"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0041 - (33) The Giant's Partner" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

"Are we going to help the rebels after we return? How about a little fist fight with the secret police...?"
Rhodan shook his head and said regretfully: "Sorry, Pucky! No fights of any kind! We are the Zarlt's guests. We may even have to help him quell the revolt."
"What?" yapped Pucky, gasping for air. He quickly tried to probe Rhodan's thoughts but encountered a firm defence shield. He was forced to resort to a direct question: "Friends of the Zarlt? It doesn't make sense."
"True. The main thing is that it won't make any sense to the Zarlt either," explained Rhodan. "That's exactly what I want."
Rhodan turned to Tiff. "Are we ready for transition?"
"In 2 minutes. We'll emerge from hyperspace 4 light-hours from Zalit. Travelling top speed we'll manage to arrive on Zalit. right on the dot when we're expected back."
Rhodan nodded his head in a silent answer. He had difficulty in not breaking out laughing as he watched the little mouse-beaver's face do a slow burn.
Mouse-beavers look very funny when they feel outraged...








3/ THE PLOT TO TRAP PERRY

Andrщ Noir straightened up, totally exhausted. He wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead. He looked into John Marshall's questioning eyes.
"Well?"
"A very intensive hypno-block. Applied by the Mooffs, most likely. Perhaps also done through purely technical means. I've no idea how far advanced the Zalites are in this respect. Anyhow, I can neutralize this block. Rogal will again be his normal self in about 10 minutes."
"Excellent," Marshall rejoiced. "Now I can carry out Perry Rhodan's commission and mobilize the rebels. They are supposed to cause a lot of trouble for the Zarlt at a certain hour."
Marshall left the sickbay presided over by Dr. Haggard and left the patient in the care of the hypno Andrщ Noir.
Upon Marshall's return 2 hours later he found Rogal already sitting in the mess hall. He had completely recovered and greeted him with a bright cheerful look. He gave the impression that a tremendous load had been removed from his mind.
"You are Marshall, the telepath-oh, yes, I recognize you. I was told that we are here on Perry Rhodan's ship. What happened to my friends? Have they been...?"
"No, Rogal, everything is just fine. The Zarlt's 12 soldiers that accompanied you were killed as they reached the end of the secret passage. Now I would like to hear your story. What happened?"
Rogal's face grew sombre. "I failed in my mission," he blamed himself. "I made my way easily to the sleeping chamber of the Zarlt. I saw him lying in his bed. I shot him and everything seemed to go according to plan. Suddenly the Zarlt's bodyguards appeared and arrested me. Ten minutes later I was brought before the Zarlt-very much alive although I had just witnessed his death."
Marshall directed a questioning glance at Noir but the hypno smiled back in resignation accompanied by a declining little wave of his hand.
Rogal shook his head from side to side. "No, Marshall, I am not crazy, although I thought then I'd lost my mind. A short while earlier I had personally killed the Zarlt and now he was miraculously risen from the dead. I had seen his face dissolve and now it was completely restored without any scars. That's when the truth dawned on me: the Zarlt had a double-a robot created in his image. This robot was what I saw resting in the old Zarlt's bedroom. His men must have guessed there was some secret passage and so didn't want to incur any risks. When I killed the robot an alarm was activated-and I was caught in the trap. Everything went so fast that no time was left for me to take my own life, as should have been my duty."
"We're very glad you didn't commit suicide," said Marshall with a reassuring smile to the Zalite. "Your sacrifice would have been in vain. You didn't betray any secrets-and even if you had, your friends would have been prepared for it. Anyhow, now we know that the Zarlt has been alerted. Also, that he has or rather had a robot as his doppelganger. Your mission was a success just for this revelation alone. You can be sure, the dictator's days are numbered. We're only waiting for him to openly confront us in a hostile manner. That's when we can go into action."
"And when will that be?"
"Tomorrow at the latest. Right now Rhodan is somewhere in deep space between here and Arkon in order to negotiate with the robot brain. Let's hope he'll bring back good news."
Rogal broke into a wide grin. A load must have lifted off his mind. "Can I join my friends again?"
"Of course. We'll bring you back to them. Another question: what did the Zarlt do with you after you had been apprehended?"
"I was taken to a cellar for an interrogation. But the Zarlt suddenly changed his mind. He had me transferred to a room that housed 12 Mooffs in their containers. I can't recall anything that happened afterwards. I don't know what took place in there."
"Hmm, the Mooffs. Tell me, Rogal, do you have an idea who or what these Mooffs actually are?"
Rogal nodded his head in affirmation. "Every kid on Zalit knows that! They are used by the ruling class as living lie detectors because they can read minds. Nobody dares think freely any more; the Mooff spies are listening in to all our thoughts. These monsters are a great threat to individual freedom."
"Have you realized that?" Marshall wondered out loud. Now he knew that the Mooffs' suggestive powers had remained unrecognized. The Zalites had no idea that the Mooffs were the actual initiators of the planned rebellion against the Empire. "Then the first step to freedom should not be difficult for you: the Mooffs must be destroyed!"
"You've already started this task," remarked Rogal. "Your mutants killed almost all the Mooffs we had on Zalit. But they're being replaced by new shipments every day now."
"Kill the Mooffs!" urged Marshall. "They mean ruin for Zalit. Maybe they are not the guilty ones but we cannot determine that. The Mooffs themselves seem to be victims of some coercion. They will not reveal anything, not even if threatened by death. Destroy the pressurized containers and the Mooffs will die.And now, Rogal, we'll return you to your friends. Ras Tschubai, our friend here, will take care of that. He knows where your headquarters are located at present. Goodbye Rogal."
The teleporter Tschubai tapped Rogal on the shoulder and proceeded to explain briefly how the transport would take place.
With a friendly farewell wave Marshall left the mess hall and was on his way to see Reginald Bell in the command centre.
Bell was terribly bored. He hated nothing worse than having to sit and wait. Some of the mutants had left in order to establish contact with the rebels and show them how the Mooffs could be rendered harmless. So far the reports that had come in indicated that the instruction had been a great success.
Nevertheless, time was working against Rhodan and his friends.
The Zarlt was intent on annihilating the robot brain on Arkon, if the moment was opportune-even without the Mooffs' suggestions. However Rhodan did not volunteer to reveal how the fortress barrier around Arkon could be pierced.
Still, there were other ways of finding out!
The Zarlt summoned his confidants to a conference in his palace. One of these, who ranked high in the Zarlt's esteem, was an officer by the name of Hemor. He already knew Perry Rhodan in person. Further there was Milfor, chief of the Armed Forces, a power-thirsty Zalite willing to seize the slim chance of becoming the Zarlt in case something unforeseen should happen to Demesor. Finally, Cenets and Orbson completed the group, all former accomplices of the self-proclaimed Zarlt.
The 5 men were sitting in an isolated room located on the top floor of the palace. From there could be enjoyed a marvellous view of the entire spaceport area. The place was literally crawling with spacecraft of all kinds, for the greatest part of the fleet had been ordered to Tagnor by the Zarlt. He wanted to prevent at all costs that Rhodan would escape with his gigantic spacesphere, once his suspicion was aroused.
Milfor looked at Demesor with distrust in his eyes. "Why did you summon us to appear here today? We are well aware what we are supposed to do!"
"I'm confident that you know your task, Milfor," said Demesor, "but I have decided to change our tactics. How long has it been by now that we are waiting for Rhodan finally to divulge his secrets to us? It has been weeks, in case you've forgotten! Should we permit several more weeks to go by, waiting inactively? No! We must proceed to act now!"