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

"Hold on!" Golath shouted. His voice was strident and fearful. Multiple belts held his hulking body down on the pneumatic couch but left his hands free to manipulate the controls. Liszog, lying next to him, trembled. His eyes were closed and his hands tightly clamped down on the couch frame. Only Zerft reclined leisurely. He gave the impression of imagining the enjoyment felt during the treatment of a trunk-cleaner.
Golath performed the braking manoeuvre. The Kaszill entered the atmosphere of the planet and the ship began to vibrate and groan tremendously under the strain. Joints were torn apart and rivets sheared off but the vessel still held together. The Unithers cowered helplessly on their couches as Golath held a firm grip on the steering controls. He thought many times that the ship would fail to react. At a slight angle, almost tangential to the surface, Golath steered the Kaszill in the new path. Just when he began to breathe easier, one of his engines abruptly stopped. The vessel was jerked around, whined in protest and began to spin. Grunting under the sudden change of his equilibrium, Golath tried to restore the balance of the ship. Even Zerft lost some of his impassive composure and looked apprehensively at the pilot. Only a blur swept across the panoramic picture screen. Liszog whimpered uncontrollably.
Golath decided to try a desperate manoeuvre. He cut off all remaining engines for a few seconds and the Kaszill kept going by its own momentum. When it was on the verge of nose-diving, he gave the three engines at the rear, which were still intact, a sudden burst of power. The acceleration caused the ship to race toward the ground. Now Golath applied the full braking power. The Kaszill shrieked under the excessive stress.
The ship is breaking up! Golath thought in horror. He shut his eyes. When he opened them again the ship was still hurtling through the air-a chunk of glowing metal going through hell. He screamed hoarsely and looked at the altimeter. What he saw brought the sweat to his brow. Only 4000 meters above the ground, the Kaszill still had such an enormous velocity that it could not stop before it was smashed to bits upon impact. Golath had only one possibility left. Somehow he had to gain more height again. There was no time to check whether he had reached the intended landing area or had overshot it already. Golath became nauseated as the ship roared and screamed. With trembling fingers he manipulated the controls and the ship finally responded sluggishly so that he was able to push it up to 5000 meters.
"How much longer?" Zerft inquired coolly. His terse tones could not have been more controlled if he merely waited for a boiling drink of Grats at the Kallasto Hotel of Unith.
The ship gradually lost its speed. Golath realized that he could not keep it up much longer at the present altitude. He had to descend for a landing! He switched on 3 additional observation screens. There were only clouds in sight. Eventually darker regions emerged which were presumably large forests. Something blue flashed across the screen. Golath had the impression that it was a lake. He attempted to fly in a spiral. Then the clouds disappeared from the screen as if swept away by a gigantic hand. The ground was a greybrown sheet. Suddenly all was quiet.
"Now!" he shrieked as everything exploded in a flash of fire, smoke and dust as the ship crashed into the alien soil.

* * * *

The first feeling Golath experienced afterwards was amazement that he was still alive and the second was an irritation that his trunk was dirty and clogged. Then he opened his eyes.
His chest was covered by the glass of the broken picture screens. But his tough Unitherian skin was unmarked. Dust and dirt settled all around him. Then he remembered his companions. The youthful Zerft stood in front of the instrument console trying to find out which were still in working condition. Irate that nobody had bothered to help him, Golath removed the belts from his body.
Now he saw Liszog, too. The youth was stretched out under the trunk-cleaner which had weathered the crash without damage.
"There you are," Zerft said lackadaisically when Golath came over to check the instruments. Golath frowned in cold fury. His right shoulder ached and he had a burning pain in his trunk. He glanced impatiently at Liszog but said nothing because the cleaning of the trunk was considered to be something of a ritual and it would have been bad manners to interrupt another person during the procedure. It was a taboo which was observed by all Unithers. Even under these conditions. Therefore he turned to Zerft.
"It could have been much worse," Zerft commented. "We're still alive and most of our instruments are still functioning."
"We have to get out of the Kaszill nonetheless," Golath stated gruffly. "The danger of an explosion is not yet over."
Zerft smiled a little as he folded his arms and let his trunk hang over them. "Of course you can go outside if you like," he said.
Golath took a step back. "What do you mean?" he asked.
With his typical bland expression Zerft proclaimed, "It means that I have taken over the leadership of this group as of now. The Kaszill is almost completely demolished. We don't need you any more, Golath. I have already talked to Liszog. about it while you were still unconscious. It's alright with him that I make the decisions from now on."
Golath's eyes flared crimson. He felt a fierce rage well up in him. Only the brute force embodied in Zerft's powerful torso kept him from assaulting the usurper. Finally his calm reason gained the upper hand. "Very well," he said icily. "What do you propose we do?"
Zerft was taken aback by his quick victory. He kept studying the array of gadgets before he replied. "We will keep the Kaszill as our base of operations. We can start the necessary investigations from here. First we will go in the direction inwhich the power station should be located. Unfortunately our energy sensor was knocked out so we will have an intensive search. We will take our weapons with us for security. I have already spot-checked a little around the ship in the meantime. Not far from here is a big lake. It will be best if we walk along its shore."
It was a long speech for Zerft. Liszog had finished the cleaning of his trunk. Golath, who wanted to take his place, was shoved aside by Zerft. "I believe it's my turn now," he said ominously.
"I hope we keep the same order-especially when it will be our turn to die," Golath replied grimly.
It was a declaration of war no Unither could misunderstand.

