"002 The Third Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

the directional ray.

On the desert, Major ButaТan hesitantly thrust his weapon back into the holster
on his belt. "Marshal, how can you permit a spy to give us orders? I consider
this irresponsible! I shall have to inform my superiors of your conduct."
"Go right ahead," Roon agreed. He looked with half closed eyes toward the
Stardust. "I believe I have acted correctly. There may be more to this affair
than either of us imagines. You think that this landed spacecraft is a
camouflaged act of aggression by the peoples of the Western Bloc? The
installation of an official military base, is that what you want to believe? Not
a bad idea. It might even be true. But we just donТt know for sure. Perhaps this
Rhodan is not so crazy as he seems. Sometimes I wonder if they havenТt found
something extraordinary on the moon, something that gives them a great deal of
power."
He stopped short. Something was not quite right. Suddenly he felt light and
giddy, as if he had been drinking too much, drinking far too much. The bad
thing, however, was that he seemed to be losing his balance in the same instant.
It was as though he grew taller and taller and was still growing far beyond
proportion.
Dammit, if only the major would notice.
But ButaТan was too occupied by his own troubles to watch out for the marshal.
A careless movement had made him lose the ground beneath his feet. He was rising
slowly upward like a balloon, upward toward the expanse of blue sky. At the same
time, he was turning over like a trampoline jumper in slow motion.
Roon had not budged. He stood as before on the hot sands of the Gobi, mouth
agape, looking up at ButaТan who cursed, stuttered, and implored his ancestors
for help. But apparently neither oath nor ancestor could help; he kept
ascending.
"Pilot!" screamed the marshal suddenly, and abruptly turned around.
If only he hadnТt done that! His rotating motion could not be arrested, and in a
spiral-like movement Roon was lifted skyward, following the chief agent of the
Asiatic Federation Security Service.
By now the pilot could stand it no longer. He held fast to the back of his seat,
as was customary, until he reached the narrow exit. For a long moment, mouth and
eyes wide-open, he gazed up toward both his superiors as they floated by near
him, rising ever upward. Then he hastily whipped out his machine gun.
His first shot swept him out of the cabin. The helicopter recoiled sideways a
few inches above the ground. Involuntarily, the barrel of his weapon dropped
down, but the startled pilot had depressed the lever for continuous firing. Like
a rocket, his speed increasing with every shot, he sped into the cloudless
desert sky. Even when the magazine of his gun had been emptied, be still
continued his ascent.
It was an incredible, eerie picture, and in broad daylight. Three men were
floating through the air, and a helicopter hovered obliquely and hardly balanced
between the rocks like a ship stranded in the current on the ocean floor.
Perry looked up into RegТs radiant face. "Well, what do you think of that?"
"Just great! A unique circus act. This general or marshal fellow hangs so well
up there in the air. TheyТre scared stiff, I bet. But now what? You arenТt going
to let those guys starve up there, are you?"
Perry slapped his palm to his forehead. "No, not that! Tell me, can you fly a