"Wilson, Richard - Transitory Island" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Richard)

depths of the ocean"--dead."
The captain was desolated. But it must be understood that his nation was at
war--and that the sight of an airplane refueling from a submarine, in restricted
waters moreover, was certainly to be considered highly suspicious.
"It wasn't a submarine," said Doug, leaning weakly against the rail and
disinterestedly watching the steel globe that had brought him to the surface bob
out of sight in the wake of the man o' war.
Brows wrinkled in amazement. "Then, please, what was it?" asked the Englishman.
"That's something you'll have to ask Mr. Hayes," said Doug. "He's the only one
of us with a scientific mind." He wondered whether the sphere had been flooded.
He hoped not. Those robots were almost human; certainly they were likeable. But
their--masters? Although he was not cold, Doug shuddered. For a moment he saw
those staring white eyes again, and he was afraid.
"Very well," agreed the captain. "We shall ask Mr. Hayes. Soon the doctor will
have him conscious again."
But when the soft-spoken doctor admitted Doug Pelton and the captain to the
cabin only a poor mockery of Charlie Hayes lay there on the bed. Merely the
shell of a man, who stared vacantly at nothing and repeated, in an awful
whisper:
"The eyes . . . the eyes!"
THAT NIGHT, as Doug Pelton lay unable to sleep in his cabin, looking out the
porthole, he thought he saw a great silver meteor flash across the sky and
disappear--upward.
But he was not sure.