"Daniel F. Galouye - Dark Universe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Galouye Daniel F)

"Stay down! It might come back!" He ran a hand over the ground and
retrieved his bow.
But all was silent The soubat had retreated once more, this time
possibly with a spear wound added to its distress.
Owen climbed out of the pit. "You hurt?"
"Just a couple of scratches."
"Did you get it?"
"Radiation no! But I know where it is."
"I'm not even asking where. Let's go home."
Jared tapped the ground with his bow and listened. "It turned off into
the Original World--up ahead."
"Let's go back, Jared!"
"Not until I get that thing's tusks in my pouch."
"You're going to get them _somewhere_ else!"
But Jared went on. And, reluctantly, Owen followed.
Later he asked, "Are you _really_ determined to find Darkness?"
"I'm going to find it if it takes the rest of my life."
"Why bother with hunting evil?"
"Because I'm really listening for something else. And Darkness- may be
just a step along the way."
"What _are_ you hunting for?"
"Light."
"The Great Light Almighty," Owen reminded, reciting one of the tenets,
"is present in the souls of good men and--"
"Suppose," Jared broke in boldly, "Light isn't God, but something else?"
The other's religious sensitivity was shocked. Jared could tell by his
breathless silence, by the slight acceleration of his pulse.
"What else _could_ Light Almighty be?" Owen asked finally.
"I don't know. But I'm sure it's something good. And if I can find it,
life will be better for all mankind."
"What makes you think that?"
"If Darkness is connected with evil and if Light is its opposite, then
Light must be good. And if I find Darkness, then I may have some kind of idea
as to the nature of Light."
Owen snorted. "That's ridiculous! You mean you think our beliefs are
wrong?"
"Not altogether. Maybe just twisted around. You know what happens when a
story passes from mouth to mouth. Just think what _could_ happen to it passing
from generation to generation."
Jared returned his attention to the passage as the clickstone echoes
betrayed a great hollow space in the wall on his right.


They stood in the vaulted entrance to the Original World and Jared's
_clicks_ lost themselves in the silence of a vast expanse. He substituted his
largest, hardest pair of sounding rocks. These he had to clap together with
considerable force to produce reports loud enough to carry to the farthest
recesses and back.
First--the soubat. Its lingering stench verified that the thing was
somewhere in here. But none of the returning echoes carried with it the