"044 The Pseudo One" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"Do the imperial inspectors of Arkon always flit around in luxury yachts?" inquired Pucky while smoothing down his brown pelt. "You know, incidentally, I feel rather indecent without my impulse-beamer and my uniform."
"A dumb animal had to be naked," advised Rhodan. "And you are terribly dumb; never forget that!"
"It's a monstrous injustice, Chief! You have to promise that you won't let anybody get wind of the actual circumstances of this mission-especially Bell. Just think of what I'd have to put up with."
"It will remain our secret," Rhodan assured him. "Even Marshall won't have much chance to notice it because as soon as we've found him our masquerade will be just about over with. Is everything ready for takeoff?"
Pucky nodded absentmindedly. He couldn't take his eyes off Rhodan, who wore a gold-laden uniform covered with countless insignia of rank. Rhodan's lean figure resembled that of the Arkonides of the old dynastic ruling class. Thanks to an excellent tincture, the whites of his eyes now gleamed red and his hair, now white, would remove all doubt that one was dealing here with a genuine Arkonide.
"Everything ready," squeaked the mouse-beaver and he seated himself in the co-pilot's position next to his friend and master. "As far as I'm concerned, let 'er rip!"
"Then here we go," nodded Rhodan grasping the controls.The Koos-Nor, already outside the cupola, lifted weightlessly and rose slowly into the sky. Rhodan had studied the yacht's blueprints sufficiently to be familiar with the small ship from the ground up. The operation of its machinery was comparatively simple.
He decided against a long flight below light velocity. Instead, he threw in the hyper-compensator and made a single transit jump deep into the Milky Way. A 2nd jump brought him close to the vicinity of Arkon. Here Rhodan turned the ship around and deliberately shut off the anti-tracking protection of the compensator, whereupon he made a hytrans leap back in the direction of Tolimon.
For every hypersensor operator it would thus appear to them that a ship was approaching Revnur's Star from the direction of Arkon. Which was Rhodan's exact intention. The Aras on Tolimon had to be under the impression that somebody was going to pay them a visit but they would not be given time to make an investigation. Revnur's Star was far removed from Arkon and could be compared with an advance outpost of the Empire. It might even be surmised that the inhabitants of Tolimon were not overly anxious to establish contact with the Arkonides, least of all with one of the feared and unpopular inspectors.
The final transition jump brought the Koos-Nor directly into the middle of the system of the 6 planets of Revnur's Star. The disturbance of the space-time structure caused by the materialization was such that it could now no longer be ignored and so it was not surprising that radio calls made themselves heard in the receiver only a few minutes later.
Rhodan let his craft glide toward Tolimon at exactly the speed of light. He concentrated on the communications equipment, while Pucky hunched in his seat nursing an inner rage but nevertheless practicing how to be a stupid animal, which of course he was not, in any sense of the word.
A powerful voice sounded in the speaker. "Give your identification!" Its volume blanked out all other incoming signals. "What ship is that?"
"Here's where we separate the men from the boys," murmured Rhodan and he cut in his transmitter. "Arkon Inspector Tristol here," he announced and he made every effort to give his voice an arrogant, nasal inflection. "By order of the Regent of Arkon, I am arriving to conduct a routine inspection. Give me your landing co-ordinates.
The radio calls ceased as though cut by an axe. Rhodan's identification must have been picked up and comprehended by all ships in the vicinity. The shock of surprise appeared to have made the Tolimonites temporarily speechless. Probably the video image of his ship was already being relayed from station to station and security centres were busy checking their catalogues and searching for a classification. Perhaps they were also looking up the inspector's name: Tristol! Well, that part might be tough, because Rhodan had chosen the name arbitrarily. But after all, there were many inspectors.
"This is Tolimon Space Traffic Central! Landing permission granted. Come in at Trulan Spaceport. We will give you a guide beam without remote control. Everything has been prepared to receive you. End of transmission."
"Approach course as indicated," returned Rhodan and he shut off the transmitter. He faced Pucky with a faint smile. "Well, what do you think? How do I come off as an Arkonide?"
The mouse-beaver made a face as though someone had robbed him of his last carrot. "You make a good Arkonide but that's a better deal than I've got, having to play an idiot. I know I'm never going to live this down..."
"The dumber you are, the higher your life expectancy will be," advised Rhodan as he permitted the Koos-Nor to descend toward the 2nd planet. It wasn't long before the critical moment arrived.
A number of leading scientists and politicians had insisted upon greeting the Arkonide inspector right at the spaceport. They had gotten out of their ground cars and now approached the yacht in a colourful procession. As Aras and descendants of the Springers they were completely humanoid and resembled frightfully thin Earthmen. Their dress was distinctive. The scientists wore long white smocks of the type used by physicians on the hospital worlds of the Aras. On the other hand, the politicians preferred uniforms and colourful civilian clothing. It appeared that none of them was armed.
They stopped expectantly in front of the Koos-Nor.
