by Dan Simmons
“No, look,” said Kassad. He pointed to a point above the mountain peaks where blackness obliterated the stars. Lightning exploded along the false horizon, illuminating icefields and glaciers.
“Only a storm,” he said.
They resumed their trek across vermilion sands. The Consul found himself straining to make out the shape of a figure near the Tombs or at the head of the valley. He was certain beyond all certainty that something awaited them there… that it awaited.
“Look at that,” said Brawne Lamia, her whisper almost lost in the wind.
The Time Tombs were glowing. What the Consul had first taken to be light reflected from above was not.
Each Tomb glowed a different hue and each was clearly visible now, the glow brightening, the Tombs receding far back into the darkness of the valley. The air smelled of ozone.
“Is that a common phenomenon?” asked Father Hoyt, his voice thin.
The Consul shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“It had never been reported at the time Rachel came to study the Tombs,” said Sol Weintraub. He began to hum the low tune as the group started forward again through shifting sands.
They paused at the head of the valley. Soft dunes gave way to rock and ink-black shadows at the swale which led down to the glowing Tombs. No one led the way. No one spoke. The Consul felt his heart beating wildly against his ribs. Worse than fear or knowledge of what lay below was the blackness of spirit which seemed to have come into him on the wind, chilling him and making him want to run screaming toward the hills from which they had come.
The Consul turned to Sol Weintraub. “What’s that tune you’re singing to Rachel?”
The scholar forced a grin and scratched his short beard. “It’s from an ancient flat film. Pre-Hegira. Hell, it’s pre-everything.”
“Let’s hear it,” said Brawne Lamia, understanding what the Consul was doing. Her face was very pale.
Weintraub sang it, his voice thin and barely audible at first. But the tune was forceful and oddly compelling.
Father Hoyt uncradled the balalaika and played along, the notes gaining confidence.
Brawne Lamia laughed. Martin Silenus said in awe, “My God, I used to sing this in my childhood. It’s ancient.”
“But who is the wizard?” asked Colonel Kassad, the amplified voice through his helmet oddly amusing in this context.
“And what is Oz?” asked Lamia.
“And just who is off to see this wizard?” asked the Consul, feeling the black panic in him fade ever so slightly.
Sol Weintraub paused and tried to answer their questions, explaining the plot of a flat film which had been dust for centuries.
“Never mind,” said Brawne Lamia. “You can tell us later. Just sing it again.”
Behind them, the darkness had engulfed the mountains as the storm swept down and across the moors toward them. The sky continued to bleed light but now the eastern horizon had paled slightly more than the rest. The dead city glowed to their left like stone teeth.
Brawne Lamia took the lead again. Sol Weintraub sang more loudly, Rachel wiggling in delight. Lenar Hoyt threw back his cape so as to better play the balalaika. Martin Silenus threw an empty bottle far out onto the sands and sang along, his deep voice surprisingly strong and pleasant above the wind.
Fedmahn Kassad pushed up his visor, shouldered his weapon, and joined in the chorus. The Consul started to sing, thought about the absurd lyrics, laughed aloud, and started again.
Just where the darkness began, the trail broadened.
The Consul moved to his right, Kassad joining him, Sol Weintraub filling the gap, so that instead of a single-file procession, the six adults were walking abreast. Brawne Lamia took Silenus’s hand in hers, joined hands with Sol on the other side.
Still singing loudly, not looking back, matching stride for stride, they descended into the valley.
FB2 document info
Document ID: 6462ab66-04ef-40c2-86f2-a063a0a06479
Document version: 1.21
Document creation date: 29.07.2002
Created using: doc2fb, FB Tools, FB Editor v2.0, FB Editor v2.3 software
Document authors :
Haali
Source URLs :
http://artefact.lib.ru/
Document history:
v. 1.1 – some improvements done, coverpage added. 07.08.2006
v. 1.2, 1.21 – вычитка, KillerBeer
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