"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0060 - (52) Fortress Atlantis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

4/ THE PROBLEM OF THE ZAKREBIANS

"...May I be permitted to advise Your Highness not to treat the ever-rebellious colonists from the lower classes of these people too gently. My measures were aimed at presenting the Imperator a new world with faithful and willing settlers. I hope that my efforts have set a standard for you, august Crystal Prince..."
"Thank you!" I interrupted the officer reading the message. "That's enough. Amonar's advice can only have the result of increasing the riots further. Are there any other matters?"
My friend and counsellor Capt. Tarth, Commander of my fleet's flagship Tosoma, rolled up the document and tossed it on the magnificent desk.
I had arrived 4 days before on the 2nd planet of the little yellow sun which had been discovered by an exploration cruiser under the command of Larsaf.
We had called this world Larsa after him. It was a very young planet with steaming swamps and forests and vast muddy oceans. Its humid warm climate seemed to have agreed with our settlers. But the rule of the Administrator Amonar had been less healthy for the colonists.
The Great Council of Arkon called me back by hyperradio 3 weeks ago from my theatre of operations with instructions to proceed with my expeditionary squadron to Larsa's sun and to investigate the 2nd planet of this isolated stellar system from where they had received a desperate radio call from a colonist by the name of Tonth. The message complained of unfettered encroachments and draconian measures of the Administrator Amonar of the insignificant family Cicol.
I had covered the distance of 34000 light-years in 4 transitions and landed a little later with the Tosoma and the 2 battlecruisers Askohr and Paito on the main spaceport of Larsa.
A cursory inspection had already revealed that Amonar had abused his authority. I learned to know him as a hard and unjust man who was driven by a burning ambition to gain recognition and honour for himself and his family at any cost.
He had transformed a wild uninhabited world into an exemplary colony with cities and spaceports and had undertaken the construction of a robot brain on such a large scale that I was deeply surprised.
Amonar had bought his fame with the blood of our colonists. The most capable scientists and technicians among the settlers were used exclusively for the perfection of the automaton and I had gained the impression that Amonar endeavoured to build a state for himself in this little out-of-the-way solar system.
I had struck hard and mercilessly with my troops when Amonar's loyal soldiers tried to defend their master. In this clash they had deployed weapons which the Administrator had already bought from the Galactic Traders without the knowledge of the Great Council and installed in the fortified ring around the unfinished robot brain.
Yesterday I had arrested him and sent him back under guard to Arkon. His last attempt to change my mind was no different from the written statement Capt. Tarth had read to me. They were the usual hair-splitting phrases of a subordinate who knew very well that I was a member of the ruling dynasty. My family, the Gonozals, had given birth to the Imperators of Arkon in whose hands the fate of the Great Empire had been entrusted during the last 3 epochs.
I slowly rose from the luxurious contour chair. The opulent furniture and decor of the room were clear proof that the arrested official was more concerned about his own comfort than the welfare of the colonists.
Since I had been appointed as an Arkonide Admiral and Chief of a Task Force Squadron by a decree of the Great Council, I had encountered such infringements only once. A man of my people had tried to establish his own Imperium with the help of an alien reptilian race. It had been my first mission.
Not much blood had been shed in the case of Amonar. A report to the Great Council and my venerable uncle Imperator Gonozal 7 had been dispatched by a messenger ship. I expected an early reassignment since it was not my job to build colonies. It was only my duty to intervene in cases of unrest.
The administration palace erected by Amonar was the most splendrous edifice in the planetary capital. The prisoner had called it Amonaris after himself. Since he had achieved great results despite the injustice he perpetrated, I was unwilling to change the name of the city. Later few would remember to whom it referred.
Tarth, an old and experienced battleship commander, stood silently at the magnificent operation table which was equipped with communication circuits by which the most important command stations and defence positions could be manually controlled. Amonar had made the most careful provisions but we got here too fast and his subversive plans were frustrated. I was convinced that the dismissed colonizer would be punished on Arkon by destroying the will power core of his brain.
I removed the wide mantle with the regalia of the ruling dynasty from my shoulders and put it over the high backrest of the chair. I felt more comfortable in the plain uniform of the Arkonide Fleet. Then I slowly walked to the transparent energy-wall which Amonar had installed in place of the usual armourplast windows. I stopped before the transparent wall, touched it with my finger and waited till the highly responsive climate control reacted to the warmth of my hand by drawing cool air from concealed vents.
"A little too sumptuous for the office of a minor official," Capt. Tarth commented. "There's a delegation of settlers waiting outside. A certain Tonth requests an audience."
