"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0091 - (83) Ernst Ellert Returns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

In his silent despair he hoped that they would not be bringing up a corpse...


10 ADVENTURES FROM NOW
Clark Darlton tells of the
Vagabond of Space








3/ IN THE SHADOW OF JUDGMENT

Cold and merciless eyes looked down at Onot.
Behind a long, elevated table sat 12 judges in fiery red robes. Farther behind them at a raised podium was the Superior Judge, who was simultaneously the prosecutor and chief counsel. Onot felt small and insignificant as he looked into the pitiless eyes of his accusers. He was forced to stand before them between two armed Druufs who looked at him grimly. Behind him he could hear the noises of the spectators-high personalities in the ranks of science and politics. His trial had excited considerable interest.
"I repeat," said the Superior Judge in cutting tones which could not have been registered in human ears, "what do you say to the charges which have been preferred against you? Do you plead guilty?"
"No!" retorted Onot and it was of his own free will. Ellert must not have been prompting him at the moment, even though he was no doubt on his guard. It had been inevitable that Onot's alert mind should have discovered some of his secrets, which he was not supposed to reveal under any circumstances. "As the indictment stands, I plead not guilty!"
The Superior Judge nodded as though he had expected as much. "Then I call upon the witness, Brodak."
Onot thought he remembered someone named Brodak. Wasn't he the assistant who had been in the auxiliary computer section near his secret laboratory? What could he know about any of this?
A Druuf was, led into the hall and brought before the judges. He seemed quite prepared to do everything possible to destroy Onot.
"On the day when the computer centre in the capital was destroyed," declared Brodak, "I saw Onot at our computer section near the desert. He was coming from the underground tramway and he was in a great hurry. An hour before that time the enemy robots had penetrated into the Central and destroyed it. Strangely, Onot had had time to escape. Since the raid was too swift, no one else had been able to get away. But Onot managed to escape-which is proof that, he knew about the attack."
There was a murmur and movement among the spectators. The judges put their heads together.
Triumphantly Brodak continued. "We now know that the robots broke in by means of the matter transmitter. It had been switched on to a receiving mode-exactly for the time of the raid. And by none other than Onot!"
The ensuing tumult was indescribable. Onot heard threatening shouts and shuddered. If it were left up to the spectators he would have been torn asunder on the spot.
The Superior Judge pounded for order. "What say you, Onot?"
Ellert concentrated his strength and forced Onot to answer: "It's a cheap lie! An intrigue against me! I did no such thing!"
"May I remind the defendant that every murderer protests his innocence? Now prove it!"
"No!" shouted Onot. "What is more to the point, can you prove my guilt?" For a few seconds Ellert had been off his guard because he had been confident of his control. Onot reared up mentally against the inner restriction. "Naturally I turned on the transmitter but allow me to explain..."
The Superior Judge appeared to be somewhat perplexed. First the traitor lied, then he confessed to the crime. Where could one begin with such testimony, since it had the earmarks of outside influence?
Ellert had fought Onot back under control. The Druuf added: "Of course I retract that! I don't know what made me confess to a deed that I did not commit!"
"Why will you not obey me?" asked Ellert. His struggle to hold on was like a physical pain. "It would be better for you if you did."
But Onot fought stubbornly against his mental coercion. "I am not the criminal here," he shouted, "but rather it is the voice inside of me! It forces me..."
"The voice?" interrupted the Superior Judge, casting his colleagues a significant glance. He began to see the defendant's developing line of defence. "What voice is that?"
This time Ellert was on the alert. He made Onot answer: "Voice, opinion, whatever... that's what I call those who are envious of me. They accuse me of things I have never done. I insist that I am innocent. I have given my people many valuable inventions..."
"We will give this favourable consideration, Onot," said the judge with a curiously benevolent tone. "However, I believe that a frank confession on your part would considerably improve your situation."
By now Ellert realized that he couldn't continue to keep Onot under control without any letup. He could only manage it spasmodically over small intervals and in between he had to release Onot's mind. But perhaps this very alternative could be converted by a smart manoeuvre whereby his weakness could serve as a weapon...? If Onot could be thrown into self-contradictions, admitting his guilt in one breath and then denying it moments later, this would have to confuse the judges and the spectators.
He left Onot to his own resources.
"It was this voice that ordered me to turn on the transmitter. But I would not have done it, regardless, if it had not exerted its power over me. I could not defend myself, I couldn't resist. It took over my body and directed my nerves and muscles... It was this thing which guided my hands and forced me to activate the transmitter."
Onot fell silent, exhausted for the moment. He had hurried with his confession because he had feared he would be cut off. To his great surprise, however, he was not obstructed by his eerie foe. So before the judge could interject a remark he continued.
"It is a disembodied entity of some kind which has found a new home within me, using me as a host. It is not of this world but from a planet that is many light years distant. Just now it's lost its power and governs me no more. Its world is..." He broke off as Ellert moved in Again. Onot must not reveal too much. The spectators were thus amazed when Onot continued: "Don't listen to me, friends. I'm talking pure rubbish. Everything I've just said is not true. I am not a traitor."
The Superior Judge lost his patience. "Onot, you are attempting to deceive us with a pretended nervous breakdown. It will avail you nothing. In one moment you confess and then in the next you deny everything you've said. A voice-pah! Can we see this voice of yours?"
"It is invisible and everywhere, Your Honour! Even now it is in this room." Without pausing, Onot added: "Often I imagine that this voice is real and that it is inside my brain."
"Alright, alright!" interrupted the judge. He motioned to a court bailiff. "Have the medical examiners check into this claim of Onot's. Witness Brodak will not be needed further. The defendant is to be taken to his cell. This session is hereby suspended until the results of examination have been submitted to the Court."
Onot protested bitterly as the two guards took him between them.
But Ellert knew he would not be able to hold out under the forthcoming medical investigation-not without a miracle!

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