" Perry Rhodan 0011 - (5b) Mutants in Action" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

He threw in full power and saw that the ship still didnтАЩt respond to control.

"Something else is on the fritz," he mumbledтАФand then suddenly he discovered it.

The drivers were sputtering out. He checked them several times and fought his controls until he had to
believe the evidence. He stared at the velocity meter. The fighter was in free fall. When the gravitation of
Ferrol overcame his original momentum, he would fall back.

"Get going!" gasped Klein.

"I canтАЩt," answered Deringhouse, while regaining his calm. "Now listenтАФ you fly back alone to Rofus.
IтАЩll stay here. My drivers are gone, I could never make it. Understood?"

"We could land somewhere, and I could take you on board!" said Klein.

"DonтАЩt be crazy!" Deringhouse growled at him. "You know thatтАЩs impossible. Tell Rhodan that IтАЩll
attempt to fight it through. If possible IтАЩll try not to fall into the hands of the Topides. IтАЩll head south and
get as close to Sicha country as I can."

"ButтАФ!"

"Get back to base!" Deringhouse bellowed. "No more arguments! ThatтАЩs an order, Captain Klein!"

After a choked pause, Klein answered, "Yes sir, Major!" And then, "Good luck!"

"Thanks!"

Deringhouse saw the undamaged fighter shoot vertically away. Seconds later it was only a blip on the
scannerтАФthen it disappeared. With a sigh he turned back to itтАЩs own problem.

The crippled ship climbed to an altitude of forty-eight miles before the momentum gave out. At the
proper moment, Deringhouse tipped it over and dived to regain a control momentum. At about nine miles
of altitude he was able to stabilize with the help of the other wing.

Thorta lay far behind him. The countryside below was marked by a maze of wide highways. He saw a
large number of small cities, great industrial plants, and far on the horizon the blue-shimmering line of the
mountains where the Sichas lived. The distance amounted to more than 240 miles, and he wouldnтАЩt get
that far. All he needed was to find an area where he could bail out without falling into the hands of a
Topidian search party. The towns became fewer. Patches of forest began to appear, and the highways
were fewer and farther apart, with less traffic.

Deringhouse gritted his teeth and nursed the flier carefully eastward. It looked good so far. The highways
became scarcer, and the forested areas were larger. A small town passed beneath him. Then he switched
on the timing fuse of the disintegrator and struck the releasing mechanism of the cockpit ejector with his
fist. There was a murderous inertial jolt that the neutralizer could no longer absorb, and Deringhouse
blacked out for a few seconds.

Then he stared at the visiscreen. The pilotless ship wobbled away from him. It turned nose down and
would have taken a vertical plunge, but in the same moment the total energy of the disintegrator was
released. A fine vapour of atomized particles was left, which at first continued almost at the same velocity