1/ THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET The sun was a tiny speck of light, almost lost in the multitude of stars. It was exactly 27 light-years away. Sol was replaced now by a mighty glowing ball of incandescence. The blue-white rays of this unbelievable fire-giant scorched the surface of its inner planets. But the star Vega had enough planets to afford such a waste. The life zone of the system reached from the 7th to the 11th planet. A huge sphere of dull metal moved away from the new sun, beyond the orbit of the 9th planet, approaching the 10th world of Vega. The movements of the spacesphere revealed unmistakably that it was a mechanism manoeuvred by intelligent beings. At first glance, however, one could have mistaken the great globe for an artificial satellite, perpetually revolving around the Vegan sun, but the deliberate changes of course and velocity corrected the first impression. The sphere was the space vehicle of a technically highly developed race. The ship measured approximately 3,000 feet in diameter and humans were in command in its control centre. Human eyes observed the curved optical screens which were arranged with such expertise that they revealed every bit of surrounding space. As the electronic equipment hummed low, sheets of paper automatically recorded graphs. Slowly a schematic picture was created which held the attention of all present. "This appears to confirm your assumptions," one of the men said quietly. He was standing slightly apart from the rest and his height automatically drew attention to him. Although outwardly he resembled a human, he came from a far distant system of stars, the centre of the declining realm of the Arkonides. "What do you think of it, Perry?" Perry Rhodan turned around slowly, withdrawing his steady gaze from the graph. "We can't be sure yet if Lossosh?r's information is correct, Khrest, but we'll soon know. However, it is also possible that we are on the wrong track." Lossosh?r, a scientist from the 8th planet of the Vega system, made a hesitant move. He was the only one aboard the spacesphere whose appearance showed that he did not come from Earth. His small stocky figure indicated that his home world was one of far greater gravity. His bulging forehead served to protect his recessed eyes from the strong rays of the sun. His abundant head of hair served especially well to shield him from the high intensity of the Vegan sun's ultraviolet rays. "I have only noted an astronomic curiosity," said the Ferron as if apologizing. "You asked me about certain things and, I merely tried to help you." "Please don't misunderstand me," Rhodan responded in a conciliatory tone. "As you know, we came to this system because we want to find a planet which is situated in this part of space according to ancient sources. It is supposed to be circling around Vega as its 10th planet." Rhodan cast a glance at the graphing device and saw that it was now tracing the orbital path of the 39th planet. Vega had 42 planets and there were, therefore, only a few minutes left before finishing the map of the whole solar system. "As far as we can determine now, there is no life on the 10th planet. I will go further: there has never been any life whatsoever on this planet. We are going to try to solve this contradiction." A man stepped forward from the background pushing the two physicians Dr. Frank Haggard and Dr. Eric Manoli gently aside. His heavyset frame had a round, almost flat face with nearly colourless faded-blue eyes. His dull reddish hair stood on end like the bristles of a brush. He ignored the weak protests of the physicians and planted himself in front of Rhodan. "My dear commander, is it permitted that a little and insignificant assistant may voice an opinion? If so, I should like to state that there is no contradiction at all. The central data bank of the Arkonides mentions the 10th Planet of a system which is undoubtedly identical with Vega. Further, the data disclose that living beings who found the secret of cell conservation-and thereby eternal life-had made it their abode. Since we have now discovered that no animal life exists on this Planet, the only conclusion can be not that a contradiction is involved but, there is an error in the file. We are simply in the wrong constellation. Somewhere between here and Arkon must be another system similar to Vega. I am convinced of that!" Rhodan smiled enigmatically. He exchanged a quick glance with Khrest, winked at Thora, the beautiful Arkonide woman, then nodded to Lossosh?r. He regarded the sheet beneath the automatic drawing instrument which had just now finished tracing the orbit of the 42nd planet "I would like to agree with you, Reg, I really would. But there are a few little matters we have to consider. The Arkonides did not make a mistake 10,000 years ago. Their record is