"Rog Phillips - The Old Martians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Phillips Rog)

 THE GUIDE began herding the tourists back to the bus. I mingled with the crowd, and when Dotty
and Herb climbed aboard I managed to stick close to them.
"Where'd you two go to?" the man in the pith helmet called from where he was sitting. "Stick close to
me. I put a new role in the camera. At the next place I want to get some shots of both of you together."
"All right, George," Dotty said obediently.
She and Herb were forced to find separate seats. They would do no talking, so I faced around and
studied the three alternately. The man in the pith helmet, George, was a normal blend; totally
unconcerned about his reactions on others so long as he could pursue his hobby.
The bus detoured a roped-off area in the center of the ancient city, the part considered too
dangerous because of cave-in possibilities, and made its way out to the northern edge of ruins to the part
that resembled the ancient cemeteries on Earth. The only major difference was that there were no
remains under the evenly spaced stones. There was some doubt that it had been a cemetery. But the
guide announced it as one. And that announcement as the bus came to a stop had a pronounced effect on
Herb. He began his fluttery elbow movements again and looked around at Dotty with a triumphant smile.
I moved up quickly to keep him in earshot.



He protested when George insisted on taking camera shots, then gave in and cooperated in order to
get it over with.
Finally George snapped his camera shut. Herb mumbled something to Dotty that I didn't catch, and
started down one of the lanes between rows of stones as though headed for a definite goal.
I couldn't very well follow after they left the main group. It would have been obvious. Instead, I
veered off to one side, gambling that when they reached their destination I would be able to read their
lips.
I got well away from stragglers and took out my mirroscope, pointing it off in the distance and
swinging the objective lens around until it centered on them. I was lucky. They were facing in my
direction.
"It isn't a cemetery," Herb was saying with emphatic motions of his hands. "It was a parking area, and
this stone was where I parked my airsled. I can remember it as though it were yesterday."
I had to admire the man's subconscious. It was a remarkably shrewd guess. The experts wouldn't
play along with it, but they would probably never be able to prove him wrong on that count. But Dotty
was arguing with him. "How can you prove it was a parking area?" Her eyes roamed over the large field
with its regularly spaced stones. "It certainly looks impractical for a parking lot."
"Just the same, that's what it was. I wish I had a shovel here. I seem to remember burying something
near my stone. If I could find that it would prove I really remember."
"Why don't you forget it?" Dotty pleaded. "After all, even if it were true, what does it matter now?"
"It matters to me. Ever since we arrived here I've seen familiar things. Too familiar to be coincidence.
I never felt this way before. I always considered reincarnation as ancient superstitious belief, just like
everyone else. But not any more. I know. I lived here when all this was new."
"But can't you just be satisfied to feel that you did and let it go at that?" Dotty asked. "I'm afraid of
what they would do to you if they found out what you're thinking."
"Hah!" Herb snorted. "I have a feeling that before we leave Mars I'll be able to prove it to them.
Somewhere in this city is something that only I know exists. It's hidden under stones that haven't been
disturbed since man first set foot on the planet. It isn't entirely clear yet, but it will comeтАФit will come.
Then I'll make them listen. They'll dig, and they'll find what I say is there. You wait and see."
"They'll lock you up, darling," Dotty said. "They won't believe you."
The guide was calling everyone back to the bus. I watched Herb scowl fiercely at the stone marker
that he believed to have been his, open, his mouth to say something, then turn away so that his lips were
out of sight. Regretfully I put the rnirroscope away and went back to the bus.