"Edmond Hamilton - Children of the Sun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

disappeared here. Could the scientist have oppressive somberness of this place of
survived alone so long in his wild world ? vanished glory, as he looked up at the
A city wrecked by time lay beneath inscriptions in the old language that were
them, almost swallowed by the giant ferns. carved deep into the great stones. He could
Only scattered crumbling stones of read that ancient writing and as he read
massive dimensions had survived the those proud legends of triumphs long
ravages of unthinkable ages. It was like sunken into oblivion he felt the crushing
the flotsam of a lost ship, floating up out of sadness of that greatest of galactic
the past. tragedies, the fall of the Old Empire.
The Comet came to rest upon cracked
paving surrounded by towering shattered


4
 Simon's sharp, metallic voice roused тАЬSomething big,тАЭ Captain Future said
him from his preoccupation. тАЬCurtis ! Look slowly. тАЬSo big that he was afraid of
here !тАЭ anyone else finding it. That's why he wrote
Captain Future instantly strode to where this in the language of the Old Empire that
the Brain hovered beside one of the no one but Simon and I could read.тАЭ
towering monoliths. Simon said practically, тАЬThe Belt is
тАЬDid you find some trace, Simon ?тАЭ what the natives call the strip burned out
тАЬLook at that inscription ! It's in the old by the Beam, isn't it ? WellтАФwe can soon
languageтАФbut it's newly carved !тАЭ find out.тАЭ
Newton's eyes widened. It was true. On тАЬShall we take the ship ?тАЭ
that monolith, a few feet above the ground, Newton shook his head. тАЬToo tricky
was a chiseled legend in the language that navigating in here. The Belt isn't far
had not been used for ages. Yet the away.тАЭ
characters were raw, new, only faintly Grag flexed mighty metal limbs. тАЬWhat
weathered. are we waiting for ?тАЭ
тАЬIt was carved less than a year ago !тАЭ he Presently the quartet was moving
said. His pulses suddenly hammered. through the jungle of giant ferns. All about
тАЬSimon, Carlin knew the old language ! them was silence in the heavy gathering
He had me teach it to him, remember !тАЭ twilight. The bright sword of the Beam
тАЬYou meanтАФCarlin carved this one ?тАЭ was fading, angling away as the opening in
Otho exclaimed. the crust was rotated away from the Sun.
тАЬRead it !тАЭcried Grag. Newton knew the direction of the Belt,
Curt Newton read aloud, тАЬTo the that seared blackened strip in which the
Futuremen, if they ever comeтАФI have terrible heat of the Sun's single shaft
permitted nothing to live. He steered their
discovered an incredible secret, the
course to head around the end of the Belt.
strangest form of life ever dreamed. The
Again a beast-scream came from far
implications of that secret are so
away. There seemed no other sound in the
tremendous that I am going to investigate
fern jungle. But presently the Brain spoke
them first hand. If I do not return be
softly. тАЬWe are being followed,тАЭ he said.
warned that the old citadel beyond the