"Perry Rhodan 031 - Robot Threat- New York in Atlan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

The thin, delicately-built Japanese had always been known to be a quiet, reserved person in the community of mutants. This characteristic must have been a necessary consequence of his parapsychological ability of 'direction finding'. To a greater extent than even a telepath, he listened inside himself. His additional sense was, technically viewed, nothing but an exceedingly complicated radio apparatus such as human and Arkonide had had thus far been unable to produce. Seiko 'heard' radio waves. Moreover, he was able to spontaneously undertake a wave determination that allowed him to clearly tune into the transmission he wanted to receive.
However, the concentration required minutes at a time and left him bodily weak. He was sitting in an armchair, his eyes shut.
"Who do you have, Tanaka?"
Seiko rebuffed them with a wave of the hand that silenced even Bell and Rhodan. Obediently they waited.
The viewcom began to buzz, now of all times. Bell simply turned back the reception button, throttling picture and sound. He whispered into the microphone: "Wait two seconds. Reception now impossible."
There was heavy protest at the other end of the line but it was ignored.
Who did Tanaka 'have'? That was the most important question.
A short while later he relaxed. "I intercepted a robot communication frequency. We have to vacate these quarters, Mr. Rhodan."
"For what reason? The robots have no aircraft and they are still 11/2 kilometres away.
"One of their spies has discovered that our defence headquarters is located here at Capt. Klein's office. They had previously assumed that we were in your office in the government building."
"OK. You keep listening and see to it that you don't lose the frequency. If we are disturbing you, you can go into the adjoining room."
"Yes. That would be better."
Seiko disappeared.
"...give up all responsibility! With all due respect, gentlemen!"
The sudden outburst issued from the viewcom, which Bell had turned up to its full volume. An enraged Col. Friedrichs appeared on the screen.
"Now it's your turn, Colonel."
"It's about time! My troops cannot hold their position any longer. People against robots. That is an impossible..."
"Get to the point, Colonel!" Bell thundered.
"My losses have climbed to 14 helicopters. I need ground troop relief."
"You are the relief, Colonel, and I'm sorry about that. We have no more people and can't come up with any. The energy bell will remain closed for security reasons. Pull back your units for 10 minutes and then regroup with the rest. The Mutant Corps will attempt to relieve you. Await further orders."
"In 10 minutes the enemy will have reached our staff field position if they are no longer harassed from the air. I request permission to transfer my headquarters to the north."
Bell threw Rhodan a questioning glance. He nodded approval.
"OK! Go back to block A-N 12, Colonel. That takes you very close to the airport but just get it straight that there can be no further changes from there."
"Thank you, sir!"
A snapping sound broke the connection.
"And now the mutants! We have no other choice, Perry."
Rhodan silently surveyed his people.
"Ishy, you are a woman and a telepath. Your talents are not suited to a conflict with robots. I would like you to return to the government quarter."
She nodded obediently. "Immediately?"
"Yes, please."
Ishy Matsu closed her Arkonide suit and said goodbye. She started from the roof of the house and disappeared-invisible to the robots.
"Incidentally, we are going to hold out here until the encirclement. Captain Klein, inform the guard battalion of the new situation. Arrange for acute defence alert. All vehicles equipped with energy screens are to take up hedgehog position."
"At your command, sir."
On the viewscreen the menace of the new situation was already becoming apparent. The robots' intent was still vague but due to Tanaka Seiko everyone knew the target of the war machines' movements. They had suddenly concentrated almost a quarter of their striking forces eastward. Had they already realized the momentary weakness in the humans' defence? In the absence of air attack they found almost no resistance. On receiving the least fire, they were destroying entire house facades. Three crossroads before Capt. Klein's headquarters they came across the first larger defensive position. Three tanks lined up next to each other, forming a closed energy screen across the entire roadway. Their concentrated impulse fire stilled the energy of 7 attackers: 7 robots went down in flames.
But robots know no fear. Blindly fanatic, their front rolled on towards the tanks.
At that moment fire from another street downed the helicopter that had been responsible for the wireless picture transmission within the viewcom system. All optical contact between the street events and headquarters was cut off. Reginald Bell let out a coarse oath.

* * * *

Ivan Goratschin was not only ugly because he had two heads. His entire appearance made a monstrous impression. He was one of the many negative mutants born after the first Russian atom bomb tests in Siberia. The negative effects showed in several ways.
His size of 21/2 meters, his shapeless columnar legs, his scaly skin with its green shimmer and his angular, bulky body all made him into a monstrosity.
In character and biological capacity he was almost a paradoxical mixture of good and bad. If he hadn't mutated into an 'igniter,' he could have been regarded as innocuous. Both heads dictated to the twin creature a patient, naive and subservient nature. From early childhood on, his fellow men had called him a 'freak,' which had engendered a pronounced inferiority complex in him. Thus far he had never managed to show any individual initiative. For a whole generation his two brains had lived in some sort of competition, which had distorted his mental capacity. And while in relating to others the two heads were unanimous, that was no substitute for his lack of determination.
Ivan Goratschin had developed into a truly subservient type. He wanted to serve and be repaid in charitable love.
The legendary Mutant Master, who had covered the Earth and the New Power with treacherous gang warfare, had been Ivan's strategic discoverer. He had taken him from Siberia and exploited him to every evil end. Ivan was simply naive and-an 'igniter'.
This characteristic, which was later to achieve for him particular status in Rhodan's Mutant Corps, consisted of the fact that the currents of his mind affected calcium and carbon compounds much as heat impulse does gunpowder. The moment Ivan Goratschin concentrated, calcium atoms entered the process of nuclear fission. Since calcium or carbon can be found more or less everywhere, the 'igniter' could just about kill any living creature or destroy any object as soon as he thought about it intensely. That was when he ceased to be 'innocuous'. The destruction of the combat robots had demonstrated that.
Ivan was standing in front of a pile of plastic and metal. The sight returned some of his self-confidence. He was not defenceless, not even against the relentless war machines. But he would have to be cautious and that thought caused him to hastily retreat behind the gates through which he had just emerged.
The street remained empty. No further shot was fired. But what if he left the shelter of the walls? Hadn't other robot eyes already sighted him from some hidden corner? There were hundreds of windows across the street and his doom could be lurking behind any of them.
He waited. When he finally thought of Tako Kakuta his fright returned. Why had the teleporter disappeared? It could only be because here the air was laden with lead and energy. It just could not be a good idea to remain lying here. All at once the noise increased. His ears had become accustomed to the various battle sounds in the distant streets but now more than 20 helicopters were streaking across the sky, firing impulse rays. The streets were no longer empty. Two, three robots appeared, stalking about. Then there were more.
Ivan poked his head out the gate, then pulled it back under cover. There were about 30 combat robots marching across the street. It looked like a retreat.
Did this mean that Perry Rhodan had already been victorious?