"Robert F. Young - The Quality of Mercy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

the
quality
of
mercy
by ... Robert F. Young

Men may stand as children before the most weighty event in human history. But
on Mars in the days of its glory Orlinne stood as a man.

We have never before said of any story appearing in these pages that the writing itself, with
all the elusive qualities inherent in its inmost texture, bore the unmistakable stamp of genius. It is
a daring statement, and we hesitate to make it now. But this is certainly Robert Young's finest
story, and so lyrically splendid have been his contributions in the past that we may perhaps be
forgiven for feeling about him as we do, and for believing that the great pleasure he has given us
will be widely shared.

THE ROMANTICS had been right after all. There had once been life on Mars, and the memorials
of its splendor were buried deep in the rust red sands, and seemed to hover still like ghostly presences
over dead cities and blue canals. There were dead sea bottoms too, and eroded hills, and there was even
an atmosphereтАФdeficient in oxygen content of course, but bearable enough if you had to breathe it.
One of the cities was better preserved than the others and it was in the middle of its central plaza that
Captain Farrell had brought the life raft down. He stood now with his crew of twoтАФLieutenants Tanner
and BinnsтАФstaring at the mysterious and exotic buildings that rose like pink cliffs into the cloudless
purple sky, listening to the tinkling of the wind among the glass leaves of the crystal trees that lined the
white stone streets.
After a century of hopes and dreams, Marsfall was a reality. An unpleasant reality.
The three men shivered in the raw wind. It had not been enough for them to go down in human
history as the first Earthmen to reach Mars. Their fame would not stop there. They would also go down
in history as the first Earthmen to die on Mars.
The life raft carried enough provisions for a week, and by careful rationing they could eke out their
lives for a month. But a month was not nearly long enough. It would be many months, perhaps years,
before the second ship arrived, and even if by some miracle it did arrive in time, there was no assurance
that it would fare any better than had the first ship. There was a quality in the Martian atmosphere that
was unkind to atomic drives, that precipitated wholesale disintegration of metal.
Presently the captain said: "Let's take a look around."
Tanner and Binns nodded and the three men started moving away from the raft. They walked
unsteadily in the tenuous gravity, stumbling on the glac├йed surface of the ancient plaza. Desolation was
everywhere.
"Wonder what killed them," Tanner said.
"Probably they starved to death," the captain replied. "There isn't an ounce of topsoil on the whole
planet."
 "From the looks of the buildings they've been dead for centuries," Tanner mused.
"A good two thousand years," the captain agreed. "Even their bones have turned to dust."
"And blown away." Tanner shuddered in the wind, tightened the hood of his parka around his blunt
face.
They came to one of the buildings and paused. Pink rubble choked its ornate entrance, and cracks
and fissures zig-zagged up and down its elaborate facade. Its narrow windows were sad staring eyes.
"Ozymandias," the captain said.
Binns was standing beside him. "Beg pardon, sir?"
"Never mind. It's a poor analogyтАФfrom Shelley. I don't think it was like that with them."