" Perry Rhodan 0049 - (41) The Earth Dies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

In the blinking of an eyelid our sun Sol diminished to the tiniest of stars, traceable in the kaleidoscope of
bright and faint celestial bodies only by the most supersensitive of electron-telescopes. Even Betelgeuse,
the red giant, seemed at the point of extinction now, 9728 light-years from the Titan in the direction of
Terra.

Ahead of theTitan stretched the boundless reaches of the universe with its inhabited and uninhabited
systems and their corresponding dangers.

Perry Rhodan sat before the panoramic viewscreen gallery, which afforded him an awesome view into
the depths of infinity. Next to him sat Reginald Bell, his best friend and companion of many a space-time
campaign in the interests of Earth, who presently rubbed the aches of transition from the back of his
neck, brushed back his unruly stubble of red hair and narrowed his eyes in order to see more clearly. The
Titan moved silently through the endless panoply of stars, now only тАШcreepingтАЩ along at nine-tenths speol.
At this rate it could takeyears to reach the next star!

"LetтАЩs hope our rematerialisation sent out a space-warp shock strong enough to register with everybody
concerned," said Rhodan casually. He nodded toward the door of Com Central. "Well, weтАЩll soon find
out. With hypersensor stations spotted all over the galaxy, theyтАЩre able to track all hyperspace transitions
and, since we didnтАЩt use our compensator on this jump, they shouldтАЩve picked us up.

"The great puzzle-solving marathon now begins!"

Bell stretched his thickset body, which made him appear a bit plump and sluggish but he was anything
but, from either a physical or mental standpoint. "Those Topide lizards must take us for Springers by now
and with the Springers its the other way aroundтАФthey come from the depths of the Milky Way and
presume EarthтАЩs in the Betelgeuse system where the Topides are trying to establish themselves! The
Springers want to destroy Earth so theyтАЩll mistakenly attack Betelgeuse 3 and bump into the Topides.
ThatтАЩll touch off a battle royal and we have only to stand by and watch in order to accomplish our
objective. A pretty slick arrangement, Perry!

"The main spectators are going to be Deringhouse and McClears. WeтАЩre going to have to get in touch
with them again.тАФI wonder where their cruisers are hiding?"

Bell considered the question a form of request and got up, saying, "Okay, IтАЩll take a looksee. Do you
want the radio traffic coded?"

"Yes, absolutely." Rhodan continued to search the viewscreens. "Ask for their positions and let me have
a report on their situation. And tell Deringhouse to stand by when you get himтАФI want to talk to him
myself. We donтАЩt want any video setup because we donтАЩt want to give any of the pessimists a hint to the
contrary. The more we can do to make the Earth disappear from the scene for awhile, the better off we
are."

"ThatтАЩs right," Bell grinned. "A lot is hanging on that one, alright." He crossed the dome-shaped Control
Central and entered the adjacent radio room. "Hi, Martin. Good morning."

Cadet Martin acknowledged the greeting without turning around. He sat in front of his equipment and
observed a rash of numbers as they spun across his coloured megacycle dials. An oval viewscreen
revealed a flicker of colour lines which raced meaninglessly across the convex surface. Nothing of a
recognizable nature seemed to want to form there. A crackle of static emerged from the loudspeaker.