"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0002 - (1b) The Third Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"Okay, Perry, weТll talk of other things later on."Reg caught Perry at the exit hatch. "ThereТs some interference with our radio reception. Perry, I canТt pick up the United States. There must be some extremely powerful broadcasting station very near us. This guy speaks English with an accent and says we shouldnТt do anything, since the rescue action is already underway.""Rescue action!" Perry exclaimed. "What a pleasant expression for what the Chinese no doubt have in mind for us. Tell them that we donТt need any help."Reg did not reply. He looked past Perry. Far away, beyond the river, close to the chain of mountains, a cloud of dust rose slowly toward the sky and settled over the desert like a slightly duty blanket. What seemed to be tiny dots were approaching the salt lake.

Perry followed the direction of his friendТs gaze."Ha! Here we are. Here they come; thereТs a helicopter."The slender body of the helicopter was shining brand new in the bright sunlight, its whirring rotors hardly distinguishable from the naval vibration of the heated air. The sand below the helicopter was whirled up by its descent as it landed about 300 feet from the Stardust.

"Reg, you will remain here. Take one of the hand radiators and wait until I give you a signal. Maximum intensity. IТm going out to meet them.""ButЕ!""No buts. They want us alive. ThereТs no danger."Reg disappeared, returning some five seconds later. In his hand he clutched a silvery rod with a multifaceted lens at one end. A small red button on its side could be moved up and down a slide or pushed in wherever needed.

Perry nodded briefly and descended the ladder, walking toward the helicopterТs landing site. Two men in the uniform of the army of the Asiatic Federation bad disembarked from the vehicle. They studied him curiously as he approached.The pilot of the helicopter remained in the cabin, his bands nervously clasping the stock of a heavy machine gun.

Perry smiled as though he were feeling sorry for them. WouldnТt they be surprised!The two officers came forward. They spoke English with hardly any trace of accent. "We are so pleased that you made a safe landing!" said one of the officers, the one with the gold bars. "I am Marshal Roon, commander in chief of the land based forces of our PeopleТs Republic, and this is Major ButaТan.""Perry Rhodan," said Perry, inclining his head slightly "What brings you here, if I may ask?"

Both officers were so nonplussed that they were incapable of uttering a single sound. They exchanged hasty glances and eyed the space pilot who they thought was in need of help. Perry smiled obligingly "ItТs very nice of you to try to help us, but itТs really quite useless. IТd give the same answer to an officer of the American or the Soviet army, if that puts your mind at ease.""I donТt quite understand what you mean," Roon admitted, smoothing out the wrinkles that had accumulated in his trousers from sitting so long in the helicopter. "You made an emergency landing, did you not? You need our help. Or can you start under your own power?""And if that were the case?"

"Inasmuch as you have already trespassed on our territory, we would have to forbid that."

Perry smiled. "Well, now youТre getting to the heart of the matter. YouТre really less concerned with helping us than with claiming us for salvage. Very well thought out. But We have not landed here to become your prisoners."Roon felt ready to lose his temper, but a warning glance from the major was sufficient to calm him, and he regained his composure at once. The major seemed to have some strange influence over the leader of the army.

"Who said anything of the Sort, that we might wish to limit your freedom of movement? But of course, we will have to examine your rocket, to make certain no photographs were taken over Asiatic Federation territory."

"We have even photographed the whole Earth from the moon. Do you want to forbid that, too? DidnТt your moon rocket take any pictures?"The two shared a quick glance.

"Our moon rocket was destroyed shortly after take-off, through sabotage. Or havenТt you heard?"Perry was honestly shaken. He had always considered the conquest of space to be the task of mankind as a whole. He knew that the barriers between nations would fall only when there far greater barriers of space forced them to. For him there existed no differences of race and nationality; for him there were only human beings, Earthmen. Even to his enemy, if he had one, he would not have begrudged a successful flight to the moon. Thus it was a heartfelt sentiment when, on impulse, he stepped toward the marshal and offered his hand.

"IТm very sorry, but I had no idea. Saboteurs?"Roon overlooked the hand extended to him. "It canТt be explained any other way. Our most capable scientists made an inspection of the rocket before takeoff and could find nothing wrong with it. Yet at an altitude of about sixty miles, the ship disintegrated completely.""There are a thousand possible causes for such a failure," stated Perry, and slowly let his hand drop. "You have no evidence of sabotage."

"A hireling of the Western Bloc had concealed himself on board the ship and tampered with the reactor."

