"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0088 - (80) The Columbus Affair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Untcher cut off any further discussion. He made one leap into the hot-air drier and reached for his underwear.
10 minutes later he arrived breathlessly in the fast cruiser's Control Central. The 27 space-jets were green blips in the 3-D screens of the translight echo-sensor consoles. The regulation distance between the escort jets was 5 million kilometres. The Austria flew in the middle of the stretched-out surveillance line.
In the tracking room next to the Com Central it sounded as though a volcano were erupting. The two hypersensors were roaring in instantaneous reaction to a disturbance of the 4-dimensional continuum. But it was clearly not due to ordinary hyper-shockwaves. The energy pulses created by spaceships going into transition always showed a different pattern than this.
Somewhat disconcertedly, Untcher listened to the incessant roaring. The automatic analysers had already determined the source of these noises. Close to the giant binary star Capella, some 42 light-years away, something had taken form that nobody could figure out-not even Untcher or his highly qualified tracking operators.
Until 1st Lt. Fynkus recognized it. With slow deliberation he said: "Sir, it sounds as if we were close to the discharge zone in the Myrtha System."
Untcher stared at him. "Hey, what are you talking about?! That zone is almost 6500 light-years from here!"
"That doesn't alter the fact that I know this kind of rumbling noise, sir. I was out there long enough. Something is wrong in Auriga. Take a look at those flat spikes in the energy pattern. That's absolutely typical of a discharge zone. The thing even seems to be stable already. Don't you remember the tracking experiences we had during the last Druuf attack?"
Untcher was conscientious enough to give credence to the experienced officer's opinion. The thundering of the hypersensors continued. Fynkus wandered over to the matter-tracking console. The sergeant who operated it shook his head without a word. Fynkus nodded.
"No alien objects have shown up yet, sir," he stated, matterнofнfactly. "But the energy pattern has not changed."
Untcher looked about him indecisively. He suddenly realized that the incident had placed the burden of responsibility on himself. Could he-should he put out a radio communication. Pluto was in a favourable position but was still too far away for normal wavebands.
Certainly the other ships of the 16th Pursuit Force must have heard the same thing on their hypersensors. Why hadn't the Chief contacted them already? Had it become too dangerous now to contact a ship outside the Solar System, in spite of the sharp directional beam transmission available? Even so, the mathematicians in the PF-16's flagship should have come to the same conclusion as 1st Lt. Fynkus.
So in this case, what was expected of him? What was one Maj. Untcher supposed to do?
He walked back and forth in the comparatively small tracking room. The situation was getting to be too much for him.
What sense did it make, he thought, to wait out here in empty space 102 light-hours from Pluto's orbit with his few small spaceships? In an emergency he wouldn't be able to do much with them. On the other hand his 27 space-jets and the fast cruiser Austria would play a more decisive role in the assembled mass of the whole pursuit force.
If he did not turn back at once he would also still face the danger of being tracked and observed by any possible alien ships that might appear. Out here in open space he didn't have the covering screen of the solar system with its millions of lines of force, where the additional planetary masses offered excellent protection against element-tracing instruments.
Within 3 minutes Untcher made his decision. "I want a radio dispatch to all jets," he ordered, "but over regular UHF. Tell them to break the picket line and fly non-formation on return course to Pluto sector, where they are to join PF-16. All hypercom traffic is prohibited! Highest acceleration rates to be held at 100 km per second squared and there will be no trans-light velocities. We have a tracking hazard out of Capella sector. Switch all jet-pulse wave-dampers to maximum."
The auto-dictation machine had transcribed his words. First Lt. Fynkus looked questioningly across the room at his formation chief.
"That's it," Untcher told him. "Get that on the air. UHF will have a lapse time getting to the farthest deployment points. The Austria will hold present position until we see the last jet blip bug out of the echo-sensor. I want to make sure that everyone clears the area."
Untcher made a light salute, barely touching the peak of his cap, which was a bit too broad for his thin and somewhat wrinkled face. As he exited through the circular security hatchway with a gangly movement of his legs, no man of the crew was moved to laugh.
The hypersensors continued to roar and rumble ominously. The phenomenon which had taken shape so surprisingly out there 42 light-years away was not conducive to levity.
Fynkus personally transmitted the orders. The nearest space-jets would be picking up the dispatch within about 17 seconds whereas the flank positions would take longer.
The propulsion engines in the Austria's ring bulge thundered at full power for several seconds. When they shut off again the sentry cruiser had already picked up speed.
"If those jet crews are on their toes," muttered Fynkus half aloud, "they'll know by now there's something in the wind."
One of the Communications men whispered to his companion: "How about that? The winds of space!"

* * * *

"Thank God!" said Col. Poskanov, relieved. "Untcher caught on. His ships are picking up speed. Ah, he's letting them break formation; that's good! He's even smart enough to lay off the hypercom. Still better! He's evidently wise to the fact he's a sitting duck out there."
Poskanov straightened up. For a few moments it had seemed as though he was going to thrust his face right into the big 3-D screen of the echo-sensor. He quickly wiped the pearls of sweat from his forehead. Then he listened again to the thundering of the hypersensors on beard the battle cruiser Osage.
