"Donald E. Wollheim - The Secret of the ninth Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wollheim Donald A)

years for rocketships to reach Mars, if the expedition were ready now... and I
understand that it will be another ten years before Operation Mars is even
attempted."
General Shrove nodded. "That is correct. Our rocket engineering is not yet
advanced enough to allow us to take such emergency action. We are still only
just over the doorstep of interplanetary flight-- and our enemies, whoever they



file:///F|/rah/David%20A.%20Wollheim/Wolheim,%...20The%20Secret%20of%20the%20Ninth%20Planet.txt (10 of 64) [2/3/03 12:38:37 AM]
 file:///F|/rah/David%20A.%20Wollheim/Wolheim,%20David%20A%20-%20The%20Secret%20of%20the%20Ninth%20Planet.txt

may be, are obviously far advanced. But, as you will see, we are not entirely
without hope. Colonel Lockhart, will you tell them about Project A-G?"
All eyes turned to Lockhart, who was a short, stocky man in civilian clothes.
Burl realized that this man had been a colonel at one time, but remembered now
that he had taken a post with one of the largest aviation companies after
leaving the service. Lockhart turned cold gray eyes directly to Burl.
"We have in my company's experimental grounds one virtually untested vessel
which may be able to make a flight to Mars, or any other planet, in the time
allowed. This is the craft we refer to as A-G 17, the seventeenth such
experiment, and the first to succeed. It is powered by an entirely new method of
flight, the force of anti-gravity."
Burl hung breathlessly on his next words. "You probably know that work on the
scientific negation of gravity has been going on since the early 1950's. It was
known shortly after experiments had been conducted on atomic and subatomic
particles that grounds had at last been found by means of which a counteraction
to gravity might be set up. Early subatomic studies showed that such a force was
not only theoretically possible, but that certain subparticles actually
displayed such tendencies. On the basis of these first discoveries, work has
been going on in the development of negative gravitational drive for at least
twenty years. As early as 1956, there were not less than fourteen such projects
under way in virtually all the leading aircraft industries of the United States,
not to mention the rest of the world. In the last few years, at the direction of
the Air Force, these projects have been consolidated, placed under one main
roof, and brought to its present status, which is, we believe, the one of final
triumph."
He glanced at General Shrove, who returned the glance unsmilingly. "After the
successful testing of several models, a full-sized craft has been built which
utilizes the new method of space drive. One such craft has been built, and only
one. This ship, if it works, is at this time the only means by which humanity
can hope to make the trips to the other places in the solar system from which
the Sun-stealers are working. It is with this one vessel only that we can put
their Sun-tap stations out of commission.
"But I emphasize again the experimental nature of this ship. What its capacities
are and how well it will work is still a matter of planning-book conjecture. We
can prepare the ship to take off in one week's time. I do not think, judging
from what Merckmann and Clyde have said, that we can afford to wait any longer.
Another such ship cannot be built in less than a year."
General Shrove spoke then. "It is already arranged that this A-G 17 spaceship is