"Perry Rhodan 040 - Challenge of the Unknown" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Rogal had to admit there was something in this argument to commend it. "And do you have proof of your-ah assumption?"
Marshall smiled. "You are merely one resistance group among many that are scattered all over the planet of Zalit. You have very little contact with each other because of your need to guard against the traitorous intervention of the Mooffs. I am in a position to establish contact between all these groups and so to strengthen and unite the resistance. Would that be sufficient to demonstrate my good will and loyalty?"
"And if you have the intention of handing us all over to the Zarlt?"
"I could do that without dealing with you. I know who the other groups and their leaders are. If I were against you, you'd have been apprehended long before now. However, our goal happens to be to overthrow this dictator Zarlt through the rightful supporters of the assassinated Ruler. And your goal is the same."
Rogal could see that the Stranger was not lying. He moved warily toward him and reached out his hand. "I want to trust you, stranger. It may be that we can reach the goal more swiftly together. So now-what about the Mooffs?"
Marshall did not intend to explain the true nature of the Mooffs to his new friends. "The Mooffs are the Zarlt's cohorts. They help him to keep control over the thoughts of his subjects. The Mooffs are traitors and have to be eliminated. We have already begun this task."
Rogal's face brightened. "So we do have you to thank for the mass deaths of the Mooffs? Tell me bow you do it-we want to help. Victory for our cause will not be in sight until the last Mooff is dead."
"Leave the Mooffs to us; for you there is other work," said Marshall, with a knowing look at Andrщ Noir. "Are we permitted to attend your meeting here? We can work this out together."
Rogal nodded his agreement, then walked to the front of the room and took over the podium. He opened the proceedings and the meeting began.

* * * *

It was eight hours before the Titan's hyperspace receiver registered the first return impulses. They came from a distance of 32,000 lightнyears. Without any corresponding time lapse, the coded transmission leapt across the unimaginable abyss through the fifth dimension, converting only to normal space within the receiver itself. Major Deringhouse, now CommanderнinнChief of the Terranian Space Fleet under the insignia of the New Power, had received Rhodan's message and sent the following answer:
TO PERRY RHODAN, ARKON SECTOR: ALL PEACEFUL IN TERRA SECTOR. NO HYTRANS. FLEET IN READINESS. BEST LUCK! DERINGHOUSE.
If Rhodan wanted to be honest with himself, he had to admit that a great weight was lifted from him. It appeared that the robot brain on Arkon had not initiated any action against Earth. Thora was right after all, even though final proof of her conjecture was still missing. in any case, Rhodan's expedition now had the time at its disposal to bring its purposes here to a satisfactory conclusion.
Half of the Titan lay in an underground hangar with an open sliding roof, while the upper half was camouflaged so that it could not be recognized. This offered the search ships of the robot brain very little prospect of discovering the stolen super battleship.
That is, if no one were to betray what was really going on on Zalit...
The Zarlt was not to be trusted. It was true that he was still operating under the persistent hypnotic orders of the Mooffs but in his heart and as a free man his own thoughts were not any different. The Mooffs could not have found themselves a more suitable instrument. The goals were the same, even though, perhaps, the planned procedures were different. If it should occur to the Zarlt that it might be timely to win recognition from the robot brain through a worthy deed, he would betray Rhodan without a twinge of conscience. Rhodan had considered the idea of bringing him under the hypnotic control of the mutants but then had resisted the temptation. Each day more Mooffs could arrive and if the new ones perceived that the Opposition also had hypnotists the situation would become more complicated. The as yet Unknown Adversary who was using the Mooffs to make the Zalites take over the Arkonide Empire must have no idea of the true strength of his Opponent.
The communications man had left. Bell was occupied with one of his cherished emergency drills. Thora had entered the command central unnoticed. For awhile she stood near the door and observed Rhodan, who sat in his pilot seat immersed in his thoughts.
For 13 years this Terranian had held her in custody and obstructed her longedнfor return to Arkon. She had been all but convinced that she would never forgive him for this imprisonment but now she wasn't quite sure of where she stood.
The return to Arkon had been a bitter disappointment. She looked back on it with reluctance. The many reproaches that she had intended to voice to Rhodan had never been spoken. She had to admit that he had been right in designating the Arkonides as decadent and incompetent. His harsh judgment of them had been justified by their single act of entrusting the responsibility for an entire galactic empire to a positronic brain.
Without turning his head, Rhodan spoke into the silence. "You aren't disturbing me, Thora. Come and join me. I'd like to talk to you."
She walked toward him slowly, the proud figure erect, an indefinable expression on her face. Her hair, almost white, framed her delicate head, contrasting unnaturally with her tanned complexion. Thirteen years of Earth sun had left their mark. Something gleamed in her golden eyes that Rhodan had never seen before.
