"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0066 - (58) The Guardians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)
THE LAST MISTAKE he would make in his life: it could easily result from the slightest error made at this time. The situation was that ticklish, Mullon realized. He couldn't afford to run any risks. So he kept Chellish's pistol even though Chellish had been quite friendly and even-tempered for the past few days, seemingly anxious to be helpful, so that Mullon was tempted to believe that Chellish's presence might even be a valuable addition to the little expedition.
They had moved into the tents again, the ones they had once abandoned when the blue dwarfs had transported them across the jungle to the vicinity of Greenwich. Chellish had taken Pashen's place. They had picked him up a few hours after Mullon, Freddy and Milligan had been brought from the river to their dwelling mound in the jungle.
Mullon presently spent a portion of his time trying to improve the possibilities of communication with the dwarfs. He held daily conversations-if that was the right word for it-with a few of the dwarfs and tried for hours to comprehend the meaning of their play of colours, to get an inkling of the purport of the sibilant sounds they produced. He realized, much to his regret, he would never be able to employ that 3rd method of communication: telepathy.
Nevertheless, bit by bit, he made small progress in learning the significance of the colour combinations and the distinctive sounds. He was proud of a major accomplishment when one of the dwarfs touched the ground with his plastic body and wrote the word YES in the sand while making an equivalent noise and displaying the corresponding colour tone expressing the word in his language.
In time Mullon managed to establish a common strategy with the dwarfs against Hollander's machinations although the existence of such a plan was no guarantee that the creatures would abide by it when the situation became critical. There were far too many sources of misunderstanding between man and dwarf to do more than plot the general outline of a plan. Mullon considered it a considerable accomplishment that both sides at least knew what they were talking about.
Mullon was racking his brains trying to anticipate Hollander's intentions. He knew from Milligan, who had interrogated one of Hollander's guards, that he first waited for Freddy's and Milligan's return from the jungle. Now that he knew that at least Milligan had reached the vicinity of Greenwich, Hollander would presumably try to capture Milligan and Freddy. Mullon didn't believe Hollander could succeed but, in view of Hollander's perseverance, he expected him to show up at their retreat one of these days. The blue dwarfs constituted too much of a problem to Hollander for them to be ignored indefinitely.
Hollander was most likely to send an investigating team first to their compound in an effort to make contact with the dwarfs. If he were encouraged by the result of his initial feelers, he would probably take the next step and dispatch as many helicopters as possible to the dwarfs in order to impose his will on them. He was not averse to the use of force.
In Mullon's opinion this would be the most logical way for Hollander to proceed. His own defence plan was conceived with the assumption in mind that Hollander would act according to Mullon's expectations and Mullon considered this to be taking a calculated risk.
* * * *
"Do you hear it?" Chellish asked.
"Yes," Mullon confirmed. "A copter."
Chellish got up. "I guess we better go to our bunkers."
As Chellish was leaving, Mullon called him back. "Wait a minute, Chellish!"
Chellish stopped and turned around. The buzzing noise of the helicopter grew louder. Mullon put his hand in his pocket and offered Chellish the pistol which he had taken away from him at the bank of the river. "Take it," he said. "It might come in handy in case something goes wrong."
Chellish raised his eyebrows and hesitated for a moment. Then he took the weapon and stuck it under his wide belt. "Thank you," he replied simply. "You're a green grape (Newly evolved slang replacing "Good Egg"), Mullon."
Freddy and Milligan came out of their tents when they heard the noise of the helicopter.
"They're at it again," Mullon warned.
Milligan trudged up the mound and entered the highest of the entrances which led down to the living quarters and workrooms of the dwarfs. Through a passage he went a little farther in the knoll till he reached a small excavation on the slope of the hill which was covered by brush. The hole was shielded from the outside by a plastic sheet and a wall of soil so that only a narrow eye-slit was left open. A ladder made of rough wood provided access to the hole from the passageway.
4 such hide-outs with separate entrances had been built in the past few days with the assistance of the dwarfs. Mullon had arranged them in a pattern that would enable them to keep the helicopter in view by at least one of the secret observers at any one time.
Only 5 minutes after Chellish had noticed the sound of the helicopter for the first time Mullon and his 3 people had disappeared and there was no sign left to indicate that humans had lived there just now.
