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

Captain Future тАУ or Curtis Newton, by the name so System stronger than Grag, the robot.
few knew тАУ stood ready by the lever of the spherical Perched upon Grag's shoulder was a queer, bearlike
machine. On a pedestal, watching the gauges of the little animal of inorganic silicate flesh, with strong
mechanism, was his fellow-worker. paws, a sharp, inquisitive snout, and bright little black
This was Simon Wright, the Brain. He was just that eyes. It was a moon-pup, one of the strange non-breath-
тАУ a living human brain that had no body. Instead, his ing creatures found on the lunar plains, who assimilated
brain was housed in a square, transparent serum-case, food elements by direct ingestion of the mineral they
in the front of which was his resonator speech appara- could crush in their powerful teeth. The little gray crea-
tus, on the stalks of which in turn were his lens-eyes. ture was contentedly chewing on a piece of copper
"Transmutation's almost complete now," the Brain now.
declared in his metallic artificial voice, his glass lens "Now what's the trouble between you two?" Captain
eyes closely watching the gauges. "Stand ready to shift Future demanded of the robot and android. "Can't Si-
the electron flow." mon and I work for a minute without you two getting
A moment later he spoke quickly. "Now!" into your arguments?"
Curt Newton slammed down the lever. The throb- "It's Grag's fault!" hissed Otho furiously. He pointed
bing of power into the spherical machine ceased. to the little gray bearlike animal. "That damned moon-
The red-headed scientific wizard unclamped a door pup pet of his has eaten up one of my best pistols!"
and opened it. Out of the mechanism poured a stream

G
of white powder. RAG, the robot, cuddled the little gray moon-pup
"That's done it!" Curt exclaimed. " A hundred protectively with a great metal hand. "It's not
pounds of copper, transmuted into pure isotopic boron." Eek's fault, master," he told Captain Future in loud in-
dignation. "Eek was hungry тАУ and he loves copper."

H E stepped back and mopped bis brow, and then "Either that moon-pup leaves here or I leave!"
grinned at the Brain. "Whew, that was a job! But stormed the android. "The beast eats any metal it can
it will save us a trip all the way to Uranus, to get that get its paws on тАУ and when it gets hold of some pre-
rare isotope." cious metal, it gets howling drunk on it! It's got a lot of
"Aye, lad," rasped the Brain. "This transmutation of other habits that make it a pest. It was crazy of Grag to
elements is one of your greatest achievements yet." catch the cursed thing and make a tame pet of it."
Curt's gray eyes twinkled at him. "We humans like to have pets," the robot defended.

6
 Edmond Hamilton тАУ CALLING CAPTAIN FUTURE

"Otho does not understand, master, because he is not man. These two artificial creatures, intelligent, strong
human like us." faithful, showed Roger Newton that he had at last real-
"Not human like you?" Otho howled furiously. ized his dream.
"Why, you walking machine-shop, anyone can see that Then disaster struck. The evil plotters who coveted
I'm a flesh-and- blood human while you're nothing but a Newton's scientific secrets had trailed him to the Moon.
clever mechanism! If I тАУ" There was a fight тАУ and Roger Newton and his young
"Now don't start that argument again!" Captain Fu- wife were slain, before the robot and the synthetic man
ture interrupted hastily. "I've heard enough of it." killed the murderers.
"Aye, and so have I," rasped Simon Wright, the Dying, Elaine Newton entrusted her infant son to the
Brain, his lens-eyes dourly surveying the two dis- care of the three unhuman creatures, Brain, robot and
putants. "You two are always arguing about which is android. She begged them to rear him to manhood and
the most human. And I, who really was human once, implant in him a hatred of all those who used scientific
can tell you that it's nothing worth arguing about." gifts for evil ends тАУ to train him as a relentless foe of an
"Simon is right," Curt Newton said severely. "Every such as would oppress or exploit the System people.