"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0053 - (45) Unknown Sector Milky Way" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

The first bright blue glimmerings of the new day appeared above the southern horizon. Wilan's dull light and the powerful blue flood of illumination streaming over the southern horizon produced an unusual colouration in the sky. The stars paled gradually in the brightness of Wilanet, the small blue sun which was Isan's actual central star.
"We've now covered half the distance," announced Killarog. "From now on we have to keep our eyes open. The Sallon people aren't as dumb as you may have heard. It's possible it could have occurred to them that we might attack them from above."
While the brightness increased, Ivsera tried to recognize what area of the former city they were in. She knew that halfway from down town to the suburb of Sallon the Avenue of the Feno-Kings was located. In that street were the most prominent and expensive stores where her mother used to come shopping twice a year-once on her wedding anniversary and a 2nd time on Ivsera's birthday. She knew that broad, massive, old-fashioned houses had stood here.
But now there was not even a foundation standing. The city had been flattened. Fragments of stone were lying about but one couldn't tell by looking at them whether they were natural stone or pieces of what might have once been masonry.
The ground was covered with grass-but what kind of grass! The stems, once dainty and slender, now pushed up in a thick, fleshy growth to half the height of a man. Mutation, thought Ivsera. The radiation had altered the genetic characteristics of the grass.
And not only the grass. Shortly before resuming the march, they saw a long-legged beetle creeping through the tall stems. Although the grass grew more than hip deep, they saw the giant insect. In spite of its typically jointed and bent legs, the long, slender body was about 4 feet off the ground. Its body was also about 4 feet long.
The largest beetle in existence before the war would hardly have covered the palm of one's hand.
One of the men raised his weapon and was about to shoot the repugnant creature but Killarog struck down the gun barrel and shouted angrily at him. "Stop it, you fool! Do you want everybody to know where we are?"
When they set out again on their trek, Killarog turned to the northeast. He felt that it was too big a risk to make a direct approach to Sallon. Instead, he preferred to take a devious route, even at the cost of 2 extra hours, so that he might approach the Sallon bunker from an angle that was least expected.
The portable radios had remained silent with the exception of one short message received from Ther: "We can hear them plainly now without any amplifier. I'd say you've got about 5 or 6 hours... then they'll be here. We estimate that they'll be coming through somewhere in the lowest level."
Ivsera thought of Havan. In spite of her resentment toward him, it was not a pleasant prospect to imagine that he might be captured by the Sallon people.
In view of Ther's message, Killarog pushed everyone to a faster pace. Several times he checked to see if Ivsera was doing all right but since she had determined to take her destiny in hand she seemed to know no fatigue.
Wilanet rose high into a white sky and spread its heat, which was the more difficult to bear because no shadows were cast across the grassy plain where the city had been.
After a short rest about halfway into the morning, Killarog ordered a complete silence between all personnel. The transceivers in their radiation suits operated at an extremely high frequency and though it would be a minor miracle if the Sallon monitors happened to pick up their conversations, such a possibility had to be reckoned with.
Killarog gave orders that only the most urgent communications should be made, and even then, if possible, without using the transmitters. In other words, helmet to helmet contact.
The region now began to rise gradually and Ivsera remembered that the suburb of Sallon was located on the southwestern slope of a hill. At least, she thought, the Bomb had not been able to flatten the ridge too.
Toward noon they reached the crest of the rise without having seen a single man from Sallon thus far. Killarog was very pleased about it but Ivsera had her doubts. However, since she trusted Killarog more than herself in the tactical aspects of this civil war, she remained silent.
The entrance or ground lock of the Sallon bunker was on the northeastern slope of the hill. In contrast to all other bunkers, the lateral access passages did not lead vertically downward to the main corridors but horizontally through the hillside.
The Sallon ground lock was marked by a stone, barracks-like edifice that stood lonely and deserted in the noonday glare of Wilanet. Heatwaves shimmered over the ground. The land had an aspect of not having been inhabited by humans for 8 years. The grass on the northeast side of the hill was somewhat shorter than they had seen it in the city. From the eastern horizon, the Ovial River wound its tortuous course. The woodlands formerly marking its bed were now gone. As far as the eye could see were desolate savannahs of mutated grass.
Killarog paid no attention to the unusual view. Through the clear viewplate of his helmet Ivsera could see his eyes light up when the Sallon ground-lock building became discernible.
"We are here!" he announced, in such loud tones that Ivsera, lying next to him, could hear him through the coverings of 2 helmets. "As soon as Ther gives the signal, we will attack!"

