" Perry Rhodan 0079 - (71) The Atom Hell of Grautier" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

and then dying out. Mike Judson picked up the intercom mike, pressed a series of buttons and waited
until Reginald BellтАЩs face appeared on the vidscreen.

"The attack has begun, sir," he reported. "We shot down 10 Arkonide ships on their first flyover."

A smile flew across Reginald BellтАЩs face. "My the Lord have mercy on your optimismтАФthe way I hear
it, there are 1000 ships in all."

That Judson could not deny. The radar had supplied the exact number in the meantime: the attackersтАЩ
fleet consisted of 1200 of ArkonтАЩs largest spaceships.

"WeтАЩre doing our best, sir," Judson assured him.

"I donтАЩt doubt that," Bell replied. "WeтАЩre on our way up to help you."

JudsonтАЩs eyes went wide in astonishment. He wanted to say something in answer but at that moment a
flash of unbearable brightness blinded him. He saw Reginald BellтАЩs face disappear in a chaos of
iridescent, glowing rings. Then the broad glassite window, through which Judson had been able to see the
broad landing surface of the spaceport from his control board, shattered in a reverberating crash. It
seemed to him that a giantтАЩs hand raised him out of his chair and slammed him against the rear wall. He
screamed in pain. He lay for a few seconds half unconscious on the floor. Then, to his surprise, he was
able to stand up without any difficulty.

The room in which he had been sitting earlier was no longer in existence. Next to him lay a broken chair.
Walls and ceilings had been blown hundreds of meters away by the force of the explosion, piled up with
other rubble into heaps of debris.

From the middle of the landing field rose the incandescent flame of a nuclear bomb. Judson felt the heat
radiating from it. He was glad that at the critical moment heтАЩd had the glassite window in front of him.
Without the window he would have now been a greyish brown lump of human ashes. Now the window
was gone. The next bomb would catch him unprotected in an open area and complete the work of the
first. He looked around. The explosion shockwave had spared a number of low, barrack-like structures
in the distance. They stood a little tilted now but they seemed otherwise undamaged. He ran towards
them. Oddly enough, he felt no fear. All he wanted was an intercom so he could stay in touch with his
men.

While he ran, a defence missile took off from the ground in front of him and to the right. It shot almost
straight up into the sky, riding on a glowing beam of nuclear particles. Judson stopped to watch it,
astonished. He was still staring when high in the sky a brilliant, glaring fireball from an explosion
appeared, dazzling him. He had not heard any sounds, neither from the missileтАЩs takeoff nor from the
roaring of its engines. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers next to his ear. Nothing. All was
silent. He had lost his hearing. Whether it was only temporarily or permanently, he could not determine.
In any event, nothing worse could have happened to him at a time of extreme danger when he had to give
orders and receive reports. Helpless and uncertain, he started to move again. The nuclear bomb had
blasted tons of dust into the air and the spreading dust cloud was now starting to obscure the sky. It was
growing dark. Brilliant, blazing missile trails flashed through the twilight like lightning in a colossal
thunderstorm. Stumbling, Judson reached the first of the barracks. The front door was jammed but he
opened it with a forceful kick, throwing into the blow all his anger over his helplessness.

It was dark inside. The bomb seemed to have knocked out a part of the baseтАЩs energy supply. Judson