"Norton, Andre - Solar Queen 03- Voodoo Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

Asaki gave a muffled exclamation, slapped the com box, spoke more sharply into the mike. It was apparent
he was not getting the results he wanted. Then with a quick glance about he snapped an order:

"Strap in!"

His Terran companions had already buckled the wide webbing belts intended to save them from crash
shock. Dane saw the pilot push the button to release fend cushions. In spite of his pounding heart, a small
fraction of his brain recognized the other's skill as the Khatkan took a course to bring them down on a
relatively level patch of sand and gravel.

Dane raised his head from the shelter of his folded arms. The Chief Ranger was busy with the pilot, who
lay limply against the controls. Captain Jellico and Tau were already pulling at the buckles of their
protective crash belts. But one look at the front of the flitter told Dane that it would not take to the air again
without extensive repairs. Its nose was bent up and back, obscuring the forward view completely.
However, the pilot had made a miraculously safe landing considering the terrain.

Ten minutes later, the pilot restored to consciousness and the gash in his head bandaged, they held a
council of war.

"The com was off, too. I did not have a chance to report before the crash," Asaki put the situation
straightly. "And our exploring parties have not yet mapped this side of the range; it has a bad reputation
because of the swamp."

Jellico measured the heights now to their west with resigned eyes. "Looks as if we climb."

"Not here," the Chief Ranger corrected him. "There is no passing through the crater lake region on foot.
We must travel south along the edge of the mountain area until we do find a scalable way into the preserve
region."

"You seem very certain we are not going to be rescued if we stay right here," Tau observed. "Why?"

"Because I'm inclined to believe that any flitter that tries to reach us may run into the same trouble. Also,
they have no com fix on us. It will be at least a day or more before they will even begin to count us
missing, and then they will have the whole northern portion of the preserve to comb; there are not enough
men here--I can give you a multitude of reasons, Medic."

"One of which might be sabotage?" demanded Jellico.

Asaki shrugged. "Perhaps. I am not loved in some quarters. But there may also be something fatal to flitters
here as there is over Mygra. We thought the crater lake district safely beyond the swamp influence, but it
may not be so."

But you took the chance of traveling over it, Dane thought, though he did not comment aloud. Was this
another of the Chief Ranger's attempts to involve them in some private trouble of his own? Though to
deliberately smash up a flitter and set them all afoot in this wilderness was a pretty drastic move.
Asaki had started to unload emergency supplies from the flitter. They each had a trail bag for a pack. But
when the pilot staggered over to pull out a set of stass belts and Jellico began to uncoil them, the Chief
Ranger shook his head.