"Perry Rhodan 063 - The Micro-Techs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)
"The warts...?" Sikerman was flabbergasted. "Are they crazy?"
"The warts? Crazy?" Bell inquired.
Sikerman gave no reply. He tried to ignore Bell's presence and observed intently the radar screens where nothing was to be seen. "Warts! Cucumbers!" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. You ought to see Rosita Peres."
Rosita Peres was the cosmo-psychologist of the Drusus.
Bell grinned and ambled to the door leading to the radio room. He opened it with a push on the button. David Stern was on duty and turned around when he heard Bell enter. "Everything normal, sir," Stern reported. "Nothing has been registered and we've intercepted no radio calls."
"Thank you," Bell said and leaned against a console. "You might as well take it easy now. Pretty soon you'll be a very busy man."
David Stern was a lieutenant and one of the best radio officers of the Drusus. He was born in Israel, of medium height, dark-haired and moved with the supple grace of a lion. "A new mission?" he asked hesitantly.
"Squash the cucumbers, Stern!"
"Huh?!" David Stern gasped for air. "What did you say?"
"I said: 'Squash the cucumbers!' Don't you know that the inhabitants of Swoofon are cucumbers? We've to go in and get something from them."
"Oh," Stern nodded without understanding a word. "We're going to take something from them. Very interesting. When and where?"
"You don't believe in cucumbers, do you?" Bell questioned him in a menacing tone. "Our agent Kulman never lies. He knows better than that."
"But Kulman brought Muzzel aboard," Stern reminded him.
Bell began to chuckle. "Haw-haw! Muzzel! You're giving me an idea. So long, Stern I've got to take care of something. There's somebody aboard this ship who was real chummy with that robot dog. They were scratching each other's necks for hours and I didn't even exist for him."
"Are you talking of Pucky?" Stern called to Bell who was already on his way out of the radio-room. "The little mouse-beaver..."
"That's the one I mean and I'm going to tease him a little."
And so Bell was forced to take his involuntary flying lesson after all. To the delight of the officers and men in the hangar he circled under the ceiling, performed flips and loops, alternately cursing like a trooper and begging for help. All his wails and threats didn't keep him from enjoying the utter amazement of the spectators.
But Pucky, who steered Bell around and around with his flow of telekinetic power, was relentless and he kept him flying and gyrating for a whole hour without mercy.
* * * *
The Drusus performed 2 transitions in the direction of the Swaft system under the still-effective protection of the structure-compensators. Then the compensators were switched off and the next 2 transitions took place without concealment. The Arkonides were thus in a position to monitor the last 2 leaps with their own structure-sensors but they were prevented from learning where the Drusus started from.
The sun Swaft had about the size and brightness of the sun of the Earth and it radiated about the same amount of heat. However it was inexplicable why the planet Swoofon had developed so little vegetation despite the presence of water and rocks which had crumbled into soil. There was plenty of sand but hardly any flora.
About half of Swoofon's population lived in small cities on the face of the planet whereas the other half had preferred to retreat underneath the surface.
The arrival of spaceships was taken in stride by the Swoons although they were awed by their staggering dimensions which seemed almost incredible to them. Most of the people who visited Swoofon were Springers and Galactic traders bringing them needed material and food and exchanging them for finished products. They were welcome as business partners but were not considered as friends. In this regard Swoofon was a member of the Arkonide Imperium and Rhodan had based his plan on this fact.
As Swoofon appeared on the observation screens and the Drusus entered the Swaft system at the velocity of light, Rhodan assigned the roles to his officers. "Lt. Rous, you take over the K-13 and fly to Earth, using your compensator. Bring back the Titan and Gen. Pounder with full complements. I can't take the risk of sending a radio call from here. As soon as the 2 spaceships arrive we'll make a grand entrance on Swoofon by orders of the Regent of Arkon."
"Hm," Khrest objected sceptically. "Aren't you overdoing it?"
