"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0064 - (56) Prisoner of Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

1/ MENACE OF THE TIME FRONT

"SPACE AND TIME-we seem to have conquered them both."
"And yet we must not forget that, just 100 years ago, the idea of flying to the Moon ranked as sheerest fantasy in the mind of the average person. The feat was considered a science fiction fairy tale less than 30 years before the reality of lunar landing and the beginning of the stormy space development that brought us where we are in this year 2041.
"Thanks to the help of the Arkonides, leaps through hyperspace to stars thousands of light-years distant are no longer an impossibility. Space has been conquered and, with it, time as well.-Or at least, so we believed until recently."
The speaker paused for emphasis and fixed his gaze, each in turn, on the 6 men who sat opposite him on the long table. In their eyes be could read tense expectancy, excitement to learn the details of the mission as yet unknown to them. Perry Rhodan knew that he could count on these men and that they would unflinchingly attempt their mission even if it seemed absolutely impossible.
Next to Rhodan sat 2 other men. On his right, Reginald Bell, who had forced himself into much too small a seat for his physique. Nevertheless, he was at ease. His red hair bristles lay flat, evidencing that Rhodan's right-hand man was currently in a mood of rare serenity, for once in his life having nothing to be angry about. He looked about with friendly, clear blue eyes.
On Rhodan's left sat Atlan the Immortal. In his timeless eyes shimmered quiet pensiveness, as though he was searching his centuries-long memory for something that would answer all questions. But he had not found it yet.
"As you all know, we had unfortunately deceived ourselves," Rhodan continued, leaning forward almost imperceptibly in order to better grip and hold the eyes of the 6 men. "True, we mastered Space and Time in our own continuum of existence-but we forgot that there can be other planes. Indeed, we forgot that these planes could meet. And just that has occurred."
A rustling passed through his listeners; he waited till it subsided, then continued: "We are confronted by 2 time planes in the process of colliding. Clearly, such an event will not take place without unprecedented effects on both sides. Imagine our universe as a plane, somewhat like the thick disc of a galaxy. The time plane of the aliens looks similar but stands perpendicular in relation to us and moves slowly towards us. The aliens' plane is cutting through ours. Where that happens, all organic life disappears; becomes invisible in other words. Entire worlds are being stripped of their populations in this manner and it is no wonder the Robot Brain, the Regent of Arkon, has called on us for help and freely given us an equal partnership. Arkon and the Solar Imperium now stand together before a common enemy, which is bent on depopulating the entire galaxy."
Atlan moved slightly. Catching Rhodan's questioning look, he murmured: "Your men have found out that different time relations are in effect in the aliens' plane, right? Relative to us, time passes more slowly for them. Could that be the key?"
"The key-to what?"
Atlan shook his head slowly. "Don't ask me yet, Rhodan. I will speak only when I see my suspicions confirmed. I would like to give only one hint, however: your scientists have determined that time passes 72,000 times more slowly on the aliens' plane. That means that for them, only a few months have gone by since I arrived on Earth."
Rhodan looked inquiringly at Atlan. The immortal had been on Earth for more than 10,000 years. What connection was he trying to make? Atlan gave no answer. Not yet.
Rhodan turned again to the 6 men. "Marcel Rous and Fellmer Lloyd have succeeded in constructing a device that will enable one to penetrate the other time plane without any change in his own rate of time. In other words, he who enters the aliens' world will live and function just as he did before but will find that for his surroundings time moves 72000 times more slowly. We have named the device the Lens Field Generator and constructed the first experimental model. It will be installed in a Gazelle, whose generators will of course have to be accordingly augmented in supplying power. Besides the Lens Field Generator we have a second resource at our disposal: we can now positronically predict-with some degree of certainty-where the approaching time plane will next intersect ours. We suspect that the boundaries of the 2 planes are irregular and overlap in various places. We must find out if our suspicion is justified. You, gentlemen, will attempt to find out."
The 6 men looked at each other. Rhodan saw no terror in their eyes, only a happy surprise. All of those men had risked their lives for Rhodan and the Earth before. In the previous decades they had often found themselves having to fight against a living and very real enemy to defend the Earth. But this time the enemy was separated from them by a wall of time. However, the wall had holes.
"Lt. Rous will be leader of the expedition," Rhodan continued. "He is the only one among you who already has had some contact with the enemy. I am assigning the mutant Andrщ Noir to the expedition, since he is a hypno and thus able to force the aliens to his will if necessary. I consider that of utmost importance, as we may be able to bring a prisoner back into our own time plane. Others taking part in the expedition are: Fritz Steiner, physicist and chemist; Ivan Ragov, biologist, zoologist and doctor; Fred Harras, technician and qualified mechanic; and finally, our Afroterranian meteorologist and metallurgist, Josua. Everyone knows each other, I'm sure. Liftoff is tomorrow with one of our heavy cruisers, which will take you to the star system in question. That will he all you need to know for now: I have no wish to spoil a night's leave in Terrania by weighing your minds down with the details. Are there any questions?"
Lt. Marcel Rous, a small, dark, nimble Frenchman, shook his head. He knew that there could be no questions for whatever was not known now would be revealed soon enough the next day. The other 5 men remained quiet as well.
Rhodan nodded, content, as though he had expected nothing else. "Thank you, gentlemen. We'll see you at about 10 tomorrow morning, half an hour before liftoff. Lt. Rous, please remain here: the others may go. And if I may give you a last piece of advice, don't get to bed too late. I don't know if you'll have time to sleep on the other time plane."
The hypno, Noir, grinned as he went out the door. The other 4 men did not reveal their feelings and simply left the room. Nights in Terrania were short. They wanted to take advantage of their last one and of course they hoped that it would not be their very last night ever.
Rhodan waited until the door shut then turned to Rous. "There won't be enough time tomorrow morning for discussing all the details so I had to ask you to remain here. You, as leader of the expedition, must be informed of what will happen tomorrow and what you will have to do in case the experiment is not successful. And that is unfortunately quite possible. Don't forget that the Lens Field Generator has yet to be tested. It was constructed along the lines of the available calculations and we can only hope there wasn't a mistake in them somewhere. Our positronic calculations indicate that the next overlapping will take place in the system of the star Morag, and within the week at that. You are to remain in the immediate vicinity until then and witness the attack. You know the risk: there can be no return from the other time plane without the field generator. If you are overtaken without it, you'll be lost, for you will exist at a rate 72000 times slower than normal. Before you can even make a move for your freedom, months or years will have gone by. Never forget that a second of our time means 20 years on the other plane."
Atlan nodded slowly but said nothing.
Even Bell was quiet. He was rather happy that he would not have to take part in the expedition. When there was a tangible enemy to be dealt with, Bell was always on hand; but invisible, timeless creatures from another plane of existence...? Thanks, but no thanks.
"Please listen carefully," Rhodan continued, looking unwaveringly at Rous. "I'm going to give you some information that, depending on the circumstances, could mean the difference between life and death for you..."

