"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0022 - (15) Escape to Venus" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

1/ HELL WORLD


Three metal monsters.
Three silvery, glittering bodies of metal reared up from the soil of Asia towards the eternally blue sky of the great continent. Their conical noses seemed to sniff toward the stars.
On the exterior, the spaceships resembled the first rockets that flew from the Earth to the Moon, initiating a new era for mankind. But the resemblance was strictly external.
Internally, the ships were equipped with far ranging ray cannons and machines to throw up energy screens around them, protective barriers impenetrable by any power on Earth. These were the latest type of 'destroyer,' craft built on an enlarged scale with a complement of three men and capable of light speed.
Constructed in the space complex of the New Power, the three destroyers were the first of their kind and so far had been test flown only once. No defects or malfunctions had been discovered so mass production of the new model was scheduled for the near future in the largest spaceship construction centre in the world.
Lonely lay the spacious test terrain of the New Power under the broiling heat of the afternoon sun. In the distance soared the skyscrapers of Terrania, formerly known as Galacto-City, the future capital of a united world. To the left was the spacecraft plant, a vast complex of long halls, immense hangars and a variety of domed buildings.
Guards patrolled the immediate area around the three new destroyers. Mechanically, and at regular intervals, they performed their duties, looking neither to right nor to left, as if they realized how senseless their task must be: for no one could possibly advance undetected to this point. No unauthorized person was to be found anywhere throughout the entire area of the plant-the electronically controlled cordon saw to that.
The guards did not wear uniforms; instead, garments of a strange-looking metallic material that shone like silver in the sun. Their ever alert eyes were not organic, they were crystal lenses. For these were no ordinary human beings: they were robots.
Theirs was a single command: to guard the ships. This they did without emotion. When ordered to watch for some one who could not possibly appear here, no one could have told whether there was any sensation of amazement or not in their positronic brains.
To the right, as far as the horizon, extended the mirror-like expanse of the Goshun saltlake. From this side there was the least potential threat of intruders for the lake lay within the cordonned-off area.
And still, this calm was deceptive.
While all mankind was preparing to celebrate an important anniversary of man's first flight to the Moon, and hardly a soul was not glued to TV to watch the festivities, one person had decided to no longer place faith in certain promises. The time had come for action!
A car was approaching the test area from the south.
The smooth road was almost free of dust. The vehicle whizzed along the deserted road, never slowing down, not even when the first electronic barrier came into sight. The electronic sensors checked out the vehicle and its occupants-and let them pass.
The second and third electronic checkpoints reacted in a similar manner.
The car, a smart-looking sports model, drove straight toward the three rockets and then began to decrease its speed. Two of the robot guards had changed the course of their mechanical rounds and advanced toward the car. Their left arms were held at a strange angle but nobody could have recognized the rayguns hidden inside. The least impulse would be sufficient to transform these apparently harmless metal creatures into energy-spewing death-dealing machines.
But that impulse failed to materialize.
The electronic sensors probed the brain pattern of the human being that had stepped out of the vehicle and it was checked out as 'approved,' as it possessed all the necessary required qualifications. The two robots lowered their arms and permitted the person to pass. With a sarcastic smile, the stranger walked past the automatons, then stopped a few yards farther away, seemingly undecided.
There they were, the three small model spaceships, ready to start. Their height of 30 yards made them appear quite huge, judged by terrestrial standards. Their interior harboured tremendous energy reservoirs and fantastic engines designed by non-human brains. With these ships it was possible to traverse the solar system within the span of a few hours and, if one so desired, one could reach the nearest star in 41/2 years.
The robots resumed their interrupted patrols. The stranger's brain pattern spelt no danger, according to their programmed instructions, so the unidentified one was permitted to pass; indeed, allowed to do much more without releasing danger impulses in their positronic brains.
The tall stranger stood for quite a while in the solitude of the desert and contemplated the three spacecraft. The well-fitting uniform brought out the stranger's slender figure and at closer examination it became evident that this was a female figure. A big cap hid the long, light- coloured hair that shone almost white in the bright sun. The reddish eyes revealed determination-as well as a trace of sadness.
The woman threw a last glance at everything around her-the nearby salt lake, the vast aircraft plant and the distant city of Terrania-before she slowly started to move in the direction of the nearest of the three spaceships.
It was the third destroyer C, or D3 for short.
The entrance hatch of D3 was closed but there was a small metal ladder leading up to it. One of the robots was standing at the foot of this ladder. He did not move as the woman came closer and then stopped in front of him. The robot's left arm hung down his side without moving. There was a blank stare in his crystal lenses.
"Proceed to your station, R-17," said the woman in a harsh-sounding unknown language after she had quickly read the robot's name on a small sign on his chest. "We are starting a test flight."
The robot remained motionless. "There is no command for such a test flight," he answered in the same language.
The woman reacted with a gesture of displeasure. "I am issuing the command now, I, Thora of Arkon."
R-17 still did not react in the desired manner. "Rhodan's order supersedes yours, Thora."
Angry sparks glittered in the woman's eyes. Fiery flashes seemed to dart from her red pupils toward the resistant robot.
"Perry Rhodan is a Terranian, R-17, and I am an Arkonide. My command is higher than that of Rhodan, the earthling."
"Also higher than that of Khrest?"
She hesitated for a moment, then threw her head back indignantly. "Khrest is under Rhodan's influence-he doesn't count any longer. why are you asking?"
"Because Khrest has ordered that we should obey all commands coming from Rhodan whatever they might be. Therefore we cannot act against his orders. That is logical, isn't it?"
The woman thought for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. "Yes, that sounds quite logical. Do you always react according to logical principles, R-17?"
"My existence is based on logic."
"Good," said the woman and regarded his almost human features with a pensive expression in her eyes. "Then will you answer some questions I have?"
"With pleasure, Thora of Arkon."
"Did Perry Rhodan specifically forbid another test flight with D3?"
"No."
"Furthermore, has he forbidden that I undertake such a test flight?"
"No."
"Would you therefore be acting against Rhodan's orders if you were to fly this ship to Venus, for instance?"
"Conditionally it seems No."
"Well, then," Thora breathed a sigh of relief. It follows that you are not breaking any rules if you do as I say."
R-17's features almost seemed to express some doubt. "But I did not receive any orders from Rhodan for this flight."
"Is that necessary?" Thora appeared very astonished. "After all you are receiving such an order from myself now. And you were not forbidden to receive orders from me-or am I wrong?"
"No."