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

The Zarlt nodded confidently. "Yes, I can! The Zalites are peaceнloving but they also stand ready to fight where their freedom is involved."
Rhodan glanced briefly at Marshall. The silent signal between them went unnoticed. The Zarlt was lying. He was well aware that a majority of the Zalites stood against him. No one approved of his intention to attack the robot brain.
"The internal affairs of Zalit do not concern me," said Rhodan. I will reveal the method of penetrating Arkon's defence ring when the time comes. When it is time to do so, Zarlt-not a second sooner."
A shadow of resentment swept across the reddish-brown face but Demesor controlled himself perfectly. "I have time, until your confidence becomes firm. As a sign of my friendship, today I am giving a celebration in the red palace and I wish to invite you and your officers. You have been with us many weeks without having had an opportunity to get acquainted with Zalites under more festive circumstances. Will you accept?"
"Why not. How many of my people may I take?"
"That's entirely up to you, of course. I presume you will be bringing only your closest friends. One thing more: today I was visited by a personal courier from Arkon, who was making investigations. The robot brain has a basis for deducing that your fight from Arkon was in this direction. I denied this most energetically and claimed never to have observed your presence within our System."
"I thank you for that," replied Rhodan, who already knew that the Zarlt was lying. Not a single courier ship had landed on Zalit this day, nor had any such questioning occurred. In actuality, the robot brain didn't have the slightest clue as to where Rhodan had flown with the stolen ship.
"Today I will place two limousines at your disposal," the Zarlt promised. "Only members of the Government will take part in the festivities. I must ask you to take this circumstance into consideration, in the selection of your retinue."
Rhodan promised to comply, although it could not alter his own objectives. It was most important that he should give the Zarlt a sense of superiority. The man must be made to feel strong and secure in his plans. Rhodan didn't know to what extent the unknown Masters of this game were backed up by spies on Zalit-if any. Perhaps the Mooffs represented the only contact between them and the Zarlt. But then again, perhaps not.
The Zarlt turned to, other subjects and expressed a desire to inspect the ship. Rhodan had no objections and advised Bell, who accepted the assignment happily, since he welcomed any diversion that could add colour to a sometimes monotonous tour of duty.
Rhodan used his workload as an excuse to be alone with Marshall, who apprised him of the most secret thought processes going on in the minds of the Zarlt and his intentions had not changed in the slightest. He Demesor was now free of any and all Mooff influences, his intentions had not changed in the slightest. He planned now as he had before, to destroy the robot brain and, as Emperor, to take over the mighty galactic empire of the Arkonides.

