"Clark Ashton Smith - Marooned in Andromeda" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Clark Ashton)

"We are now approaching Delta Andromedae," the voice announced. "It
has a planetary system, for two worlds have already been sighted. We shall
make a landing, and put you off on the nearest one, in about two hours."

The mutineers felt a sense of comparative relief. Anything, even
sudden death from the inhalation of some irrespirable atmosphere, would be
better than the long confinement. Stoically, like condemned criminals, they
prepared themselves for the fatal plunge into the unknown.

The black minutes ebbed away, and then the electric lights were turned
on. The door opened, and Jasper came in. He removed the bonds of the three
men in silence; then he retired, and the door was locked upon them for the
last time.

They were aware, somehow, that the flier had slackened its speed. They
tried to stand up, with their stiffened limbs, and found it hard to
maintain their equilibrium, for they had long been habituated to a rate of
movement far beyond that of any cosmic body. Then they were aware that the
vessel had stopped: there was a sudden jolt that flung them against the
wall, and a cessation of the engines' eternal drone. The silence was very
strange, for the throbbing of the great electromagnetic motors had long
been as familiar to them as the beating of their own blood.

The manhole opened with a harsh, metallic screech, and there was a
faint glimmering of bluish-green light from without. Then there came a gust
of acrid air, and a waft of indescribable smells that were unlike anything
on earth. The mutineers heard the voice of Volmar once more:

"Out with you -- and make it quick. I've no more time to waste on
rubbish."

Holding his breath, Roverton approached the manhole, crawled through,
and climbed down the steel ladder that ran along the outer side of the
flier. The others followed him in turn. They could see little, for
apparently it was night in the new world on which they were being landed.
They seemed to hang over an indefinite abyss with no bottom, but on
reaching the end of the ladder, they found solid earth beneath their feet.
The air, though sharp and unpleasant to the nostrils, was apparently
breathable. They took a few careful steps, keeping close together, on a
surface that was smooth and level to their tread. While they were trying to
adjust their senses to the dim surrounding, they saw the vague bulk of the
flier begin to move, and then heard the prodigious roar of its ascent to
the skies.

"Marooned!" said Roverton, with a short laugh. "Well, there's one safe
bet -- we're the first mutineers who have ever been put off in Andromeda. I
vote that we make the most of the experience. The air hasn't killed us yet,
so evidently it contains a proportion of hydrogen and oxygen not too
dissimilar from that of the earth's atmosphere. And, with such air, there
is a good chance of finding plant-life, or even animal-life, of types that