"George Zebrowski - Stranger Suns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zebrowski George)

Summet and Dovzhenko came back with six small packs, wearing their own, and carrying four others.
“We'll leave one here,” Summet said, dropping two at Juan's feet.

“You're both coming with us?” Juan asked, noticing the exasperated look on Dovzhenko's face as he put
down the two he had carried in.

Summet nodded. “There's an automatic in each pack. Keep it handy. We don't know what's in here."

Juan disliked weapons, but he strapped it on. Lena looked at hers as if it were a jawbone club, then
slipped it into her thigh pocket. Rassmussen took his out, checked the safety, and put it back.

Summet gestured to Juan as Florman's men left. “You lead."

Juan went around the well and started down the next turn in the descending spiral. After a few moments
he again heard the strange whispers, and glanced back. Lena's eyes darted nervously. Magnus frowned.
Summet and Dovzhenko suddenly stopped.

“Do you hear that?” Summet asked.

They all listened. A whine rose up from the silence.

“I hear it,” Dovzhenko said.

Juan imagined a snakelike vehicle slipping up through the corkscrew passage. “Clear the way!” he
shouted, moving to his right. As he turned and pressed back against the wall, it yielded behind him. He
stumbled back—

—into a brightly lit room.

The harsh white light blinded him as he fell back on his pack. He rolled over and squinted as he pushed
against the floor with his gloved hands, then slowly got to his knees.

Around him stood objects that looked like cabinets, and benchlike structures of various sizes. Suddenly
the ceiling glowed red. He began to sweat in his parka. Then the ceiling faded back to white and cool air
rushed in around him.

He took a deep breath and stepped toward the wall, looking for the entrance. A bright red oval
appeared, and the wall seemed to lose its solidity. He held out his arms, marched into the glow—

—and stepped through into the winding passage.

“Juan!” Lena shouted with relief.

“I'm okay,” he said as they gathered around him and watched the portal fade away. He stepped toward
the oval indentation. Faithfully, it glowed again, a graceful, fluid entranceway that engineers and architects
might dream about; but if the past had accomplished all this, he thought, then the present was a time of
decline.
“No further,” Summet announced. “We'll get specialized teams in here. What happened in there?"