"Jack Williamson - The Ultimate Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williamson Jack)

ourselves, you see, more than we’ve engineered the Earth.”
Casey turned to look out across the shadowed craters at
the huge globe of Earth, the green Americas blazing on the
8
 The Ultimate Earth
by Jack Williamson


sunlit face, Europe and Africa only a shadow against the dark.
He stood there a long time and came slowly back to stand in
front of Uncle Pen.
“I’m going down to see the new Earth when I grow up.”
His face set stubbornly. “No matter what you say.”
“Are you growing wings?” Uncle Pen laughed and reached
a golden arm to pat him on the head. “If you didn’t know, the
impact smashed all your old rocket craft to junk.”
He drew quickly back.
“Really, my boy, you do belong here.” Seeing his hurt,
Uncle Pen spoke more gently. “You were cloned for your work
here at the station. A job that ought to make you proud.”
Casey made an angry swipe across his eyes with the back
of his hand and swallowed hard, but he kept his voice even.
“Maybe so. But where’s any danger now?”
Uncle Pen had an odd look. He took a long moment to
answer.
“We are not aware of any actual threat from another
impacting bolide. All the asteroids that used to approach
Earth’s orbit have been diverted, most of them steered into
the Sun.”
“So?” Casey’s dark chin had a defiant jut. “Why did you
want to dig us up?”
“For history.” Uncle Pen looked away from us, up at the
huge, far-off Earth. “I hope you’re try to understand what
that means. The resurfaced Earth had lost nearly every trace
of our beginning. Historians were trying to prove that we had
evolved on some other planet and migrated here. Tycho


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 The Ultimate Earth
by Jack Williamson


Station is proof that Earth is the actual mother world. I’ve
found our roots here under the rubble.”
“I guess you can be proud of that,” Casey said, “but who
needs the station now?”
“Nobody, really.” He shrugged, with an odd little twist of
his golden lips, and I thought he felt sorry for Casey. “If
another disaster did strike the Earth, which isn’t likely at all, it