"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0023 - (16) Secret Barrier X" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"I am, indeed. You know I've always wondered what had become of the armada we surprised and decimated near Venus a year ago. There were 200 ships of which we destroyed only 34. Assuming the greater part of the damaged vessels got smashed up on this planet, just by the odds quite a few of them must have landed intact."
"And they've been lying in wait for a whole year?" Marshall asked sceptically.
"Why not? If their tactic required it."
At this moment another wave of detonations rolled over the distant landscape.
"Regular old-fashioned bombs," Marshall stated. "Probably from them, certainly not from a rescue expedition of the New Power."
"You might as well put that out of your mind, John. If Bell is unable to come down, no other ship can do it. The barrier of the positronic brain is unassailable. So it's perfectly clear that the people throwing bombs back there must have arrived on Venus before us. And they must have airplanes available."
The two mutants couldn't refute him.
"Just the same, it sounds incredible."
"Only because we don't know the whole background," Perry Rhodan insisted. Then he suddenly became alert. Marshall and Okura also cocked their heads, trying to listen to a faraway sound.
A low, muffled rumbling ran through the air. Not the thunder of bombs and grenades.
"There it is!" Son Okura shouted, suddenly pointing southeast. Rhodan and Marshall, however, could see nothing.
"Helicopters! Gosh, don't you recognize them?"
"Judging from the noise, you're right Son. But they must be flying through those low clouds."
"Of course. Pardon me, sir, but I forgot for a moment..."
"Keep an eye on them. I'm interested to know in which direction they're going."
Rhodan tentatively activated the receiver on his multi-purpose wristband. He moved the frequency selector over the applicable range of shortwaves. The set automatically tuned in when it received a signal.
Rhodan held the wristband to his ear and became a witness to the conversation between Gen. Tomisenkow and Col. Raskujan. Marshall and Okura did the same, since they both carried identical radios.
The short and heated dialogue was very enlightening. Rhodan smiled contentedly but subsequently turned serious.
"I was right. We'll keep tabs on them as long as they oblige us by using the radio. It's typical of the human race that they can't live anywhere in peace. Just a few average people from Earth and already they're cracking each other's heads on Venus, despite the fact we're standing on the threshold of the cosmic world and have to learn to live in it. The discussion seems to be over. Too bad."
"Shall we keep listening for a while?" Okura suggested.
"By all means! We don't have anything better to do at the moment. But it's enough if one of us is monitoring them."
They retreated a little farther into the undergrowth. Marshall and Okura with their better faculties for observation took over watching their rear while Rhodan secured the forward approach to the coast, keeping his radio attuned at the same time.
The helicopters had long since disappeared over the horizon of the ocean. Finally, after more than 90 minutes, they picked up a couple of voices. It was merely the communication between the pilot and the ground station but it was enough to let Rhodan detect the direction. He used the gyro-compass attached to the same wristband and soon announced, "We've found Raskujan's headquarters!"
His call alerted his two companions.
"Where is it? How far?"
"Just a minute! I'm no magician. I can fix only one of the co-ordinates with this directional antenna. But at least the direction's been determined."
Perry took out his notebook and drew a sketch of the northern area, showing the ocean and the 200 mile wide channel, the spot where he was located and the section of the continent on which their goal, the Venus base, was situated. "Here's where we are. The bombs were falling farther to the south and this is the route by which the helicopters returned."
He drew a line toward the northeast, which crossed the ocean bay and continued over the land on the opposite shore.
"The second coordinate will have to be estimated," he went on. "Since we've several reference points, we should be able to determine the distance fairly accurately. We know the flight time of the helicopters. And their course passed a very critical point, here..."
He marked the map with a cross and his friends knew at once what he referred to. The cross was pencilled in close proximity to the periphery of the energy screen extending in a radius of 30 miles from the Venus bulwark. It also was close to the place where Rhodan had assaulted Tomisenkow's army 12 months before. There the landscape had been turned for miles into a strip of death where the vegetation was still blighted.
"A huge, devastated break in the forest," John Marshall said quietly.
"Naturally," Rhodan nodded, "the Eldorado everybody is seeking here on Venus is our base. Raskujan wants to get into the fortress the same as we and Tomisenkow. This must be the reason why he didn't pay any attention to the other splinter groups during the last year. He's taken up quarters in the canyon where we burned the ground. It's an ideal landing place for spaceships and only a few miles from the energy screen. I feel that we now have to look after Thora. Thora and I! We're the key figures for entering the fortress. Raskujan must be out to capture Thora."
"But why would he commit such a rash attack on Tomisenkow?" Okura questioned. "He needs Thora alive!"
"Of course! He's probably learned from the other splinter groups what the current situation is, either from the settlers or from the pacifist rebels. This bombing raid was only a demonstration with which he wanted to intimidate Tomisenkow. It's so easy to aim from a helicopter that the target can only be missed intentionally. If my guess is right, Raskujan will soon make an attempt to kidnap Thora and we'll have to beat him to it."
The enemy patrol was neither seen nor heard from anymore. They probably had rejoined their comrades when they were strafed by the bombs.
Rhodan checked his watch. The Venus afternoon was rapidly nearing its end. It was 166:00 o'clock and here in the north the days were shorter than the nights.
"We don't have too much time. Let's get going, men!"
They penetrated deeper into the forest. They knew the direction they had to follow in order to find Tomisenkow and Thora and they advanced at a good clip.
Until the attack of the tree-lizard came.
Rhodan had already admonished his companions to pay special attention to the unpredictable animals at dusk. This was the time of day when almost all life on Venus was awake and on the move. Those who had been roaming all day returned to their caves and nests and the nocturnal animals were getting ready for the prowl.
Marshall had to kill a three-legged proboscis-roach after only 10 minutes. The creature raced toward them with a ghastly croaking and the terrible noise warned them just in time.
"Why does this beast make so much noise when it pounces on its prey?" Marshall asked after he had silently exterminated it with his impulse-beamer. "It only gives itself away."
"There are animals who can scare their victims to such a degree that they simply become paralysed by fright. This is one way of hunting. Otherwise this species would have been extinct long ago."
Thirty minutes later a worse mishap occurred.
They were marching in single file, Okura first, then Rhodan and Marshall.
The tree-lizard let Okura pass by. For some reason the beast set upon Rhodan.
Its prehensile tail reached down a tree from an unseen height and wrapped itself a few times around his chest. He was barely able to utter a scream. Then the lizard choked him so tightly that he could no longer breathe.
Rhodan instinctively grabbed the short-haired tail with both hands. His gun had already been knocked out of his hands at the first blow. However, his hands were pitifully inadequate tools compared to the strength of the huge tail's lethal grip.
In a second he was swinging at the height of Marshall's head.
The mutant was afraid to shoot although he had instantly pulled up his impulse-beamer. The dwindling light of dusk, made worse by the dense foliage, almost blotted out his view. Rhodan's body in the sling swayed so much that Marshall didn't dare fire. The lizard kept jerking up its victim step by step.