"Foster, Alan Dean - Cat-a-lyst" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)
Cat - a - Lyst 83
"I am open to alternate explanations." Fewick leaned back. "The ceiling is twenty feet higher than before. I wonder where we are." "In one of the caves reached by one of the other two openings?" Ashwood suggested.
Da Rimini shook her head. "We tried them first. Both were dead ends." "Or better sealed," Ashwood argued. "Don't y'all think you ought to see if there's a way out?" She was smiling wolfishly. "If there ain't we
could be trapped in here forever. That'd be nice an' cozy." "Shut your mouth." Da Rimini was clearly unnerved as she turned to yell at her companions. "We need to find the exit, you idiots! There'll be plenty of time for play later."
It occurred to Carter that he could ram the preoccupied Da Rimini from behind and knock her to the floor. The Ferndndez brothers were busy swimming in their gold. Unfortunately that plan required that Fewick, as the only one with his hands free, recover his pistol from the Amazon and use it if necessary. Which meant, Carter decided sorrow-
fully, that it was no plan at all.
If he could only get one hand free. Everyone waited while the brothers explored the cave. Two hours later they returned, considerably less animated than they had been earlier. Manco shook his head. "We could find no way out." "There are big tunnels but they all lead downward," Blanco added with a slight shudder. "We did not go very far into any of them." "There has to be a way out," the frustrated Da Rimini exclaimed. "Not necessarily." Fewick sat quietly by the lantern, stroking Moe. The cat lay contentedly in his lap. "What better hiding place for a great treasure than a cave with only that as the way in and out?" He nodded in the direction of the ovoid.
Ashwood made a noise. "Are you thinkin' of tryin' to use that whatever-it-is again?" "Why not? If it was used to bring this gold here, then people had to be moving back and forth. We have no reason to suppose it only operates in one direction." "Then we could take some of this gold with us." Da Rimini looked thoughtful. "Hey," said Carter warningly, "whose side are you on, Fewick?"
The archaeologist eyed him noncommittally. "Why, the same side I have always been on, my thespianic friend. The side of knowledge." He glanced at Da Rimini. "This is a primitive site. If there is another way out of here I am the individual most likely to find it. However, if you
84 Alan Dean Foster
wish my help I must ask that you return my pistol to me." He paused. "I would decide quickly. The batteries in these lights will not last forever."
Da Rimini hesitated, glanced at her partners. Manco Femdndez nodded. "Very well. But if you try anything you die." "Concisely put." He smiled and set Moe aside. "Bastard," Ashwood muttered. "I beg to disagree," he responded. "I am legitimate, if not popular." He accepted his pistol from Da Rimini, made sure the safety was off, and slipped it back into his holster. "Get up," Da Rimini told her three remaining prisoners. "You are coming with us. I don' trust leaving you alone."
So much for him and Igor working on each other's bonds, Carter thought disappointedly. They stumbled up the tunnel, following their captors.
Sure enough, Fewick found a path where no one else would have thought to look. It began beneath a half-collapsed lintel and led off to the right. In spite of the fate which probably awaited them, Carter found that he was eager for fresh air and the sight of the sun again. If they had to die he much preferred to do so out in the open. And if they were lucky an opportunity to escape might yet present itself.
The paved path ended in a solid rock wall. Fewick made no attempt to conceal his disappointment. "This is not what I expected." "It not very useful, either," growled Da Rimini. "That's because your eyes ain't no sharper than your brain." Ashwood stepped forward and nodded at a comer of the wall.
Set in a small carved recess was a miniature of the mysterious ovoid. It sported a much duller sheen than its larger relative and was no more than a couple of inches tall. Only two grooves marred its otherwise perfectly smooth surface.
Manco reached for it, only to find that it was fastened securely into the stone. He glanced back at Da Rimini. "Try it," she said.
He nodded, considered for a moment, then ran two fingers down the pair of engravings. His effort was rewarded by a grinding noise that made everyone retreat several steps.
A portion of the wall slid aside, creating an opening just wide enough for one person to slip through. Accompanied by a cool breeze, evening light poured into the passageway. They filed out under Manco Ferndndez's watchful eye.
The jungle was gone. They found themselves standing on a rocky hillside, Brush and small
Cat - a - Lyst 85
trees grew in isolated clumps, hiding the well-concealed entrance from view. Not that there was anyone around to notice it.
Spread out before them lay a vast barren plain. To the north they could make out a few cultivated fields scattered around a small river. A single smoky tendril curled through the clear air, marking the location of some
unseen habitation. Other than the smoke, the only sign of life was a small single-engine plane which was slowly circling the plain at high altitude.
startled oath in Spanish. "Nazca. Por Dios, we've come to Nazca!" "What's that?" Carter asked him. Fewick looked at the actor and shook his head sadly. "An archaeological site of some repute," he explained dryly. "It predates the Incas by some hundreds of years." He squinted at the buzzing plane. "People come here to view the massive figures and lines the Nazca 'drew' on this plain by moving dark rock and gravel aside to reveal the lighter rock underneath. Many of the drawings can only properly be viewed from high above. It is an interesting phenomenon for which multiple explanations have been advanced." "Von Daniken," said Ashwood. "Oh, come now," Fewick admonished her. "Who's Von Daniken?" Carter inquired ingenuously. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Von Daniken?" Ashwood stared at him in disbelief.
