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

He didn't get any further. There was a clatter at the door and the windows. Mullon whirled around and saw narrow pointed heads peer over the windowsills and a long figure standing in the doorframe.
A mechanical voice rattled in English: "Don't move and drop your weapons!"
One rifle fell on the floor but in the next moment Mrs. Wolley shouted in a loud voice: "You can't do that to me. I'll show you what..."
"Throw down your rifle!" Chellish barked at her. "If you don't do it at once you'll get us all into trouble."
Mullon was surprised at his tone. It had already occurred to him before that Chellish tried to hide his true qualities. Now he was giving orders like an old top sergeant.
Mrs. Wolley dropped her rifle and the others followed her example. Mullon noticed that Chellish had been the first one to throw away his weapon.
"Now you're being smart," the mechanical voice rasped. "Come out, one at a time!"
Mrs. Wolley was the first to step forward. When she was out in the street and saw the living beanstalks from up close she screamed in horror.
Mullon was the last man to leave the house. Once he was outside he could see that the strangers had levelled their unique ultrasonic weapons at them.
You've captured some prisoners?" the voice inquired.
"Yes," Mullon answered. "They're inside."
A couple of the skinny sticks went in and carried their still-unconscious comrades out. The other 6 kept chattering in their high-pitched voices.
Finally the mechanical voice commanded: "Walk in front of us down the street and out of town!"
They obeyed. There was no other choice.
This was-for the present-the end of the free town of Greenwich on the planet Grautier




3/ SLAVES OF THE WHISTLERS

The 2 buildings at the southern outskirts of the town, which had been destroyed by the bombs, were now only smouldering heaps of ashes. One of them had been the power station.
We'll construct a new building and install another generator, Mullon thought as they left the town. But he quickly realized how ridiculous the thought was. The way things looked now, they wouldn't need another generator.
After they had passed the wreck of the Adventurous they saw that lights were burning in the vicinity of the alien spaceship. The stick people had set up a number of lamps, forming the outline of a large quadratic field.
The people of Greenwich sat on the field and at least 200 of the aliens patrolled its borders with drawn weapons. The sight was so surprising that Mullon was taken aback and stopped for a moment. He immediately received a hard shove in the back and one of the aliens made some whistling sounds, followed by the mechanical voice rasping: "Keep going!"
Mullon obeyed. The aliens herded them through the chain of guards onto the field where their countrymen sat. Then the guards left.
Mullon was greeted excitedly by the colonists. He asked them to relate the details of what had happened to them. However each had experienced about the same things; first the roar of the explosions, then the pounding on the door and 5 or 6 of the weird figures with odd-looking weapons forcing their way in and dragging them out of the town.
Philip Loft, his wife Mary and his brother Oale were missing. Their house was next to the power station and they were assumed to be dead. They also missed Ferris but Mullon reported that he had found him and that he was alive.
Nobody knew where the aliens came from or what they had up their sleeves. Mullon no longer believed they were bent on deporting them or they would probably have been put aboard their spaceship without further delay.
However he was in no condition to solve the puzzle and he felt he would be better off to catch up on some of his badly needed sleep. He picked a place where he and Freddy could stretch out.
He had hardly closed his eyes when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. It was Chellish. "Leave me alone," Mullon groaned, "I don't have your indestructible stamina."
"It's too cold for me to sleep," Chellish laughed. "Anyway I've got a brilliant proposition."
Mullon looked at him dubiously. "Let's hear it."
"Do you have a deputy?" Chellish asked.
"Of course I do. O'Bannon, didn't you know it?"
Chellish acted as if he hadn't heard the question. "How about appointing me as your deputy?"
Mullon sat up. "Is this what you call a brilliant proposition?"
Chellish nodded. "I think it's terrific."
"Without the confirmation by the People's Assembly..." Mullon began.
But Chellish interrupted him almost rudely. "Cut that nonsense! I want to go with you tomorrow morning when the aliens inform you what they plan to do with us. It's as simple as that."
Mullon glanced at him thoughtfully. "Why?"
"I thought that 4 ears hear more than 2."
It occurred once again to Mullon that there was something more important about Chellish than he cared to admit. "Alright," Mullon said finally. "But now let me get some sleep."
"Good night, boss!" Chellish grinned.
It was anything but a good night.

* * * *

At half past 9 when it slowly began to get light and the grumbling about the growing hunger became more vociferous in the camp, 2 thin heavily armed guards pushed their way through the prisoners huddled closely together on the ground, and approached Mullon. They seized him by the arm with their claws, turned around and pulled him behind them. They moved so fast on their long legs that Mullon had trouble keeping up with them.
Out of a corner of his eye he saw that Chellish got up and followed them. When they reached the border of the camp, the 2 guards wanted to send Chellish back. But Chellish talked so volubly and so long to them-obviously without their understanding a single word-that they got tired of it and decided to take him along.