" Perry Rhodan 0012 - (06) The Secret of The Time Vault" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

cabins were shut and the air streamed out of the hangars. While the Earth
sank back underneath them in the glassclear ocean of air like a giant rock,
then became embedded in the blackness of space, Rhodan began to issue
commands. 'Fictitious attacker has occupied Jupiter. Outpost on the
Asteroids. Enemy plans to attack Earth. Our goal: to destroy the outpost and
counterattack on Jupiter.' Rhodan looked at Bell. 'Carry on from here!' 'OK,'
promised Bell, and rattled off instructions into the microphones. Then, while
the Stardust II. If accelerated to the speed of light within the next ten
minutes, going up to 50,000 G's, Bell leaned back in his chair, folded his
arms in front of his chest and inquired casually: 'Sir, would it please you if
I were to pulverize Jupiter while we're at it?' 'You'll forget your silly
jokes when things get serious and we really attack the Topides someday,'
prophesied Rhodan. 'Well, how about it? What are the men doing now?' The
silly grin left Bell's face. 'I'm not joking, Perry. In less than an hour our
fighters will have turned several asteroids into fiery gas clouds and thus
annihilated any supposed enemy hiding out there. Then the fighters will set
course for Jupiter and attack all enemies trying to flee from there. With this
ship it would be entirely within our power to change the giant planet's
surface into a flaming hell.' 'That really wouldn't be necessary, but - I
don't want to interfere with your plans here. Carry on!' Bell was now in his
element. He proceeded with great skill. Nobody would have suspected such
talent in him. Although the automatic steering mechanism relieved him of
having to navigate the giant sphere, all initiative and strategical planning
were left up to him. The Stardust II raced into the Asteroid belt, then
slowed down. The first fighter squadron left the hangars and swarmed into
space. Deringhouse was in constant radio communication with Bell, who kept
naming imaginary targets and then had them attacked by the fighters. Rhodan
followed the manoeuvres on the visiscreens. Khrest stood next to him, not
saying a word. A secret fire was burning in his golden eyes but no gesture
revealed his innermost thoughts. Only Rhodan had some vague idea what was
taking place now behind the Arkonide's high forehead. Finally the Stardust II
descended low over Jupiter's surface, racing across the dead planet, shooting
at imaginary targets indicated by Rhodan with lightning speed. Where just a
moment ago had been ice-covered terrain, now boiling lava-lakes could be seen.
The fighters under Deringhouse's command paid brief visits to the planet's
inner moons, then reported as having destroyed the imaginary enemy forces
stationed there. Rhodan put his hand on Bell's shoulder. 'You can sound the
retreat now, Reg. I'm satisfied with this manoeuvre. I believe we can feel
reassured when we return to the Vega sector. I'm full of confidence now. We've
recouped our loss of the Good Hope a thousand times over with this
spacecruiser. The Topides had better start looking out.' For the first time
Khrest broke his silence. 'It would be easy for you to destroy the invaders,'
he said pensively. 'But I wouldn't recommend it. You cannot prevent all enemy
ships from fleeing the battle scene and then reporting to their home base what
happened. There are counter-weapons even against the best equipped
battleships. The Topides would think of nothing but revenge till they were
ready to return someday and take up the fight again. It would be wiser to come
to an agreement with them.' 'A peace treaty with those lizards?' pondered
Bell. 'Why not? The intelligent races of the universe come in many different
shapes; that doesn't mean they're better or worse than we are. The Arkonides