"George R. R. Martin - With Morning Comes Mistfall (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

the same place twice in the mists. Let alone something like the creature that
had been described.
So the story was never confirmed. But nonetheless, it caused a sensation
when Gregor returned to Earth. Another ship was sent to conduct a more
thorough search. It found nothing. But one of its search teams disappeared
without a trace,
And the legend of the mist wraiths was born, and began to grow. Other
ships came to Wraithworld, and a trickle of colonists came and went, and Paul
Sanders landed one day and erected the Castle Cloud so the public might safely
visit the mysterious planet of the wraiths.
And there were other deaths, and other disappear

ances, and many people claimed to catch brief glimpses of wraiths prowling
through the mists. And then someone found the ruins. Just tumbled stone
blocks, now. But once, structures of some sort. The homes of the wraiths,
people said.
There was evidence, I thought. And some of it was hard to deny. But
Dubowski was shaking his head vigorously.
"The Gregor affair proves nothing," he said. "You know as well as I this
planet has never been explored thoroughly. Especially the plains area, where
Gregor's ship put down. It was probably some sort of animal that killed that
man. A rare animal of some sort native to that area."
"What about the testimony of his partner?" Sanders asked.
"Hysteria, pure and simple."
"The other sightings? There have been an awful lot of them. And the
witnesses weren't always hysterical."
"Proves nothing," Dubowski said, shaking his head. "Back on Earth,
plenty of people still claim to have seen ghosts and flying saucers. And here,
with those damned mists, mistakes and hallucinations are naturally even
easier."
 He jabbed at Sanders with the knife he was using to butter a biscuit.
"It's these mists that foul up everything. The wraith myth would have died
long ago without the mists. Up to now, no one has had the equipment or the
money to conduct a really thorough investigation. But we do. And we will.
We'll get the truth once and for all."
Sanders grimaced. "If you don't get yourself killed first. The wraiths
may not like being investigated."
"I don't understand you, Sanders," Dubowski said. "If you're so afraid
of the wraiths and so convinced that they're down there prowling about, why
have you lived here so long?"
"Castle Cloud was built with safeguards," Sanders
said. "The brochure we send prospective guests describes them. No one is in
danger here. For one thing, the wraiths won't come out of the mists. And we're
in sunlight most of the day. But it's a different story down in the valleys."
"That's superstitious nonsense. If I had to guess, I'd say these mist
wraiths of yours were nothing but transplanted Earth ghosts. Phantoms of
someone's imagination. But I won't guess-I'll wait until the results are in.
Then we'll see. If they are real, they won't be able to hide from us."
Sanders looked over at me. "What about you? Do you agree with him?"
"I'm a journalist," I said carefully. "I'm just here to cover what