"Rubbish," Perry said sharply. "You canТt excuse your own failure with such rationalization." He was quite annoyed with the insulting suspicions of the Asiatics. He noted that Roon was not Chinese but had possibly come from India or Indonesia. "No one from our side would have the least interest in preventing your flight to the moon; but thereТs no sense in talking about it any more. What do you want from us?"For the first time the major addressed Perry. "Did you land here voluntarily?" he wanted to know.

The question was directly to the point. Perry decided to answer in the same straightforward fashion. "Yes. We could just as well have landed in the Sahara or in the United States."

"And what made you land here, of all places?"

"We have our reasons. In the future, I must ask you to regard this domain as the frontier of a neutral power, even though it is situated in your sovereign territory. You donТt need the desert; therefore, this wonТt cause you any economic inconveniences. We assure you that we shall respect your borders and make no intervention in your internal affairs. We shall even undertake direct negotiations with your government, if necessary. As for you, Marshal Roon, IТd like to recommend the recall of those troops already on their way here to seize an American moon rocket as a booty. Is that clear?"Major ButaТan had stepped back, his right hand on the stock of his pistol. His lips were firmly drawn together. Something was flickering in his eyes.Marshal Roon, on the other hand, was much more in control of himself. He smiled with disarming courtesy. "You are joking, Mr. Rhodan! It is our lawful right to inspect any and all aircraft that land in our territory. In case there should be no cause for suspicion, we will release it as soon as possible. That so-called neutral power I will overlook as a bad joke."

"ThatТs up to you. IТve given you fair warning. And now, goodbye. IТm sure weТll be running into each other again, on some other occasion.""Just a moment." Major ButaТan had raised his weapon and aimed it at Perry. It was a large calibre pistol that used high explosive shells, a bit old-fashioned, but still effective, especially at such short range.Perry folded his arms over his chest. He could sense how, at about eighty yards behind him, Reg was itching to try out the ray gun. He would surely have done so long before now, had Perry not remained in the direct line of fire.

"Yes?"

"You are a spy, Mr. Rhodan. Your moonship is nothing but an outpost for the Americans, who landed you here on purpose. A military base, if you wish. At first we hoped that we could be lenient with you, because we believed you were in difficulty. But we have seen through you. We how what your designs are, and we shallЕ""DonТt make any promises you wonТt be able to keep," Perry warned. "The Americans are just as surprised as you are that we landed in this place. TheyТre just as ignorant of our intentions. We would send them off, just the same, if they tried to approach us. Is that finally clear? All right, then. Permit me to return to the rocket. IТll tell you once again, Marshal, withdraw your troops. Otherwise, I cannot be held responsible for anything that might happen."He nodded briefly to both officers, casting a glance of warning at the pilot with the machine gun. He turned and walked slowly back to the Stardust, where Reg was standing in the hatch, the silver rod playing undecidedly in his hands. One could almost feel RegТs relief when his commanding officer stepped out of the line of fire."ShouldnТt we get them?" he called to Perry. "The one with the golden trousers is certainly a general. IТd implant the suggestion that he is a doorman in a circus and then send him back. WouldnТt that be fun?"Perry had reached the bottom of the ladder. He turned around.

Marshal Roon and Major ButaТan (Perry could have bet that the major belonged to the counterespionage authority) both stood quiet, waiting and indecisive. ButaТan still held the weapon in his hand."IТve nothing against some fun," Perry admitted, when he stood next to Reg in the hatch. "Go get the neutralizer."Reg disappeared at once and seconds later reappeared with a small rectangular metal box that looked so unobtrusive but could nevertheless work wonders. This box must have a tremendous capacity for storing large amounts of energy in a very small space. Gravity neutralizer, Khrest had called it. What was hidden in this single phrase? The dream of many generations.

Perry set up the apparatus and slowly pulled forward the lever that activated the directional ray.



On the desert, Major ButaТan hesitantly thrust his weapon back into the holster on his belt. "Marshal, how can you permit a spy to give us orders? I consider this irresponsible! I shall have to inform my superiors of your conduct.""Go right ahead," Roon agreed. He looked with half closed eyes toward the Stardust. "I believe I have acted correctly. There may be more to this affair than either of us imagines. You think that this landed spacecraft is a camouflaged act of aggression by the peoples of the Western Bloc? The installation of an official military base, is that what you want to believe? Not a bad idea. It might even be true. But we just donТt know for sure. Perhaps this Rhodan is not so crazy as he seems. Sometimes I wonder if they havenТt found something extraordinary on the moon, something that gives them a great deal of power."He stopped short. Something was not quite right. Suddenly he felt light and giddy, as if he had been drinking too much, drinking far too much. The bad thing, however, was that he seemed to be losing his balance in the same instant. It was as though he grew taller and taller and was still growing far beyond proportion.

Dammit, if only the major would notice.