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

"Now I am calling on you Planeteers. If anybody in the system can reach Erebus and bring back the
radite, you can. The chances are a thousand to one you'll perish there as mysterious air hivesтАФall other
would-be explorers of that world. But that thousandth chance that you might succeed and bring back the
radite, is the last chance of the Alliance worlds to preserve their libertyтАФ"

"We'll go, sir, of course!тАЭ Gunner Welk exclaimed instantly. тАЬHell, whatever's on Erebus, it can't stop
us!"

Sual-Av scratched his baldhead. тАЬI wonder what is really there? Anyway, if human men can bring that
radite backтАФ"

"Wait a minute!тАЭ Thorn exclaimed, his lean brown face suddenly eager. He turned to the Chairman. тАЬYou
said nobody had ever landed on Erebus and returned, sir. But one man did land there and come back.
Martin Cain, the great space pirate of, a generation ago."

The Chairman nodded. тАЬYes, I remember the story now. Cain is supposed to have made for Erebus
alone in a lifeboat when his ship was gunned to a wreck outside Pluto's orbit. They say he spent two
weeks there and returned safely, the only man ever to do so."

"Martin Cain,тАЭ Thorn pointed out tensely, тАЬmust have discovered the secret of how to land safely on
Erebus. If we knew that secret, we could land there safely and lift the radite!"

"But Cain has been dead for years,тАЭ the Chairman reminded. тАЬAnd he never told anyone what was on
Erebus, they say."

"He told one person the secret of Erebus, if what I've heard in the underworld is true,тАЭ John Thorn
persisted. тАЬHis daughter, Lana Cain."

The Chairman stared. тАЬLana Cain, the girl who's leader of the space pirates out in the Zone? The girl they
call the pirate princess?"

"That's right.тАЭ Thorn said tautly. тАЬThey say that Martin Cain, her father, before he died told her the secret
of how to visit Erebus safely, so she could take refuge there if ever she had to. She's never told anyone
the secret. But she knows it!"

Sual Av's green eyes glistened. тАЬIf we could get that secret from Lana CainтАФ"

"That's my idea!тАЭ Thorn exclaimed. тАЬIf we three go straight to Erebus to get the radite, the chances are a
thousand to one as you say that we'll simply meet the same mysterious fate as all other explorers, and
never come back. Our lives don't matter, of course, but the Alliance wouldn't get that precious radite.
"Our only real chance, as I see it, is to make first for the Zone, and get this girl Lana Cain's knowledge of
Erebus, by trickery or force. With that knowledge, we can go on to Erebus and have a fighting chance of
winning through and bringing back the radite."

A flame of eager hope leaped into the haggard eyes of the Earth Government executive.

"It's the best plan yet, Thorn! But dare you enter the Zone and seek out this pirate girl? Those corsairs
are ferociously hostile and suspicious of all strangers."