"Leinster, Murray - The Fifth-Dimension Tube UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leinster Murray)

It was minutes before either of them could think of anything other than her safety and the fact that they were together again. But then Tommy said, in a shaken effort to be himself again:
УIЧIТd have done better ifЧif IТd had roller skates, maybe.Ф His grin was wholly unconvincing. УWhyТd you get out of the Tube?Ф
УItТs eyes!Ф Evelyn shuddered, her own eyes hidden against TommyТs shoulder. УI saw them suddenly, looking at me. And I
ЧhadnТt any will. I felt myself getting out of the Tube and walking toward it. It was like the way a snake fascinatesЧ hypnotizesЧa bird. . .
A vagrant wind-eddy submerged them in the foul reek of the dead thingТs flesh. Tommy stirred.
УUgh! LetТs get out of this. ThereТll be things coming to feed on that carcass. TheyТll smell it.Ф
Evelyn tried to stand, and succeeded. She clung to his hand.
УDo you think you can find the Tube again?Ф
Tommy was already thinking of that. He grimaced.
УProbably. Back-trail the damned thing, if the flashlight battery holds out. Its tail left plenty of sign for us to follow.Ф

THEY started. And Evelyn had literally been forgotten in its agony by the monster which had carried her. Its body, though scaled and warty, was flabby and soft. Pressed against its breast she had been half strangled, but had no injuries beyond huge, purple bruises which had not yet reached the point of stiffness. She followed Tommy gamely, and the need for action kept her from yielding to the reaction from her terror.
For a long, long time they back-trailed. Less than fifteen minutes after leaving the carcass of the thing Tommy had killed, they heard beast-roarings and the sound of fighting. But that noise died away as they traveled. Presently they reached the spot where Tommy had leaped upon a huge living thing. It was gone, now, but the impress of a body the thick-
ness of a barrel remained upon the rotted vegetation of the jungle floor. Evelyn shivered when Tommy pointed it out.
УIt was large,Ф said Tommy ruefully. УI didnТt even get a good look at the thing. Probably just as well, though. I might have beenЧerЧdelayed. Good Lord! WhatТs that?Ф
A light had sprung into being somewhere. It was bright. It was blinding in its brilliance. Coming through the tangled jungle growth, it seemed as if spears of flame shot through the air, irradiating stray patches of scabrous tree-trunk with unbearable light. For an instant the illumination held. Then there was a distant, cracking detonation. The unmistakable explosion of gun-cotton split the air, and its echoes rolled and reverberated through the jungle. The light went out. Then came a thin, high yelling sound which, faint as it was, had something of the quality of hysterical glee. That crazy ululation kept up for several minutes. Evelyn shivered.
УThe Ragged Men,Ф said Tommy very quietly. УThey sneaked up on the Tube. They flung blazing thermit, or something like it, with a weapon captured from the Golden City. That explosion was the grenades going off. IТm afraid the TubeТs blown up, Evelyn.Ф
She caught her breath, looking mutely up at him.
УHereТs a pistol,Ф he said briefly, Уand shells. ThereТs no use our going to the Tube to-night. It would be dangerous. WeТll do our investigating at dawn.Ф

HE found a crevice where tree-fern trunks grew close together and closed in three sides of a sort of roofless cave. He seated himself grimly at the opening to wait for daybreak. He was not easy in his mind. There had been two Tubes to the Fifth-Dimension world. One had been made by Jacaro for his gunmen. That was now held by the men of the Golden City, as was proved by carnivorous lizards and the Death Mist that had come down it. The other was now blown up or, worse, in the hands of the Ragged Men. In any case Tommy and Evelyn were isolated upon a strange planet in a strange universe. To fall into the hands of the Ragged Men was to die horribly, and the Golden City would not now welcome inhabitants of the world Jacaro and his men had come from. To the civilized men of this world, JacaroТs raids would seem invasion. They would
seem acts of war on the part of the people of Earth. And the people of Earth, all of them, would seem enemies. Jacaro would never be identified as an unauthorized invader. He would seem to be a scout, an advance guard, a spy, for hordes of other invaders yet to come.
As the long night wore away, TommyТs grim hopelessness intensified. The Ragged Men would hunt them for sport and out of hatred for all sane human beings. The men of the Golden City would be merciless to compatriots of JacaroТs gunmen. And Tommy had Evelyn to look out for.

