"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 11 - Zenya" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

her time in such a place.

Dumarest turned another page. The volume was the log of
some old vessel, boring in its listing of minutiae, devoid of the
information he sought. He closed it, added it to a pile of others,
and took the entire heap to a desk where a woman checked them
against a card.

Smiling, she said, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No."

"I'm sorry." Her voice held genuine regret. I'm afraid they are
the oldest logs we possess. There is another, that of the Merle—a
trading vessel which touched on several worlds. It is of interest
because the ship encountered an electronic storm which threw it
far from its designated path. Perhaps…?"

"Thank you, but no." Dumarest returned the smile. "What I
am looking for is something much earlier. A log made at the
time when navigational tables were not as they are now. Or a set
of tables as used before the present system became established.
Apparently you have nothing like that."

"No," she admitted reluctantly, "we haven't. But would such
tables exist? I know little about spacial navigation, but surely the
tables used now are the same as they have always been?"

"Perhaps, but I was hoping…" Dumarest broke off, shrugging.
"Well, it doesn't matter. It was a thin hope at best."
 But one which had to be investigated. Old logs read and
records searched, as he had done before on too many worlds.
Books, microfilms, all examined and crosschecked, to be finally
discarded as valueless to his search. And yet, somewhere, had to
be the answer.

The woman said, "I have no wish to be curious, but if you
could tell me just what it is you are looking for, I might be able
to help."

"A place. A world," said Dumarest. He added bleakly, "You
would call it a legend."

"Legendary worlds?" She frowned, thinking. "I'm sure that we
have something in that field. A volume compiled by an old
scholar. His name is… ?" The frown deepened. "Sazy… Dazym
Negaso! That's the one! He spent a lifetime correlating old
myths. I'm sure the book would contain the information you are
looking for. I could find it if you would care to wait."