lifted off the ground of the desert planet and headed for space. Sam was rubbing his hands and ordered the ships into battle formation. The ten ships formed a hemispherical defense formation and waited for the attacker. Then they opened fire onto the approaching ship. Nothing happened. The quickly activated defense shields withstood the attack without any problem. Instead of displaying any damage, the ship had vanished from the scanners. Only a clearly detectable spherical distortion of space remained in place of the ship. This phenomenon was already known. The Dorgonian shields had quite a unique design, and it still unknown how they actually worked.

“Fire transform cannons, broadside!” the Somian commander yelled. The security officer, Regan Horus, reacted as quickly as an Ertrusan would. He activated a sensor field, firing ten transform bombs. The Eagle ship shuddered for a moment but continued approaching the ships without interruption.

“Scanners?”

“The strength of their shields has not changed at all. We have detected some distortions in the energy matrix, but that is all.”

There was silence on the bridge. The pilots of the ten Somian ships broke formation when the enemy ship started firing. One of the ships was destroyed in a giant explosion when it flew into one of the energy beams.

“Break formation. Tactical retreat. Take different directions.”

The commander of the space sphere, which measured 500 meters in diameter, decided not to jump to hyperspace, yet.

“What we need now is a miracle,” Sam whispered.

No one answered him. The crew on the bridge looked at each other with ashen faces.

Dean approached the command center again, but retreated quickly when he was greeted by weapons fire from several weapons. He crawled along the floor in order to present the smallest target possible. Carefully he returned to the open door.

He could hear angry yelling. A voice was yelling orders in the Dorgonian language in an attempt to maintain at least some kind of control over the situation.

Dean stopped this attempt by leaping into the command center with his weapon firing a wide spread. Most of the people inside the room fell to the ground. A few who had been lying behind consoles were able to escape his fire. Will did not care. He was now firing with his thermo-beamer at some of the controls, melting them. Among the equipment he destroyed was the communications console. His attack against the recycling facility had proved to be quite a success. It had also allowed him to take out the command center of the Dorgon station.

He looked up at one of the few remaining monitors left in working order and saw that spaceships were fighting inside the system. Furiously, he discovered that things were not looking good for the attackers. Only seven ships of his friends were fighting against the Eagle ship, which seemed to be playing with them.

Quickly he left the command center. He did not know if he had been able to take out the commander. If not, speed was the only thing that could help him, plus the hope that the grenade would go off.

Zaracus coughed. He came up behind the commander's seat, which he had used as a cover against the intruder. Now the intruder had left the command center.

The Dorgonan was not sure if it had been just one attacker or more of them. Judging from the devastation of the room it must have been a whole army of them, but he could not imagine how they could have made it into the station.

It had to be only a few. They must be equipped with some kind of camouflage because he had been unable to see the attackers.

“Attention everyone!” he yelled into the microphone on his wrist. “The intruders have attacked the command center. Concentrate the search parties in that area. Look for them and use scanners. They are using deflectors.”

He deactivated the transmitter and slid down to the ground behind the seat, panting. He became dizzy and for a moment he was unable to breathe. He signaled a medo-robot, which was treating a soldier nearby. Recognizing Zaracus' higher rank, the machine immediately abandoned the injured and turned its attention to the panting commander.

Quickly and thoroughly the robot examined the commander and diagnosed a mild fume poisoning. It injected him with an antidote that brought him back to his feet in a few minutes. When the commander no longer needed the machine, it started looking for a new patient.

“Have you found anything yet?” Zaracus inquired impatiently. But there was no news for him.

Shocked, the Soman closed his eyes. The people onboard these ships were his kind, together with some Ophalans and Elfahdans. Beings from his galaxy were dying only because the Dorgonian rulers reached out to conquer other galaxies, because their urge for conquest led them to fly to other galaxies.

They didn't stand the slightest chance against the Dorgonans.

A structural disruption startled him. A ship had emerged from hyperspace. Another one followed. More and more ships materialized above the desert planet. Without identifying themselves, they headed for the Eagle ship and opened fire. Some ships were destroyed by the beams of the Eagle ship, but their sheer number was overwhelming.

