"Darlton, Clark - Heritage Of The Lizard People" - читать интересную книгу автора (Darlton Clark)
4/ RABOTAX VS. PUCKY page 66
S/ PUCKY'S PRIDE PERPLEXES page 80
6/ KNOCKOUT MISSION: MECHANICA page 97
PROLOG ON THE PLANET SNARFOOT, more than 33000 light-years from Earth, the Terrans had been able to trap and disable 2 alien spaceships: the spacescout which was used for locating suitable oxygen worlds for sowing of the so called "Fat-Moss" and the huge seedship with zillions of flying robots which heretofore had sown the "Seeds of Ruin". The Terrans under the leadership of Perry Rhodan discovered to
their surprise that their 2 opponents were robot creations and
strictly followed the orders of "constructors" who subsisted on
the spores of the blubbery lichen - or did so in ancient times,
because the present existence of the mysterious Constructors
is extremely doubtful, by all investigations which have been
undertaken.
The world of the Constructors is the planet Mechanica. Mechanica is a busy world, as the Terrans eventually discover, altho it has supported no organic life in eons. The Constructors were long ago extinct but the heritage of the lizard people is as active as ever - especially the mysterious harvestship which the Terrans would like to put to work for the benefit of humanity.
7
1/ ADVENTURE ON AZGOLA
It was listed in the star catalogs of the space-traveling races under the name of Azgos. Its 4 planets had never played a significant role and only the 2d had ever been inhabited by living beings. It was called Azgola but its inhabitants, the once spindly Azgons, had been evacuated. This turn of events put Azgola in the focal point of attention of many galactic power groups. Now the heretofore little noticed planet far from the centers of conflict had become a touchstone of human intelligence because Azgola was destined to be the proving ground for determining the superiority of human beings over robots.
Rhodan's expeditionary fleet circled the system at a respectable distance. The Administrator himself was aboard the battlecruiser Sirius of the Solar class. He was accompanied by Reginald Bell and several mutants. The final review of the situation was arranged so that the commanders of the other units could take part by telecom.
Perry Rhodan recapped the prior events in a short outline for the purpose of acquainting with the facts all those who had been absent before. It was an essential precaution to make clear the imminent action to the fullest extent.
Rhodan paused for a moment and gazed thoughtfully at the array of little picture screens in the command center of the Sirius. Each showed a face-trustworthy and highly determined. One of the faces was most remarkable because of its large size, the face of Col. Jefe Claudrin, Commander of the superbattleship Ironduke. He exhibited a confident grin.
Rhodan cleared his throat. "Don't be overly optimistic, Claudrin," he warned in an unusually serious tone. "We won't, win this contest with the power of our war materiel. It will not be decided by our technical skill but by the power of our logic. We are dealing with an opponent whose positronic brain is far superior to ours. All will be in vain if we make the slightest mistake. I repeat once more so that everybody will be aware of the historical background: an extinct race, probably lizards, lived on the planet Mechanica, more than 50,000 lightyears from the stellar cluster M-13. Their metabolism was distinctly different from our own. They did not take food in the same manner we do but lived from spores which they ingested thru their lungs and probably breathed in thru their skin as well. In order to obtain a sufficient supply of food they sent out robotships. They used 3 ships to do the job: The Scout to discover suitable planets, the Seedship with the spores as a cargo and the Harvestship, which has so far eluded us. We have already been able to find the scout and the planter and disposed of them. Now we are awaiting the arrival of the harvester. It should return to the Azgola system, provided we succeeded in operating the abandoned switch station on Mechanica in the correct manner and have transmitted the appropriate radio signals."
Rhodan paused once more. He knew that his men were waiting for his orders to start on their missions but the time had not yet come. "The lizards, who probably died out thousands of years ago, have created a gigantic civilization of robots. Those 3 ships were part of their heritage. The 2 most important ones have now been disabled and the danger of further epidemics eliminated but we also have to capture the harvestship in order to undo the damage they have caused. What happens to be good for one is not beneficial to one and all. The lizards sustained themselves with the spores of lichen whose seeds were sowed on planets with warm climates by the planting ship. The lichen grows quickly and requires no care. It blooms virtually without interruption and emits spores of microscopical size which are neither poisonous nor harmful as such: Their nutritional value is beyond belief. Breathing these spores provides extremely efficient nutrition but the deposition of fat within a few days is so excessive as to cause obesity which in the long run proves to be fatal. Nobody is able to resist this excess of fat as long as they must breathe. For this reason our scientists have picked the simple name of `fat-moss' for this exotic plant."
Noticing that one of his commanders grimaced slightly, Rhodan raised his voice. "I relaize that the gentlemen of the officer corps never had to fight a case of overfeeding in our history but this most incredible thing has now happened. We were forced to evacuate the 2 million inhabitants from the Azgola planet. The Azgons had become so fat that they could hardly move. We had no other choice than evacuation because we are still in the dark about the harvesting method of the extinct lizards. Presumably the' moss is sensitive to cold temperatures and is destroyed below 10° C. However Azgola has a subtropical climate where the blubbery lichen proliferates and can't be weeded out. Of course it would be feasible to accomplish this now that the planet has been evacuated but it would mean that we can't use Azgola as a trap for the harvest- ship. This could cause the loss of Arkon 2 because the team of scientists who was assigned to study the lichen was so careless as to infest Arkon with the spores. The first effects are already visible. Vast stretches of the industrial planet's land are already covered by the moss and the Arkonides living there are beginning to get fat."
