"Michael Kane - 01 - Warriors Of Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

I expressed my sympathy and did not feel the
time right to ask what the Argzoon or Blue Giants
were. She was evidently deeply moved by the
memory of the loss of her father, but showed great
self-control in refusing to burden someone else
with her grief.

I felt immediately like trying to offer her some
comfort. But, considering I knew nothing of the
moral code and customs of her people, that might
perhaps have been disastrous.

She touched her circlet. "We only need to wear
these for the time being. The Sheev have given us
another machine which should be able to teach
you our spoken language."

We conversed a little longer and I learned much
of MarsЧor Vashu, as I was already beginning to
think of it.

There were many nations on Mars, some friendly
towards the Kanala, some not. They all spoke rec-
ognizable versions of the same root language. This
is supposedly true of EarthЧthat our language was
originally a common one; but in our case the
changes have been extreme. This was not the case,
I learned, on Vashu.

Mars's seas still existed, Shizala told me, though
apparently they were not so vast as Earth's. Varnal,
capital of the Karnala nation, was one of a number
of countries, with rather hazily defined borders,
which existed on a large land-mass bigger, but in

roughly the same geographical position, than the
whole of the American continent.

Travel was effected in two main ways. Most or-
dinary travel relied on the dahara, a riding and
carriage beast of great strength and endurance. But
many nations had a few aircraft. As far as I could
make out, these relied on atomicsЧwhich none of
the Vashu peoples understood. These had not been
gifts of the Sheev, I learned, but must once have
belonged to the Sheev. They were incredibly an-
cient by all accounts and could not be replaced
when destroyed. Thus they were only used in
emergencies. There were also ships incorporating