* * * *

A few hours prior to this, in a place not far distant from Fenomat, an elliptically-shaped spaceship had landed on the broad grass plain.
The ship's crew had determined that the atmosphere, ground and oceans of the planet were charged with a dangerous level of radioactivity. At various places on the planet's surface they had discovered the rubble remains of cities and it was easy to conclude that this entire world had been laid waste by nuclear warfare and that for the most part the population must have been destroyed.
The egg-shaped vessel had landed in an area where the radiation yield was about 10 times less than normal; it seemed to be a circular, closely demarcated spot. Of course the 4-man crew was much better equipped with protective gear than Killarog and his party, who were about 9 miles away without having noticed the ship; however, the craft's commander was in the habit of weighing his decisions in favour of the greatest possible safety. Thus, instead of landing haphazardly where the average 'hot' yield was 100 rems per hour, he chose a place where it appeared to be reduced by a factor of 10.
Measuring 60 by 100 feet, the spaceship was equipped with apparatuses that Killarog or Ivsera, would not have been able to comprehend. They wouldn't have thought it possible that such things could ever have existed in the history of all galactic intelligences.
Something perhaps more understandable, although complex and capable of exciting the admiration of all high-frequency technicians on Isan, was a frequency detection device which could sort out and isolate all frequencies received by its multiple receivers. Then, accompanied by mathematically programmed instructions, it fed such messages into a positronic computer which accordingly decoded them or, if its register banks of vocabulary were sufficient, it could completely translate an alien language into that of the ship's crew.
By this means, the conversations between Killarog and his companions had been registered and translated. It was soon determined on board the ship that the language of Isan-at least the one they had picked up-revealed a strong similarity to one that was not that of the crew but which they all understood very well.
The ship's commander then utilized the remaining time he considered to have at his disposal, in order to, make use of a device that belonged in the 'miracle' category. So that he might complete the knowledge he required, he proceeded first of all to assimilate the language of Killarog and his people.

* * * *

The hours passed in unbearable boredom. Ivsera noticed when she kept staring at the stone building of the ground lock that at times her eyes played tricks on her, making her think that the edifice was disappearing or sinking into the ground.
The only relief during the long wait was the fact that the heat began to subside gradually. Wilanet had passed its zenith and now moved northward. The grass began to make shade.
Ivsera considered it suspicious that not a single person of Sallon showed himself in the vicinity of the ground lock. She spoke to Killarog about it and in order to be heard better she took the risk of opening her helmet.
But Killarog dismissed the idea with a smile. "Don't worry, girl. For 8 long years no one has seen anybody in the area of the Fenomat ground lock, either. So why should we expect to catch sight of anybody at Sallon in a few short hours?"
Ivsera wanted to retort that, the Sallon people undoubtedly were more active than the men of Fenomat. Apropos of this was the fact that a Fenomat ground party had been routed just a few days ago by heavily armed men from Sallon. One couldn't compare Sallon with Fenomat.
But she preferred to be silent. For the time being she felt inhibited from expressing herself on things that seemed to be strictly the affair of the men.
Wilanet sank below the horizon and then the red ball of Wilan appeared, rising slowly into a darkened sky transformed by the stars. The host of stars grew in number until they formed a closely woven carpet of cold fire across the night sky.
Then Ther gave the signal. Ivsera heard his excited voice quite clearly in her radio receiver:
"They've broken through! As we expected, they've come out in the lowest level. They're heavily armed and we don't know how much longer we can hold out! Do what you can for Fenomat!"
It didn't sound very encouraging but Killarog seemed to be undaunted. He straightened up to his full height and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear him without the aid of their helmet transceivers: "Okay, let's go!"
They moved down the hillside in a half-stumbling run. In the dark red gloom the ground-lock edifice loomed before them. It did not have any windows. It was impossible to tell whether it was manned or if the Sallon people really had no suspicion of what was impending.
It also seemed foolhardy and puzzling to Ivsera that Killarog didn't spend much time checking out the area first. He placed explosive charges on both sides of the ponderous frame that supported the massive metal doors and in his battle fervour only retreated a short distance before the charges exploded.
Both wings of the door imploded inward. Mixed with the roar of the 2 explosions was the rumble of the heavy steel frame girders as they crashed to the ground.
With his weapon in firing position, Killarog plunged through the cloud of dust. He had turned on his helmet transmitter again and shouted: "Forward! The lock is empty! Charge!"
The inner lock chamber was smaller than that of Fenomat. The inner access door was opened without effort and Killarog entered without hesitation. He ordered the last man in to close it behind them.
He let out a cry of triumph when he saw the light indicators for the main elevator. At this moment the lift was stationed at the level of the ground lock. He had only to open it and-