"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 05 - The Nautilus Sanction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

тАЬWhat happened to your ship?тАЭ Hood said gently.
 тАЬDestroyed,тАЭ the man said, shutting his eyes. His chest rose and fell unevenly as he breathed
laboriously. тАЬIt was the beast,тАЭ he said, with a shiver.
Hood frowned. тАЬThe Beast? I know of no such ship.тАЭ
тАЬA sea beast!тАЭ said the man, opening his eyes wide and staring at Hood with the gaze of a lunatic.
тАЬThe Covenant was destroyed by a monster from the depths!тАЭ
тАЬMonster?тАЭ Hood said, glancing at the doctor. тАЬWhat monster?тАЭ
тАЬPerhaps he means a whale, Your Lordship,тАЭ said Dr. Graves.
тАЬNo!тАЭ The man struggled to rise, finally managing to prop himself up slightly on his elbow. тАЬNo, not a
whale!тАЭ he said, fervently. тАЬA beast, I tell you! A veritable leviathan! A great, horrid, monstrous thing
from the very jaws of hell!тАЭ
тАЬCome, man, what nonsense is this?тАЭ said Hood. тАЬWe are not children to believe in sea dragons.
Even schoolboys know such creatures do not exist.тАЭ
тАЬI saw it, I tell you!тАЭ said the man, his voice rising. тАЬIt churned the sea all round as it thrashed its
mighty tail. It sounded and we heard it scream! I will hear that dreadful sound for all the days and nights
left in my miserable life!тАЭ
тАЬThe manтАЩs a lubber,тАЭ Dr. Graves said. тАЬIt must have been a whale he saw.тАЭ
тАЬNot this one,тАЭ said the first mate, who had helped hold him down. тАЬThereтАЩs tar in his hair and those
were good seamanтАЩs knots he lashed himself to the mast with.тАЭ He glanced up nervously at Hood. тАЬNo
seaman gets himself frightened senseless by a whale, Your Lordship.тАЭ
тАЬLubber, am I?тАЭ said the sailor, his voice rising in pitch as he neared hysteria. тАЬWhale, was it? Aye,
you show me the whale that can hole a man-oтАЩ-war and then spit fire into its hull! Aye, the very flames of
hell! One instant, there was a mighty ship, the next, there was nought but flaming splinters! The creature
spat at us and we were consumed! Not a man jack left alive to tell the tale save me!тАЭ
тАЬThe poor manтАЩs daft,тАЭ said Dr. Graves. тАЬHeтАЩs lost his mind.тАЭ
тАЬAye, call me mad! Any sane man would. But I know what I saw, and I only pray to God I never lay
eyes on it again!тАЭ
тАЬSteady, now,тАЭ said Hood, bending down close to the man. тАЬYou have been through an ordeal
enough to make any man half-mad. Try to remember. Think, could it be that a whale struck your ship or
was struck by it? Perhaps the shock caused a lantern to fall and ignite the powder magazine?тАЭ
тАЬI tell you, it was no whale!тАЭ the man shouted. тАЬThink you I do not know a whale when I see one?
We thought at first it was a whale when we glimpsed it on the surface, but no whale could swim with
such unholy speed or give vent to such a cry! No whale spits fire at a ship!тАЭ He reached out and grasped
the lapels of HoodтАЩs seacoat with shaking hands. тАЬPray!тАЭ he said, his eyes glazing over, staring not at
Hood, but at something else that none of them could see. тАЬPray you do not cross this creatureтАЩs path!
Tell your lookouts to keep watch! Tell your men to keep their eyes upon the sea! If they should sight a
dark shape in the water with a fin very like a sharkтАЩs, but larger than any shark that ever swam the ocean,
tell them to make their peace with God! For you can turn your ship; you can put up every foot of sail in
the strongest wind and flee, but it will avail you nought! The hell-spawn swims with a speed beyond
belief! You shall hear its awful cry and it will sound and the sea will roil with its passage!тАЭ
The man began to laugh hysterically.
тАЬAye, a whale, you say. A whale!тАЭ
Hood firmly grasped the manтАЩs wrists and pried himself loose from his hold. He stood, watching
sorrowfully as the shipwreck victim alternately laughed and sobbed.
тАЬDo what you can for him, Graves,тАЭ he said. тАЬPoor wretch. I fear he is beyond your help.тАЭ
тАЬAye,тАЭ said the doctor, shaking his head. тАЬSea monsters.тАЭ The mate looked up at Graves and Hood,
then glanced back down at the shipwreck victim and quickly crossed himself.
Later in the day, they lost him. That evening, Hood himself said the words as they put the poor manтАЩs
weighted body over the side. By then, there was not a man aboard who had not heard the story. When
the Avenger made port, the tale began to spread throughout the pubs of Bristol, a tale of a leviathan that