"Severna Park - The Three Unknowns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Park Severna)

Roger lowered his voice, as though this would make a difference on an open radio channel. "I have what
you might call an exclusive," he said. "They found a column sort of thing, like an obelisk in the middle of
a town sort of thing."

Althea gave Hoshi a sidewise glance. Hoshi just blinked inside her helmet. Did everyone know? "Oh.
That."

"The International Science Foundation's sending a research team to Neznaiyu in three months," said
Roger. "Mostly biologists, but they've put a call out for archaeological applicants." He raised an eyebrow
at Althea.

Althea laughed, but she felt her heart speed up. "Wouldn't they have to freeze you for twenty-five years?
Last I heard they were still putting rats in cryosleep—not people."

"You're way behind!" said Roger. "Didn't you see my report? They've been done with the rats for
months. I even let them put me under for a couple of weeks. A little chilly to begin with, but it was fine
once I lost consciousness." He winked at Hoshi. "It was supposed to be my vacation time, but I
convinced the network execs to call it research." Hoshi laughed, but Roger gave Althea another sly grin.
"Would you rather be here, or on an exotic planet with pretty scenery? I'd go." He winked at her and
bounded off to join the rest of his crew.

Althea angled her head at Hoshi. "Does he know anything about …?" She tapped one finger with the
other to indicate the bone.

"No," said Hoshi. "Did you get a chance to look through the notes?"

"Show me 34L."

"It's this way."

Hoshi led her along one side of the excavation. Every trench was sheeted in thin plastic, neatly gridded
with nylon cord. On Earth the trenches would have been bridged by wooden planks. Here there were
lightweight aluminum catwalks that looked more like ladders, light enough to quiver in the wind. Hoshi
stepped onto one, surefooted and confident. Althea hesitated and shuffled after her. The catwalks had no
railings and were coated with red dust. They felt slippery and about as stable as a tightrope. Althea could
see herself falling into a meter-deep hole. She tottered after Hoshi, fists clenched, jaw tight, trying not to
windmill for balance. She was sweating even more by the time she stepped off the other end.

"You haven't found any machinery?" Althea panted.

"We haven't even found a spoon," said Hoshi. "It's like this place was stripped." She pointed down to the
bottom of the next trench. "That's 34L."

The plastic drapery in 34L had been removed, revealing more sloppy piles of stone pasted together with
mortar. Walls from two other grids joined there to create a corner. To the left, 33L had a door-like
opening. To the right, the wall in 35L meandered in crooked clumps until it reached the 40's.

Althea twisted as well as she could to find the reporters. "Can anyone hear us?"