"Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore - Earth' s last Citadel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

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EARTH S LAST CITADEL

Copyright, 1943, by Popular Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without permission in writing from the
publisher.

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.

An ACE Book

Printed in U.S.A.

EARTH'S

LAST CITADEL

PROLOGUE

BEHIND THE LOW ridge of rock to the north was the Mediterranean. Alan Drake could hear it and
smell it. The bitter chill of the North African night cut through his torn uniform, but sporadic
flares of whiteness from the sea battle seemed to give him warmth, somehow. Out there the big guns
were blasting, the battlewagons thundering their fury.

This was it.

And he wasn't in itтАФnot this time. His job was to bring Sir Colin safely out of the Tunisian
desert. That, it seemed, was important.

Squatting in the cold sand, Alan ignored the Scots scientist huddled beside him, to stare at the
ridge as though his gaze could hurdle its summit and leap out to where the ships were fighting.
Behind him, from the south, came the deep echoing noise of heavy artillery. That, he knew, was one
jaw of the trap that was closing on him. The tides of war changed so swiftlyтАФthere was nothing for
them now but heading blindly for the Mediterranean and safety.

He had got Sir Colin out of one Nazi trap already, two

breathless days ago. ButColinDouglas was too valuable a man for either side to forget easily. And
the Nazis would be following. They were between the lines now, lost, trying desperately to reach
safety and stay hidden.

Somewhere in the night sky a nearing plane droned high. Moonlight glinted on Drake's smooth blond
head as he leaped for the shadow of a dune, signaling Sir Colin fiercely. Drake crouched askew,
favoring his left side where a bullet gouge ran aslant up one powerful forearm and disappeared
under his torn sleeve. He'd got that two nights ago in the Nazi raid, when he snatched Sir Colin
away barely in time.