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

pilot of the machine was knocked out. The air-conditioning and emergency
generator ceased to function. Only the two visiphones kept operating on
separate circuits, powered by special batteries provided for such a
disaster. The temperature in Sergeant Calverman's cabin rose, a few minutes
after he was struck, to 5,800┬░F, which was hot enough to incinerate him
instantly without his special spacesuit. However, because of his suit, he
hardly noticed the heat, especially as the hull of his fighter didn't retain
it long but radiated it quickly into the vacuum of space. An inferno was
raging behind the helpless astronaut. Meanwhile, Major Deringhouse and
Sergeant Rous were grimly defending themselves, trying to save their skins. As
long as it was possible for them to correctly utilize the structural
advantages of their tiny, ultra-fast and extremely agile space-fighters, there
was practically nothing that could happen to them except, as had been
Calverman's misfortune, an accidental hit from one of the countless
ray-cannons of the enemy which emerged so unexpectedly out of
hyperspace. Major Deringhouse - young, wiry and tall - sat with his back to
the armour plate shield which protected him from the radiation in his engine
compartment. Basically his machine simply consisted of a long torpedo-shaped
shell which contained, in addition to the small cockpit, only the powerful
engine and auxiliary components. It was not built to give the lonely pilot
luxurious accommodations or even sanitary comfort. These machines were
nothing more nor less than weapon-bristling, stinging space wasps which were
carried on board larger spaceships to occasionally execute special tasks, the
most important being reconnaissance of space sectors when unsafe for the big
vessels to proceed. Major Deringhouse no longer solely relied on the screen
of his automatic radar. Wherever he looked, the area was suddenly swarming
with enemy units which had leaped recklessly into the planetary system of
Vega, thus achieving total surprise. Spaceships approaching in
fifth-dimensional hyperspace simply couldn't be detected in time. It was
sheer coincidence that Deringhouse and his small team were at exactly the same
point where the armada of the nonhuman Topides emerged from hyper-space into
the normal universe. Again and again the ray beams shot toward Deringhouse
almost with the speed of light. These aliens aimed with precision, a fact
which Rhodan had learned from the excellent firing equipment of previously
captured enemy craft. Deringhouse had no other choice that to call off his
attack immediately and to change his course with howling and flaming starboard
jets. He could see Sergeant Rous's face on the small screen of the telecom.
It was white as chalk. His bloodless lips resembled two thin lines, distorted
into waves by the mirror effect of the transparent visor of his space
helmet. Rous's position was about six hundred miles behind the group leader.
Bright points of light emanating from the Topidian super spaceships flickered
ahead, above and below. The Topide commander seemed to consider the three
space-fighters as annoying flies, even though they had already knocked out
three Topidian cruisers. The burned- out Topidian wrecks, hit by pulse-energy
shots, drifted like Calverman's fighter in the direction of the fortieth
planet. The enormous gravitational force of the giant world was negligible for
intact ships but not for units which had completely lost their propulsion
motors. More-over, the velocity of such ships was much too low to compensate
for the increasing gravity with the kinetic force of high speed. Calverman's
machine, too, followed this law. Naturally, it hadn't been Deringhouse's