" Perry Rhodan 0051 - (43) Life Hunt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

For Thora’s sake, for Khrest’s, Rhodan had to know.

Had the Aras, those medical masters of the Galaxy, developed a life-prolonging serum many times more
effective than the Arkonide formula? If they had, if there actually was such a serum, Rhodan had to have
it.

But for the time being all he could do was sit in purgatory on this hell world, waiting until John Marshall
and Laury Marten at last approached their goal…




2/ A DANGEROUS OPERATION



ON THE Street of the Great Moh in the crowded centre of the city Trulan, the Springer named Ixt left
his luxuriously furnished office and unobtrusively entered the large, modernly equipped salesroom.

A robust Ara was dickering with two clerks. "That isn’t any kind of a fair price—that’s robbery! I could
buy gegerutavis for half that anywhere else. Look, friends, I’ll pay 180—agreed?"

"That’s fine—for one gegerutavi," said Futgris, Ixt’s best clerk, nodding to the angry Ara in a friendly
way.

"For thepair! " raged the Ara. "On Aralon they sell pairs for 40!"

Futgris grinned. "Of course! In fact, Aralon is where we get our gegerutavis, but don’t forget that Aralon
is about 10,000 light-years from Tolimon. We do have to pay for shipping, you know."

"This is outrageous!" stormed the Ara, hitting a cage with his fist for emphasis. The blow woke up one
of the hiobargulloos sleeping inside and set it to howling.

Startled, the Ara stepped back and stared at the cage from which the racket resounded. When the
hiobargulloo finally quieted down, he stammered: "What is that—some kind of merchandising gimmick to
lure the customers in so you can bilk them with your outrageous prices?"

Futgris answered coolly: "At 20 per, we’re selling hiobargulloos very cheaply. For 35 you can have the
pair. They drop litters 8 times a year, 6 offspring every time."

But the Ara was not without a sense of humour. Suddenly he grinned broadly. "Fine! I’ll take a pair! But
you might give me a guarantee that the little beasts will scream like that any time they’re scared."

"Oh," said Futgris reassuring him, "there’s nothing easier than that, sir. Don’t you know that in the natural
state these cold-blooded animals are quiet only when they’re asleep? In fact, we keep them lightly
drugged to insure their quietude, which is why they’re so still now. May I be so bold as to inquire what
sort of research you wish to use the hiobargulloos for?"

The Ara grinned even more broadly and rubbed his hands. "Research? Nothing of the kind! This is going
to be a gift: tomorrow is my mother-in-law’s birthday! Instead of a pair of melodiously singing