" Perry Rhodan 0103 - (95) The Plasma Monster" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

companions. We've become accustomed to these things and maybe it's a habit
that's to blame for not keeping Terrans up-to-date on what's going on. But
that's a task I'm handing over to you, Ballin. It's the reason why I had you
come to Terrania. OK, so here we are!" Rhodan landed the aircar in front of
the first of many towering telescope struts supporting the Drusus. He jumped
out with a lithe, limber movement and was 10 steps away before Ballin could
get into gear enough to follow him. Walt Ballin was completely disoriented and
felt like a gawking tourist here. He had never stood directly under a
superbattleship of the Solar Fleet before and now he couldn't quite get it
into his head that this colossus could actually move one centimetre off the
ground. The huge ramp of the ground lock might as well have been another city
street. The hatch door itself loomed like some mighty gate to Eternity. Then
came this vast tube-the antigravitor, which carried them aloft with startling
swiftness. "Better check your watch, Ballin." Rhodan's voice broke the bubble
of his fixation. "19:12 standard, sir," replied Ballin, still mentally at
sea. "Correct. In 2 minutes we take off. You'll have to excuse me just now
because I won't be able to watch after you for awhile, Ballin. Just keep your
eyes and ears open. Your job will begin when this operation is over with. Here
now-don't let it get to you so soon, Ballin!" But at that moment Ballin had
suddenly thought of a young woman named Yvonne Berclais, whom he had dated for
tonight at 20:00 o'clock at the Trois Poulardes in Paris. Ballin had
completely forgotten about the rendezvous! The antigravitor itself was a
scene of hurried emergency traffic in personnel. Several hundred men were
drifting upwards and downwards in transverse fields, each of them en route to
an assigned station. Ballin had noted the fact even as they entered the Drusus
that no one had even taken notice of the First Administrator's arrival or even
saluted him. All this plus the overwhelming impression the titanic ship had
made on him was momentarily forgotten as he remembered his date with
Yvonne. For the first time he could appreciate the meaning of the old saying:
to take one's heart in both hands. This he did now as he explained to Rhodan
what had skipped his mind during the turbulence of the day's events. Rhodan
grasped his arm firmly. "We get out here!" he said. Then they were suddenly on
the main level that led to the Control Central. "Are you saying you want to go
back, Ballin?" "No, but... but it isn't right, sir!" the newsman answered,
still in confusion. "Come along, Ballin. Naturally there's a way of handling
this. We have to go past the Communications Central, so you go in there and
ask for a connection to Paris. Here-this is the place. OK? Good luck,
Ballin!" Could Rhodan suspect that in this moment he had won anew
friend? "What a man!" Ballin." whispered. He watched Rhodan's departing
figure until it disappeared beyond the hatchway of the Control Central. He
was about to enter the Com Central when he suddenly froze. The Drusus was
thundering and bellowing. The great spacesphere, measuring 1500 meters in
diameter, was starting to take off. The mighty impulse engines in the
superbattleship's equatorial ring had been opened to full power and the hull
had begun to rumble in the grip of their unleashed forces. "Hello here, now
who are you?" Ballin heard a powerful masculine voice behind him, in fact
almost in his ear. Simultaneously he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to
stare into the freckled face of a man whom he had seen before. "Mr. Bell, I'm
Walt Ballin from the Europa News. The First Administrator has invited me to
come along on this flight of the Drusus." A pair of suspicious eyes flashed