"Henry Kuttner - The Creature From Beyond Infinity UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

"But what could cause such a thing?" the girl asked. "No virus could-"
"Not a virus. Filterable or not, they could not cause cellular radioactivity. This menace-this unknown X-is certainly not a virus. I don't know its nature, nor where it comes from. Till I know those factors, I can do nothing."
"Could it be a weapon of war?" Marion suggested. "You mean- Well, scarcely! Once it's started, it's completely uncontrollable. X isn't man-made, for its record goes back too far for chemistry. It's a natural phenomenon, and our only clue is fog."
"A gas?"
Court nodded, and his eyes grew distant with thought. "Where does it come from-under the Earth? That's pos~ sible, of course, but hardly any of these cases have occurred in volcanic country. I think X comes from the interstellar void.' -
Marion's eyes widened in horrified recollection.
"That's why you've been getting those observatory reports! Photographs and spectra."
Court grunted impatiently. "They showed nothing, and that's what I can't understand." -
"Maybe the conditions aren't right," Marion - suggested. "Phosphorescence isn't visible in daylight. Perhaps X isn't visible in space."
Court didn't move, but his fingers broke his cigarette in two.
"What was that?" he demanded, startled.
Before the girl could reply, he whistled sharply and turned to the window.
"Of course, a catalyst! Some element in our atmosphere


makes X visible, and perhaps dangerous as well. In outer space it can't be seen, but when it comes in contact with some

- element in the air-I think you've got it, Marion!" He stared grimly at the dark sky.
"Up there, yet it's invisible. Perhaps a cosmically huge cloud of it is drifting eternally through space. We're probably on the outer fringes, so we've touched only a few tiny, scattered wisps. When ~Earth plunges into the main body-"
Court lifted a clenched fist, furious because he was such a tiny, insignificant figure against the mighty concourse of the starry void. -
"An element so alien that we can scarcely conceive of it!
We can realize it exists only by seeing its effects on Earth.
What is it? What physical laws govern that frightful matter?
Or is it matter, as we know it?"
He turned suddenly, his eyes hard and determined.
"We're leaving for Canada. Charter a plane. I'll pack the equipment I will need."
Marion paused at the door.
"Mr. Court-" she began, and hesitated.
"Well?"
Somehow, though, she could find no words. In her mind was the picture of Court at the window, challenging- the Universe. A champion of mankind, he had made a magnificent gesture.
But then Marion saw M~ cold, grim eyes. Reading the expression in them, her face whitened as she realized suddenly that Court cared nothing, at all for mankind. His motives were passionlesslyseffish.
He was not a champion. He was a scientist, cold, calculating, egocentric, challenging an opponent that threatened his existence.
Whatever she had meant to say died in her throat, just as something died in her heart. She went out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.


CHAPTER V

Jans-aiya

It was dark in the forest, though sunlight filtered down wanly through the branches. Truly the Earth had changed since
Ardath had first set foot upon it. - -
He was not entirely pleased - as he strode along, matching step with the gigantic Thordred. It did not seem to him that this world would be a suitable dwelling place. Thousands of years had passed since Ardath had taken Thordred from his home. Weary centuries had passed in ageless slumber, and a new civilization had risen. But somehow Ardath did not feel at home in this time. He sensed a subtle strangeness in the very air about him. - -
He sighed a little wearily. His plans had gone amiss. The death of Zana, the Amazon queen, had taken him by surprise. He had hoped to retain her as a mate for Thordred, but with. out apparent cause, the woman's sleep had changed to death.
A fleeting suspicion of Thordred had passed through Ardath's mind, but he dismissed it. Though he had several poisons which might have caused such symptoms, Thordred could not possibly know of their existence nor how to use them. Not by a word or a thought had Thordred revealed that his brain held all the knowledge that had been Ardath's alone.
The two of them had set out to examine this new civilization, leaving the space ship safely hidden in the forest. They had captured two natives, learned their language by means of the thought-transference machine, and taken their clothing. With all memory of the encounter wiped from their minds by means of Ardath's strange science, the natives were released. - -
"They are puny folk today," Thordred said, his savage face twisting into a grin as he shifted the toga about his broad shoulders. "These garments scarcely cover me."
"Our own garments might have caused comment," Ardath explained. "Let us hope that your size won't mark you for an alien."
Thordred spat in vicious contempt.