"Edmond Hamilton - Earthmen No More" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

Carey!тАЭ тАЬBut there are no ships beyond the Belt!
He did or thought he did and there was How...тАЭ Then he began to tremble
nothing but mist, heavy darkling clouds of violently. тАЬListen,тАЭ he said to the stranger.
it. Far, far away he saw the gleam of light тАЬListen, I was killed, trying to reach
beyond him and he tried to grope toward it Jupiter. A meteor hit us and I was blown
but the mists were very thick. clear, out into space with no armor. I'm
тАЬI can't,тАЭ he moaned. тАЬI'm lost.тАЭ dead. IтАЩm a dead man. IтАжтАЭ
Lost forever, in darkness and cold. тАЬSteady on,тАЭ said the red- haired man.
тАЬCome back!тАЭ cried the voice strongly. тАЬEasy.тАЭ He set the needle into a place
тАЬCome back and live!тАЭ already swabbed on Carey's naked arm.
He heard the sound of a hand striking Carey flinched. He sobbed a little and then
smartly against flesh. After a while he felt the trembling quieted.
it. That little sharp pain somehow managed тАЬI was dead,тАЭ he whispered, again.
to bridge a colossal gulf and make him тАЬNo,тАЭ said the red-haired stranger. тАЬNot
aware that he had a body. really dead. What we call the space-death
His brain oriented itself with a dizzying isn't true death but cold shockтАФan
lunge. The mists tore away. He woke. instantaneous stoppage of all life
It was a full awakening. The exploding processes. There's no time for deterioration
nova resolved itself into a light-tube, or cellular damage, no possibility of decay.
glowing against a low ceiling of metal. The organism stops short. It can, by certain
The countenance that had loomed so means, be started going again.тАЭ
hugely above him became the face of a He looked thoughtfully down at Carey
man. A lean face, deeply bronzed with the and added, тАЬMany lives are restored that
unmistakable burn of space, topped with way, lives that would have been considered
red hair and set with two level grey eyes ended in your time.тАЭ
that looked straight into Carey's and made Carey said numbly, тАЬThen you found
him feel somehow safe and unafraid. me, floating in space, in frozen sleep? You
тАЬLie still,тАЭ said the red-haired man. тАЬGet тАУrevived me?тАЭ
your breath. There's no hurry.тАЭ He turned


2
 тАЬYes. Space law requires that any ship- seemed to have words in it. Carey got up.
wreckage encountered on radar must be He clung to the edge of the surgeon's table,
investigated. That's how we found you.тАЭ fighting the weakness that was on him, his
The stranger smiled. тАЬWelcome back to eyes fixed on the bulkhead door.
life, Carey. My name is Curt Newton.тАЭ тАЬCarey,тАЭ said Curt Newton, тАЬthings
It was only then that it penetrated have changed and science has come a long
Carey's stunned mind, the phrase that had way. There are three others aboard this
been used so casually a moment before. ship besides myself. They're notтАФwell, not
тАЬYou said, 'In my time',тАЭ he repeated. quite human, as men of your day
тАЬHow longтАжтАЭ He stopped. His mouth was understood the term. Even now, in our
dry. He tried again, forcing out the words time, they're unique, created by techniques
that did not wish to be spoken. тАЬHow long far beyond the general knowledge. But you
was I asleep out there?тАЭ must not be afraid of them. They're my
The man who called himself Curt friends and will be yours.тАЭ
Newton hesitated, then asked, тАЬWhat year A chill came over Carey, creeping into
was it when you met disaster, Carey?тАЭ his bones. He continued to stare at the
тАЬIt was nineteen ninety-one. It was June, door. What waited behind it, what
nineteen ninety-one, when we left Earth.тАЭ monstrous thingsтАФnot quite human, not