"James P. Hogan - Giants 1 - Inherit The Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

study the picture and reflect on these facts before speaking again.
"That is the body. I'll answer some of the more obvious questions before
you ask. First -- no, we don't know who he is -- or was -- so we call him
Charlie. Second -- no, we don't know for sure what killed him. Third -- no, we
don't know where he came from." The executive director caught the puzzled look
on Hunt's face and raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
"Accidents can happen, and it's not always easy to say what caused them
-- I'll buy that," Hunt said. "But to not know who he is...? I mean, he must
have carried some kind of ID card; I'd have thought he'd have to. And even if
he didn't, he must be from one of the UN bases up there. Someone must have
noticed he was missing."
For the first time the flicker of a smile brushed across Caldwell's
face.
"Of course we checked with all the bases, Dr. Hunt. Results negative.
But that was just the beginning. You see, when they got him back to the labs
for a more thorough check, a number of peculiarities began to emerge which the
experts couldn't explain -- and, believe me, we've had enough brains in on
this. Even after we brought him back here, the situation didn't get any
better. In fact, the more we find out, the worse it gets."
"'Back here'? You mean..."
"Oh, yes. Charlie's been shipped back to Earth. He's over at the
Westwood Biological Institute right now -- a few miles from here. We'll go and
have a look at him later on today."
Silence reigned for what seemed like a long time as Hunt and Gray
digested the rapid succession of new facts. At last Gray offered:
"Maybe somebody bumped him off for some reason."
"No, Mr. Gray, you can forget anything like that." Caldwell waited a few
more seconds. "Let me say that from what little we do know so far, we can
state one or two things with certainty. First, Charlie did not come from any
of the bases established to date on Luna. Furthermore" -- Caldwell's voice
slowed to an ominous rumble -- "he did not originate from any nation of the
world as we know it today. In fact, it is by no means certain that he
originated from this planet at all!"
His eyes traveled from Hunt to Gray, then back again, taking in the
incredulous stares that greeted his words. Absolute silence enveloped the
room. A suspense almost audible tore at their nerves. Caldwell's finger
stabbed at the keyboard.
The face leaped out at them from the screen in grotesque closeup, skull-
like, the skin shriveled and darkened like ancient parchment, and stretched
back over the bones to uncover two rows of grinning teeth. Nothing remained of
the eyes but a pair of empty pits, staring sightlessly out through dry,
leathery lids.
Caldwell's voice, now a chilling whisper, hissed through the fragile
air.
"You see, gentlemen -- Charlie died over fifty thousand years ago!"


Chapter Six

Dr. Victor Hunt stared absently down at the bird's-eye view of the