"Chapman, John L - Time, Inc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Chapman John L)

right, he could warn the Horde city of the fireball that was to come. He could
tell them that Mulr was going to comprehend the purpose of the weapon and use it
against the Horde race. He could save thousands of people, including Stanley and
Holmes, his fellow time agents.
Forthmiller ran on, his head lowered, his heart beating fast. He looked up once
and saw the city looming before him in the pale light. Exulting, he ran faster.
It began to grow on him. Vaguely he remembered another man running toward the
city, running just as he was now . . . and the shot that he himself had fired at
the deserter.
His jaw fell open. Things blurred before his eyes and he felt a rising panic
within his body.
A shot rang out from the city. He saw a flash of flame, and no more.
Forthmiller lurched and went skidding along in the dirt.
I STILL THINK I should have gone with him," growled Jack Stanley. "He's been out
there too long."
"He'll be back," asserted Henry Holmes. "This Mulr fellow will have to be plenty
smart to understand that deconite thing."
"He is smart," Rhamnol answered him. "He is the only smart man among the
Dwellers, and that's why he's their leader. I wouldn't doubt that he could--look
below--the commotion on the streets. What does it mean?"
"Something's wrong," said Casmir. "We'd better go down."
The four descended in the palace elevator. Emerging on the streets under the
arching entrance, they met a vast crowd of Hordes. Foremost were two guards, and
between them lay a bloody, disheveled form.
"We discovered this outside the walls," one of them announced above the crowd's
murmur. "Someone claims it to be one of our friends from the past."
"Forthmiller!" exclaimed Stanley, starring[sic] forward. "And he's shot--he was
the deserter!"
"You're crazy!" snapped Holmes. "Forthy shot the deserter!"
Pale-faced, Jack Stanley pointed. "Look for yourself. This is Forthmiller, and
he's dead."
Casmir took in the scene meditatively. "There's but one answer," he said
suddenly. "The man encountered danger out there, and entered the time machine.
He moved backward in time, taking the machine to the opposite side of the city.
He was trying to save us from something--"
"Mulr!" cried Rhamnol. "He discovered how to use the weapon--"
"Then the city is going to be bombed," Casmir warned. "We've got to evacuate!"
Rhamnol needed no further urging. He gave orders for immediate mobilization. The
city was to be emptied of people, and the army was to advance on the valley at
all costs. The results were sudden, and amazing.
The Hordes, having prepared for such emergencies, left their city quietly and
efficiently. The army, with Rhamnol himself at the head, marched westward out
the gates.
Half-way to the valley, the procession stopped as a streak of light leaped
skyward in front of them.
"Fireball!" shouted Casmir.
Horrified, they watched it cross the sky and dip toward the city. It struck a
tower, exploded violently, and sent streams of shattered remnants through the
air.
Rhamnol's face was white. "Charge them!" he yelled, "before they can send