"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0010 - (5a) Space Battle in the Vega Sector" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Besides Betty, Marshall, and the small Japanese, there were still two other people he had hardly known before the take-off. Rhodan had ordered two ultrafast space fighters to pick them up from the Venus base, where they had completed their final schooling.

People claimed that Wuriu Sengu, a plump, powerfully built Japanese, could see through solid matter by the strength of his will alone. Before he was discovered in Japan by the Mutant Search Corps, he had been employed as a miner. His fellow workers had always been deeply mystified when he predicted with infallible accuracy whether a new gallery would yield coal.

Ralf Marten, offspring of a German merchant and a Japanese woman, possessed even more conspicuous talents. He, too, belonged to that endangered generation which saw the light of day shortly after the bomb over Hiroshima. The way Bell heard it, this tall, slender man was supposed to be able to shut off his personal identity temporarily and, in a parapsychic sense, see through other people’s eyes and hear through their ears. Any target of his choosing could never escape his penetration, in spite of the most secret precautions. This seemed to explain Ralf Marten’s enormous success in business.The addition of the five mutants to the already unusual personnel roster completed an uncanny crew. To the Arkonides, whose more advanced development had accustomed them to such phenomena, the mutants were to some extent bearable. However, to the normal human crewmembers they were plain monsters. Though they refrained from voicing such an opinion aloud or, if possible, even thinking it, emotionally the idea was dominant.

As everyone arrived in the crew mess, which had been rebuilt to human requirements, a notable rift built up immediately between the mutants and the fifty commando emergency troops who had been signed on. Mixed glances of cautious respect, awe, mistrust, and curiosity passed back and forth. The mysterious Mutant Corps, created by Perry Rhodan and officially known as the Special Unit of the Third Power, represented an almost frightening safety factor. In spite of their outstanding training, the fifty specialized soldiers could not avoid feeling at a disadvantage. On the other hand, Perry Rhodan knew very well that in the present generation a bridging of the schism between mutants and normal men was not possible to any significant extent. It was enough for him in the meantime to achieve a tolerable relationship between those who were involved.

An atmosphere of high voltage tension, excitement, and involuntary resignation dominated the mess. The latter condition applied to Bell, whose objections to a hyperspace fight were now completely ignored.

Rhodan made his speech short. His glance at the clock gave everyone to understand that any protracted questions were futile.

"As soon as we reach the orbit of Jupiter, we’ll make the first hyperspace jump ever attempted by Earthmen," he explained quietly. Nevertheless, his inner tension was felt. "I am urging you to adhere precisely to all instructions you have received. Doctors Haggard and Manoli will check all of you right after the completed jump. It can of course be assumed that no harm of any sort will result. If this thing were dangerous, the Arkonide race would have died out more than 10,000 years ago. During the transition, keep yourselves completely relaxed. It is in the nature of things that you will not remain in a material state during the penetration into fifth dimensional hyperspace. This means that in passing over your physical organism will be disconnected from you because in its present state it cannot exist in the so called supernatural plane. However, you can be sure that when you pop out again into the normal four dimensional cosmos your appendixes will be found in the same spot where Nature intended them to be. Now, there is another item...."Rhodan looked about him laconically, deliberately inscrutable. The robot brain on Venus contains precise particulars concerning Vega. According to the data, about 10,000 years ago the giant star possessed a system of more than forty-two planets, which isn’t so amazing when you consider its gigantic size. Before the time period mentioned, Arkonide explorers took a look around in the Vega area and brought home fairly complete information. Intelligent life was found only on planet number eight, which is called Ferrol, and its inhabitants are referred to as Ferrons. These people are supposed to be very humanlike in form—that is, they have two arms and two legs, they walk upright, they have only one head, and so forth."When the Arkonides visited Ferrol, its inhabitants had just discovered gunpowder. That can mean that today, after 10,000 years, they may have nuclear weapons or may even have achieved interstellar space flight. Either we’ll find an outstanding race of people there or a planet sized radioactive slag heap spinning a lonely course around its sun. Prepare yourself for any variation of surprises and keep yourselves under control. That’s all I wanted to tell you for now. If you can, try to sleep another hour. It will be to your best advantage if you can pass through the transition while sleeping."Rhodan tapped a salute against the peak of his cap and left the room. Captain Klein dismissed his men, and Major Deringhouse, who was responsible for the two space fighters that had been brought along, decided to check his machines again. As the bulkhead door of the hangar slid upward, he said to himself, "So help me, this whole thing has a tilt to it!"

