" Perry Rhodan 0022 - (15) Escape to Venus" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

like silver in the sun. Their ever alert eyes were not organic, they were crystal lenses. For these were no
ordinary human beings: they were robots.

Theirs was a single command: to guard the ships. This they did without emotion. When ordered to watch
for some one who could not possibly appear here, no one could have told whether there was any
sensation of amazement or not in their positronic brains.

To the right, as far as the horizon, extended the mirror-like expanse of the Goshun saltlake. From this
side there was the least potential threat of intruders for the lake lay within the cordonned-off area.

And still, this calm was deceptive.

While all mankind was preparing to celebrate an important anniversary of manтАЩs first flight to the Moon,
and hardly a soul was not glued to TV to watch the festivities, one person had decided to no longer place
faith in certain promises. The time had come for action!

A car was approaching the test area from the south.

The smooth road was almost free of dust. The vehicle whizzed along the deserted road, never slowing
down, not even when the first electronic barrier came into sight. The electronic sensors checked out the
vehicle and its occupantsтАФand let them pass.

The second and third electronic checkpoints reacted in a similar manner.

The car, a smart-looking sports model, drove straight toward the three rockets and then began to
decrease its speed. Two of the robot guards had changed the course of their mechanical rounds and
advanced toward the car. Their left arms were held at a strange angle but nobody could have recognized
the rayguns hidden inside. The least impulse would be sufficient to transform these apparently harmless
metal creatures into energy-spewing death-dealing machines.

But that impulse failed to materialize.

The electronic sensors probed the brain pattern of the human being that had stepped out of the vehicle
and it was checked out as тАШapproved,тАЩ as it possessed all the necessary required qualifications. The two
robots lowered their arms and permitted the person to pass. With a sarcastic smile, the stranger walked
past the automatons, then stopped a few yards farther away, seemingly undecided.

There they were, the three small model spaceships, ready to start. Their height of 30 yards made them
appear quite huge, judged by terrestrial standards. Their interior harboured tremendous energy reservoirs
and fantastic engines designed by non-human brains. With these ships it was possible to traverse the solar
system within the span of a few hours and, if one so desired, one could reach the nearest star in 4┬╜
years.

The robots resumed their interrupted patrols. The strangerтАЩs brain pattern spelt no danger, according to
their programmed instructions, so the unidentified one was permitted to pass; indeed, allowed to do much
more without releasing danger impulses in their positronic brains.

The tall stranger stood for quite a while in the solitude of the desert and contemplated the three
spacecraft. The well-fitting uniform brought out the strangerтАЩs slender figure and at closer examination it
became evident that this was afemale figure. A big cap hid the long, light- coloured hair that shone