"Edmond Hamilton - The Three Planeteers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

for its rightful owners. Gunner Welk had broken jail after a brawl on Mercury.

The three fugitive friends had foregathered, and thus had been born the three Planeteers. They had
performed one daring exploit after another. Each time, their exploits seemed mere criminal raids or
robberies. Yet each time, their real purpose had been the securing of information as to the purposes and
plans of the hostile, threatening League of Cold Worlds.

Now, the Three Planeteers were the most famous outlaws in the system. Three lone wolves of the void,
extravagantly admired by all criminals and pirates, bitterly condemned by all law-abiding men. Only one
manтАФthe Chairman of the Earth GovernmentтАФknew that the notorious Planeteers were really
undercover spies.

Now that man, Richard Hoskins, faced the three comrades with gladness in his eyes. His powerful face,
deeply lined by strain of responsibility, quivered with emotion.

"Thank God, you're here!тАЭ he repeated. тАЬIt's been days since I sent out that call to you on the secret
audio-wave. I was beginning to fear something had happened to you."

"We were almost picked up by the Earth Police tonight, sir,тАЭ John Thorn said quietly. тАЬI was recognized."

The Chairman hastily closed the metal shutter of the window. There was a look of deep anxiety in his
haggard eyes.

"Thorn, I knew I was summoning you three into danger when I called you here. But I had to do it, for
I've something to tell you which I dared not trust even to the secret wave. Something upon which the fate
of the whole Inner Alliance may depend!

"But first, what can you report?тАЭ the Chairman asked tensely. тАЬThe League is still preparing to attack us?"

Thorn nodded tightly. тАЬYes, sir. Every dock and arsenal from Jupiter to Neptune is humming with
activity. The League will have at least ten thousand cruisers ready in a few weeks, the story goes. They're
working their mining bases out on Pluto at full capacity, digging fuel ores. And there's a rumor that they've
planned some new and terrible agent of destruction with which they will blast our worlds into submission,
after they've smashed our fleet!
"Furthermore,тАЭ Thorn added, тАЬthe League dictator, Haskell Trask, is constantly broadcasting
inflammatory speeches to his four worlds. He's stirring up their war fever to frenzy, telling them that since
the worlds of the Inner Alliance refuse to cede any territory, it must be taken from them by force."

Chairman Hoskins nodded somberly. тАЬI've heard Trask's broadcast speeches. It's that cursed
power-lusting dictator who's driving the system toward war. If we'd only recognized sooner what a
menace he is, we wouldn't have let the League get so far ahead of us in armaments. As it is, when their
attack comes, they'll outnumber our combined navies by two to one. They'll overwhelm our fleet,
unlessтАФ"

"Unless what, sir?тАЭ Thorn asked tensely.

"Unless we can use a new weapon we have,тАЭ the Chairman finished. тАЬA weapon such as the system
never heard of before."

He paced the little study for a few moments, and then turned back to the rigidly watching Planeteers.