* * * *

The sun was listed in the star catalogue under the name Morag, a yellowish-white star of virtually the same spectral type as Sol. The sun's 2nd planet was the size of Earth, possessed a breathable oxygen atmosphere and had a somewhat heavier gravity than Earth's. Its slightly lesser distance from its sun meant a hotter and drier climate than Earth's, although a goodly portion of its surface was covered by oceans. The areas along the coasts certainly had no need to complain of lack of rain: the vast jungles were proof of that.
Morag's 2nd planet was named Tats-Tor and had been settled by Arkonides just 3000 years before. The discovery of rare and valuable ores made Tats-Tor an important trading centre for the ships of the Imperium. The freight-laden spacers of many races landed on and took off from the huge concrete field of the spaceport at Akonar, capital of Tats-Tor. The streets of the city swarmed with the bizarre creatures that an inexhaustible nature had brought forth on the various worlds of the galaxy.
The actual masters of Tats-Tor were the New Arkonides, as they called themselves.
And not without justification, as Marcel Rous was soon to find out. Outwardly they were indistinguishable from the proud and arrogant Arkonides living on the 3 worlds of Arkon, where the mightiest positronic brain in the universe ruled an interstellar empire. They were not only proud but incredibly conceited about their ancestry and they treated the members of other races with insulting condescension. For the sake of trade in the valuable goods to be found on Tats-Tor, one put up with it.
The Terra-class heavy cruiser materialized 2 light-hours from Tats-Tor and released a Gazelle. The small scout did not have the usual spherical shape but rather resembled a flattened discus 35 meters in diameter.
Hardly had the Gazelle reached a safe distance and set course for the still-distant planet when the Terra dematerialised again.
It simply disappeared and left not only empty space but the feeling of boundless loneliness as well.
At least that was what Lt. Rous believed he felt, looking at the suddenly black video screen. The emptiness was broken only by the sparks of stars that gave life to hundreds of planets.
Zero hour. Now they were alone, left to their own resources. If the worst happened, no one would be able to help them.
And Rhodan had said that the worst would happen with 100% certainty within a week, Earth time.
Rous sighed and corrected the course with optical help. To win time he decided not to make a transition. Time for what? To prepare for a meeting with the New Arkonides, who would not have the friendliest or most pleasant characters?
"Nonsense!" he said aloud to himself.
Noir, coming just then out of the communications room, looked up. "What's nonsense? Certainly not our expedition?"
"Where do you get that idea, Andrщ? On the contrary-I think our expedition is absolutely necessary, even despite the huge risk we'll be stranded in time. No, I was thinking only of the New Arkonides. They aren't going to be congenial companions at all."
"We've taken care of other beings before," said the hypno confidently. "If the New Arkonides aren't friendly, I'll make them friendly."
"Individually you can," said Rous, "but you can't bring the inhabitants of an entire planet under your influence. Let's wait and hear what the Arkonide settlers have to say about the forthcoming alien attack. Then we'll know what we can do and what we can't.
"Where are you planning to land?"
"On the field at Akonar, the capital. The planetary Administrator lives there and we have to bring him Rhodan's message. If anyone can help us on our mission, he can."
Fritz Steiner came into the control central and heard the last few words. In his somewhat exaggerated and blustering manner, he said: "What do you mean, support? If those boys don't want us, they can just be gobbled up by time for all I care. After all, we have our LFG."
Rous raised his eyebrows. "Our-what?"
Steiner laughed boomingly. "Our LFG! That's my abbreviation for the Lens Field Generator."
"Very clever," said Rous sarcastically, angry with himself for not having guessed the meaning of the abbreviation on his own. "And are you really convinced that the generator will function?"
"Aren't you?" asked Steiner. "It was constructed according to your data. Are you suddenly having doubts?"