"That's the man who sent the radio plea to the Great Council," I explained. "A very courageous fellow. Where does he come from?"
Tarth checked his list, "From Visal 4, Your Highness."
"For you I'll always be Atlan, teacher," I smiled. "Visal 4, hm? An old colony which now is overpopulated too. I've been told that 500 million citizens had to emigrate."
"The Colonial Office has transported 2 million of them to this planet in its ships and another 20,000 scientists and technicians of all branches. The guard troops are from Arkon. This planet is extremely well equipped."
I went back to the desk and sat down behind it. "Let the people come in. I hope their wishes can be fulfilled."
Tarth's deep red eyes seemed to twinkle. Slowly he went to the door. His steps were growing a little awkward due to his advanced age. I pushed the remote control button to open the doors. Amonar had safeguarded himself against surprises.
The 2 steel panels slid back into the walls. Outside one of the notorious Larsa-storms was brewing. It broke out fast and it became so dark that we needed light. At the first flash of lightning the energy-wall darkened itself.
My thoughts turned to the crews of the heavy and light cruisers which were stationed in wide orbits around the planet. They were probably unable to see the surface of this cloud-covered world. There were only 3 of the heavier units of my little fleet on the spaceport. It had been enough to create the desired impression.
5 colonists entered the room. They were dressed in plain, sturdy clothes as I had seen many times before. Their figures were tall and good-looking.
"Pure Arkonides," signalled my extra-brain, which had been activated with the consent of the Medical Board after my appointment as admiral.
The 5 men kneeled down and covered their faces with their hands. It was a gesture of humble submission which was no longer practiced on Arkon.
"Stand up!" I commanded, acutely discomfited. "Did Amonar compel you to act in this humiliating manner?"
"Indeed, Your Highness," confirmed an elderly man with short snow-white hair.
My hair was long and carefully groomed. Such care would have involved a great inconvenience for these hardworking men. They didn't understand much about grand policy in galactic space. All they were interested in was to obtain dependable agricultural robot machinery to help them with their work.
"Are you the colonist Tonth?" I inquired. The old man nodded his head. "I am, Your Highness. We came to give you our thanks for your swift help. I risked my life when I secretly sneaked into the radio station and transmitted my call. Afterwards I fled into the forest because the automatic warning devices had registered the frequency of my body. A technician warned me about it and I sought refuge in the wilderness but now everything is alright again."
I talked over an hour with the seasoned colonists and became convinced that the future of the 2nd world around the little sun Larsak looked bright. The immigrants who had come from a hot and humid planet had found a very suitable climate here. The virgin soil was fertile and supplied rich yields and there were also mineral treasures in abundance.
I considered the idea of turning Larsa 2 into a trading base but the fact that the armed might of the Empire didn't reach into this far corner of the known Galaxy spoke against it. Therefore I refrained from making such a proposal to these men. It probably was a little too early for such an enterprise anyway.
They thanked me exuberantly and then came the question which I had already expected. It was a well-established custom that audiences with these simple people ended in a petition. Capt. Tarth chuckled. He seemed to know already what it concerned. They probably had approached him earlier to act as a mouthpiece.
"Your Highness, we've among us 50,000 emigrants from Zakreb 5 who have been brought here against their will as a result of some negligence. They wish to be transferred to another planet because they can't stand the local climate for an extended duration. They've suffered numerous deaths. The Zakrebians must have cooler and drier air, Your Highness. Not only are the temperatures much too high for them here but they also miss the sunshine."
I glanced at Tarth, whose nod was barely discernible as he confirmed their facts. "I regret very much, Tonth, but it's impossible for me to transport these people in my warships and I don't have any passenger ships, available."
"But it's only a short distance in the same solar system to the 3rd planet, which has all the conditions they need. It'd be a simple matter for you to take them over there, Your Highness. Or would you allow them to keep wasting away here?"
Of course I had no wish to let this go on. Moreover it was my duty to assist settlers in distress. It was what I was here for.
Tarth mentioned one consideration. "The 3rd world of this sun has already developed a life of its own. Although the inhabitants of that planet are at a very low stage of intelligence, they are similar to Arkonide stock. The law prohibits the encroachment on oxygen-breathing intelligent beings."
"Yes, but only above intelligence stage C," another colonist quickly interjected.
"And what stage have they reached?" I inquired.
"At best A-3, Your Highness. I was there once. They are wild primitives with tools made of stone. They've not yet learned to make holes' in their crude stone axes. The handles are still tied on."