"Edmond Hamilton - Captain Future 23 - The Harpers of Titan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

companions but the robot, the android,
and Simon, himself.
"You will do as I say, Curtis!" He
turned to the others. "Grag, take Mr.
Harker into the main cabin. See that
he sleeps, for he will need his
strength. Otho, Curtis will want your
help."
Otho came in and shut the door. He
glanced from Simon to Curt and back
again, his eyes brilliant with a certain
acid amusement. Curt stood where he
was, his jaw set, unmoving.
imon glided over to the cabinets
built solidly against one wall.
Using the wonderfully adaptable
force-beams more skilfully than a man
uses his hands, he took from them the
needful things - the trephine saw, the
clamps and sutures, the many-shaped
delicate knives. And the other things,
that had set modern surgery so far
ahead of the crude Twentieth Century
techniques. The compounds that
prevented bleeding, the organic
chemicals that promoted cell
regeneration so rapidly and fully that a
wound would heal within hours and
leave no scar, the Stimulants and
anaesthetics that prevented shock, the
neurone compounds.
The UV tube was pulsing overhead,
sterilizing everything in the
laboratory. Simon, whose vision was
better and touch more sure than that of
any surgeon dependent on human
form, made the preliminary incision in
Keogh's skull.
Curt Newton had still not moved.
His face was as set and stubborn as
before, but there was a pallor about it
now, something of desperation.
Simon said sharply, "Curtis!"
Curt moved then. He came to the
table and put his hands on it beside the
dead man's head, and Simon saw that
they trembled.
"I can't," he whispered. "Simon, I
can't do it. I'm afraid."
Simon looked steadily into his eyes.