* * * *

The Kaszill had ploughed up the ground for a length of almost 100 meters before it came to rest near the edge of a primeval forest. The vessel was split in to 2 pieces and the rear half where the engines were located was totally destroyed.
This condemned the three Unithers to a permanent exile on the planet. They could consider themselves lucky that they had landed in an atmosphere of oxygen more or less suited to their requirements.
The Kaszill, or what was left of it, had crashed at a spot about halfway between the forest and the lake whose shore was visible on the horizon as a dark line.
Judging from the position of the sun, Golath figured that it must be early morning. When they left the Kaszill their faces were caressed by a pleasant breeze of fresh air. Golath stretched his limbs in the sun and inhaled deeply. It still made him shudder when he thought of the foul air they had to breathe in the Kaszill
. Now the air in the ship was good again and they could always return to it. As far as that goes, Zerft's suggestion wasn't so bad. At least they would be able to avail themselves of the trunk-cleaner apparatus at regular intervals. He was glad that they would not have to fall back on the primitive method of their ancestors which was to clean their trunks with leaves wound around a stick. This oldfashioned mode of cleaning was considered as rather distasteful by the new generation of Unithers.
"We'll climb down to the shoreline," Zerft's voice interrupted his train of thought. "It's advisable that we get back before dark. "He tucked his thermo-beamer away and waved the others to proceed. Liszog raised his trunk as a sign that he was ready and Golath contented himself to grunt.
The strange group shambled off. Golath was the first to reach the steep slope at the shore of the lake. He was about to climb down when Liszog called out excitedly. The young Unither stretched out his hand and pointed to the ground. "The land is burned up over there," he reported excitedly.
Golath recognized the darkened area. Zerft gave his nod and they all ran to the mysterious spot. Grass and bushes were either burned up or seared in a precise circle. It seemed odd that inside the circle most of the plants were undamaged.
"Obviously this was anything but a natural fire," Zerft observed. He bent down and pulled out a half-burned clump with his trunk. "What do you think of it, Golath?"
Golath, whose sharp eyes had already discovered other clues, replied harshly: "There was a spaceship standing here. You can still see the impressions of the support legs. It was probably an Arkonide vessel."
"What makes you think so?" Liszog asked apprehensively.
"The arrangement of the support legs and the pattern of the grass fire," Golath explained eagerly. He wanted to show the youth that he was more capable than Zerft to guide them through their calamity.
Zerft, who had run to the rim of the incline, shouted something in an excited voice which was very unusual for him. "Look down there," he directed his companions.
Golath leaned forward. He heard Liszog utter a cry. "A house!" Golath exclaimed jubilantly. "And a little spaceship."
They all looked down and Liszog whispered: "There doesn't seem to be anybody around."
"Yes there is," Zerft contradicted. "There are two combat robots around the other side of the house. Come, I'll show you!" He pulled Golath and Liszog over a little distance. "You can see them from here."
"If they detect us, we'll be finished for good," Liszog lamented. He nervously paced, his great trunk swinging in wide circles around the peering pair. "That's right," Golath said. "We don't stand a chance against these machines. Apparently they are posted here as guards. Perhaps it's a station for Arkonide poachers who come here every so often to collect the animals caught in their traps."
Zerft became increasingly excited. "Here we have stumbled on a unique opportunity. We can capture an alien spaceship and use it to return to Unith. It is obviously a special model which surpasses anything our people have so far been able to construct! We will be showered with honours if we can bring back a trophy like this!"
"How can you be so sure that it really is a spaceship?" Liszog inquired. "It could also be some kind of a boat used for fishing."
Zerft trumpeted contemptuously and Golath wondered how he ever got mixed up with a peabrain pachyderm like Liszog. In front of them was what they desperately needed... if the combat robots would allow them to go near it!
"We must destroy the two robots," Zerft finally declared.
This was easier said than done and Zerft realized that they were once more dependent on Golath's knowledge. In the given circumstances he was afraid to undertake anything without his advice.
"I suppose the robots have a protective screen," Golath speculated. "They probably activate it only in case of imminent danger in order to preserve their energy. If we succeed in catching them unawares before they can activate their defence shield we'll have won the game."