WHEN dawn came, his face was drawn and lined. Evelyn woke with a little gasp, staring aifrightedly about her. Then she tried gamely to smile.
УMorning, Tommy,Ф she said shakily. She added in a brave attempt at levity: УWhere do we go from here?Ф
УWe look at the Tube,Ф said Tommy heavily. УThereТs a bare chance . .
He led the way as on the night before, with his gun held ready. They traveled for half an hour through the awakening jungle. Then for long, long minutes Tommy searched for a sign of living men before he ventured forth to look at the wreckage of the Tube. He found no live men, and only two dead ones. But a glimpse of their bestial, vice-ridden faces was enough to remove any regret for their deaths.
The Tube was shattered. Its mouth was belled out and broken by the explosion of the grenades hung within it. A part of the metal was moltenЧfrom the thermit, past question. There was a veritable crater fifteen feet across where the Tube had come through, and there were only shattered shreds of metal where the first bend had been. Tommy regarded the wreckage grimly. A pair of oxidized copper wires, their insulation burnt off, stung his eyes as he traced them to where they vanished in torn-up earth. He took them in his bare hands. The tingling sting of a low-voltage current made his heart leap. Then he smiled grimly. He touched them to each other. Dot-dot-dotЧ dash-dash-dashЧdot-dot-dot. SOS! If there was anybody in the laboratory, that would tell them.
His hands stung sharply. Someone was there, ringing the phone! Evelyn came toward him, her face resolutely cheerful.
УNo hope, Tommy?Ф she asked. УI just saw the telephone, all battered up. I guess weТre pretty badly off.Ф
УGet it!Ф said Tommy feverishly. УFor HeavenТs sake, get it! The phone wires werenТt broken. If we can make it work . .

THE instrument was a wreck. It was crumpled and torn and apparently useless. The diaphragm of the receiver was punctured. The transmitter seemed to have been crushed. But Tommy worked desperately over them, and twisted the earth-wires into place.
УHello, hello, hello!Ф
The voice that answered was SmithersТ, strained and fearful:
УMr. Reames! Thank Gawd! WhatТs happened? Is Miss Evelyn all right?Ф
УSo far,Ф said Tommy. УListen!Ф He told curtly just what had happened. УNow, whatТs happened on Earth?Ф
УHell!Ф panted Smithers bitterly. УHellТs been poppinТ! The Death MistТs two miles across anТ still growinТ anТ movinТ. Four townships under martial law anТ movinТ out the people. It got thirty of Сem this morninТ. AnТ they think the professorТs crazy anТ nobodyТll listen to him!Ф
УDamn!Ф said Tommy. He considered, grimly. УLook here, Von Holtz ought to convince them.Ф
УHe caved in, outa his head, before I got to Albany. HeТs in hospital now, ravinТ. HeТs got some kinda fever the doctors donТt know nothinТ about. Sick as hell!Ф
Tommy compressed his lips. Matters were more desperate even than he had believed. He informed his helper measuredly:
УEvelyn and I canТt stay around here, Smithers. The Ragged Men may come back, and itТll be weeks before you and the professor can get another Tube through. IТm going to make for the Golden City and work on them there to cut off the Death Mist.Ф
There was an inarticulate sound from Smithers.
УTell the professor. If he can find JacaroТs Tube, heТll work out some way to communicate through it. WeТve got to stop that Death Mist somehow. And we donТt know what else they may try.Ф
Smithers tried to speak, and could not. He merely made grief-stricken noises. He worshipped Evelyn, and she was isolated in a hostile world which was vastly more unreachable than could be measured by millions or trillions of miles. But at last he said unsteadily:
УWeТll be cominТ, Mr. Reames. WeТll come, if we have tТ blow half the world apart!Ф
Tommy said grimly: УThen hunt up the Golden City and bring extra ammunition. Mostly explosive bullets. Good-by.Ф

HE untwisted the wires from the shattered phone units and thrust them in his pocket. Evelyn was picking up stray small objects from the ground.