"So it seems our purposes are at odds," she murmured.
"But I think not, thank God, our viewpoints," Rhodan replied. "Please, sit down, Thora. Incidentally, you were right: the robot brain hasn't sent a single ship to Earth. I wonder if it was a matter of choice or of not knowing the Earth's position?"
"The latter," she said, and sat down next to him. "Believe me, if it knew the position, the Earth would be as good as lost. A robot brain has no feelings."
"But hopefully it can think logically. It had to recognize that I am not an enemy of the Empire."
"So far you've not given it any reason for thinking otherwise. Anyone who does not abide by its regulations is an enemy of the Empire. You have even stolen one of its ships.
"And if I only did it in order to serve the Empire?"
Thora smiled dubiously. "You'll have to prove that to the Brain first, Perry. don't you think that's difficult-even hopeless...?"
Rhodan shook his head. "Not at all! The Mooffs came into the picture at just the right moment. If we succeed in making Zalit a sister world to Arkon again, that should no doubt suffice as a proof of our loyalty to the Empire."
Her smile deepened. "It suffices with me already, Perry. I have no doubts as to your good intentions. What matters is, if the Brain agrees with me."
You are a logical thinker, Thora-so is the Brain. So your mutual conclusions must also come out the same. Let's wait it out. Actually, there was a different matter I wanted to discuss with you." After a pause, he continued resolutely. "Thora, how do you assess your future?"
Her smile disappeared as though wiped away by an invisible hand. "My future?" A shadow flitted across her face. "What future is there for me on Arkon? My dynasty is all but extinguished. Khrest and I are as exiles, even though some have recognized us either through need or in other indirect ways. I'll be frank, Perry... if I had to make the choice today between being Arkonide or Terranian-it would not be too difficult."
This was a shocking statement when one recalled how proud this Arkonide aristocrat had been and how much she had scorned the 'barbaric' Terranians. The reversal of attitude was understandable but it seemed to Rhodan too sudden. He suspected a pitfall, a cloven hoof somewhere.
"A Terranian?" he asked thoughtfully and looked at her. She returned his gaze freely and openly. There was something akin to pleading in her eyes, which he did not understand. "Thora, don't you consider Terranians to be far beneath you?"
"Not any more, Perry. Sometimes I even wonder if it may not be the reverse. Did not the Immortal express something of that nature?"
The Immortal! Suddenly Rhodan thought he knew what was activating Thora. The secret Immortal, the unfathomable being of living energy that existed on the artificial planet, Wanderer, had withheld from the Arkonides the life-rejuvenating biological cellнshower. He had given it only to Rhodan and Bell.
Because they were Terranians!
His smile was touched with bitterness. "I understand you, Thora, but I don't know whether the Immortal could be bribed."
She drew back from him slightly. "No, Perry, you mustn't think that!" Eternal life is not the only enticement that beckons to me. Arkon has disillusioned me to a point where I have hardly wanted to live at all, much less live forever. No, I have had over a decade of opportunity to be among Terranians. I have directly witnessed how they have accomplished in 13 years as much as we did in thousands. And I have often given deep consideration to the question of how great a regeneration the Empire would undergo if it were riot ruled by Arkonides or a robot brain but by Terranians..."
Rhodan didn't answer. He sensed that she spoke the truth. And it was so incredible to him that he needed a few moments to grasp it. Finally his wits returned to him. "In that case, you know that your race would forfeit its ruling position," he reminded her. "You are an Arkonide, Thora. Naturally you could become a Terranian, on paper, but in your heart you would forever remain what you are: Arkonide! Would such a state of affairs permit you to be happy?"
She smiled again, this time in a more womanly way. A trace of tenderness touched her lips and the golden eyes glistened. "Happy? Why should I not be able to find happiness?" she asked, and she looked past Rhodan.
It seemed to him as though his heart were in a vice. Suddenly it was as if scales fell from his eyes and only by the severest effort was he able to conceal his reaction. Cautiously he searched her face and her eyes-but he found no confirmation there for his preposterous supposition.
He was just about to brace himself for a reply when the door banged open and Bell marched into the control centre with a thumping stride. For several seconds his voice failed him when he saw Rhodan and Thora sitting so intimately together but then he regained his selfнcontrol.
"Emergency drill completed!" he announced in an exaggerated military manner. I have scheduled the next drill for this evening. Sir, the crew knows the Titan now almost better than their pants pockets."
Rhodan awakened as if from a dream. He looked at Bell distractedly and nodded. "Very well, Reg. Next drill this evening."
Bell remained where he was. "Something wrong?" he asked, anxiously.
Rhodan smiled. "No, it's nothing-at least nothing that should concern you."
I see!" said Bell, who didn't see at all. He glanced quickly at Thora, shook his head and departed. He closed the door sharply and his footsteps rang in the passageway beyond.