Rhodan had observed the approach of the delegation and had not missed the opportunity to let Pucky search their minds. He could detect nothing more than a curious expectancy among the Tolimonites, as well as a slight trace of fear, but untouched by any particular malevolence. It was merely the completely normal reaction of intelligent beings to the advent of an important personage.
"Don't pull any bummers now!" warned Rhodan, swatting the mouse-beaver lightly on his broad hindquarters. "You follow me as soon as I give you the mental command. Don't forget that you're supposed to be one of those semi-intelligent creatures they collect here."
"So I'm supposed to act stupid but not make any blunders," sulked Pucky as he slipped off the couch. "That would strain the brain of a creature of total intelligence. Well, here goes!"
Rhodan raised an index finger warningly as the jovial smile disappeared from his face. As he opened the outer hatch of the lock, he transformed himself into a virtual mask of arrogance. He had rehearsed his role carefully.
The landing ladder extended itself automatically and forced some of the Tolimonites who had come too close to spring back out of the way. Rhodan hardly deigned to give even a nod to the upraised faces before him; then he negotiated the few steps of the ladder and stood on the planet Tolimon, which was known as the Galactic Zoo.
He waited in silence to be addressed.
A heavily decorated officer stepped forward, making the pretense of a bow, and spoke in pure Arkonide: "Velkata Dolimon, Lukstar Drizdl. Welcome to Tolimon, Inspector Tristol. We will make your stay on our planet as pleasant as possible in order to alleviate the burden of your heavy responsibilities. May we inquire how long you plan to stay?'
Rhodan glanced at him disdainfully. "That will depend on the circumstances. It has come to our attention that certain discrepancies have occurred in the management of the zoo. As inspector it is my mission here to investigate the case and to render an account to the Regent of Arkon."
"Oh but there must be some mistake!" The officer started and turned pale. "For a number of decades now there have been no complaints. I don't understand..."
Rhodan was able to determine telepathically that the man really didn't comprehend anything and he marvelled that he was able to receive the thoughts so clearly. Maybe Pucky was helping...?
I will be the judge of that!" he interrupted, the officer. With a side glance at the other Tolimonites he added: "Who are these people? I wish no publicity, if you please."
A very tall and thin Ara hastened to reassure him. "Your wish is our command, sir. We only thought you'd consider it proper for us to send you a government delegation, so that we might determine your wishes immediately and attempt to satisfy them."
Rhodan narrowed his eyes and replied coldly: "You will be acquainted with my wishes soon enough. And there's one other thing I wish to make clear: several light-years from here a battleship of the Regent is awaiting my orders."
Still another officer attempted to alleviate the situation. "You will not be needing it, Tristol," he said. "We are loyal friends of the Empire and have nothing to hide. May we now accompany you to your residence?"
"Where is that?" asked Rhodan haughtily.
"At the edge of the city of Trulan, a palace, sir."
To the delegation's astonishment, Rhodan shook his head. "I do not prefer any palace. Place a car at my disposal so that I can select my own quarters. Also, I do not require a servant, because I have brought my own." He turned toward the ship's lock and called out loudly and clearly: "Pucky, come here!"
All eyes turned toward the lock as though they expected to see the Regent in person. But it was only the mouse-beaver who appeared in the dark oval aperture.
In a shrill little voice he squeaked, "Shall I bring the suitcase with us, my lord?"
"Naturally, you stupid beast!" replied Rhodan with scathing irony. "Hurry it up so I can set the automatic barrier."
Pucky disappeared and followed his cue. With a few adjustments the barrier was put into operation, effectively blocking anyone from entering the ship. Also, the remote control equipment was left on open receiver standby. By this means Rhodan would be able to bring the Koos-Nor to him, wherever he might happen to be on this world.
Pucky took the heavy suitcase, which he lightened a bit with the help of his psycho-kinetic faculty, and shuffled down the ladder. Behind him the hatch closed automatically.
"Inspector Tristol, you have a remarkable servant there," one of the white-smocked scientists ventured to remark. "We have never seen such an animal. There is nothing like it in our collection."
Pucky listened with his head cocked to one side and managed a very innocent and stupid expression. It was amazing how easily this came to him. Rhodan made a mental note to bring this fact to his attention later. There was no time, however, at the moment.
"It comes from a very distant and isolated planet, which I chanced to discover during my travels. I took this sample of the species with me and I found that they are quite easily trained. At any rate, my servant, Pucky, is more trustworthy than any other kind, even a robot."
"Does he have any outstanding faculties?" asked the Ara, with interest.
"No, but he's quiet and faithful," replied Rhodan. "And now I'd like to have my car, please. We will have further talks tomorrow."
He looked about him searchingly and noticed a car, about a hundred yards distant, which had a teardrop design and rode on a single wheel, obviously maintaining its balance on the old well-known principle of the gyroscope.
"What about that one over there?" he asked.
One of the officers nodded quickly and ran off toward the indicated vehicle. In a few moments the gyrocar stopped before Rhodan. The officer got out.