"Edmond Hamilton - Doomstar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

for that portion of the sweep. We pinpointed the source of emission and made very exhaustive studies.
Very exhaus-tive, Mr. Kettrick, very careful. The small star had suddenly become lethal."
Takinu paused, frowning, and Sekma spoke.
"What he's trying to find the layman's language for, John-ny, is the explanation of how a star might
suddenly, over-night, become deadly. How the solar processes might be changed, the cycle altered by
some interference with the chemical balance, so that the output of gamma radiation is increased until
every living thing on every planet of that star—if it had habitable planets—would be blasted out of
existence. I don't think you have to go into the physics of it, Takinu. I think Johnny will accept the fact
that it happened."
"That is not difficult to accept," said Takinu. "It is as you say, a fact, demonstrable, actual,
unarguable. What he may not so easily accept is our speculation as to the cause of this fact."
His haunted eyes lingered on Kettrick, and now there was no doubt about the shadow. It was fear.
"I did not rely on my own judgment alone. I communi-cated with my old friend and respected
colleague, Dr. Smith, of your Lunar Observatory." Takinu gestured to Smith and said in lingua franca,
"It is your story now."
Smith said, "I made my own observations. Our instruments had of course detected the same
aberration. My findings agree in every respect with those of Dr. Takinu."
There was a moment of complete silence in the library. Not really silence, because Kettrick's
stretched nerves were aware of every small rustle of cloth and whisper of breath-ing, the preternaturally
loud noises of burning from the hearth. Then Smith said, completely without dramatics: "We do not
believe that the phenomenon was a natural one."
Now again there was silence, and everybody seemed to be waiting for Kettrick to say something.
Instead it was Sekma who spoke, in the lingua franca so that everybody could understand him.
"I'll make it plainer, Johnny. Somebody did it. Somebody has found the way to poison a star."
"You were always a hard-headed man," said Kettrick slowly. "Damned hard, as I know to my
sorrow. Dr. Takinu and Dr. Smith have their particular reasons for believing this unbelievable thing. What
are yours?"
"Talk," said Sekma. "Rumors. Myths. Whispers. In my business I hear them. On a dozen planets,
Johnny—not much, just here a word and there a word, sometimes in a city dive, sometimes at a jungle
fire, but the word was an odd one and always the same. The word was Doomstar."
He let the word hang in the air for a moment, and Ket-trick heard it like the solemn clang of a distant
bell.
"I don't put too much faith in talk," said Sekma. "Any creature, human, semihuman, or nonhuman,
with an articu-late tongue, can be depended on to wag it, and most of them prefer marvels to cold truth
any day of their lives. But when I read Takinu's report, the coincidence was just a little too much to
accept."
Kettrick thought about it. "How did the tongue-waggers react to the news that an actual Doomstar
had appeared?"
"Well, that's the odd part of it. They never knew it had. The occurrence was so obscure that only
astronomers could be aware of it, and most of them would pass it by as a natural accident."
"Wouldn't it be simpler," said Kettrick, "to assume that it is just that?"
"Oh, much simpler, Johnny. Yes. But suppose it isn't. Sup-pose there is, say, only one chance in a
million that it isn't." He smiled at Kettrick, a smile that had in it very little humor. "To quote one of your
great poets, I am myself indifferent honest. But supposing you knew, or thought, that I might just
possibly have in my hands the power to poison your sun. Would you sleep easily of nights?"
Kettrick nodded. "All right, I won't argue that." After a minute he said, "I won't argue that at all. My
God, what blackmail! One demonstration, announced and carried through, and every solar system in the
Hyades would be cringing at your feet."
"And no need to stop with the Hyades," said Sekma.
Kettrick frowned and shook his head. "But there wasn't one. A demonstration would be a necessity,