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

Rhodan turned once more to Thora. The mood was gone. Her mouth was set as sternly as ever and the splendrous light that had given him his first hint was lacking. Now she was the old Thora again. But he also knew that there was another Thora, whom one would have to consider with care.
A Thora with a heart...

* * * *

Pucky and Tama Yokida did not return to the ship until evening. Their first business brought them to Rhodan who was eating supper in the Officer's Mess with Thora, Khrest, Bell and the mutants. Lieutenant Tifflor and Frank Haggard sat in a corner playing chess.
The mouseнbeaver saluted and sat down on his hindquarters. "Special mission completed!" he announced. "During the past two weeks all Mooffs present on Zalit have been exterminated, as far as we could locate them. The scientists are beating their brains out trying to figure how those pressurized glass containers for the Mooffs became porous-but I guess they're not going to get any answers."
"What about the ships of the spacefleet?"
Pucky shrugged his shoulders and almost lost his balance. "As far as was possible, we covered that also and knocked out the Mooffs. Naturally other ships are still returning from patrol flights with live Mooffs on board."
"That has to be blocked also," Rhodan ordered, and patted the mouseнbeaver on the back. "You will continue the mission. The Mooffs have to be eliminated. Their Masters must begin to believe that the climate on Zalit isn't healthy for them-in both senses of the word. When the transports arrive with more Mooffs, they have to be processed immediately."
"Will do," responded Pucky, stretching his small body. This brought his eyes to a level with the spread of food on the table. "I'm hungry."
"Over here!" called Bell, from the other end of the table. "We scrounged up a couple of carrots for you from the Ganymede's freezer compartment and brought them oven"
The mouseнbeaver's ears shot up and he teleported to the empty seat next to Bell.
Two seconds later Bell was hanging from the mess hall's ceiling, staining in vain to be free of Pucky's stream of telekinetic energy. He paddled with his arms and legs and promised to send someone immediately to the Ganymede to get the carrots, and it was only a joke anyway, and...
Pucky was oblivious to Reg's babbling. With death-defying avidity, he gnawed on the bones of an unfamiliar animal that served as sustenance to the Arkonides.
He would have preferred the carrots.

* * * *

John Marshall confirmed Rhodan's assessment of the situation. "The influx of adherents to the nowнunited resistance movement has increased tenfold now that the Mooffs are dying off and their suggestive powers are failing. The Zalites hate the Zarlt, who had their old Ruler assassinated in order to usurp his power. On the one hand they aren't overjoyed at the prospect of a guardianship through the Arkonide positronic brain but on the other hand they are astute enough to prefer that to rulership by the new Zarlt. They know that then the Empire would be lost, because they know their weaknesses."
"The Zalites are a remarkable people," said Andrщ Noir, the hypnotist. "Those who have been freed from the Mooffs. Don't seem to need any new inducement to support the cause, as long as none of them are officers close to the Zarlt. The latter, I would say, need some special treatment."
"Not yet!" warned Rhodan. "The Zalites must remain free to make their own decisions. I want the Zarlt to keep on with his game and not suspect that we are responsible for the death of the Mooffs. He must continue under the impression that we are enemies of the Empire and are hiding from the search patrols of the robot brain."
John Marshall probed Rhodan's mind but to his chagrin encountered an impenetrable defence screen. Rhodan smiled at him.
Bell, who had been released by Pucky and was no longer stuck to the ceiling, agitated for swifter action. "Perry, just suppose we put the ruling class of the Zalites under hypnotic control-they'd do what we told them to. With one stroke the jig would be up and Zalit would be free. The robot brain would be grateful to us and..."
"...and we would never know who is behind the plan to destroy the Brain, Reg! No, that wouldn't work. The Zarlt must continue to be free and operate according to his own judgment, otherwise the real manipulators will get suspicious. They are the ones I want to unmask, whoever the devil they are. The Zarlt is nothing but a puppet. If we cut the string he's dangling from, we won't know who's making him dance. So fine-we knock out the Mooffs. We also support the Freedom Fighters. But with that we've reached our limit. For the time being at least."
"If I understand you correctly, the Zarlt will be permitted to execute his plan, so that..."
"No, he'll carry out only the first steps of his plan, no more. At the moment we unmask the true manipulators behind the scene, we strike, and we rescue the Empire. I won't go further than that."
"Have you decided, then, to rescue the Empire?" injected Khrest. In his voice was not a particle of suspicion.
"Yes," said Rhodan.
Khrest locked his gaze on him. "For whom?" he asked, pleasantly.
Rhodan did not speak but his answering smile was equally pleasant.








6/ "THE ZARLT MUST DIE!"

For the second time Zarlt Demesor visited the Titan-and he did not come alone. He brought several officers with him, who appeared to Rhodan to be acting as bodyguards.
The Zarlt was unable to entirely conceal his uneasiness. Of course he was very friendly and charming but a closer look at him revealed that heavy thunderclouds of trouble were looming on the horizon of his future plans. Naturally he knew nothing of the decisive role of the Mooffs; for him they were nothing other than welcome assistants in the fight against the growing dissatisfaction of his people. How was he going to be able to investigate the secret thoughts of his subjects, now, if no more telepathic Mooffs were available?
He marched in to Rhodan, who waited for him in the mess room. He did not pay any attention to John Marshall, who stood at one side, little knowing that at this moment his thoughts and intentions were being subjected to a careful analysis.
"Much time has passed since you came to our world," he began the conversation after the greetings were over with. "You still maintain your silence and will not reveal to me how you were able to get through Arkon's blockade belt?"
Rhodan smiled calmly. "Zarlt Demesor, you seem to consider it a simple task to eliminate the robot brain. I must warn you that even if you should succeed you would still have to face the powerful Arkonide fleet, not to mention the robot-guided fighting units that will take action independently of the robot brain. I do not believe that you have the slightest chance of conquering the Empire."
"Who suggests that I want to conquer it? I want only to free it from the tyranny of a machine, that's all."
"A praiseworthy goal," Rhodan admitted. "And am I to help you reach it?"
"Naturally! "Isn't the Brain your opponent? Isn't it pursuing you like a deadly nemesis? I can't see what objections you could have to being my ally."
"Discretion alone might force me to that, Zarlt. And one other thing: Whats the status with your own people? Can you depend fully and completely on their support?"