"Donald Westlake - SH6 - Here's Looking At You" - читать интересную книгу автора (Westlake Donald E)

Billy said, тАЬForty colonists and only thirty-seven graves? How come, do you
suppose?тАЭ
тАЬWell,тАЭ Ensign Benson said, being uncharacteristically patient with Billy, his
natural animosity softened by the presence of all those headstones, тАЬI suppose there
wasnтАЩt anybody around to bury the last one, and the other two could have died away
from the colony. After five hundred years, you know, Billy, theyтАЩd all be gone by
now, anyway.тАЭ
тАЬI guess so,тАЭ Billy said, nodding but glancing surreptitiously toward the
horizon.
Councilman Luthguster pointed at something beyond the cemetery, farther from
the ship. тАЬIs that some sort of ruin?тАЭ
It was. They approached it and found that it was at the crest of a low fold in
the land, with more ruins on the slope down from them. Crumbled remnants of
poured quasi-parquet flooring, stubby bits of pseudostone wall, the entire area
scattered with artifacts of domesticity: pots, coat hangers, plastic picture frames.
During 500 years of neglect, accumulated rust, wind and dirt had gnawed at the husk
of the fledgling colony, working tirelessly to make it unexist, coming closer to that
goal with every passing year.
At the bottom of the fold in the terrain, among coatless buttons and doorless
handles, the crew found a sturdy metal footlocker half-buried in the earth; buried
deeper on one side, indicating the direction of the prevailing wind. The lockerтАЩs
catches were closed, but it wasnтАЩt padlocked. Inside were sheets of paper that had
all but rotted away, photos faded to a nearly uniform beige and what looked like a
video tape, but not of a sort Ensign Benson had ever seen. Picking it up, removing
the cassette from its metal box, he showed it to Hester, saying, тАЬAny idea what this
is?тАЭ
тАЬIf thatтАЩs a tape,тАЭ Hester commented, тАЬitтАЩs goddam old.тАЭ
тАЬHester,тАЭ the ensign said, тАЬif itтАЩs anything in this forsaken place, itтАЩs goddam
old.тАЭ
тАЬWell, thatтАЩs true,тАЭ Hester admitted. She took the cassette from the ensignтАЩs
hands and studied it. тАЬTape seems all right,тАЭ she said, тАЬbut we donтАЩt have anything
to play this on.тАЭ
 тАЬThen it doesnтАЩt matter if itтАЩs all right or not,тАЭ the ensign pointed out.
тАЬWell, IтАЩm wondering,тАЭ she said, turning the cassette in her hands, тАЬif I could
adapt it. If you read this tape the same way our machine does, with a laser, with the
same kind of laser, maybe I could rewind it or something, fix the machine to take
it.тАЭ She turned. тАЬCaptain?тАЭ
Captain Standforth guiltily looked down from the skies. тАЬYes, Hester?тАЭ
тАЬWant me to see if I can play this tape?тАЭ
тАЬExcellent idea,тАЭ the captain told her.


For two days, while the rest of the crew roamed and searched the surrounding
area, collecting basketfuls of detritus and trash, examining remnants and ruins,
learning nothing, Hester struggled with the ancient tape. тАЬItтАЩs impossible,тАЭ she
would announce at every meal, smudges of machine oil on cheeks and knuckles, the
banked fires of frustration in her eyes. Sometimes it was impossible because the
tape was not scanned in the way the machine knew how to scan; sometimes it was
because the speed of the tape was unknown and d unknowable; sometimes it was
because of incompatibilities at the magnetic or the electronic or simply the physical