"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0009 - (1c) The Wasp Men Attack" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"You call it betrayal. I call it diplomacy."

Rhodan made a strong motion with his arm, dismissing any further attempt at clarification of his position.

"We shall find what there is to find, Bell. There is no doubt that we must keep Thora and Khrest close by, if we intend to improve our own position and that of the people here on Earth and place it on a firm and healthy foundation. Nevertheless, we also must remain loyal to our friends. The hangars must be due north of here. We shall look for them. And you are coming along…"

"Six spaceships!" shouted Bell, impressed. "That’s enough to accommodate all the personnel of the New Power. With six Arkonide spaceships it might be possible to accomplish a round trip through the whole universe!"

"So you would be willing to attempt an escape? Do you know what would happen if we were to dissolve the New Power?"

"Probably the same as what has happened to humanity repeatedly in many millennia of its existence. Envy, ill will, a craving for power. Wars. Perhaps there would be only one more war. The final war."

"You know pretty well. And since we are rather fond of humanity we shall temporarily give up any idea of a round trip through the universe. Even if the Arkonide spaceships should happen to be ready to go."

They went outside and Perry Rhodan locked the door to the room which housed the Brain, by means of a newly discovered code. Only he knew the key to it.

Before them a labyrinth of cavernous dimensions opened up. Over a month ago they had found shelter in the interior of the mountain on the northern hemisphere of Venus. For more than a month they had been tracking down the secrets of this last witness of a long forgotten Arkonide expedition.

In order to gain insight into these events, it is important to trace human history back more than 10,000 years.

In the prime of Arkon, when none of her people as yet showed any signs of degeneration, an expedition of several hundred Arkonides landed on Venus in a spaceship and built this fort as an operating base. Atom­melting rays had burned a maze of passages into the mountain cliff and erected a city invisible from the outside. The equipment of this station had done justice to the high standards of Arkonide technology and civilization in all respects. For Earth people of the 20th century, it was like a fairy tale and as unbelievable as the unreal stories of a distant future.

And it was like a fairy tale for another reason, too.

It appeared to them like the castle in Sleeping Beauty. The Arkonides of yore were no more. They had discovered Earth and had found the third planet an ideal world for settling down. The new colony of Arkonide emigrants had risen on Atlantis. Earth’s first epoch of technology had been their gift to it, yet it had disappeared along with the whole continent that once existed between Africa and the Americas.Even though the group of humans had gotten used to their new surroundings during the last four weeks, they could not keep from reminding themselves of its historical background.

"I cannot understand that they are no longer alive," said Reginald Bell as they got into a small railway car which travelled into a few of the main branches of the sub-venusian city. "Did they all live on Earth when the catastrophic flood drowned Atlantis?"

"There is no explanation," replied Rhodan. "I wish you would get it straight in your head what the results of the findings indicate. Had there been any survivors, Arkon as the central planet would have been notified. They would have sent new settlers or at least would have dismantled this fort or re-manned it. Khrest and Thora explained to us that today nobody on Arkon knows anything about the existence of this Venus station."

"Naturally I have grasped long ago the implications of your combined theories. However I permit myself a certain amount of scepticism. It could have a different explanation."

"Do explain to me the reason for your doubts."

"Well, quite simple. Khrest and Thora were able to convince us that this station was built by the emigrants of an Arkonide spaceship. Now, however, you speak of six spaceships that are supposedly hidden here. Six spaceships make up a fleet. If there are really six full­fledged Arkonide starships on this planet, I am certain that these also had a direct connection with their own planet. Therefore it would appear that Thora and Khrest lied to us."

"You could have spared me that last comment. One should only come to such a conclusion after one’s suspicions have been proven correct."Bell recognized that Rhodan was not in a mood to continue the debate, which was based on mere suspicions. Therefore he kept quiet and leaned back into the cushions of the little vehicle. It was following a long tubular extension of the cavern that stretched about 2 kilometres from the heart of the fort to a point deep inside the mountain. To Earthlings, the size of the whole layout seemed senselessly overdone. Bell voiced his impression and shook his head.

"Of course you have to marvel at the accomplishments of the Arkonides. Nevertheless I find it ridiculous to construct a simple fort of such dimensions. Undeniably it implies a pretty narrow­minded personality when a person shoots sparrows with cannons."

"One also shoots at the lack of grey matter when a person is not using the proper yardstick," replied Rhodan wryly.

"And what is the proper yardstick?"

"The Arkonides themselves. When you look at this labyrinth, you place too much emphasis on the expense as measured by our human technology. But with what the Arkonides have available to them, it is by no means such a terrific thing to bore passages and caves ten or 20 kilometres into a mountain."

Rhodan interrupted his didactic words and stopped the car.

"Come along!" he ordered abruptly and turned to one of the big gates which lined the passage at regular intervals. A flick of the switch on the closing mechanism sufficed to set in motion 7 tons of sliding doors made from Arkonide steel.