"Henry Kuttner - The Time Axis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

I heard the thin humming in my ears, felt the burning of its touch. I remembered the sunburst of
violent energy deep inside me that had heralded murder whenever it came. And I knew that all these
were oneтАФall these and the stain upon the hearth. The knowledge came unbidden, without reason.

But it was sure.

I didn't question it. But I looked very closely at the stone. That stain was an irregular area
where the stone seemed changed into another substance. I didn't know what the substance was. It
looked wholly unfamiliar. The gray of the hearth stopped abruptly, along an irregular pattern, and
gave place to a substance that seemed translucent, shot through with veins and striae that were
lighter, like the

veins in marble.

The pine panels beside the fireplace were partly stained like the stone and a little area of the
carpet that came up to the edge of the hearth. Wood, stone and cloth alike had turned into
thisтАФthis marble stain. The veins in it were like tangled hair, curling together, embedded like
some strange neural structure in half transparent flesh.

I looked up.

"Don't touch it," Dr. Essen said quickly.

I didn't mean to. I didn't need to. I knew what it would feel like. I knew that though it was
perfectly motionless it would burn my hand with friction if I touched it. Dr. Essen knew too. I
saw that in her face.

I stood up. "What is it?" I asked, my voice sounding

oddly thin.

"The nekron," she told me, almost absently. She was searching my face and the keenness of her gaze
was al-

most painful to meet. "That's Mr. De Kalb's word for it. As good a word as any. It'sтАФa new type of
matter. Mr. Cort-landтАФyou have seen something like this before?" Her rare, direct look was like
the* sharpness of a knife going through me, cold and deep.

"Maybe," I said. "No, never, really. ButтАФ"

"All right, I understand," she nodded. "I wanted to vert fy something. I've verified it. Thank
you." She turned away toward the door. "We'd better get back. No, pleaseтАФno questions yet. I can't
possibly explain until after you've seen the Record.

"The Record? What-"

"It's something that was dug up in Crete. It'sтАФpeculiar. But thoroughly convincing. Youll see it
soon. Shall we go back?"