“The strain on their shields is still zero,” the scanning officer yelled, “but the distortions are increasing!”

The grenade that Dean had hidden started pulsating more and more. Will's pikosyn had determined that the Dorgonian grenades would detect the force of any bombardment and the resulting space distortions. Although the defense shields were barely impacted by the bombardment, such an attack would not remain without consequences even for an Eagle ship. After all, energy producing units were working to maintain the extradimensional field. If the bombardment increased, those units started pulsating slightly. Even though these pulsations had no immediate effect, it was enough to activate the grenade. Slowly it aligned itself with the pulsing rhythm, and in doing so, it gradually reached the critical limit.

In the end, the bombardment had an effect that neither Will Dean nor anyone onboard the ships could have possibly imagined. Dorgonian technology caused the destruction of a Dorgonian ship. The grenade exploded and blew a mighty hole in the machine room, which was located in the lower part of the ship. It was not long before the machines responsible for the shields exploded. The artificial extradimensional field burst like a bubble, and the attacking force could suddenly impact the ship's hull. As the bombardment was sufficiently strong, a ferocious explosion destroyed the Dorgon ship in an instant.

The Eagle ship blossomed into a big ball of fire which slowly expanded, crumbled at the edges, and finally faded in the darkness of space.

14. The rescue

Energy beams hit the small space port of the station, missing the two Eagle remaining ships by only a fraction. One of the ships was destroyed in an explosion when several of the beams concentrated on it. The other ship was only slightly damaged by the time the Soman ships got the order to stop firing and deploy troops.

Elfahdans, Pterus, Ophalans, Drall, Versons, even a few snail creatures from Drynion assaulted the Dorgonian base side by side and fought their way into the compound.

Dorgonian power in Siom Som started to fall apart.

Zaracus saw that he could not defeat the superior forces of the attackers. He now knew that he would not be able to return to Dorgon after loosing this beachhead. His life was over. To avoid this disgrace, he put his blaster to his head and chose to end his life himself.

Now without their leader, the Dorgonans did not put up much of a fight and quickly surrendered. Anyone who did not surrender was shot on the spot.

It took only a few hours before the Dorgonian base was under the complete control of the Siom Som forces. Will Dean was unharmed and all the Dorgonans either captured or dead. Cheering could be heard throughout the corridors.

A screen lit up in front of Salaam Siin.

“Incoming message,” the security officer of the Siom Som informed him. “Origin unknown.”

At first, only static could be seen on the screen, then the image of a Pterus slowly appeared out of it. Salaam Siin jumped to his feet with a scream.

“Ijarkor!” he exclaimed.

The being on the screen smiled and greeted all present with a friendly smile.

“Ijarkor's Helpers welcome you,” the being on the screen, who should have been dead for many centuries, said. Was it really the former Eternal Warrior or was it just a projection used by someone to conceal his true identity?

The people on the ships fell silent. Everyone listened expectantly to what the Pterus had to say.

"For several centuries, people from Siom Som helped their fellow beings get over the damage caused by the terror of the Eternal Warriors. The name of one of the Eternal Warriors now stands for help in Siom Som.

However, our friends from the distant Milky Way galaxy need our help much more now. Therefore I ask every member of the Ijarkor's Helpers organization to go to Som in a spaceship. Go as a relief fleet with Sruel Allok Mok and his Siom Som to Dorgon and help our friends. The organization of the Eternal Warrior Ijarkor thus will be able to at least repay our friends from a distant galaxy to some extent in this way.

May peace be with you forever."

The speaker fell silent. For a few moments, the face of the Pterus could still be seen, then the picture went back to showing static again.

Salaam Siin broke the silence that had fallen upon the ships by clearing his throat. The singer faced Sam and nodded.

