" Perry Rhodan 0062 - (54) The Blue Dwarfs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

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In the meantime Harper, Glannon and Cislarczik experienced some hard going as the hours went by.
Since stealing one of the caterpillar-tracked vehicles that had been salvaged from theAdventurous would
have been too much of a risk, they had been forced to cover on foot the same distance Mullon and his
companions had flown over in so short a time in the helicopter.

From sunrise on, the blue-white sun drenched the gently rising plain with a flood of unbearable heat.
Their gun-butts began to burn in their hands and their hair grew so hot that it became painful to run their
hands through it. It was hard to breathe and instead of appearing to draw nearer, the mountains seemed
to fall even farther away in the shimmering air.

The grassy plain was dotted with scattered bushes and trees none very tall or large. Harper, leader of
the trio, quickly realized he would not get very far if he attempted to walk across the plain in the usual
manner so he and his men rested for at least a minute in the shade of each bush or tree they came to, then
made a quick dash across the sun-scorched grass to the next plant, which was usually several hundred
yards farther on.

In this manner they made relatively rapid progress but Harper figured they could keep it up for 2 or 3
more hours at most. The rest period they would need then to recover from exhaustion would take more
time than could be allowed.

Harper realized that Hollander had sent them off at the wrong time. It was crazy to make a forced march
of 25 if not more miles across an all but shadeless plain on a sunny day. If they wanted to get much
farther, they would have to make the trek at night.

Towards 8 oтАЩclock Harper called a halt in the shadow of a tree. "We arenтАЩt going to get very far this
way," he said.

"You can say that again," said Cislarczik sarcastically, looking around. "IтАЩm surprised my tongue isnтАЩt
already hanging out like a dogтАЩs. But what are we going to do now?"

"Wait," decided Harper. "WeтАЩll wait until the sun goes down and things cool off a bit."

"WeтАЩll lose almost 30 hours that way!" Glannon objected.

"So? ItтАЩs better to lose 30 hours than kill ourselves in this heat," Harper retorted.

"OK, youтАЩre right," said Cislarczik, "but whatтАЩll we do right now? Can we take a drink?" He reached for
the canteen hanging from his belt.

"DonтАЩt do anything stupid!" Harper exclaimed. "We may need the treated water more later on. The river
canтАЩt be far from hereтАФweтАЩll get our drink there."

Cislarczik looked at him angrily. "What do I care about the treated water?" he demanded roughly. "IтАЩm
thirsty and IтАЩm not going to take another stepтАФIтАЩm going to get a drink!"
Harper glared back, dangerously quiet. "Just try it!"