"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0040 - (32) Challenge of the Unknown" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

This was the deciding factor that had to be put into application.
With his inimitable logic, Rhodan proceeded to do so. "Very well. So we know that only the Titan responds to the
will of the robot brain and not the Ganymede. Therefore, it's reasonably safe to conclude that a special circuitry,
some sort of electronic device, exists on board this ship, which can be energized by the Brain even at a distance of
three light-years. Once this circuit is activated, then the tractor beam becomes effective-but only then. So we're
faced with the problem of finding that infernal device and deactivating it." He gave Col. Freyt a challenging look.
"Well now, Colonel, do you still think it would be better to bail out and run to the Ganymede and abandon this
magnificent ship."
Freyt modified his previous stand. "Well, of course we can try to keep her. It would be preferable, I'll admit."
Rhodan smiled, then immediately became grim as he received Bell's next navigation figures. Since the last reading,
the Titan's velocity had doubled.
"So how are we going to locate this blankety-blank gadget?" Bell growled. "In a ship that's a whole world by
itself."
"Inasmuch as the converters are still working properly, I'd say that the only logical place would be between the
drive chambers and the outside radiation shielding," Rhodan answered. "In that way we can narrow down the search
area." He looked about him. "Incidentally, where's Pucky?"
It was the first time. anyone had noticed that the mouse-beaver was no longer in the control room.
Ruefully, John Marshall remarked, "I can't pick up his mental impulses. He must have screened them off
"Maybe he's sitting on the-" Bell started to say but cut short when he saw Thora. He wasn't able to suppress a tiny
smirk, however, because the suggestion invoked a comical vision.
"Perhaps," Marshall suggested, "Anne Sloane can help us."
Anne Sloane was a very good telekinetic in the Mutant Corps who had already demonstrated that her faculties were
quite comparable to Pucky's. Unfortunately, she did not have the technical comprehension of the quick-learning
mouse-beaver.
"Pucky can't have disappeared," replied Rhodan. He assented a bit hesitantly. "Alright, Marshall, you'd better get
hold of Anne."
When the telepath had left the control room, Freyt asked, "Why didn't you call Miss Sloane on the intercom?"
"Because I don't want to make the crew any more jittery than they are," replied Rhodan. "They're not accustomed to
the ship. The Titan hasn't yet won their confidence, which can only happen after we've come through a successful
test under fire." He looked at the scopes. "And this may be our baptism."
John Marshall returned in a few minutes wearing an indescribably vacuous expression. The man's countenance
seemed hysterically funny to Bell but the seriousness of the situation moved him to a commendable self-control.
Rhodan was surprised. "What happened? You look as if someone just stole your emergency rations."
"Anne Sloane-she wasn't there. Pucky just picked her up 10 minutes ago. He also took Wuriu Sengu with him."
Sengu was the Japanese member of the Mutant Corps, who was known as the 'seer' because of his wild talent for
seeing through solid matter.
"Well, that's not so bad," commented Rhodan. "He and Miss Sloane and Sengu are already moving ahead on this, on
their own. That's a little more like him."
"How did he know about it?" asked Col. Freyt, bewildered. "He'd already left the control room when we made those
measurements."
"He's a telepath and is definitely following our conversation. He decided to do the necessary, and I'll admit he did
the smart thing to back himself up with reinforcements and to think of our seer. So I think we can relax and wait to
see what will happen. And it won't be too long before we know more."
Rhodan proved to be right.
Bell had just gotten up and was talking to Col. Freyt when the air in the control room began suddenly to shimmer
and the figure of the mouse-beaver took on a solid form. Without paying anyone the slightest heed, he waddled to
the control console and slithered with a flop into Bell's empty seat. His white incisor tooth gleamed triumphantly.
Pucky was grinning.
Rhodan waited patiently while Bell began scolding in the background, not in very complimentary terms. He quieted
suddenly, however, when Pucky turned around ominously, raised his left paw and pointed toward the ceiling. Bell