"Will it be necessary to evacuate Arkon 2?" Claudrin inquired in a booming voice.
"That is impossible," Rhodan shook his head. "Arkon 2 is much too important for the stellar empire of Atlan. Besides it could not be avoided that the spores of the fat-moss would be spread wherever they go. As useful as this plant is, it can turn into a scourge if it is not controlled. And we do not yet know how to control its deleterious defects. Nor do we know as yet how to harvest the spores and use them to best advantage. We can learn this only from the missing harvestship and that's why we are here and waiting. Furthermore, let me tell you a little more about the planet Mechanica. We located it by using the calculations of Arkon's robot Brain that evaluated the radio impulses of the 2 spaceships we have captured. It is an arid and cold planet and the robot civilization created by the lizards still exists - at least partly. We called the harvestship from the central station on the planet. The ship is waiting somewhere in space for orders which planet to visit next. We gave it the coordinates of Azgola. As soon as the harvestship arrives, the central station at Mechanica must be destroyed. This will be your job, Claudrin! You will stay on Arkon 3 till I give you the order to proceed." "I'll be ready, sir," Col. Jefe Claudrin replied from a distance of more than 8000 light-years. Rhodan continued: "We also found a clue on Mechanica how the lizards got their food and how the spores of the blubber moss can be adapted for human consumption in the future. Artificial suns were shining in huge glasslike cupolas which served as diningrooms for the lizards where they collected the spores. Later, when the planet became too cold, the harvestship brought the crops from the seeds planted on other planets into these cupolas. Then came a time when the ship failed to arrive and the lizards all perished."
"And why didn't the harvestship return?" somebody asked.
"We don't know. Perhaps it was due to some mechanical breakdown or the scoutship was unable to find suitable planets. Besides, we can't be certain that the absence of the harvestship was the real cause for the demise of the lizards. We don't know enough about it. But we are sure of one thing: we must find the harvestship in order to save Arkon. That's why we have embarked on this mission. We'll have to outwit an opponent who died long ago but whose heritage survives in the form of robots. The ship itself is a robot. Its crew - if there is one - consists of robots as well. If we succeed in building a transmitter station - and we are now making this effort on Terra - we can direct the harvestship to go to any point we choose. And this will make it more convenient for us to include the fat-moss in our nutrition."
Rhodan noticed some movement at his side. The mousebeaver Pucky had sat on a chair in the background. Now he had slipped down and waddled over to Rhodan. "How does this rubber moss taste?" he was interested to know. "Can it also be eaten? I have no desire to breathe it!"
"His gluttony takes the cake," Reginald Bell murmured from his corner. Pucky lifted a warning finger in his direction, causing Bell to swallow all further commentary.
"You can try it, shorty." Rhodan replied. "You'll soon get a chance when you go to Azgola."
Pucky shuddered. "Me - to Azgola? There's not a living being left..."
"Precisely!" Rhodan interrupted him quickly. "Let me present my plan before you complain. Then you can raise your objections if you still feel like it. Alright?"
When Pucky nodded without another word, Rhodan continued his briefing. "The harvestship - meaning the robot - must not be allowed to become suspicious. For this reason we keep all our ships away from the immediate vicinity. Only 3 teleporters - Pucky, Ras Tschubai and Tako Kakuta - will go to Azgola and wait for further telepathic instructions. That's all for now: We can only hope that the harvestship can be deceived by us and come soon. If not . . ."
The faces on the picture screens looked silently at Rhodan. The men began to realize how such a good thing as the nutritious spores undoubtedly were could turn into a danger. They could change the approach to nutrition for the entire Galaxy and facilitate their agricultural policy. But as long as the spores could not be properly gathered and their distribution expertly evaluated they remained the objects of deep concern.
The picture screens faded. A few minutes later a connection was made with Atlan, who was in charge of the operation on Arkon. The face of the Arkonide Imperator looked troubled and showed lack of sleep. "What's the situation there, Atlan?"
"Serious, Perry. "I've put Arkon 2 under quarantine. Nobody is allowed to leave the planet and we can already feel the effect of this measure as Arkon 2 is the hub of our trade and the seat of our industry. However we were able to avoid a panic. The physicians are trying to cure the growing obesity and neutralize the forced feeding by inhaling the spores. They have had some success and managed to slow down the rate of fattening."
"Excellent," Rhodan expressed his satisfaction. "There must be a way of compensating the excess of carbohydrates by increasing the energy conversion of the body."
"Don't overestimate the limited possibilities of our scientists," Atlan warned, unconvinced. "The spores contain almost 80% of highly potent fats which are deposited immediately and completely in the body. The chemical combustion in the human body generates the equivalent of 9.6 calories for each gram of fat. The remainder of 20% is composed of carbohydrates and protein. The only critical substances are the fats, and we have to deal with those."
"First of all we have to get the harvestship," Rhodan replied firmly. "It should be the best way to solve our problem. As soon as we learn the right method of harvesting the spores, Arkon will be saved. And so will be the other planets where the lichen grows and whose populations can't be evacuated. So far we don't know how many other worlds have been planted by the seedship. The spores could spread like a plague thruout the Galaxy. If we can capture the harvestship intact we must be prepared to deploy it wherever it becomes necessary. You will have to be patient, Atlan. It would have been too great a risk to bring the harvestship first to Arkon 2. The Robot knows that the seedship never worked there."
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