"(novel) (ebook) - Perry Rhodan 0099 - (91) Friend to Mankind" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Liszog gurgled his agreement from under the massaging brush.
Golath pointed to another observation screen where several glowing points were discernible. "That is the solar system closest to us," he explained. "We might be able to make it to there."
"I hope we can find a world with an oxygen atmosphere." Zerft voiced his concern. "It's possible that we won't discover a planet on which we can live!"
Golath swivelled around in his chair. He was the tallest of the three Unithers but Zerft was much broader. Even so, Golath's trunk smacked Zerft heartily on the shoulder. Their girth made the cabin space limited.
"What kind of a life are we going to lead?" Golath said in despair. "We'll just vegetate if we are left to ourselves. Our judges know very well that each Unither craves company and recognition. We are a gregarious people and deportation is a fate worse than death!"
Liszog had finished and cleaning process. He got up and joined his two companions. He was the youngest and his body was still growing. "You should have thought of that earlier, Golath," he complained. "You were the one who dragged us into this. It was madness to attempt to steal-"
Golath slammed his trunk against Liszog's chest. The young Unither reeled from the blow.
"The plan was good," Golath snarled. "How could I know that there was a second electronic barrier around the camp?"
Liszog retorted furiously: "You are to blame that we were locked up in this living tomb and exiled from our home! Now we won't be allowed to return unless we can accomplish an extraordinary feat which will benefit all our people. Your idea of capturing an alien spaceship is just as crazy as your burglary plan!"
The Kaszill put a sudden end to their quarrel. A violent vibration shook the vessel from stern to stern. Golath slid away on his chair and Zerft had to hold onto the console of the rangefinder. "That was the last gasp," Zerft exclaimed after it was over.
Golath picked himself up again and returned to the rangefinder set. He avoided looking directly at Liszog. "Alright then," he decided. "We'll head for that solar system and take a look around. Perhaps we'll be lucky to find a good spot."
As if to emphasize his words, a red line flashed across the screen. Liszog, who was about to make a nasty remark, kept his trunk shut. Zerft stamped his feet. Somewhere in the ship was a metallic crash which made the Unithers break out in a cold sweat.
In a low voice, as if the slightest noise could cause the Kaszill to fall apart, Golath explained: "We've just experienced an ultra-dimensional energy discharge."
Liszog excitedly rolled in his trunk and Zerft quickly rubbed his hand over the screen as if he could show the phenomenon again with his gesture. "A what?" he inquired with curiosity.
When it came to questions like these they had to depend on Golath. He was the only one of the deportees who had enough education to understand the instrumentation aboard the Kaszill... barely.
"An unstable condition in the space-time continuum," Liszog claimed boldly.
Golath laughed. He got up and walked to the computer, which looked similar to the Terranian electronic brains of the same size. The Unither programmed the positronicon with a sequence of data. Then he waited in front of the computer till it spit out the result on a narrow metal foil which was perforated by a pattern of holes.
"A what?" Liszog asked again.
Golath laughed haughtily as he nonchalantly discarded the metal strip, savouring the experience of the moment. Let those two morons learn how to appreciate him! Without him, he was convinced, they didn't have a ghost of a chance for survival. "It was a spaceship," he announced after an effective pause, noticing that Zerft's trunk stiffened.
"Where is it now?" Liszog inquired fearfully.
"How big is it?" Zerft asked, motivated by the same feeling, although he was better at concealing his fear.
Golath refrained from asserting his ego and decided after a few moments to tell the truth. "All I know is that we have registered an unknown ship during a transition. It obviously passed into hyperspace after taking precautionary measures. Fortunately we have tracking instruments aboard the Kaszill which enable us to monitor each disturbance of space. It means that we did not spot the unknown ship directly but only noticed a change of the spatial structure. Therefore it is impossible to determine the size or the destination of the unknown vehicle."
"In that case we have no reason to get excited about it," Liszog muttered dejectedly. "The discovery won't do anything for us."
"I wouldn't say that," Golath said. "At least I know at which point in the universe the ship started its transition."