Reginald Bell was preoccupied with similar though. Avoiding the antigrav lift, he clambered up the spiral emergency stairs to the control room above. As he entered the bewilderingly instrumented room, he was confronted by a shimmering phenomenon directly before him. Out of emptiness emerged the outline of a human form, which split seconds later evolved into the unmistakable frail shape of Kakuta.

The teleportationist’s childlike face broke into an amiable smile. "You forgot your hat, sir!" he said. "Here you are!"Bell counted automatically to three, then swung a heavy fist. Of Kakuta there was, however, nothing left to see, so he swung wild. Air thudded audibly into the vacuum created by Tako’s disappearance. Bell went over to the copilot’s control seat Rhodan received him with a poker-faced expression, but the twinkle of a smile was in the corners of his eyes."The mutants have been ordered to practice their unusual powers as often as possible and at every opportunity," he said, rather tongue in cheek.

Bell stared sullenly at the forward view screens. The red planet Mars was recognizable in the upper right quadrant of the starboard screen. The Good Hope had already reached its maximum speed. Thora, tall and stately, sat in front of the galactonautic computer. Her gaze was enigmatic.

"How do you feel!" Rhodan asked her.

"Excellent, thank you. Perry… you look like an unstable force field that’s about to collapse at any moment."Perry did not reply but looked ahead of him where, somewhere in the depths of space, that point lay whose coordinates had already been calculated by the computers. It was absolutely essential that the hyperjump should occur precisely at the calculated split second.

Thora looked helplessly over at Khrest. She did not know why she felt so depressed…





CHAPTER 5

Everything happened in a flash; far too fast for adequate human comprehension. Nevertheless, they sensed the wild tempest of the hyperfield converter as it built up the spontaneous jump through. On the view screens, violet light became visible; then everything changed. The control room changed incomprehensibly and seemed to be like the red glaring eye of a pagan giant. The control panels and peripheral equipment faded into mere outlines, gradually became nebulous, and finally disappeared completely. The rising sensation of pain was raw and excruciating. At its highest point it cut off, as if the nervous system had thrown an automatic switch.

Inside the warp field, built up with all available power to screen out four dimensional energy influxes, the Good Hope was converted into a structure that could no longer maintain its stability. The phenomenon was referred to in advanced Arkonide physics as the "Sublimation effect." Simultaneously the propelling corpuscular waves of the pulse drive converted themselves to fifth dimensional energy units, since they, too, were unable to maintain their normal characteristics within the spherical absorption field. They were like water that, under the influence of an enormous beat source, must turn to steam, since under the transformed conditions it could no longer remain in a fluid state.

Rhodan attempted to experience the transition in a conscious state. Yet in this instance there was apparently not the slightest difference between the human and the Arkonide brain. His last thought before entering into hyperspace was his concern for their rematerialization. Granted, it wasn’t difficult to change matter into energy, but no one had ever succeeded in creating physical substance out of pure energy, no matter what its state or condition.But in the case a transition this very effect occurred inevitably, reverting everything back to its precise original state and form.

The whole thing seemed to last for only a few moments. The previous relativistic time concept had lost all validity. A reference point or relationship of years could become seconds and vice versa. The brooding red glare became more pronounced as the raw pain returned inexorably. The sharp sensation of disintegration set in again, but simultaneously the outlines of the control room reappeared.

The return into the normal universe happened spontaneously, without the former train of crossover sensations. Vision cleared abruptly; the normal senses took over as if they had never been turned off.

However, the picture reception of the outside scanners had changed completely. On the front screens glittered a mighty star that could not conceivably be compared to the Earthly sun. It was too big and too hot and too bright in its colourations.

Perry Rhodan’s thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of the alarm system. With a groan of pain he became fully animated. Beside him, a solicitous voice rang out."Pretty rugged, wasn’t it? Are you all right, sir?"Rhodan looked up into the face of Tako Kakuta. The teleportationist stood by the controls, apparently completely unruffled.

"You’re not kidding," he answered. "But what’s with you?"

"I’ve been long accustomed to this kind of thing, sir. Rematerializations are all the same, whether you’re dealing with physical or psychic phenomena. You get used to it. But, sir—the alarm system. The sensors have picked up something!"Rhodan took little notice of his loudly cursing copilot, who staggered about in pain, testing his limbs. The next alarm buzz brought him abruptly to a state of sober alertness. Khrest and Thora also showed signs of life. Reports of all clear came in from the various sections of the ship. Dr. Haggard and Dr. Manoli were reporting over the intercom that the crew was in good shape.