"Darlton, Clark - Heritage Of The Lizard People" - читать интересную книгу автора (Darlton Clark)

"Come down!" the African called. "This island is a beautiful paradise. It's surrounded by water like my native home where we had dense forests like this and unexplored rivers."
"Make yourself at home, Ras." Pucky replied and jumped down. "This is more to my liking."
Tako slowly climbed down the tree and dropped the last 2 meters into the soft moss. He examined it and frowned. "Blubber moss!" he snorted, disgusted. Pucky bent down and tore out a clump of the succulent plant. He sniffed it with suspicion and pronounced his judgment. "It doesn't smell of anything. I would have to starve from hunger to eat this stuff."
Ras looked at him curiously. "Aren't you hungry?" he inquired.
"No," Pucky replied. "Perry was apparently right that nobody is hungry on Azgola. How about you, Ras? You have a well-earned reputation for eating double portions of food. How about a nice steak?"
"No appetite," Ras declined. "I feel as if I had just eaten half a cow."
"That's about the way I feel, too," Tako confirmed patting his stomach contentedly. "The air of this world is very nourishing. A breath of air makes me feel pleasantly
full."
"Wait a little," Pucky growled, and waddled toward the bank of the nearby river. "When you start getting fat you'll change your tune."
"I can stand a few more pounds," Tako reminded him "better than you."
This had been a sore spot with Pucky for some time. In spite of his vegetarian diet he was inclined to be a little pudgy and each additional pound would be noticeable. He was extremely worried about his sleek lines and anxious to retain his privilege of calling others "fatso" . It would have been a devastating blow to his vanity to be called such a name by Reginald Bell of all people.
The stream contained cool and clear water. They enjoyed a refreshing dip and decided to stay on the island. Since the planet was unpopulated they carried no weapons. Neither did they have any other equipment, provisions or radios. The latter could not have been used anyway because the harvestship had the advantage of very sensitive receivers.
When they finally settled down in a warm groove in the sand and watched the sun go down, Ras suggested: "Can you get in touch with Marshall or Betty or is it too far away?"
Pucky sighed condescendingly. "You'll never learn, Ras. The distance doesn't matter too much in telepathy. Of course it does play a certain role but only because it lessens the chances of picking up and directing the impulses. If I can get in touch with Betty? Well, let me see."
He leaned back on the pad of moss and closed his eyes. His 2 friends watched him intently and were careful not to disturb his concentration. They surmised that the practice was a severe strain on the mousebeaver.
All of a sudden Pucky flinched. He opened his eyes and bared his incisor when he received the message from the invisible speaker many light-hours away. "Splendid," Pucky said in a loud voice so that the 2 men could hear him. "We landed alright. Tako was hanging in the tree like a ripe prune. We're feeling as fine as after a firstclass meal. When is the harvestship expected to come?"
He listened again and his face became apprehensive. Covering his incisor he nodded and looked in astonishment at his 2 friends. "Orders from Perry Rhodan," he satisfied their understandable curiosity. "He wants me to save my strength. I wonder why, don't you?"
"Probably for the reducing cure you'll have to take later," Tako ribbed Pucky. Ras laughed and ignored the scowling looks of the mousebeaver. "Orders are orders," he declared. "I haven't slept under the open sky in ages."
"Do you want to live like a savage?" Pucky growled, still infuriated.
They kept their tongues and enjoyed the sight of the sinking sun. The Azgos star dipped behind the dark-green roof of leaves which covered the primeval forest from the other side of the river to the horizon. Soon it turned dark. There were only a few stars shining in the firmament between the clouds.
"How beautiful!" Ras waxed enthusiastic. He was more in harmony with nature than most people and enjoyed the night in the open air as a special treat. But Pucky and Tako were not completely spoiled by civilization. They also admired the beauty and grandeur of nature, especially as the mosquitoes were satiated by the fatmoss. They nodded silently. Then they huddled closer together and tried to sleep.
Pucky woke up in the middle of the night. Something was wrong, he felt. Then he noticed that his fur was soaking wet. It was raining. It took a couple of minutes until his eyes became adjusted to the dark. Ras and Tako lay peacefully sleeping. The rain did not seem to bother them. It was still warm. The climate made the lichen grow like weeds.
The mousebeaver began to wonder if the Azgons had left anything behind in Timpik, such as blankets or tents. He pondered the idea for awhile without waking his friends, then decided to take a look for himself.
He knew on which continent the Gazelle had put them down and that the deserted capital was more than 2000 kilometers away. Of course he would not be able to find the city with his first jump but this did not matter to him.
Pucky concentrated in the direction of the city and dematerialized. When he was able to see again, he stood in the middle of a wide plain in foot-high grass which was smothered in many spots by the lichen. Two more jumps took him to the ocean and from there it was easy to find the city because he had the foresight to observe the topography of Azgola on his flight in the Gazelle.
The civilization of the Azgons was about 200 years behind that of the Terrans. They had steam-plants, electricity, sailboats and even airplanes with remarkably efficient propulsion systems. Thus Pucky was little surprised to notice that the street illumination still functioned. The lamps were burning in the main streets, altho a little weak and apparently with diminishing energy. However the dim light was sufficient for the purpose of the mousebeaver.
A dead city is one of the eeriest sights one can experience. The reasons are psychological because a city means life, traffic and activity. This is the scene with which one is so familiar. All thru the night one encounters automobiles or late homecomers but in a dead city one gets the lonely feeling of being an outcast.
Pucky stood motionless and took in the silence. In the forest, on the island or on the plain he was not disturbed by the silence but here...
The street was lined by stores on both sides. Some were completely stripped of their displays and others were in such a disarray as to leave the impression that only the most valuable merchandise had been removed. There were also broken shop windows and looted stores. Pucky had fun on his "shopping spree". If the Azgons had not become so phlegmatic when they gained such terrible overweight, they would have emptied their stores before leaving their homes instead of abandoning most of their possessions. The mousebeaver soon found a wellstocked department store.
Pucky had a very adaptable nature. With his gift for enjoyment he desired to turn his involuntary stay on the deserted planet into a pleasant vacation trip. This did not run counter to Rhodan's intentions, whose only concern was to know that the teleporters were ready when needed. What they did before the ship arrived was of no consequence to him.
The mousebeaver rummaged thru 4 floors till he finally found what he was looking for. He carefully wrapped up the various goods in a big bundle. Now he knew the location of his destination and it was a simple matter for him to reach the spot on the island with a single teleportation jump.
Tako and Ras were still asleep altho they were half submerged in warm water. However it had stopped raining and the first stars peeked again from the torn clouds. Everything would be fine as soon as the sun would shine once more in the morning.
Contrary to his original intention Pucky let the 2 men sleep and bedded himself down on his bundle to get a few hours of undisturbed rest.
Sleeping in the primeval forest on a small island surrounded by the warm clear water of a stream was a vacation his romantic heart had yearned for. By the time he fell asleep he had almost forgotten all about the harvestship.

