" Perry Rhodan 0029 - (22) Fleet of the Springers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

was still trying to reach the forward end with Khrest. "Energy capsules for
gravity weapons," one man announced. "Storeroom for gun repair parts,"
another reported. Rhodan muttered softly. "I figured that the most important
departments are located up front," Khrest heard him say. They reached a spot
where the corridor became twice as wide. Hatches lead into all
directions. Rhodan called two of the men who had gone through several rooms
and found nothing of interest. "Take the left side," he told them. "Khrest and
I will inspect the right half." The first room Rhodan entered appeared to be
the navigation section of the hostile ship. Rhodan recognized a number of the
instruments and saw a few with which neither he nor Khrest were familiar. The
two soldiers informed him they had found a battle station and probably also
the control centre of the ship. Rhodan instructed them to look for written
records and quickly explained to them that Springer books consisted of little
stacks of plastic strips held together at one end. A few minutes later one of
the two called with the greatest excitement: "I've found a body in here,
sir!" Rhodan interrupted his search and ran with Khrest to the room from
which the message had come. The soldier had turned the bright cone of his
lamp on a hulking figure lying motionlessly on the floor. The dead man was
clad in his spacesuit but his helmet was not closed and he apparently had died
as a result of the implosion following the Stardust's disintegrator
shot. "Tall and robust," Rhodan murmured. "Built for stronger gravitation. A
Springer!" Khrest turned away. The sight was too unpleasant for him. He
examined the room further with his own searchlight. Khrest began to wonder
why the Springers had neglected to order the closing of all spacesuits at the
beginning of the battle. They must have been out of their mind. How could it
happen on a warship that a member of the crew could be caught by surprise with
his helmet open, letting the air for breathing escape? This puzzle occupied
Khrest's mind so much that he paid no attention to the long metal box standing
against the side of the room. Finally he glanced at it again and became
horrified. His eyes bulged in fright. Rhodan and the soldier continued to
examine the body of the Springer. Khrest was the first to feel the gentle
pull of the returning gravity. A few seconds passed before he was able to
control his shock and utter a cry of warning. "Look out!" Rhodan wheeled
around-the searchlight in his left hand and the little thermo-beamer ready to
shoot in his right. "What is it?" Khrest pointed weakly to the narrow box.
"There! A gravity time-bomb!" .... The girls regained consciousness at about
the same time. Felicita began to cry again after she realized how precarious
their situation had become. In the meantime Tiff had managed to stop the
rotation of the little craft, the spin produced by the impact of the last hit.
The destroyer now flew with a speed of about 12,000 miles per second, using
the blue satellite of Beta-Albireo as reference point as it was closest to the
vehicle. The course was at a right angle to the direction in which the
destroyer had moved away from the K-7. The retardation of the gyration had
cost more energy. If it was possible at all to find a place for landing, it
would have to have a dense atmosphere for aerodynamic flight or a surface
gravity of less than one G. In any case, the best they could expect was a
crash-landing without any guarantee that they would be spared from
injury. Eberhardt and Hifield tried to determine what kept the hypercom from
functioning and soon found the cause. The converter aggregate had been
demolished by the shot. The converter aggregate had a three-dimensional input