What Maj. Untcher could not see was clearly visible here in the bulky special equipment of the giant ship. The typical spacewarp pattern of an equally typical discharge cone was clearly outlined on the energy tracking screen. It looked as though some invisible giant in interstellar space had dropped an elongated flower blossom. whatever the contours of it might appear to be, the fact remained that an overlap fissure had formed through which a tremendous interchange of energies was occurring between the lines of force in the Einstein universe and those of the Druuf plane.
Poskanov watched breathlessly as the structure's upper arch became more and more apparent. He had had a number of months of opportunity to become visually familiar with the naturally evolved discharge zone near the Myrtha System. So nobody had to tell him that the Fleet Command's instructions concerning the Arkonide Atlan was obsolete news already! This phenomenon had nothing to do either with the Regent of Arkon or the Greater Imperium.
The scientific team of the Osage was already at work. The first estimates of the situation were submitted to him. When Poskanov learned that they were only dealing at present with the energy cone itself but not yet with alien spaceships, he decided to send a hypercom report to the Fleet High Command.
There was still time to initiate precautionary measures. After the alien ships Poskanov expected finally did appear, it would be too late for any open communications with the numerous spaceships under way in the depths of the galaxy.
3 minutes following the transmission of his lengthy report, the vernier sensors of the Osage registered a weak spacewarp shock. The automatic analyser revealed that the ship that had just completed a hypertransition was of Terranian construction. Only very special instruments could detect it, which clearly indicated that the vessel had come through hyperspace under protection of a residual energy absorber. The unavoidable shock waves were initially intercepted by the ship's hyper-compensators but the recoil effects of this equipment were then trapped by the residual absorbers. It was practically impossible to detect a spaceship that was so equipped, much less exactly pinpoint its location. But the cruisers of the Solar Space Pursuit Forces possessed special vernier sending instruments that made it possible, which also meant that they could differentiate between friend and foe.
In this case what appeared on their screens was the vast shape of the Drusus.
Lt.-Col. Hauer, commander of the Osage, sighed with relief when he recognized the Fleet flagship. The Drusus had rematerialised at the outer fringes of the system and was now hurtling at a mad pace toward its objective.
Seconds later, what happened had been expected by Poskanov as a matter of course. Ships of the Drusus class were equipped with tracking and sensor instruments that practically nothing could elude. Even before the Chief of Pursuit Force 16 had a chance to hail the super-battleship, the Osage receivers were active.
Rhodan's face appeared on the main screen. The rough, unfocused scanning lines of the picture raster indicated that the Drusus' transmitter was operating at the lowest possible energy output. Rhodan seemed to know what was transpiring in the Earth's portion of the galaxy.
"Rhodan to battle cruiser-who are you?"
"Battle cruiser Osage, Space Pursuit Force 16, Col. Poskanov speaking.
"Ah, Poskanov, good!" answered Rhodan. "I presume that Marshal Freyt assigned you to the outer defence perimeter?"
"Yes sir, shortly after the Drusus took off. Have you been advised that a discharge cone has formed in the Capella sector?"
"Correct. We spotted it before we went into our final transition. Have Headquarters been notified?"
"10 minutes ago, sir. I was able to risk it since nothing's shown up yet other than the overlap rift itself. My advanced jet group under Maj. Untcher is returning in normal flight mode. Everything is in order there, sir."
"Very good. Effective immediately you are under Gen. Deringhouse's command. Your base is Pluto. If it should happen that the shipyards and supply depots there are attacked or destroyed, according to catastrophe provisions of Operation Columbus you are to pull back to the orbit of Saturn where you will join up with the Middle Sector Fleet under my command. Wait for further instructions and use no hyper-frequencies in case any alien ships are sighted."
The video contact became weaker as the Drusus drew farther away at close to the speed of light.
Col. Poskanov was perplexed and dismayed. Catastrophe provisions? Operation Columbus? That plan was for use in case the Earth was discovered! Hastily he called into the microphone: "Sir, are we to expect an Arkonide attack?"
"Nonsense! Atlan is on our side. What you see out there is something the Druufs have established. Prepare yourself to be literally deluged by countless fighter ships of all classes. Our only chance lies in not attracting their attention. The fact the discharge cone is near Capella shows that the Druuf mathematicians can make mistakes. Their calculations are off by a good 42 light-years. As of now there can be no more open communications. If you have to send out messages, use low output and tight beams."
Before Rhodan's face faded entirely, Poskanov saw and heard the First Administrator of the Solar Empire to let out a bitter laugh. Seconds later the connection was broken.
Although Poskanov urged his signal tracing operators to hang onto it, they failed to capture any more of the superbattleship's rapidly-fading communication. This pointed up the fact that sharp beaming and precise directional handling could be a hindrance to detection. A trace would only be possible if an enemy ship happened to cross the transmission zone by some unlucky accident Poskanov resolved to take the greatest conceivable precautionary measures. But the galaxy was vast and at any rate 42 light-years was a wide enough gap to help them escape discovery, with luck.