* * * *

But it was uppermost in Rhodan's mind.
After receiving the confirmation that his 3 mutants had landed safely on Azgola, there was little to do but wait. He used the time to catch up on his sleep. Then he contacted the ships of his fleet to consult with the commanders, impressing on them to remain constantly on guard. The structure sensors were activated at all times as it was assumed that the harvestship would cover the great distance by hyper-jumps.
Atlan had nothing new to report. The situation on Arkon 2 was as serious as ever but no catastrophe had occurred. In the beginning the Arkonides had put on a tremendous amount of weight but now the disagreeable process had slowed down. One aspect of the misfortune that made the economic situation easier was that they did not have to ship any food to Arkon 2. It enabled them to maintain the quarantine 100%. Rhodan assured Atlan that he would advise him without delay when the harvestship appeared.
Next Rhodan talked to Col. Jefe Claudrin. The native of Epsal exercised enormous patience. Altho his voice still boomed powerfully, he behaved with remarkable restraint. He already knew the planet Mechanica which he had visited together with Rhodan. The second visit would be much simpler. His mission was clear: destroy the control station of the extinct race so that the harvestship cannot receive its instructions. But Rhodan ordered him to wait.
After concluding these calls Rhodan met with Bell in the command center. John Marshall and Betty Toufry joined them a few seconds later when they received Rhodan's telepathic request.
"How's our trio getting along on Azgola?" Rhodan inquired.
Marshall looked at Betty, who hesitated with her answer.
"How are they doing?" Rhodan repeated.
Bell's ears perked up because Betty looked more embarrassed than worried. "They treat it as a vacation, sir," she finally said reluctantly.
"What did you say? Vacation?" Rhodan stared at Betty. "Unbelievable!"
Betty nodded. "Yes. That's how Pucky put it. He got himself a tent and a canoe from the evacuated city. He paddles around in the canoe all day long and "explores" the neighborhood. He hardly gives the harvestship a thought."
"Is that so?" Rhodan mused, gazing at the control panel of the battleship as if it could give him some advice. "That's what he does."
"You can't blame Pucky, sir," Betty defended her friend. "You told him to wait for further instructions. I keep in constant touch with him and he'll break off his "vacation" the minute the harvestship comes in."