" Perry Rhodan 0021 - (2c) Menace of Atomigeddon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

height or from below. Capt. Welinski considered the chances of his comrades to be vastly
improved by attacking their target from 5,000 meters above.
The pursuit machines had two independent propulsion systems. One was a rocket engine
which could be used from the start to gain the desired altitude in the shortest time. The other
one was a commonly used turbo aggregate which was capable of reaching a velocity of Mach 4.
The fighting machines were equipped with rockets as well as with automatic rapid-fire cannons.
There would not have been a more efficient fighter on EarthтАФif the American astronaut hadnтАЩt
met an alien race on the Moon who gave him the secrets of their advanced technology.
Nevertheless Capt. Welinski felt quite confident. He kept an eye on his squadron with its
machines flying in a staggered formation and remained in constant communication with the
ground command of the Air Force Group.
The ground command officer announced: тАЬChimney to all chimney sweeps! Chimney to all
chimney sweeps! The enemy vessel is approaching from 210 to zero-30 at the speed of Mach
15. It will pass over the city in 50 seconds. You should be able to see it now. Attack without
waiting for further instructions! Confirm order!тАЭ
Welinski replied: тАЬChimney sweep to chimney. Enemy in sight. We attack at once!тАЭ Then he
urged his pilots: тАЬGet ready, men, for a concerted attack!тАЭ
The first glimpse Welinski caught of his opponent was a flickering wall of fire shooting up at
the horizon. At first it looked rather small and picturesque as a prairie fire seen from his height.
However it grew with amazing rapidity. It seemed to rise from the ground and turn into a
glaring sphere. Welinski had to use his dark goggles. тАЬFor heavenтАЩs sake!тАЭ he muttered. тАЬThey
said it measures 800 meters. That thing looks at least 10 kilometres in diameter.тАЭ
He didnтАЩt have time to think about it further. He saw the ball of fire race toward him and he
assumed that it was the enemy itself or that he concealed himself inside the object. Welinski
triggered all his rockets simultaneously but he was suddenly no longer convinced that his small
missiles with the nuclear warheads could have any effect on the enormous fireball.
Then he pulled his machine upward, squeezing his eyes shut because the blinding light
burned the retina of his eyes despite the protective filter. Welinski was luckier than any of his
comrades: he managed to avoid the full force of the shield surrounding the Stardust and merely
touched its fringes. However the impact was enough to shatter his plane but Welinski was
catapulted a few hundred meters higher in his ejection seat. When he began to fall, the hot air
inflated his parachute and the unconscious captain floated to the ground.
All the other machines swooped into the fireball and perished in the clouds of their exploding
rockets which they had blasted at their target only a few seconds earlier.
The battleтАФif it was worthy of the nameтАФlasted exactly 100 seconds from the arrival of the
Stardust to the end when the 23rd Fighter Squadron had ceased to exist. There was only one
slight exception: the survival of the comatose Capt. Welinski who had been lucky enough to be
hurled far enough away from the scene of the disaster by the cyclone the Stardust had created to
escape the radioactivity spreading out from the exploded nuclear warheads of the rockets.
Fate had spared one man to tell the tale of the unequal match to his superiors. But
shortsighted as fate often can be, they would call Welinski a fool when he gave his account and
send him to the psychiatrists.
Thus the portentous beginning for the doom of mankind was given more time to engulf the
nations.
 ****

Perry Rhodan had watched the attack of the fighter squadron in stony silence. He knew what
would happen if the pilots failed to veer away before it was too late.
The Stardust moved at a speed 15 times faster than soundтАФ5 kilometres per second. At such
a speed the collision with the protective field whose diameter was 10 times greater than the