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

Cislarczik had known Harper for only a few days. He did not know what it meant for Harper to speak
so softly and quietly. He unsnapped the canteen from his belt, unscrewed the cap and started to drink.

Before the first water droplets even touched his lips, HarperтАЩs fist slammed into his face from the left.
With a yell, Cislarczik let the canteen fall and staggered to one side.

"Why, youтАФ" he growled. The pain had made him almost a madman and some moments had to pass
before he could see clearly again.

Then he threw himself at Harper. Cislarczik was a tall, broad-shouldered man and he was certain he
could knock the smaller Harper to the ground in the first rush. He did not take into consideration the fact
that Harper had something he did not: a cool head.

Harper stepped back and let Cislarczik rush past, then grabbed his neck in a lightning move, pulled him
back somewhat and slammed the side of his right hand into CislarczikтАЩs back, between the shoulder
blades.

Cislarczik fell on the ground.

"The canteen!" Glannon cried, looking as though he had only now recovered his senses. "The waterтАЩs
running out of it!"

Harper looked around. CislarczikтАЩs canteen lay a few steps away in the grass, its contents slowly flowing
out and draining into the dry ground. Harper picked it up, held it with the mouth pointing downwards and
allowed the rest of the water to fall out. "ThatтАЩll teach him," he muttered.

Glannon swallowed.

"YouтАЩve got paper and a stylus, right?" Harper went on, addressing Glannon. "Write him a note"тАФhe
pulled out a small compass, aligned it and made an observationтАФ"that weтАЩve gone towards the
north-northwest to reach the river."

Glannon did as he was told. Only after he had laid the sheet of paper in the grass next to the unconscious
Cislarczik did he dare say: "But he doesnтАЩt have a compass! How is he going to know where the
north-northwest is?"

Harper shrugged. "ThatтАЩs his problem. He didnтАЩt have to behave like an idiot."

They went on, not bothering themselves any further about the unconscious man they were leaving
behind. Harper, anyway; Glannon was considerably more sensitive than Harper and worried. HarperтАЩs
blows had been hard and pitiless. If Cislarczik lay unconscious any longer than the grass needed to spring
back up and obliterate all sign of HarperтАЩs and GlannonтАЩs trail, he would have no choice but to follow the
slope back down towards Greenwich. Whether or not he would find the town or go on past was a moot
question.

HarperтАЩs pace was energetic, as though the heat no longer affected him. Glannon found it hard to keep
up. The thought of plenty of cool water at the river gave him a little extra strength.
 An hour went by. Then they began to hear a dull roar from somewhere in front of them. A little later they
saw a dark line cutting through the grass ahead and 10 minutes after that they spotted the cloud of water
vapour shimmering above the deep river gorge. In the glare of the sun a long, narrow rainbow stretched