"Perry Rhodan 066 - The Guardians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

Mullon shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't much we can do. We'll have to go far enough away that the monkeys can't detect us when Hollander comes with his men."
"Why?" Milligan asked. "Pashen didn't notice a thing."
"Do you think everybody is as stupid as Pashen?" Mullon countered. "If I know Hollander he'll pay close attention to the behaviour of the mungos and if he notices a suspicious sign we can start all over again."
Freddy was disappointed. She was the one who had first discovered the mungos. She had spent considerable time with them and tried to learn their language.
Mullon consoled her. "The monkeys are not like humans, if that's what you believe. They can't differentiate between good and evil in our sense. They protect those with whom they happen to be. The mungo sensed that I was a danger to Pashen and he attempted to warn him. We're lucky that Pashen ignored the monkey."
Mullon began to explain to the blue dwarfs that he had to change his plan and he managed to get the idea across with amazing speed, judging by their quick reactions. He got the impression that the mungos were not unknown to the dwarfs and they seemed to grasp the fact that the presence of the monkeys jeopardized Mullon's and his friends' safety and that this was the reason they were unable to remain near the mound when the jetcopter returned.
The dwarfs transported Mullon and his companions 20 kilometres farther west in the jungle. This was done by the usual method. As many dwarfs as were required to create an antigrav field of sufficient magnitude by the radiation from their bodies floated down from the hill and carried the 4 Earthlings on the waves of their field, so to speak, high over the treetops of the jungle.
The place they had picked for the landing was a clearing between the trees. There was a dense growth of bushes and shrubs but no trees.
Mullon was prepared to wait a few hours.

* * * *

They heard the helicopter come and go 8 times. If one figured that the machine carried 5 men at the most, Hollander's strike force consisted of no more than 40 men.
Shortly after noon the helicopter returned for the 9th time and this time it didn't fly back.
"In the worst case we'll have 45 men against us," Mullon commented. "That's a lot."
Chellish waved his hand. "The 45 men don't worry me as much as Hollander himself. He's the only important man When we capture him we won't have to be afraid of the others.
"Maybe you're right," Mullon replied, "but we better not count on it."
One hour later the first group of dwarfs dropped in. They abandoned their dwellings in the mound, following the agreed on scheme. Waiting in the clearance, they were joined within the next 2 hours by about 900 of the 1,000 dwarfs who inhabited the mound.
After awhile they could hear the gyrocopter take off again. Instead of flying west as it had done before, it began to circle over the jungle. No doubt Hollander had noticed the departure of the dwarfs and had begun to search for them.
Mullon gave the blue dwarfs the pre-arranged signal. A group of them rose from the bushes and floated above the treetops, radiating an iridescent blue in the bright sun.
The helicopter responded at once. Mullon heard the noise of the rotating blades whipping the air as it came closer. The dwarfs sailed west across the jungle and the helicopter followed them without paying attention to the small clearance from which the dwarfs had emerged.
A bit later the helicopter pilot seemed to have determined to his satisfaction in which direction the dwarfs travelled. He made a tight turn and flew eastward toward the mound of dwellings.
Mullon was pleased. "They'll have to make a decision," he predicted. "I think Hollander considers the dwarfs important enough to pursue them."

* * * *

Hollander was so absorbed in inspecting the interesting details of the mound, with its numerous entrances, subterranean rooms with unusual lighting and odd utensils that he failed to notice that several groups of the blue dwarfs had stolen away.
The guards posted on the summit of the hill near the helicopter had noticed the blue dwarfs heading for the jungle but had attached no importance to their flight.
Their attitude was changed quickly the moment Hollander emerged again in the broad daylight. He had wondered why there were hardly any dwarfs present in the rooms under the ground and assumed that they had assembled on the slope of the hill. When he didn't find them there either, he became suspicious. He lambasted the sentries with some harsh epithets after they reported their observation. Then he ordered Pashen and Dwight to take the helicopter and find the dwarfs. After they had picked up their trail as Mullon had hoped, they returned to the mound.
"They're moving in a westerly direction, sir," Pashen reported.
"All of them?"
"We saw only about 100 of them. They normally travel along the ground but we couldn't see them through the foliage."
"How fast did they move?"
"Fairly slow, sir. No more than 10 kilometres per hour.
"This is too fast to catch up with them on foot," Hollander snapped. "We've got to chase them by helicopter."
"I beg your pardon, sir," Pashen demurred. "Wouldn't it be better to wait here till they come back to their mound?"
"No, it wouldn't be better," Hollander replied gruffly. "They're going west and therefore must be heading for Greenwich. Milligan is somewhere in the vicinity of Greenwich and he had ample time to befriend the dwarfs. Perhaps he has already persuaded them to launch an attack against our men in Greenwich while we're standing around here doing nothing. No, we must go after them immediately. Put the few who still are in the mound under arrest at once. You'll be in charge here while I'm gone. Is that clear?"
A few minutes later Hollander took off in the helicopter. He had picked 2 men to accompany him and he took one of the mungos along. One man piloted the machine while he and the other kept a sharp lookout. At the same time he carefully observed the reactions of the scared little monkey.
They passed the clearance in the forest, which had been accurately described by Pashen, and continued to fly west. Soon they detected some scintillating colour patches and overtook a bevy of dwarfs gliding with moderate speed over the roof of leaves in the same direction. They seemed to take no notice of the vrooming whirlybird.
"We must stop them," Hollander muttered. "Pashen was right. Most of them seem to make their way down there between the trees." Turning to his pilot, he added: "Try to find another place where we can land. There ought to be another open space somewhere."

* * * *

Mullon watched the helicopter cross the clearance for the 2nd time. It disappeared going west. The noise of the engine didn't fade away in the distance, instead it ceased abruptly. Hollander had landed. Mullon's scheme was completed step by step.
Freddy, Chellish and Milligan took off with a team of 150 dwarfs. They glided over the trees, following the path of Hollander's helicopter. Mullon waited a little while longer in the clearance before he had 70 dwarfs transport him in a southwesterly direction.
Before long Mullon discovered a wide clearance northwest of his position. As far as he could see it was the only opening in the dense roof of the jungle other than the one where he and his companions had waited. Undoubtedly the helicopter had landed at the place which was about 3 kilometres from him.
Mullon asked the dwarfs to put him down and he began to wait again.

* * * *