"Raymond Jones - Renegades of Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Raymond)

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Renegades of Time by
Raymond F. Jones
I
Joe Simmons was lying on his back in a puddle of rainwater.
His vision of the sky was limited by tiers of foliage that ranged
up and beyond any tree height he had ever known. Beyond his
feet a monstrous, twisted palm tree seemed to rise forever. Its
sharp sword fronds mingled with branches of adjacent trees that
bore leaves of red and silver. These spread in massive sheets to
the sky, and occasionally, when their load of rainwater was more
than they could bear, they twisted gently and dumped gallons of
water with an enormous splash from their hundred-foot heights.

He raised on his elbows and turned his head to try to bring
some familiar object within his vision. There was nothing. The
rain itself had a sharp sting that felt as if it were on the edge of
ice, but the air and the trees were tropical.

A moment ago he had been on Huntington's Hill, outside the
little college town of Midland. Bill Bradley was there. It was
snowing. Bill was screaming, "Get back! Get off the Hill! You'll
kill us both, you fool!"

And now he was here.

There was no accounting for the change in the landscape, and
he didn't try. He remained still and repeated his own name over
and over again. "I am Joe Simmons. I spent two years of jungle
hell in the Army. Now I live in Midland and go to Midland
College. I'm trying to see a crazy guy named Bill
 Bradley to get some papers for tomorrow's class in Kinematics
of Machines."

He touched the water of the puddle in which he lay. It was
wet, but colder than rainwater ought to be in this jungle. He
inventoried his fingers and his arms and legs. He felt the wet
coat and shirt and pants he wore. They were the clothes he had
put on that morning.

He shut his eyes and tried to relax. He was obviously
experiencing some sort of temporary mental condition, which
would soon pass. He rnust have fallen and struck his head,