"No, not at all. I'll act officially within the stipulations of my agreement with Arkon so that no suspicions should arise. I'll notify the Regent upon his request that Swoofon is threatened by an invasion of the Invisibles and it's none of his business how we found out about it. We know it and that'll have to do. And now we're going to do something about it. Who is going to stop us?"
Nobody answered except Atlan who cleared his throat in the background. "I think it would be wrong if we did anything to hurt the Swoons," he remarked thoughtfully. "In my capacity as a former colonial psychologist of the Imperium, I advise against taking any violent measures and I recommend..."
"I've no intention of hurting the Swoons," Rhodan interrupted him amiably. "We only want to bluff them a little. The real purpose of our show of force is to mask the mission of our agents. This is our plan: we're going to send Kulman with some handpicked mutants to those Swoons who want to build the detector. In the commotion we'll be causing with our appearance, the entire action can proceed unnoticed."
"I guess you're right," Atlan the immortal responded.
Lt. Marcel Rous stepped forward and asked: "When shall I start, sir?"
Rhodan looked at his watch. "It's 13 hours, Terra time. You can be back in 2 hours if you make a transition-jump. Leave at once and take only half the crew. Are you ready?"
"Yes, sir," Rous replied and left the Command Centre.
Rhodan followed him with his eyes and then called over John Marshall, the Chief of the Mutant Corps. "I'll see you in 10 minutes in my cabin where we can hammer out the details of the mission. Thank you."
Next he turned to Bell. "Have a look in my wardrobe. There must be a uniform in there which I once used to play the role of an Arkonide inspector. It should come in handy again."
"That remains to be seen," Bell murmured and took off.
Baldur Sikerman, who sat in his pilot chair and didn't take his eyes off his controls, asked: "Are you really going to land the Drusus on that planet, sir?"
"We'll land all 3 ships," Rhodan replied firmly. "It ought to be a very impressive sight for the midgets of Swoofon to watch the arrival of 3 spacespheres, each measuring 11/2 kilometres in diameter, on their world. The bigger the hubbub, the better it'll be for us. Any other questions, gentlemen?"
Rhodan broke off the briefing after he had answered all questions.
* * * *
At precisely 15 hours Terra time the 2 tremendous spaceships Titan and Gen. Pounder materialized in the vicinity of the Drusus. Rhodan was aware that his action could be misinterpreted and even considered ridiculous if he occupied a planet like Swoofon with 3 such gigantic, battleships. The Springers and the Arkonides might call him insane or a hopeless coward but Rhodan didn't care what they thought. He knew exactly what he was doing.
The Drusus continued on its course to Swoofon with the speed of light and Rhodan began to send a radio message to the planet, repeating it continuously: "ATTENTION! TO THE POPULATION OF THE PLANET SWOOFON! IN THE NAME OF THE IMPERIUM, THE SWAFT SYSTEM WILL BE COMPLETELY CORDONED OFF. NO SHIP WILL BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE SWOOFON WITHOUT SPECIAL PERMISSION. ALL SHIPS STATIONED ON SWOOFON ARE FORBIDDEN TO START OR TO LAND, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN PEACE AND CALM!"
Rhodan omitted mentioning his name. The Regent of Arkon would learn it soon enough and begin to wonder what the actual intentions of his ally were. Let him, Rhodan smiled grimly, as Sikerman slowed down the Drusus to keep the ship from entering the atmosphere too quickly. The Titan and the Gen. Pounder followed his example.
Kulman stood next to Rhodan and watched the landing manoeuvre. He knew Swoofon well enough to be able to orient himself. "The capital is called Swatran," he explained while he studied the observation screen, which reflected all the features of the ground. "It is built for the greater part on the surface, especially near the spaceport. The manufacturing plants are located underground. They are accessible only through small doors. I'm afraid none of us will be able to get in."
"We'll see about that," Rhodan smiled mysteriously. "Just wait."
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