Zerft thrust his trunk against the observation screen showing a few points of glittering light. "From there," he said.
Golath felt a bit annoyed that Zerft had stolen the climax of his presentation. "Quite right," he said tartly. "At the time the ship performed its transition it was in the solar system we have chosen as our goal."
"It probably was an Arkonide ship," Liszog added.
"As members of a rebellious colonial nation the Arkonides won't receive us with open arms, I'm afraid."
"Let's worry about it if and when we get there," Golath said.
"Arkonides!" Zerft murmured, his voice full of hate. His eyes glowered and his back stiffened.
None of the Unithers could guess that they had spotted a Terranian vessel, the Solar System!

* * * *

After 72 hours terrestrial time, the blunt bow of the Kaszill emerged in the Ufgar system. The flight had been a nightmare of fear and terror for the three Unithers. Midway on the trip the disaster had begun to take its toll. The Kaszill began to disintegrate and shed parts of its hull into space. A large leak had sprung in the rear engineroom which Zerft could not control. Liszog man-aged to close the bulkhead before it became an airless deathtrap. The life of the banished Unithers hung by the proverbial thread.
However, the Unithers were guided by fate to their goal. Liszog was certain that the vessel would fly apart at the last moment but Golath's and Zerft's elation allayed his pessimistic outlook.
"The 2nd planet contains oxygen," Golath announced after a thorough investigation with his measuring devices. "That's where we are going to land." He noticed the doubt in Liszog's eyes and emphasized: "If it's the last thing I do with this flying coffin!"
In his own mind he was far less sure of the landing since he realized only too well that precise navigation of the Kaszill was akin to suicide. However he was loath to show his misgivings for fear that Zerft and Liszog would retract their consent to the landing: which was their only chance for survival.
The Unithers had no clear idea of what to do after the landing if it turned out to be successful. Too many unforeseen things could happen that would have to be taken into account. Moreover, Golath had little faith in the dependability of the young inexperienced Liszog. If the situation got tough, he would have to rely more on the older Zerft-although he hated his guts. "We will have to fasten our belts," Golath ordered. "I can no longer trust the robot pilot. As soon as the Kaszill touches ground, we will have to get out at once because we have to expect the possibility of an explosion."
During the following hours Golath steered the vessel with extreme caution. He tried to avoid all unnecessary strain on the ship as well as he could. Zerft had taken his place at the rangefinder and Liszog squatted restlessly between them.
"On which side are we going to touch down?" Zerft asked. "I would suggest the side where it's night."
"We are bound to make such a spectacle of ourselves that it won't make a bit of difference where we land," Golath replied. "If this planet is occupied by Arkonides they are sure to detect us anyway. There's nothing we can do about that."
The energy sensor of the Kaszill solved their problem. As soon as they plunged into the gravitational field of the planet, the needle of the sensitive instrument deflected. "Something is going on down there," the big Unither warned.
"What?" Liszog asked, his anxiety growing steadily.
Golath let his trunk dangle in vacillation without taking his eyes off the dial. "The deflection of the needle is not very strong," he observed. "It's possible that there is a power station on this planet. Perhaps they have an automatic beam transmitter. Let's try to pinpoint where the impulse originates."
"What for?" Liszog shot his question like a pointed arrow.
"Very simple," Golath snapped, "because that's where I want to land."
Liszog looked flabbergasted. He snorted and turned to Zerft for help. "We'll run smack into the arms of the people at the power station," Liszog moaned. "They'll shoot us out of the air."
Golath's trunk lashed out at the squatting Unither, bowling him over. Golath was unable to stomach the constant complaints of the youngster. Unable to disguise his contempt he said in a trenchant tone: "This is a chance we must take. If the Arkonides are down there they are bound to spy us wherever we go. We should use our advantage of surprise! On the other hand, if it is a robot station it would be stupid to come down somewhere in a wild forest where we will be forced to walk for miles."
Zerft decided the argument in his own direct approach. The other two saw over his broad shoulders that he pointed his trunk to the quivering needle. "There," he bellowed.