" Perry Rhodan Special Edition - In the Centre of the Galaxy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

masters.тАЭ
Pucky jumped into the seat next to Homunk.
тАЬTell me, Homunk, what do you really think? YouтАЩre from Wanderer, a world
that no longer exists, the abode of the Immortal who created you. What do you
know about the aliens weтАЩre pursuing? What do you know about the creators of
the Silver Arrows? Why do they avoid all contact with us?тАЭ
The android needed no time to reflect. тАЬIтАЩve never heard of them. There are no
data for them in my memory bank. I canтАЩt help youтАФat least not yet.тАЭ
Pucky stared darkly before him, poorer by one secretly treasured hope. He
could not read the thoughts of the android, so he did not know whether Homunk
spoke the truth. But why should the android lie?
Pucky looked at the screen again.
тАЬHow fast are we going?тАЭ
тАЬTen times the speed of light; we canтАЩt do more without danger.тАЭ
Compared to what was possible in linear propulsion, their speed was almost
ridiculous. Three million kilometres per second. Even so, it was too fast if a dark
star should appear, a sun that could not be detected until the last moment.
тАЬLetтАЩs try it at eleven; maybe then weтАЩll get closer.
Homunk shook his head. тАЬHopeless. When we were cruising at speol 3 they
kept their distance. When we increased our speed, the aliens did, too. Now weтАЩre
going 10. And if we could speed up to 100 times the speed of lightтАФthe aliens can
too. We know that they can go even faster. ItтАЩs senseless, Pucky. We can catch the
Silver Arrow only if we can outwit it. Since theyтАЩve already spotted us, though,
that seems a small hope indeed.тАЭ
тАЬKrosh!тАЭ Pucky was crestfallen. Yet his brain sought feverishly for a way out.
There was the objective, so close, yet he could not reach it. The Silver Arrow was
only a little more than two million kilometres away. A swift spurt of speedтАж
тАЬNo,тАЭ said Homunk when Pucky suggested this to him, тАЬthatтАЩs just as senseless.
The commander of the Silver Arrow most likely is a robot brain. He reacts in a
fraction of a second. Before we can speed up, or at least at the same moment, he
speeds up too. WeтАЩve tried it already.тАЭ
тАЬHow, then, can we possibly outwit him?тАЭ Pucky looked pretty helpless. He
had thought the whole thing would be much simpler. To sight a Silver Arrow, to
get close, to set up a telekinetic blockтАФand it was as good as done. The rest
would be routine. TheyтАЩd enter the vessel, disable the robots and interrogate the
masters. That is, if the masters could be interrogated. But thenтАж?
тАЬItтАЩs hardly changed its course till now,тАЭ Homunk offered into the silence.
тАЬOnly when a sunтАЩs been in its way and had to be avoided. We can only guess that
itтАЩs going to its home base.тАЭ
тАЬThey canтАЩt be that stupid, Homunk. They know weтАЩre following them.тАЭ
тАЬBut they also know that they can accelerate if they have to. I would bet that at
the last moment the Silver Arrow will increase its speed to a thousand times the
speed of light and then make a sharp curve. WeтАЩll lose him, and while weтАЩre still
looking for him, heтАЩll have long ago landed. Within 5 light-years weтАЩve got more
than 500 suns. Would you want to search these one by one? You donтАЩt have
enough vacation time!тАЭ
тАЬOnly three weeks,тАЭ Pucky admitted, discouraged.
тАЬFor just one sector of 10 light-years diameter,тАЭ Homunk continued, тАЬweтАЩd
need about two years here in the centre, if we are to search it systematically.
Besides, to accomplish even that in the time given, weтАЩd have to hurry like hell.тАЭ