“I think you are right. The threat against Siom Som cannot be denied, and the people of the Siom Som galaxy have joined you. As long as this enemy still exists and tries to take over any galaxy that lies within its grasp, we can not ignore this threat. I will return to Som and talk to the Council, inform them of what we found out today. I am sure that when they see the images of the fighting ship and witness the brave intervention of Ijarkor's Helpers, they will not refuse to help Sam. I promise you I will do what I can to help the Galacticians. But first we should find out what made it possible to destroy the ship. Now let us return home.”

“Just a moment,” a voice suddenly said. It was the Terran Will Dean, entering the bridge with a big grin.

“Will,” Sam the Soman said with a faint smile. “I knew that they would not get you.”

“Oh, it was close enough. However, before we leave, you have to get me back to the desert. I would like to retrieve my Space-Jet.”

Grinning, he patted the pilot on the shoulder, who nodded enthusiastically and maneuvered the Siom Som to the indicated coordinates. Dean left the ship and brought back his jet. As the hangar doors closed behind him, he contacted the bridge.

“All set. We can go now,” was all he said.

He then told them why the ship had exploded. His pikosyn supplied additional information about the analysis of the Dorgonian grenades. Unfortunately, the former TLD agent had not been able to bring one of those grenades back. For the moment, the technology was not accessible to the Terrans. Perhaps they would have more luck in Dorgon.

Sam shook his head, then nodded towards the pilot. The Siom Som was the last ship to break Dune's orbit. The desert world quickly receded underneath them. Docked with the Siom Som was the lightly damaged Eagle ship that Salaam Siin wanted to take along for further analysis.

A few more energy spikes was detected in the system of the desert sun. Then things returned to normal. What remained were the ruins of the Dorgonian base. They would stay undisturbed for a long time.

THE END

For the moment, Sam and Will Dean have eliminated the Dorgonian threat in Estartu's sphere of influence. Whether the Somans, Ophalans, and Elfahdans will now help the Galacticians still remains uncertain.

The next episode will take us back to Dorgon, where Mathew Wallace is still a prisoner of the Dorgonans, but the goal appears to be in sight.

First Steps

is the title of episode 20, written by Dominik Hauber.

Traitor!

Triaz is dead. The Soman who had collaborated with the Dorgonans got his just deserts in the converter of his putative allies.

Allies … is it possible for a traitor to have allies at all?

As Zaracus said: “Traitors are not very welcome anywhere. They are useful. The bad thing about them is that if there are some on one side, there is a certain chance that there are some on the other side as well. People like you are needed, but you don't like them.”

This pretty much sums up the situation of an agent behind enemy lines: Who's to say that the agent is not a double agent?

The history of treason is a long one and is as full of cunning and secrecy as the rest of human history. Names such as Judas Ischariot or Mata Hari immediately come to mind—and the number of battles won by treason and sabotage is countless.

Employing an infiltrator, however, also means already allowing part of the enemy into one's own ranks—and the number of battles won by false information is probably just as high.

To get back to our situation—perhaps this could be a way for the Galacticians to bring down the superior Dorgonans—by planting one of their own behind Dorgonian lines …?

In this sense, let's enjoy what's to come!

Martin Schuster

Set in the Perry Rhodan universe, the Dorgon space adventure series is a non-commercial fan publication of the Perry Rhodan Online Club, Germany. Homepage: http://www.dorgon.net/. E-mail: dorgon@proc.org. Postal Address: Perry Rhodan Online Club, c/o Nils Hirseland, Redder 15, D-23730 Sierksdorf, Germany. Any income from printed versions of Dorgon is used solely to cover expenses. All rights in Dorgon are held by the Perry Rhodan Online Club, except as otherwise stated. The rights in each individual episode of Dorgon are held by the respective author, and the rights in any artwork created for Dorgon are held by the respective artist. All rights in PERRY RHODAN® and in all related characters and creations are owned by VPM. Dorgon is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in Dorgon are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Dorgon Episode 19 by Ralf König. Cover by: Gerd Schenk. Dorgon commentary by: Martin Schuster. Conversion to end formats: Alexander Nofftz. Generated by Xtory (SAXON, LaTeX). Copyright ® 2000-2002 Perry Rhodan Online Club. All Rights Reserved!