"Smith, E E Doc - Lensman 4 - Gray Lensman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

thionite into the air-stream, thus wiping out all the pirate personnel except Helmuth, who, in his
inner sanctum, could not be affected.
The Grand Fleet of the Patrol attacked, but Helmuth would not leave his retreat, even to
try to save his Base. Therefore Kinnison had to go in after him. Poised in the air of Helmuth's
inner sphere there was an enigmatic, sparkling ball of force which the Lensman could not
understand, and of which he was in consequence extremely suspicious.
But the storming of that quadruply-defended inner stronghold was precisely the task for
which Kinnison's new and ultra-cumbersome armor had been designed; and in the Gray
Lensman went.

CHAPTER 1
PRIMARY BEAMS

Among the world-girdling fortifications of a planet distant indeed from star cluster AC
257-4736 there squatted sullenly a fortress quite similar to Helmuth's own. Indeed, in some
respects it was even superior to the base of him who spoke for Boskone. It was larger and
stronger. Instead of one dome, it had many. It was dark and cold withal, for its occupants had
practically nothing in common with humanity save the possession of high intelligence.
In the central sphere of one of the domes there sparkled several of the peculiarly radiant
globes whose counterpart had given Kinnison so seriously to think, and near them there
crouched or huddled or lay at ease a many-tentacled creature indescribable to man. It was not
like an octopus. Though spiny, it did not resemble at all closely a sea-cucumber. Nor, although it
was scaly and toothy and wingy, was it, save in the vaguest possible way, similar to a lizard, a
sea-serpent, or a vulture. Such a description by negatives is, of course, pitifully inadequate; but,
unfortunately, it is the best that can be done.
The entire attention of this being was focused within one of the globes, the obscure
mechanism of which was relaying to his sense of perception from Helmuth's globe and mind at
clear picture of everything which was happening within Grand Base. The corpse-littered dome
was clear to his sight; he knew that the Patrol was attacking from without; knew that that
ubiquitous Lensman, who had already unmanned the citadel, was about to attack from within.
"You have erred seriously," the entity was thinking coldly, emotionlessly, into the globe,
"in not deducing until after it was too late to save your base that the Lensman had perfected a
nullifier of sub-ethereal detection. Your contention that I am equally culpable is, I think,
untenable. It was your problem, not mine; I had, and still have, other things to concern me. Your
base is of course lost; whether or not you yourself survive will depend entirely upon the
adequacy of your protective devices."
"But, Eichlan, you yourself pronounced them adequate!" "Pardon me—I said that they
seemed adequate." "If I survive---or, rather, after I have destroyed this Lens-man—what are your
orders?" "Go to the nearest communicator and concentrate our forces; half of them to engage this
Patrol fleet, the remainder to wipe out all the life of Sol III. I have not tried to give those orders
direct, since all the beams are keyed to your board and, even if I could reach them, no
commander in that galaxy knows that I speak for Boskone. After you have done that, report to
me here."
"Instructions received and understood. Helmuth, ending message."
"Set your controls as instructed. I will observe and record. Prepare yourself, the Lensman
comes. Eichlan, speaking for Boskone, ending message."
The Lensman rushed. Even before he crashed the pirate's screens his own defensive
zones flamed white in the beam of semi-portable projectors and through that blaze came tearing
the metallic slugs of a high-calibre machine rifle. But the Lensman's screens were almost those
of a battleship, his armor relatively as strong; he had at his command projectors scarcely inferior