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

His sudden shout in the speakers gave a start to the Com officers on board the flagship of the SPF-64. But Tehete's yell was not the end of it because suddenly the hyperbands came alive with victory cries. The pilots were still too young and inexperienced in battle to take their first successes with a quiet sigh of relief. They needed recognition, the word of a friend or a favourable nod from their superior officers. They yelled themselves hoarse and flew their attacks with such zeal that the powerful Druuf formation was almost totally annihilated.
During this action it happened that a cruiser of the State class emerged unexpectedly from hyperspace and was so badly hit by one of the interceptors' powerful raybeams that 3 engines were knocked out and a fire started in the power control room.
The cruiser's commander was Maj. Matsuro who was just returning with important news from the blockade front. On the basis of the urgency of his mission, Matsuro had risked bridging the great distance between the Myrtha System and Terra with only one transition. However it was seldom that one could avoid small margins of error in such a long-range jump. By comparison to the vast stretch he had covered, being off by some 80 billion km in his premature emergence could even be considered an outstanding cosmonautical feat.
It could not be determined later which pursuit pilot had fired the fateful shot The Nippon limped out of the fire line at half power. Matsuro still didn't dare send out a radio message but then the decision of the First Administrator came to his aid.
In all spaceships of the Solar Fleet, starting with the vast superbattleship Drusus and including everything down to the smallest interceptor, the viewscreens lit up to reveal Perry Rhodan, who was using a basic frequency band common to all. He was seen and heard everywhere at once.
"This is Perry Rhodan. Attention all units: effective immediately, the imposed radio silence is lifted. You can all talk. But keep strictly to your prescribed frequency channels so you don't start heterodyning. We have finally been discovered. We were able to pick up radio messages from the Druuf ships that our interceptors attacked and our experts are attempting to decipher them. You can count on a wide-open battle now. Our old game of hide-and-seek has come to an end."
Then followed a long series of deployment instructions. The numerous cruiser squadrons used short hyperjumps to transfer to the outer defence perimeter.
Close to the orbit of Saturn the second line of defence was reinforced by the main body of heavier vessels. Here Rhodan had personally taken command. The outer line was under command of Gen. Deringhouse.
Maj. Matsuro waited until the important dispatches had been completed. Only then did he hail the Drusus using priority code 1. He got his contact immediately.
Matsuro's face appeared on the giant hypercom screen of the vast battleship, whose Command Central was serving as a flying headquarters.
"Cruiser Nippon-Commander, Maj. Matsuro," he announced. "I have just returned from the blockade front. But sir, in the heat of the fighting one of your interceptor pilots lost his head and mistook me for a Druuf. My ship only has a minimum spaceworthiness at present. We were able to contain the fire in the power control room by drawing out the oxygen but the Command Central is crippled. Do you have specific instructions for me, Sir?"
Rhodan grasped the situation at once. Apparently the Nippon was bringing news from the Hades base. "This conversation is restricted," he decided quickly. "Launch a Gazelle and get over here to the Drusus-bring your ship on board. We'll guide you in by remote. Have your first officer take over the Nippon for you. He will run a low-speed course to Pluto where he is to go into a holding orbit. Can that still be managed?"
Matsuro turned to look at his chief engineer, who nodded a confirmation. "Yes sir, the engines can still make it. But whether or not we could manage a landing can't be determined as yet."
"Good. The Pluto Base will be informed from here. I am expecting you. Prepare a damage report. I want to know the effect of that interceptor shot. Where was the Nippon hit?"
"Midships above the ring bulge. The impulse beam went through both defence screens, burned through the armour plate and spent the rest of its thermo energy in the main switching room."
Matsuro was not surprised at the satisfied nod from his highest superior. Naturally Rhodan wanted to know the effect of his interceptor weapons. Probably this one piece of knowledge was worth even one light cruiser of the State class.
"OK, that's enough for now. Don't lose any time and get yourself launched out of there. I presume you have some important news, do you not...?"
"And how, sir! Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

* * * *

Maj. Nako Matsuro felt trapped in a circle of high-ranking officers. Even Solar Marshal Allan D. Mercant was present in the Command Central of the superbattleship. There seemed to be something in the air that few men were informed about.
Matsuro had already given his report, which had been evaluated. He had been able to establish contact with the agents at the Hades Base. Upon further interrogation, the commander of the observation cruiser Nippon explained: "Yes sir, the communication came through ungarbled. Capt. Rous informs us that the Druufs have succeeded in creating a synthetic discharge cone. Our cosmic agent Ernst Ellert appears to be in some difficulty. He has informed Rous that he is gradually losing his power over the Druuf scientist, Onot. Onot is being accused by the ruling Council on Druufon. They don't think he's entirely unconnected with the destruction of the main computer central."
"And of course they're right," remarked Rhodan. drily. "Go on, Matsuro."
"Actually that's about all, sir. Ernst Ellert is hiding the same as ever in this Onot creature. Ellert doesn't seem to be too happy with the radio contact with the 13th planet of the giant star system. Capt. Rous fears complications."
"And what was that about this mammoth space station near the double star, Siamed?" inquired Mercant again.
Matsuro felt that with this question the unprepossessing little man had put his finger on the heart of the situation.
"That information came through just as I was about to go into transition. Ellert informed us, through Rous, that the Druufs had built some kind of giant structure. The space station's whole purpose was for generating an outlet funnel. By certain measurements Rous was also able to find out that the narrow end of the cone starts right over this space station."
No further information was to be recovered from Matsuro. The trained crew of his heavily damaged cruiser were picked up by a fleet tender and taken to the Moon Base. When Matsuro arrived there the command of a brand new ship was handed over to him immediately.
Within 7 hours of his parley with Rhodan, Maj. Matsuro took off for his first flight test