The whir of the helicopter came closer. Mullon saw the shadow of the big machine flit across the sunlit knoll, disappear to the left and return again. For the next 15 minutes the din of the flying machine swelled tip and down. Then it abated almost totally, only to whine again a few seconds later.
Mullon perked up his ears. He recognized the voice. It was Pashen-the man who had shot him. He heard steps in the grass and saw a pair of boots close to his eye-slot. The man whom Pashen had called Dwight paused a few seconds as if undecided. Then he shouted upward: "Nobody here! I'm going to take a look at the tents."
He walked down the slope and Mullon got a good look at him. He watched him going into Chellish's tent. After investigating it he came out again and made a reassuring gesture in Pashen's direction.
He searched the other tents one by one but seemed to find nothing to arouse his suspicion. Finally he walked to one of the entrances to the hill.
Mullon became a little nervous. This was the moment when, according to his plan, the dwarfs were supposed to appear on the scene. Dwight was not allowed to pass through the entrance.
After a few tense moments about 30 dwarfs emerged from one of the other shafts and rushed toward the intruder. They surrounded him and began their strange floating dance.
Dwight was obviously taken by surprise and frightened. He drew his gun and aimed it at the dwarfs. Mullon saw to his horror that it was a small disintegrator which Hollander had taken away from the crew of the Adventurous.
However at this moment Pashen shouted from above: "Lay off, Dwight! They're not going to do anything to you."
Reluctantly, Dwight put back his weapon. He bent down and tried to grab one of the dwarfs. The dwarf first eluded him, then came closer again and danced over Dwight's hand without being caught.
"Wait!" Pashen called. "I'm coming down."
Mullon knew what he had in mind. The dwarfs already had met Pashen and he surmised that they had knowledge of his cowardly attack on Mullon. He wanted to try out how the dwarfs reacted toward him.
Pashen passed close in front of his hideout. Through his slot he could see Pashen appear gradually. First his boots, then his legs, his arms and shoulders, his head-
Suddenly Mullon shuddered. Pashen carried something on his arm. Mullon could see only a little bit of the light, grey-white far. As Pashen walked down the hill, the fur began to move and climb up on Pashen's arm. A small hairy face peered over Pashen's shoulder in the direction of Mullon's eye-slot. "Khek... khek... khek..." the little creature squealed excitedly.
But Pashen paid no attention.
A mungo, Mullon realized with dismay. He brought a mungo with him and if he weren't so dumb, he would already know that we're in the neighbourhood.
The mungos, a semi-intelligent race of monkeys living in the high mountains, had a 6th sense that warned them of dangers. The word 'khek' signified 'enemy' or 'bad' or 'danger'.
But Pashen didn't seem to be familiar with the language of the mungos. He finally took notice of the little monkey's excitement and rapped him sharply on the back with the flat of his hand. The monkey uttered a wailing sound and hid in his elbow.
Mullon sighed in relief. The momentary danger had passed. Pashen continued down the hill without heeding the mungo's warning. He stopped outside the circle of dwarfs weaving around Dwight and waited.
The group of dwarfs divided and a 2nd dancing circle formed around Pashen. Pashen was apparently pleased. He knew the dwarfs since the day they had captured Mullon's entire expedition, including himself, and he realized that the dance was a friendly gesture.
For awhile he remained still. Then he called to Dwight: "Let's fly back! This is all we wanted to know."
Dwight stepped out of the swirling ring of dancers and marched up the hill again together with Pashen. For a 2nd time they passed Mullon's den and the mungo showed once more signs of anxiety. He crept up on Pashen's arm and screeched: "Khek-khek-khek..." till Pashen slapped him once more on the back, making him wince in pain.
Soon the jets of the gyrocopter started up again. Mullon heard the machine lift off and fly away with whirling blades. Pashen seemed to be in a hurry. The noise faded away in less than a minute.
Mullon climbed down the ladder. When he reached the exit of the shaft, Chellish was already waiting for him. He greeted him with the question: "Seems we've overlooked something, doesn't it?"
Mullon nodded. "Yes, the mungos. We didn't expect Hollander to make use of them."
Milligan and Freddy joined them. "What next?" Freddy inquired.
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