"Severna Park - The Three Unknowns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Park Severna)

There were no other archaeological sites on Mars. She concentrated on her feet as they slipped on dark
tiles.
"I don't mean the Martian site," he said. "I'm talking about the one on Neznaiyu."

She tripped. He caught her arm. She pulled away, spun with the weight of her pack, almost fell, and
steadied herself against the freezing concrete wall. She scowled at him to hide her surprise, but he could
probably see in this stupid darkness the same way he could keep his balance in this stupid gravity.

"There's no site on Neznaiyu," Althea lied.

"No?" said Rowanoake.

How the hell could he know? There were always rumors about what a probe had found here or there,
but the ruins on Neznaiyu were a secret. The government had created a special office for security and
oversight of the entire planet. The only reason she and her department had been shown the footage was
so they could give their august opinions. Then they'd been sworn to secrecy and warned in no uncertain
terms against any slips. She shook her head with all the cynical authority she could muster. "Pretty
flowers. Big trees. Waterfalls. It's a biologist's paradise, but that's all."

He gave her a look she couldn't quite interpret in the dimness. "I ran the ship that dropped off the robot
probes," he said in a low voice. "I took them to Pluto's apogee and kissed them goodbye. They don't
send you that far without a full briefing." He raised an eyebrow. "I still have a level-four clearance. I've
seen the footage. There's a village in ruins. I think they must have shown you that. Did they show you the
obelisk?"

"Obelisk?"

"It's in the middle of everything, like the town square. It's a big white column."

All she'd been allowed to see were the collapsed walls, the pretty flowers, the trees. Obviously her
clearance didn't match his. She didn't say anything.

"The column has writing on it," said Rowanoake.

Her heart made a huge and painful thud. "Writing?"

"Next time we see each other, maybe I'll show you my pictures." He gave her an unmistakable smirk,
turned and loped back down the corridor. When he was gone, she turned the other way and blundered
down the freezing hallway, searching for the Western Exit.




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When she finally found it, a sand tractor was waiting outside in a pressurized vehicle shelter. A side portal
opened, and she climbed into the cab. It was warm and smelled of coffee, and there was a young man at
the wheel.
"I'm Jeff," said the young man. The skin around his nose and mouth was pocked with acne from wearing