* * * *

Where the Solar High Command's defence plan was concerned, these 7 hours developed into a very crucial period. On the one hand, the light cruiser California lay briefly alongside the Drusus, parked motionlessly just over its ring bulge. It was under the command of Col. Tifflor, who had by now become a legendary figure. And on the other hand, the top commander of the Druufs issued certain specific orders.
So when Matsuro took off for his test flight, it marked a turning point for a number of critical actions. Col. Tifflor came on board the flagship as John Marshall, chief of the mutants, gathered his special team around him. Under protection of advance cruiser squadrons, 5000 1-man pursuit ships flew to newly assigned defence sectors. And simultaneously the first Druuf battleships emerged from the veil of hyper-dimensional space.
This time it was no mere duel on the remote periphery of the defence line with all the advantage of surprise on the Terranian side. The heavy cruiser Cattano, flank ship of the SPF-106, took salvo fire from four heavy-class Druuf ships and exploded. The Cattano was the first vessel of the Solar Fleet to go down in the battle for Terra.
To the consternation of the pursuit pilots a new weapon was employed by the attackers. Although it could have little effect on a really major class ship it was deadly for them. It was a thermo needle beam which was propagated in a burst of high-peak intensity thin a force-field diffraction grating so that it was split up into tens of thousands of 1-mm beams. This had the effect of an atomic shotgun with enormous fan-but capabilities and the highest degree of hit-probability.
Whereas even auxiliary craft as small as the Guppy class were not especially endangered by these high-intensity needle beams, they were deadly to the tiny interceptors and 3-man destroyers. About 60% of the attacking small craft were promptly detected and immediately fired upon by the special weapons which had been specifically designed to handle them.
Lt. Aluf Tehete flew his group into just such a beam-riddled battle zone. Neither he nor the other 11 pilots of the 586th Interceptor Group were favoured with a chance to announce any victories this time. All 12 pursuitships went down before the withering fire of the on-pressing Druuf fleet.
A second or so prior to this ominous wave of destruction, Col. Poskanov withdrew the battle cruiser Osage from the front lines. The vibrator shots intended for him went by underneath the fleeing Osage and were lost in the depths of the void.
Two hours after the first major attack, an overall view of the situation was obtained. Approximately 5000 Druuf ships were being committed to the initial thrust but a rapid succession of new fleet formations was streaming out of the discharge rift.
After three hours Perry Rhodan knew that he could not prevent the destruction of Terra with the limited forces he possessed. The advance wave of Druuf ships were already attacking the Pluto base. For the time being that stronghold's terrible ground-fire was able to either shoot the aliens down or drive them away, yet it was obvious that the planet could not be held much longer.
Added to this clearly evident fact was the question of whether or not the aliens would be able to build up a second funnel. If that happened, the Terranian defence would not be able to hold out
Col. Poskanov reported the loss of 11 cruisers from his space pursuit force. The interceptors and 3-man destroyers that had been launched from the bigger ships could not be picked up again during the heavy fighting of the retreat manoeuvres. Those pilots received orders to the effect that they were on their own and would have to try to break through the enemy lines in order to reach the waiting fleet of the inner defence ring, which was under Rhodan's command.
After the collapse of the outer defence perimeter, the area to be protected became smaller. The closer the action came to the central sun the more the radius of the battle plane tightened in. But in this Rhodan saw a better defence possibility. His major class ships could be concentrated more effectively and could be deployed more quickly to the focal points of the fighting.
Five hours after the start of the Druuf invasion, the Terranian super giants moved into battle for the firstime. These 1500-meter brutes were the Hannibal, the Gen. Pounder, the Barbarossa, the Wellington and the Alexander. After a short transition they suddenly appeared in the thick of the tumult and immediately opened fire. Only the Drusus and the older Titan remained behind as a backup.
Never before had the Druufs experienced such a counterblow. From previous experience they recognized the super Imperium class ships but heretofore such vessels had only been manned by Arkonide robots. Behind the guns of the Terranian ships were highly qualified humans who knew very well what they were risking their lives for.
In a time-span of just 8 minutes, the Wellington alone shot down 27 enemy vessels without being seriously endangered. Her mighty defence screens took everything the Druufs had to offer. All of which enabled the pursuing battle cruisers to have a field day with the hard-pressed invaders. There was a temporary collapse of the enemy front. The leading wedge of the Druuf attack was annihilated but an hour later the gap was reinforced again.
At this time Gen. Deringhouse called to the flagship. His lean face revealed every sign of extreme exhaustion as it appeared on the large telecom screen of the fleet flagship. Rhodan was standing before the pickup cameras.
"Sir, I estimate that Pluto will fall within the next 30 minutes. I can't risk the big ships any longer at the front. The Druufs have a new game out here-for each of our ships from cruisers on up, they are throwing in at least 50 heavy units apiece. Till now our superior manoeuvrability has let us skin by in the worst cases but this is something else again. Sir, what are you going to do?"