" Perry Rhodan 0041 - (33) The Giant's Partner" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"No, I donтАЩt want to!" called out Thora. Rhodan looked at her in disbelief. But before he could say
anything the robot brain spoke up: "Thora and Khrest may return to Arkon at any time. However, I
desire that they remain on theTitan тАФin a leading position."

"Agreed," Rhodan confirmed.

"There is something else I want to ask you," said the robot brain.

"Go ahead!" Rhodan waited for the question to come. He had no idea what the Brain might want to
know from him. Therefore it was no wonder that he was utterly taken by surprise when the Brain
inquired: "Are you a descendant of the Arkonides?"

For a moment Rhodan was dumbfounded. He had expected anything but that question. After all, the
Brain ought to be in a much better position to answer that than he could at this stage.

"It is not known whether the Terrans descend from the Arkonides," he replied. "By rights this fact ought
to be recorded in the central files on Arkon."

"I do not know what kind of a world Terra is and where it is located."

And youтАЩre not going to find out so soon,Rhodan thought as he suddenly realized what was behind the
RegentтАЩs line of questioning: the Brain wanted to learn EarthтАЩs positionтАж!

"Terra is not part of the Empire, Regent. I donтАЩt know how far your colonizing expeditions once were
advancing but itтАЩs quite possible one of these ships was driven off course and landed on our world. One
of these days weтАЩll be able to give a satisfactory answer to this question."

"They obviously are descendants of the same line as the Arkonides. A parallel evolution is most
improbable. It would be too great a coincidence if 2 identical intelligent life forms would develop
independent of each other. Well, enough of that."

Rhodan contemplated the glistening hemisphere for a few moments. "In any case, Regent, you seem to
know more than you care to admit."

"What do you mean by that?"

Rhodan smiled and gave Thora a reassuring glance. "You calculated our distance from Arkon to be 2.75
light-years according toour way of telling time. How do you happen to know how long one year lasts on
my home world?"

The robot brainтАЩs answer came without an instantтАЩs hesitation: "I intercepted your radio messages which
sufficed to calculate your units of measurement. Still, this did not enable me to ascertain the position of
your home planet. Some day youтАЩll tell me where it is."

"ItтАЩs possible," Rhodan admitted. "A final question: if necessary, can I get in touch with you at any time?"

"Yes, at any time, on the same frequency. Thank you, Perry Rhodan." The screen was suddenly dark
again.