"Phillip Francis Nowlan - Buck Rogers 01 - Armageddon 2419" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nowlan Philip Francis)

"No," he said. "There was no time to gather anything. All this stuff we cleared from the Susquannas a
few hours ago. I was with the Boss on the way down, and he had me jump on ahead and arrange it.
But you two had better be moving. He's beckoning you now.
Hart was about to call us on our phones when we looked up. As soon as we did so, he leaped away,
waving us to follow closely.
 He was a powerful man, and he darted ahead in long, swift, low leaps up the banks of the stream,
which followed a fairly straight course at this point. By extending ourselves, however, Wilma and I
were able to catch up to him.
As we gradually synchronized our leaps with his, he outlined to us, between the grunts that
accompanied each leap, his plan of action.
"We have to start the big business-unh-sooner or later," he said. "And if-unh-the Hans have found
any way of locating our positions-unh-it's time to start now, although the Council of Bosses-unh-had
intended waiting a few years until enough rocket ships have been-unh-built. But no matter what the
sacrifce-unh-we can't afford to let them get us on the run-unh- We'll set a trap for the yellow devils in
the-unh-valley if they come back for their wreckage-unh-and if they don't, we'll go rocketing for
some of thefr liners-unh-on the Nu-yok, Glee-lan, Sikaga course. We can use-unh-that idea of yours
of shooting up the repellor-unh-beams. Want you to give us a demonstration."
With further admonition to follow him closely, he increased his pace, and Wilma and I were taxed to our
utrnost to keep up with him. It was only in ascending the slopes that my tougher muscles over-balanced
his greater skill, and I was able to set the pace for him, as I had for Wilma.
We slept in greater comfort that night, under our inertron blankets, and were off with the dawn,
leaping cautiously to the top of the ridge overlooking the valley which Wilma and I had left.
The Boss scauned the sky with his ultroscope, patiently taking some fifteen minutes to the task, and
then swung his phone into use, calling the roll and giving the men their instructions.
His first order was for us all to slip our ear and chest discs into permanent position.
These ultrophones were quite different from the one used by Wilma's companion scout the day I
saved her from the attack of the bandit Gang. That one was contained entirely in a small pocket case
These, with which we were now equipped, consisted of a pair of ear discs, each a separate and
self-contained receiving set They slipped into little pockets over our ears in the fabric helmets we
wore, and shut out virtually all extraneous sounds. The chest discs were likewise self-contained
sending sets, strapped to the chest a few inches below the neck and actuated by the vibrations from
the vocal cords through the body tissues. The total range of these sets was about eighteen miles.
Reception was remarkably clear, quite free from the static of 20th Century radios, and of a strength in
direct proportion to the distance of the speaker.
The Boss' set was triple powered, so that his orders would cut in on any local conversations, which were
indulged in, however, with great restraint, and only for the purpose of maintaining contacts.
I marveled at the efficiency of this modern method of battle communication in contrast to the clumsy
signaling devices of more ancient times; and also at other military contrasts in which the 20th and 25th
Century methods were the reverse of each other in efficiency. These modern Americans, for instance,
knew little of han-to-hand fighting, and nothing, naturally, of trench warfare. And until my recent flash of
inspiration, no one among them, apparently, had ever thought of the scheme of shooting a rocket into a
repellor beam and letting the beam itself hurl it upward into the most vital part of the Han ship.
Hart patiently placed his men, first giving his instructions to the campmasters, and then remaining silent,
while they placed the individuals.
In the end, the hundred men were ringed about the valley, on the hillsides and tops, each in a position
from which he had a good view of the wreckage of the Han ship. But not a man had come in view, so
far as I coald see, in the whole process.
The boss explained to me that it was his idea that he, Wilma and I should investigate the wreck. If
Han ships should appear in the sky, we would leap for the hillsides.
I suggested to him to have the men set up their long-guns trained on an imaginary circle surrounding