"Harry Harrison - Planet Of No Return" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

Hartig stopped, frozen, one gloved hand clutching

16

PLANET OF NO RETURN

the jagged rim of metal around the opening. Had he heard something? With
careful motions he raised the gain on his external microphone. But all he
could hear now was the wind sighing through the metal skeletons. Nothing else.
He listened for awhile, then shrugged and turned to climb through the gaping
wound into the machine.

With startling suddenness a distant mechanical clanking echoed from the metal
corpses of the battlefield. Hartig turned and dropped, his gun pointing and
ready.

"There's something out there, moving. Can't see it yet—but I can hear it
clearly enough. I've switched the external mike to this circuit so the sound
will be recorded too. It's getting louder, wheels, treads maybe, squeaking and
clanking. A machine . . . there!"

With a crash of metal against metal the thing appeared from among the ruined
machines. It was smaller than most of the others, no more than five yards
long, and hurtled along with frightening speed. Smoothly black and sinister.
Hartig raised his gun, then eased his finger from the trigger when he saw that
it was turning away from him. Twisting about and accelerating at the same
time.

"It's heading towards my landing ship! It may have detected it when I sat
down. Found it by radiation, radar, something. I'm using my remote unit to set
all the defenses aboard. As soon as that thing gets within range it will be
blasted . . . there!"

Explosion after explosion sounded as the rapid-fire guns aboard the lifeship
poured out their deadly fire. The ground shook and fragments of rock and

One Man Alone

17

dirt where hurled into the air. The guns stopped_ and in an instant began
firing again as the machine emerged from the dust. Apparently unharmed.

"That thing is fast and tough, but the primaries will get it . .

An even greater explosion shook the ground, clanging .through the metal walls
around him; a shower of red dust floated down. Hartig stared out, frozen, then
began talking again in a toneless voice.