"Edmond Hamilton - Calling Captain Future" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

mon," promised Otho importantly. tator. Things are worse than I thought тАУ we've little
"And who'll look out for you, you crazy excitement- time!"
hunter?" demanded the Brain witheringly of the an-

H
droid. "Trouble draws you like a magnet." E and the android pressed on across the city and
Curt laughed at the crestfallen android. soon reached the Syrtis Observatory. It lay a little
"Come on, Otho тАУ the observatory is on the other outside the city in the desert, its huge dome bulking
side of Syrtis, two miles away. We'll have to hurry." black and silent.
They emerged into the nipping chill of the Martian In the shadowy interior, a bald, red, middle-aged
night, tramped through the sands toward the lighted Martian sat at a lighted desk beneath the great tele-
towers of Syrtis, Curt in a long, swinging stride, Otho scope, calculating. He sprang up with a cry as he
moving as lithely and soundlessly as a shadow. glimpsed Curt and the unhuman android.
Curt looked up with a tingling of his blood at Pho- "What тАУ who тАУ," he stammered. Then as Curt held
bos and Deimos, the two brilliant moons hurtling low out his left hand, he glimpsed the big ring. "Captain Fu-
across the brooding desert. It had been months since he ture!"
had been on Mars, and the magic of this old world of "You're Gatola, director here?" Curt said sharply.
whispering deserts touched him strongly. The Martian, staring awedly at him nodded.
Ahead bulked the city. It was a typical Martian city "A party of the Legion of Doom is coming to kidnap
of slender stone towers whose upper stories were larger you. They'll be here any moment."
than the lower, giving them a topheavy look. Dizzy gal- Gatola's eyes dilated. "Gods of Mars, if they тАУ"
leries and stairs joined the towers. Only on a low-gravi- "But you're not going to be here when they come,
ty world was such architecture possible. Gatola," Curt continued. "Otho, my comrade, will take
Captain Future could see that the brightly lit center your place."
of the city was crowded. From it came a babel of excit- He turned to the android.
ed voice. "All right, Otho тАУ make up as this Martian. And hur-
"Shall we see what's going on?" Otho asked eagerly. ry it!"
The devil-may-care android was always drawn by ex- "Do I ever lag?" hissed Otho indignantly. He was
citement. clawing his disguise-equipment from a square pouch at
"No,we've enough on our hands now," Curt told him his belt.
severely. "We mustn't lose any time getting to the ob- From a small lead flask, Otho sprayed a colorless
servatory." chemical oil onto his head and body.
Otho's rubbery white synthetic flesh was wholly un-

H E and Otho skirted the crowded central streets, like ordinary flesh. It could be softened by chemical
keeping their concealing cloaks and hoods agents, and when soft, it was as plastic and easy to
wrapped around them. mold as clay. That fact made the android the greatest

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 Edmond Hamilton тАУ CALLING CAPTAIN FUTURE




"So this miserable brain in a box is the famous Brain," mocked Doctor Zarro (Chap. IX)

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 Edmond Hamilton тАУ CALLING CAPTAIN FUTURE

master of disguise in the System's history. them, do anything short of getting yourself killed, to de-