Carter shrugged slightly. "Actually, no." "Erich von Daniken? 'Hubcaps of the Gods,'or whatever? One o' his theories claimed that these here Nazea lines were made by the locals to help extraterrestrials' spaceships land here." "Every one of his claims has been explained away," Fewick insisted. "So I've heard." She looked back over her shoulder, at the entrance to the cave. "Now somebody's gonna have to explain away that matter transmitter. Or are you gonna tell me it was a Kodak moment that brought us all the way here across the Andes from Paititi?" "The two phenomena are not related," Fewick muttered. "Where is here, anyway?" Carter asked.
Igor was studying the plane, wondering if its occupants might spot them standing there among the trees. "More than two hundred miles southwest of the Mand, where we were. Close to the ocean."
Ashwood continued to taunt the archaeologist. "C'mon, Fewick. Tell me again there ain't no connection. Tell me how the Incas went and built themselves a matter transmitter."
86 Alan Dean Foster
The whirr of the motor drive on Trang Ho's camera provided quiet mechanical counterpoint to the hum of the observation plane's engine. Igor's hopes fell as it banked and turned northward. "Matter transmitter." Manco Ferndndez had stood aloof from the conversation, thinking furiously. "Do you realize, Blanco, what this means?" "No, what?" By this time Carter was convinced that the slightly larger Femdndez twin operated on two fewer cylinders than his older brother. "Money?" "Yes, yes. Scientists will pay much to study such a device. But more important than that, much more." His eyes gleamed. "Think what it could mean for crowd flow control at Incaworld!" "Questions of origin aside," Fewick protested, "you are speaking of one of the great scientific discoveries of the century. Surely you cannot be thinking of exploiting it for crass commercial motives?"
Manco eyed him as if he was crazy. "What else would anybody exploit anything for?" "I wonder what the power source is," Igor murmured to no one in particular. "I wonder where it is?" "Sit" Blanco fed on his brother's excitement. "Disneyland have nothing like this. We could put one in Cuzco, or even in Lima." "You have no idea of its range," Fewick pointed out.
The brothers ignored him. Manco waxed rhapsodic. "People would not have to fly into the selva or take the road through Paucartambo." "The Incas did this," announced Da Rimini with sudden conviction. "The stonework inside the caves is theirs. The goldwork is theirs. I don' know how, but they were responsible." She kept repeating "they were responsible" as if it was some kind of sanity-preserving mantra.
The evening breeze chilled Carter, still clad in his jungle gear. He gazed longingly toward the curl of smoke and the plowed fields. Even with his hands bound behind him he thought he could outrun the Ferndndez brothers. He might run into a farmer with a truck, or tourists in a four-by-four.
Da Rimini did not share her partners' ecstasy. "I read your mind through your eyes, Jason Carter. Don' try it. You cannot outrun a bullet." The wildness had returned to her expression.
With a sudden move she jerked Fewick's pistol from its holster. He was a second too late with his hand. "Madam, you are a witch. We had a bargain."
She grinned nastily. "So complain to your ambassador." She started backing toward the entrance to the cave. "Come on, everybody. We goin' back to Paititi." "Now, wait a minute," Fewick began. Da Rimini glared at him.
Cat - a - Lyst 87 :,You say yourself you think it work both directions." 'Yes, but . . ." "Mmonosl Now." She gestured meaningfully with the pistol. The Femdndez brothers eyed one another. Looking resigned, they raised their rifles and gestured for the prisoners to move.
"Oh, good," said Trang Ho delightedly as they started back the way they'd come. "Another journey. This time I can take notes." "Ain't you maybe just a little concerned this crazy gadget might not work right this time?" Ashwood asked her.
6' Vang, yes. Of course it will," the reporter said confidently. "It worked the last time, didn't it?"
Da Rimini used the mini-egg to close the entrance behind them. On the way back to the central cavern one of the two flashlights gave out. Everyone walked a little faster. "Everybody stand where they were standing before." The reckless way she waved the automatic pistol around as she spoke made Carter more
than a little nervous. "I wouldn' want to leave anybody behind." Ashwood reluctantly assumed her position near the egg as best she re-
membered it. "Now what?" Manco asked her.
She hesitated. "Run your fingers over the top of the thing, where the cat was standing."
A dubious Ferndndez complied. Carter tensed reflexively, but nothing happened. "Keep trying," she ordered her associate. Ferndndez did so until his arms grew tired and he was forced to stop. :,Tough luck," Ashwood sneered. Da Rimini glared furiously at her. 'The cat made it work before," observed Blanco FernAndez with childish logic. Before Fewick could protest, the younger brother bent and scooped Moe off the floor, depositing him atop the ovoid. "Coincidence." There was pity in Fewick's voice. It lasted until the egg began to hum. Da Rimini looked smug. "Get ready, everybody." Carter tensed, but Da Rimini was staring straight at him, the pistol leveled at his chest. He tried to decide whether to risk it anyway. If he timed it right she might only wing him, and his chances were bound to be better here than back in the jungle.
He was preparing to run for it when the white light filled his eyes. As he fought to clear his vision he could hear Fewick commenting thoughtfully, "I was afraid of this."
THE roofless circular stone chamber had vanished. There was more than enough light present to make their flashlights and lantern redundant.
They no longer stood in the cave at Nazca, however. Nor had they returned to Paititi. For one thing, the ceiling was much farther away and composed of something smooth and shiny instead of unhewn stone.
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