"Jean Marie Stine - Future Eves" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stine Jean Marie)

Hurrying in to Geble, Yabo told her what the Detaxalan had said. Geble was reclining
on her couch and did not bother to raise herself.
"Childish prattle," she conceded and withdrew her red eyes on their movable stems
into their pockets, paying no more heed to the threats of the men from Detaxal.
I, however, could not be as calm as my mother, and I was fearful that it was not
childish prattle after all. Not knowing how long ten hours might be I did not wait, but
crept up to the palace's beam station and set its dials so that the entire building and
as much of the surrounding territory as it could cover were protected in the force
zone.
Alas, that the same beam was not greater. But it had not been put there for defense,
only for matter transference and whatever other peacetime methods we used. It was
the means of proving just the same that it was also a very good defensive instrument,
for just two ous later the hovering ships above let loose their powers of destruction,
heavy explosives that entirely demolished all of Tola and its millions of people and
only the palace royal of all that beauty was left standing!
Awakened from her nap by the terrific detonation, Geble came hurriedly to a window
to view the ruin, and she was wild with grief at what she saw. Geble, however, saw
that there was urgent need for action. She knew without my telling her what I had
done to protect the palace. And though she showed no sign of appreciation, I knew
that I had won a greater place in her regard than any other of her many daughters and
would henceforth be her favorite as well as her successor.
Now, with me behind her, she hurried to the beam station and in a twinkling we were
both in Tubia, the second greatest city of that time. Nor were we to be caught
napping again, for Geble ordered all beam stations to throw out their zone forces
while she herself manipulated one of Tubia's greatest power beams, attuning it to the
emanations of the two Detaxalan flyers. In less than an ous the two ships were seen
through the mists heading for Tubia. For a moment I grew fearful, but on realizing
that they were after all in our grip, and the attractors held every living thing powerless
against movement, I grew calm and watched them come over the city and the beam
pull them to the ground.
With the beam still upon them, they lay supine on the ground without motion.
Descending to the square Geble called for Ray C, and when the machine arrived she
herself directed the cutting of the hole in the side of the flyer and was the first to
enter it with me immediately behind, as usual.
We were both astounded by what we saw of the great array of machinery within. But
a glance told Geble all she wanted to know of their principles. She interested herself
only in the men standing rigidly in whatever position our beam had caught them.
Only the eyes of the creatures expressed their fright, poor things, unable to move so
much as a hair while we moved among them untouched by the power of the beam
because of the strength of our own minds.
They could have fought against it if they had known how, but their simple minds
were too weak for such exercise.
Now glancing about among the stiff forms around us, of which there were one
thousand, Geble picked out those of the males she desired for observation,
choosing those she judged to be their finest specimens, those with much hair on their
faces and having more girth than the others. These she ordered removed by several
workers who followed us, and then we emerged again to the outdoors.
Using hand beam torches the picked specimens were kept immobile after they were
out of reach of the greater beam and were borne into the laboratory of the building
Geble had converted into her new palace. Geble and I followed, and she gave the