correct. The planet of eternal life did actually exist in the Vega system and did indeed revolve around its sun between the 10th and 11th planets." "Then what?" "Wait a minute, Reggie!" Rhodan admonished his eager friend. "We'll get to that right away. Since we have made up our minds to discover this world, we came to the Vega system. The Ferrons on the eighth planet could not give us any clues-or maybe they did not want to. Well, they admitted that they had some visitors 10,000 years ago who were travelling through space and who gave them matter-transmitters. They also mentioned that this alien race 'lived longer than the sun.' That was all. And all our guesswork is based on that. Yet those hints together with the details in the Arkonide data bank give us a definite picture. The home of these immortals is situated in, the Vega constellation. And now, come to think of it, in the light of two other facts, I should say: their home was here." Khrest nodded his head imperceptibly in the background. "What do you mean?" growled Bell. "Upon a renewed examination the file record mentions 43 planets, my friend. You too must have noticed that only 42 bodies are revolving around Vega. Therefore, we have to be in the wrong solar system. Furthermore, it is supposed to be the 10th planet. However, we do know that there was never any life there. It doesn't add up, does it? We have a discrepancy here. But Lossosh?r helped me with the solution of our problem. He divulged that there is a big gap between the ninth and 10th planets. His information agrees with the picture outlined by the automatic graphing Machine." He took the sheet of paper out of the machine. The hum of the electronic mechanism stopped. The radar telescopes were retracted in their housings; they had scanned all bodies encountered in the constellation, calculated the time of their revolutions, the distance from the sun and recorded all details. The result was an accurate map of the Vega system. "Will all of you, please, closely look at this map. It will answer at least the question why the right information can be wrong." Bell saved himself the trouble of looking at the sketch. "You don't think that??" "That is just what I mean! One planet is missing in the Vega system!" The interval between the ninth and 10th planets was great enough to imagine another planet between them. "How can you explain that?" asked Khrest. There was a glint in his reddish albino eyes. As one of the last descendants of a once mighty race whose degeneration had hastened the decline of the glorious empire of the Arkonides, he had placed all his hopes on discovering that civilization which had the secret of eternal life-or at least was said to possess it. The trail was obviously leading them here. And now it ended abruptly in empty space. "There is only one answer to this," observed Rhodan thoughtfully. "This planet, that once revolved around Vega, left the system unknown ages ago. That means the whole planet, including its inhabitants." "You've got to be kidding!" Bell protested gingerly. The idea was too much for him to swallow even though he had quite a fantastic imagination himself. "You can't remove a whole planet and put it someplace else just like that!" "You will be amazed, buddy," Rhodan predicted patiently. Then he pointed to the mapped out constellation. This makes it quite clear that we have lost the track. It ends right here in the empty gap between the ninth and 10th planets. The race of the immortals left without a trace. They want to keep their secret, at least that's what it looks like. But in reality they are willing to share it with a race which is their equal. We have evidence of this. The matter-transmitters of the Ferrons, which they neither constructed nor understand, are the beginning of a new trail. The immortals deliberately wanted to arouse the curiosity of a superior intellect, and only people who are capable of fifth-dimensional thought will be able to grasp the mode of operation of the matter-transmitters. That they made the first condition: the secret of eternal life is only for those with the capacity to understand the fifth dimension." "As if we could do that." mumbled Bell in disgust. "Our positronic brain can accomplish it for us," retorted Rhodan. "It has already shown us the way to the vault under the Red Palace." The government building of the Ferrons was located in the metropolis of Thorta, named after the ruler, the Thort. In the cellar was a vault, secured with a time lock, which contained the construction plans of the matter-transmitters. Rhodan had managed to remove these plans from the vault with the help of his Mutant Corps. "That vault," continued Rhodan, "will lead us to the way. It will probably require a chase through the universe and thousands of years to fi...
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