"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0108 - (100) Desert of Deaths Domain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Ron sat up. Whatever they might have done to him-it had left him none the worse. On the contrary, he felt wonderful. The pain had vanished and he was prepared to meet any challenge. Vigour surged throughhis body. Let the Springers try to get him-he would show them who was boss!
The Ara probably had hit him with a stun gun. He had lost consciousness and they had forcefed him the liqueur against his will.
"What kind of a drink is that?" he asked Gerard.
"Just a liqueur," answered Gerard. "That's all I know. It's sold everywhere on Lepso and is very popular."
That sounded strange.
"Have you ever had any?"
"Yes. But not until they got me into their clutches. I was forced to take it, just like you."
"And how did it affect you?"
Gerard hesitated for awhile before he replied. "It's pretty strong stuff. It makes you feel powerful, as if you could move mountains and conquer the world."
Ron admitted that this was exactly what he was experiencing this very moment. "And how long does this effect last?"
"I don't know," answered Gerard. "Whenever it was about to wear off, I got another sip."
Ron looked around. They were in a large, windowless room with a hard, uneven stone floor. The walls and the ceiling seemed to consist of the same material as the floor. There were 2 rows of sturdy pillars which supported the ceiling. An old gas lamp hung from the ceiling between the 2 rows of pillars and spread a sparse light. He could see a door in the wall to the front. The door was made of metal and after Ron had reached for his own gun and failed to find it any longer he knew it would be impossible to open the door even without closer inspection, for all he had left were his bare hands.
"That's a basement, isn't it?" he inquired.
'That's right," confirmed Gerard.
"Where is it located?"
"I don't know. They blindfolded me first before they brought me here."
Ron smiled. "My, how old-fashioned!"
Ron felt drawn to the door despite its appearance of being impossible to assault. He walked toward it between the 2 rows of pillars and tried to turn the old-fashioned doorknob. But as he had expected, nothing happened. The door remained locked and he couldn't budge the knob by even half a millimetre ...
"How often have you been here?" Ron asked Gerard.
"Just once before this time. That was before they came to get me in order to ..."
"In order to what?"
"Well, in order to find out from you if ..."
Suddenly Ron could clearly visualize again the scene in Dr. Zuglert's office. Gerard had deceived him and caused him to say that this was Dr. Zuglert's office they were in. And shortly after that the Springers had turned on the light and revealed their presence to him.
From this Ron concluded, now, that the Springers did not wish any inquiries as to the whereabouts of the vanished Dr. Zuglert.
But why?
It seemed to Ron that he had made an important step forward in his search since he had first landed on Lepso--even without having contributed any deliberate action on his part. Unfortunately he was now in a situation which most likely would not permit him to do something concrete with this newly-found knowledge.
For the time being, he decided, regardless of whether there was a way out soon or not, he should find out from Gerard anything the man knew. After all, Gerard had been the Springers' captive some time longer than he himself.
After some initial hesitation Gerard reported truthfully what had taken place that day in Dr. Zuglert's office. He did not conceal that he was horror stricken at Dr. Zuglert's sight and had fled the room, leaving the poor doctor to his fate.
Ron tried to figure out what had happened next. Most likely Zuglert managed to get to his feet even without Gerard's help, then left the building and made the TTT call to the Florida from somewhere else. Dr. Zuglert had vanished while making this call. This still left one more problem to be cleared up: why would the communications robot assume that call to have originated from one of the transceivers at the Terranian Trade Commission? Gerard, however, was not likely to know the answer to that question.
"A few hours afterwards," continued Gerard Lobson, "my conscience began to bother me. I was anxious to find out what had become of Zuglert. So I returned to his office. When I got there I found the door wide open. I walked in. Well ... I was met by the 3 guys that you also know by now. They wanted to know what I wanted there, my relationship with Dr. Zuglert, why I had returned and so on. They took me downstairs and once inside their car forced me to drink the liqueur, the same beverage they poured down your throat. Then they blindfolded me and brought me to this place here. I remained in this basement for about 4 hours. Finally they came back to get me again. Once more I was blindfolded. When they removed the blindfold from my eyes our car had arrived in front of the building in which Zuglert's office is located. We all went upstairs to his office and began to wait. I had no idea what this was all about. When I inquired, I got no answer. They were searching the room and particularly rummaged throughhis writing desk. Something they found there seemed to surprise them greatly. Then one of them left and when he returned he brought or rather dragged you along. Well, they ordered me to kneel beside you and tell you some lies when you regained consciousness, until you finally revealed that you had come to see Dr. Zuglert. You know the rest."
Yes, indeed, Ron knew the rest, but still there were some points in Gerard's report which didn't quite make sense. Had the Springers put all the antigrav shafts of the building out of order so that all late visitors would indiscriminately fall down to the basement? And if this had not been the case, how could they have known at what time he'd arrive and which of the many antigrav shafts he would use?
He asked Gerard several questions. He did not quite trust the black-haired fellow and therefore formulated his questions in such a manner that Gerard would have given himself away unless he was an exceedingly skilful liar. But Ron had no luck with these tactics; Gerard remained firm and consistent in his statements.
Finally Ron gave up any further attempts at tricking Gerard into involuntary admissions. After all, he had found out all that could be learned and it was high time now to develop a plan of action. The Springers were sure to interrogate him and in case no satisfactory answers would be forthcoming they'd resort to some trick and incapacitate his free will and dig up from his subconscious mind any information they desired, including the fact that the tall blond man they had in their power was actually a special agent of Division 3 and in particular what Division 3 represented.
Ron decided it must not come to that point. He had to find a way and escape from their clutches before it was too late.
He did not fool himself about the miserable situation he was in. The gadgets and weapons that could have helped bring about his escape were still in his luggage. Unfortunately he had left the hotel before his luggage had arrived from the spaceport. He didn't even have a tiny emergency transmitter on him to send out SOS signals. Thus he would be forced to rely completely on his own resources, his imagination and his 2 bare hands.
He had arrived this far in his assessment of the situation when the steel door swung open. Two powerfully built Springers entered the room carrying a long, narrow plastic table. The tabletop displayed an array of gleaming instruments. The Springers did not utter a single word. The door closed automatically behind the 2 newcomers to the great disappointment of Ron, who had carefully watched for an opportunity to escape throughthat door. They placed the table in the middle of the room between the 2 rows of pillars. Ron's studies of extraterrestrial technology had familiarized him thoroughly with the kind of apparatus he was faced with here. He was overcome by fear and horror as he recognized the 2 encephaloceptors.
The Springers had come to this decision much sooner than Ron had thought they would. And worse still, they had brought along all the devices he had believed it would take several days for them to obtain.
The 2 Springers stood alongside the table. One of them drew a weapon and pointed it at Ron while his partner said: "We'd like to get some information from you, Earthman. But since we're afraid you won't cooperate with us, we'll help you along by releasing the blocking-off mechanism of your free will. Come over here!"
In a flash Ron evaluated his chances. What would happen if he'd refuse? How and with what would they force him to submit to the interrogation? Would they really use the weapon that the second Springer held in his hand? It was a thermo-gun! One blast and they'd lose their chance forever to obtain any information they desired from him. Still, he couldn't risk refusing to obey them. There was no way out.
Filled with this bitter realization, Ron began to approach the instrument table.
At this moment the unbelievable happened!







4/ THE MAN FROM GOSZUL'S PLANET