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

"You may be right. But the problems probably look more difficult down there than from up here. In any case, we can fully depend on the result of our positronic range finder. I'm convinced that the next 15 minutes will tell us more about the situation. All clear, Tako?"
One more minute to the right jump-off position.
The teleporter nodded.
In addition to his own equipment he carried an Arkonide operation-suit on his back. Everyone knew its purpose: as soon as Kakuta located Rhodan, the suit would enable their commander to reach the Venus fortress without delay. There he had to revise the programming of the positronic brain. Thus the control of the New Power over the entire planet would once more be secured with one stroke. The Arkonide transport suits were a technical marvel in a class by themselves. They were light weight and could be worn comfortably over regular clothing. They transformed the wearer into a flying Icarus, since the built-in gravity neutralizer compensated the force of gravity of the average planet. By means of a lightwave deflector and energy protection screen anyone who put on such a suit also became invisible and unassailable.
The thought of these valuable aids for the impending operation restored the optimism of the crew. When Tako Kakuta handed the transport suit to Perry Rhodan, the episode of the shipwreck was cancelled.
"Ten seconds," Reginald Bell called out. "Be careful, Tako!"
"Here I go!"
The vanishing of a teleporter had become a daily occurrence in the life of Mutant Corpsmen. Nevertheless, they felt that the spectacle was mysterious and wonderful in this special case. A normal man leaves through a door or in an elevator but a teleporter just stands motionless on the spot. Purely by concentration of his mind he enters into a supra-dimensional field of existence which releases him again in his normal state at his destination.
Kakuta's image faded away moment by moment, gradually becoming more unreal, so that he gave the impression of disappearing in time.
Before they could count three, his place was empty.
"And now we must have a little patience," Bell lectured. He intended to follow Wuriu and wait in a comfortable chair. However before he could sit down, a piercing scream caused him to spin around.
Wuriu had jumped up too and looked incredulously at the body writhing on the floor of the command centre.
Tako Kakuta lay before them in convulsions of inexplicable torment. His scream had turned into a pitiful whimpering interrupted by violent coughing spells.
Ralf Marten, the teleoptician of the Mutant Corps, stepped back as Kakuta tried with closed eyes to grab his leg and pull him down with imploring, mad gestures.
"He's gone crazy!" Tanaka Seiko shouted. "Let's get hold of him and tie him up. He doesn't know what he's doing!"
Obviously the teleporter didn't know what he was doing. Neither did the others know what they could do, since Kakuta was suffering from an unknown accident. He couldn't be treated as a culprit and a patient at the same time. Evidently he was more sick than 'crazy'.
"We've got to help him," Marten declared, expressing both distrust and compassion in his attitude.
All those present had instinctively made a wide circle around Kakuta and now they began to take some remedial action.
"Ralf, concentrate on his brain!" Reginald Bell suggested. "Tell me what he sees and hears!"
Ralf Marten's positive mutation enabled him to temporarily shut his own self out and receive through the eyes and ears of another the impression of the person thus 'taken over' but remaining completely unaware of what happened to him.
Marten concentrated his thoughts and assumed the typical rigid stance of the mutants. After a while he relaxed again and shook his head. "Tako told me nothing at all. What he sees and hears can't be defined. He doesn't recognize us. His perception is confused as..." Marten hesitated.
"Come on, out with it!" Bell urged. "Are you telling us Tako is mad?"
The teleoptician nodded without conviction.
"That's what I was going to say. But I'm no physician. Don't pay too much attention to my impressions!"
"What the hell, Marten! You're only confusing the matter even worse. Tako's brain must mirror some reflexes. He was only outside the ship five seconds. He can't have become a total idiot in such a short time!"
The teleoptician shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"I'm afraid, sir, I can't tell you how to proceed. If his brain really reflects his latest brief experiences, I can only say that the origin of his visual and acoustic impressions was also indefinable and absurd."
"Don't bug him," Wuriu Sengu counselled. "After all, he's no telepath."
"Thank you for your advice," Bell replied, gnashing his teeth. "Then we've got no other choice; we'll have to carry out Tanaka's suggestion and tie him up... Wait a minute! He's calming down..."
Tako Kakuta was suddenly lying still: Only his rapid heavy breathing indicated his state of excitement. Finally he opened his eyes and stared at his friends without a sign of recognition.
"Let's be patient now," Bell requested. "Apparently his agitation is lessening. We can't relieve his pain until we know what the cause is."
Bell approached the teleporter closer. "Tako, what's the matter? Can't you talk to us?"
It took several more minutes before the little Japanese reacted to his surroundings for the first time. His mind seemed to get clearer. "Reg, good heavens, why don't you help me?"
"I'll help you as soon as you explain to me what's wrong with you."
"I've got pains."
"Where at?"
"I'm hurting all over. My back, my head... No man can stand three hours in that hell!"
The others looked at each other dubiously. Their glances seemed to insinuate that Tako must be insane.
"He was only three, maybe five seconds gone," Tanaka Seiko stated. "It's impossible that he landed on Venus in that time and left again."
"But he must have experienced some horrible incident," the captain commented. "Let's lift him up and put him on the couch next door."
First Bell kneeled down beside Tako and opened the zipper of his collar. It must have been a relief for Tako as he said distinctly, "Thank you!"
They carried him into the next room without resistance. Tako was now completely passive and harmless. Obediently he swallowed a pain-relieving tablet.
"Are you feeling better?" Bell inquired.
"Yes, a little. Thank you!"
"Thank goodness! The way you carried on was enough to make us think you'd gone haywire. Do you already feel strong enough to give us a report?"
"There's not much to report. I didn't get down. It was impossible to get through."
"Nobody expected you to get to Venus in the few seconds of your absence. No more than..."
"Why are you always talking about a few seconds, sir?" Kakuta asked suspiciously. "I was caught for many hours in an inferno before I was released again."
"All right," Bell soothed him. "Let's not argue about minor points. What's really important is that you've made no mistakes."
"How can a teleporter do anything wrong sir? I'm no more able to influence the process of teleportation than you can direct the manner in which your eyes and brain see. It's a natural gift and it functions according to its own laws."