* * * *

To his sorrow, Bell had to remain behind in the Titan. Rhodan made it clear to him that he could not leave the ship without proper protection for it. Bell knew the vessel inside out and was therefore the logical man to take over the command, should anything unforeseen happen. That pacified him a little. His grumblings subsided to some degree, although not entirely.
With utmost care, Rhodan picked out the people who were to accompany him. In addition to Thora, Khrest and Dr. Haggard, he included the mutants John Marshall, Ras Tschubai and Andrщ Noir-seven persons in all.
Teleseer Ralph Marten relaxed in his cabin but tarried mentally in the red palace. He took over the body of a certain Milfor, who was responsible for the Zalit fleet ordnance. Seeing and listening through the Zalite's eyes and ears, he could take part in the festivities without being observed, and thus, if necessary, could notify Bell at any time.
Rhodan sat in the first car with Thora and the mutants. Frank Haggard and Khrest took the second car. The two men had formed a deep friendship, based largely on the fact that Haggard had saved Khrest from the certain death of leukaemia 13 years ago. The Australian physician was a specialist in blood diseases and had discovered the serum that had brought the fear of this terrible sickness on Earth to an end.
The solo trip to the city for just the two of them was no accident. Khrest had manoeuvred it this way and was not concerned whether Rhodan was suspicious or not. Thora had taken an unusually zealous interest in getting Khrest and Haggard alone together.
Rhodan's limousine led the way; the driver of the second car followed.
Khrest spoke in English. "I wanted to talk to you, Frank. There's practically no opportunity on the ship to do so. Even here we have to be careful because Marshall still can monitor what we say. So I'm asking you to screen your thoughts. I want to ask you a question which means very much to me and to Thora."
"Well, that's quite a solemn beginning, Khrest," Haggard chided him jokingly. He looked off into the darkening twilight skies of Zalit. Here they sat on an alien planet, 34,000 lightнyears from Earth, and worried about keeping their Opponent, the robot brain of Arkon, from being destroyed. A tangled mess of a situation, of which only Rhodan could make heads or tails. "Start talking. I'm listening..."
Khrest cautiously sought to reassure himself. "And you will not be shocked at my question?"
"No way, Khrest. Just ask."
Khrest allowed a few seconds to pass. His memory returned to that terrible moment when he stood with Rhodan before the Immortal and asked for eternal life. Since millennia of time the legend of the Planet of Eternal Life had haunted the Empire of Arkon-until the legend became reality and he, Khrest, in company with Rhodan, discovered this planet.
And then the Immortal, a being that represented the group spirit of an entire race, explained in a few sombre words that eternal life could be only for Terranians. He added that the Arkonides had their destiny behind them-and that they had not utilized it. Why should anyone who had not known how to make use of life seek to prolong its natural span? It, the Immortal, could see no justification for it.
Then Khrest had submitted without contradiction, although his selfнconfidence bad suffered a bitter blow. It was the same with Thora. In their stead, the Terranian, Rhodan, had received relative immortality-along with this fellow Bell, to whom nothing was sacred.
Khrest sighed. "Frank, with all the means and methods known to you, do you think it would be possible to induce and sustain in the human body a general regeneration of cells?"
Dr. Haggard sank back into the upholstery and looked at Khrest searchingly. He was of course familiar with the events surrounding the planet Wanderer. He also knew that it lay within Rhodan's power to procure relative immortality for each Terranian he cared to recommend to the Immortal. Only the two Arkonides were excluded. The question was-why? Hadn't Thora and Khrest long since given sufficient proof that they had eluded the general degeneration of their race and possessed practically the same degree of energy and determination as the Terranians? Perhaps they would live another 50 or 100 years but what was that compared to millennia?
Haggard suddenly understood how a man condemned to death must feel-yet was not every man born of woman sentenced to this Death from the first breath of his life?
"Khrest, why do you ask me this?"
"I only wish to know whether or not you believe it possible, nothing more. Is there any hope of outwitting the Immortal in some way?"
Haggard gazed at the back of the lead limousine. "That would involve outwitting not only the Immortal but also Rhodan-do you know that?"
"No! We want to achieve immortality by medical means rather than through the mercy of an unfathomable entity that is composed of millions of other beings. If we can succeed in discovering cell regeneration, we will be outsmarting no one. And what we achieve through our own efforts also belongs to us."
"How long has it been," asked Haggard, "since you have been thinking of this possibility?"
Khrest closed his eyes. "For some time now-more precisely, since that moment when Sgt. Harnahan discovered a being on a satellite of the sun Tatlira that is more than a million years old."
Haggard nodded and reminisced. "We know nothing about this creature except that it's shaped like a ball and feeds on light from the stars. It's probably not organic and has another basis of life."
"We know," said Khrest, in a strange tone, "that it is older than any existing civilization. And we also know that it will outlive us and our civilization. Isn't that enough?"
"How do you mean?"
"I mean that it is probably not as narrow and unbending as the Immortal! It has asked us for help. We could probably name a price. That price would be the secret of its immortality. Wouldn't that be fair?"
Haggard nodded slowly. I see what you mean. It might reveal its secret to us but we couldn't do anything with it because we are an organic life form. Can you live on starlight, Khrest?"
"No," said Khrest regretfully but a strange fire gleamed in his eyes. "But I know that without their light I would not wish to live. Perhaps therein lies some kind of correlation."
Rising in the distance, Haggard saw the cone of the red palace. Colourful searchlights immersed it in a conflagration of giant diadems.
"Yes, perhaps," he admitted almost in a whisper. "We will have to speak more of this. It could be that there is hope for you. For you and Thora."

* * * *

During the greeting of the Zalites' guests and exchange of reception speeches, Marshall and Noir were not idle. The telepath monitored those present unceasingly and was able to determine that these Zalites were, without exception, the faithful cohorts and vassals of the Zarlt. He also fortuitously discovered the murderers of the old Zarlt. They were highly placed personalities in the present Government and a few officers of the Fleet, from whose ranks Zarlt Demesor had emerged.
Meanwhile, Andrщ Noir checked the minds of the guests for any chance remnants of hypnotic influence. There was evidently no trace left of Mooff suggestion. The Zalites were free, yet they held to the same plan as before.
At first Ras Tschubai did not have much to do. He kept himself somewhat in the background and was admired by all because of his black complexion. Here there was no racial prejudice. In this respect they were even ahead of the Terranians, who still carried this burdensome heritage around with them.