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

At this moment the scene changed. A pale flash sparked across the plain and shed a bluish light for half a second on the tower which was indeed a spaceship as could now be clearly seen. The ground began to shake and soon the thunder of a big explosion rolled over them.
They turned around and saw that the sky had turned red. The wreck of the Adventurous stood out like a dark colossus against the light background. Behind it a huge flame shot up and a few seconds later they heard the rumble of a 2nd explosion.
"The town!" Mullon shouted, forgetting all caution. "They're bombarding the town! We've got to go back at once!"
Chellish could have thought of several good reasons to oppose the move but he preferred to say nothing. Since nothing stirred in the strange spaceship and nobody seemed to watch them, they stopped crawling through the grass and ran without cover as fast as possible toward the town.
Chellish managed just in time to prevent Mullon and his companions from running headlong into a disaster. "Don't go straight in!" he panted when he saw Mullon dashing straight ahead toward Greenwich. "First we must learn what's going on."
Mullon gladly took his advice. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and realized that he had come close to losing his head. They were close enough to observe that a few houses at the southern edge of the town were blazing fiercely. The aliens-whoever in the world they might be-had probably thrown a bomb on the houses which could not easily be set on fire under normal conditions since they were made of prefabricated fire-retardant plastic segments. But here were also a few wooden structures and the power station.
They walked around the town and approached it from northwest. The burning houses at the southern rim cast a weak light over the prairie, making it easy for them to find their way. They saw people running through the streets and among them several tall thin strangers.
"They're like the ones I've seen," Milligan exclaimed. "They probably came in the spaceship."
"What do they want here, for Pete's sake?" Mullon groaned. "Do they want to loot the town? Why us?"
Meanwhile Chellish had tried to assess the situation. "They didn't seem to get to the northern section as yet," he stated. "It would be best if we were to go over there. Maybe we can help some of the people. I believe they need somebody to organize the defence."
They darted across the prairie without fear of detection since it was much darker than in town where the fire illuminated the streets.
The first house they reached belonged to O'Bannon. The pioneer stood behind a window which he had raised a little to put the barrel of his rifle through the slot. When Mullon called him, the barrel swung in his direction and he was in danger of his life until O'Bannon recognized him. "Horace! Come in or they'll get you!"
He put down his gun and opened the door. "What's the matter?" O'Bannon gasped after letting them in,
"That's what I was going to ask you," Mullon retorted. "We were outside to investigate the death of a sentry who was slain in cold blood and we discovered a huge spaceship which had landed behind the Adventurous."
"So that's what it is," O'Bannon murmured. "I was wondering all the time where these vandals came from. They're 2 meters tall and thin as sticks. Their voices are extremely high and when they call something to each other they sound like rats whistling. They seem to have sneaked into town and dragged the people out of their beds. When they had seized all they wanted, they exploded 2 bombs at the other end of town and finished the rest off. Our people are out of their mind. They're hunting them down by the dozens."
"But why?" Mullon gnashed his teeth. "Does anyone know why they're doing this to us?"
"Don't ask me, Horace," O'Bannon said dejectedly. I don't have the faintest notion. They didn't come here yet nor to Wolley next door. We'll make it hot for them when they get here."
They posted themselves at the windows of O'Bannon's house. On Mullon's suggestion Wolley and his wife joined them too. There was no point in spreading their forces too thin.
And then they waited under cover of the walls by the windows.

* * * *

Chellish used a rather ordinary excuse to leave his place at the window. O'Bannon wanted to show him the way but Chellish declined, saying that the bathroom is always located in the same spot in these look-alike homes.
Chellish locked the door and with a suspicious glance at the thin walls turned over his wristwatch. In a low voice he spoke the code words "Lion of Baghdad" into the little transmitter.
Blailey answered and Chellish described their situation. "Nobody knows what the intentions of the aliens are but they're busy cleaning out the city. I don't believe the colonists stand a chance. Even if they attacked them in broad daylight, they probably couldn't have saved themselves. I don't know if we should do something about it."
Blailey growled: "I can't tell you if you don't know. I've got orders to intervene when the lives of the settlers are in danger but as of now all they have done is abduct the people. Right?"
"Up to now," Chellish replied with emphasis.
"I'll ask for further instructions," Blailey promised. "Call me again if anything happens. Take care of yourself, you Lion of Baghdad!"
Chellish put the watch back after the conversation was ended and returned to the others.
O'Bannon glanced at him a little sceptically. "Do you always talk to yourself when you're... there?" he inquired.
"I sing," Chellish assured him with a straight face. "Like other people in the shower."

* * * *

The time passed slowly. It was already almost 3 o'clock, Grautier time. Once in awhile they heard the whistling, squeaking noises in the street which O'Bannon claimed to be the method of conversing among the aliens. However they didn't come into their view again.
The houses on the opposite side of the street stood empty. The windows were open and the doors dangled from their hinges. O'Bannon told them that the intruders had smashed them.
"They seem to have overlooked us," he murmured half an hour later. "I wouldn't mind but I still would like to know what their racket is."
Suddenly a line of thin tall figures appeared at the end of the street. They came closer and closer and their number seemed to grow with each step. The houses in the south were burned out and the visibility was greatly diminished.
O'Bannon kneeled down and aimed his rifle.
"I think we better get out of here," Chellish said suddenly.
O'Bannon looked up. "Are you afraid, young man?"
Chellish shook his head. "No more than you. But count them! There must be at least 100."
"So what?" O'Bannon growled. But he had lost already some of his confidence.
"I think we should climb out at the rear of the house," Chellish suggested, ignoring O'Bannon. "Perhaps we can pick off a few if they get lost between the trees."
O'Bannon was against it. He wanted to hold the fort but Mullon sided with Chellish. "We'll wait till they reach Wolley's house," he decided. "Then we'll beat it."
Mrs. Wolley left beforehand because they were afraid she might be too slow at the critical moment.
Down the street the aliens began to break down the doors and ransack the houses. However it looked from O'Bannon's window that the occupants had fled in time and that the invaders didn't take any prisoners.
Mullon became more hopeful. They had to search 6 more houses before they reached O'Bannon's place. If they found them all empty, they might give up the search and turn back. However his hopes were disappointed. When the raiders began to pound the door of Wolley's home, Freddy climbed out through the back window and the others scrambled after her as quickly as they could. Before they had shattered the door of O'Bannon's house everybody had escaped.
Mullon and his men hid in a narrow passage between the 2 houses. Meanwhile it was totally dark and the aliens couldn't find them unless they searched the passage with a lamp.
Chellish crouched at the far end of the passage. Suddenly he turned around and whispered: "2 of them are snooping around back here. They seem to be alone. I guess I'll take a crack at them."