"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 9 - The Omicron Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

and hiding at the sight of the car. Lady A ignored those distractions and drove on. Her reasoning was that
the people who ran and hid were not the people they were here to see. It was the invaders who boldly took
what they wanted that interested her.

Once an aircraft flew overhead, and for that they did stop. The six of them quickly piled out of the
car to catch a glimpse of the vessel as it flew past. It was a vehicle of a design none of them had ever seen
before, and they had little chance to see it now: It zipped by and over the horizon in just a few seconds. If
it had spotted them, it obviously was not interested.

The next town they came to was a virtual replay of the first—quiet, open, abandoned by its
citizens. There was no sign that any of the invaders had been here, but the townspeople had taken no
chances. They'd escaped while it was still possible from an enemy that showed no mercy.

They found some maps in the town and learned that they were now only a few kilometers outside
Barswell City. After a short conference, Jules and Lady A agreed it was in their interest to view some of
the damage from the initial bombardment firsthand. Even if the invaders weren't there, it would give some
indication of the unknown enemy's destructive capabilities. That would be most useful in devising any
military strategies for combating this menace.

It was Fortier who spotted the walking tower first. He saw it as a speck on the horizon—but it
moved, and that caught his peripheral vision. He pointed and the others looked, too—and Lady A
immediately swung the car off the road to pursue in that direction. The land around was relatively flat, so
the car had little trouble maneuvering through the fields. When they came to fences, Lady A drove
through at demon speeds, relentless in her pursuit of this promising object.

It was not until they got closer that they could appreciate the tower's size. It was built roughly like
an oil derrick, seven stories tall, with the metallic legs carrying it in great land-devouring strides. Atop the
derrick was a round, flattened plate like a circular observation deck. Some of its surface was white, while
other parts were reflective silver. It was impossible to see inside, but that didn't mean it was impossible to
see out.

"Not so close," Yvette cautioned. "We don't want them to spot us."

"From that height, if they haven't already seen us they're too blind for us to worry about," Lady A
replied as she drove with her customary abandon. "It's merely a question of whether they consider us
important enough to bother with."

"There's still no point in tempting them," Fortier said. "I've seen enough soldiers on patrol to know
that even if they don't consider us a threat, they might decide to use our car for target practice."

Lady A ignored the comment and drove on after the tower. The point quickly became moot,
however, as the car hit a patch of mud left over from the previous day's rain. The car skidded around in a
full-circle turn and one wheel became mired, spinning uselessly and throwing up great globs of mud.

By the time they all got out and freed the car once more, the tower was gone. There was hope for
a future encounter, though, since it had been headed directly into Barswell City where the team was
already going. They drove quickly back to the road and continued along their previous path, anticipating
their first close encounter with the enigmatic enemy.

The outskirts of Barswell City looked undamaged, but they too stood deserted. As the team drove