" Perry Rhodan 0013 - (07) Fortress of The Six Moons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Perry Rhodan 013 Fortress Of The Six Moons 1/ SOMEONE ALWAYS GETS IT ON THE
DAWN PATROL Shrill whistling. Thundering reverberations. Vain thoughts of
beginning their flight under more comfortable circumstances were knocked out
of their heads by the nerve-wracking jolt of the ejection, which they suffered
with stoic calm. Shooting out of the airlocks, they were dealt double blows:
physical and mental. It wasn't until they switched on the powerful pulse
drive engines, shifted the tiny fighter spaceships to full thrust and set the
automatic pilots for their destination that they could at last
relax. Approaching the speed of light they were hurtling in free fall through
the immense planetary system of a star which, according to the reliable
evidence of the astronomers, was twenty-seven light-years away from
Earth. The three astronauts weren't the sort to question too often the
purpose or reason for an order. This patrol flight seemed necessary; so why
worry about it? S-7, the huge spaceship which was their base and which the
formation had just left, remained in a standby position near the thirty-eighth
planet of the colossal Vega sun. The docks of S-7 were wide open and the
guide-beam projectors manned by dependable friends. It would be strictly
routine to return to the mother ship after they'd accomplished their task,
then to enjoy the pleasant regularity of a well-run service. The team of
three had been sent on a long journey. They were outstanding men who had seen
the expanse of the Vega solar system close-up by an improbable
accident. Major Deringhouse acted as commander of the space pilots who had
already taken part in more than fifty attacks against the odd-shaped
spaceships of an alien race. They had taken off with a certain feeling of
confidence. They didn't give a thought to the dangers which they undoubtedly
had to face in the vicinity of the fortieth planet. They relied on the high
acceleration potential of their lightening-fast pursuit ships, on their steady
nerves and - last but not least - on the pulse-energy cannons situated in the
needle noses of their crafts. They'd been stretched out for almost twelve
hours in their reclining pilot seats when the automatic scanner locked onto
the fortieth planet. Then they came alive. Four of the six moons were clearly
and unmistakably recognizable. The fourth moon had just begun to appear from
behind the giant sphere which lowed in a reddish light. This world was in the
outermost regions of the Vega system, and it was, for this reason, dying and
uninhabited. It barely received any warmth from the rays of its sun, which was
a mighty atomic furnace, the biggest star in the northern sky, as seen from
Earth. Calverman, the tall, black astronaut with the logical brain and
instantaneous reactions of a positronic computer, had, strangely enough,
noticed the danger last. When the shrill scream uttered by Rous reached him
over the telecom, Calverman's engine already resembled an atomic torch
spitting bolts of lightning. He was hanging on, jammed in his narrow cockpit
filled with hot gases and steam. His space helmet, which he'd flipped back on
his shoulders in order to be more comfortable, snapped shut in its magnetic
collar locks with a hard click, triggered by the automatic
pressure-equalization device. Now Calverman's spacesuit was locked
hermetically. Everything had begun to work perfectly, only Calverman's body
failed, as did the most essential element of his space fighter, the advanced
pulse-drive engine with its tremendous power. As a consequence, his heavily
damaged craft gyrated crazily and drifted more and more toward the fortieth
planet, already so close that its gravity began to take effect. The automatic