[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The situation was telling on the four men.The very inhumanity of theirPage 84ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlenemies, their uncanniness and, above all, their unknown potentialities madeit impossible for them to maintain the front they might have shown to normaldangers.Their minds seemed to alternate between contempt for mere undirectedmechanism, and an exaggerated fear of it.The predicament was getting on theirnerves.'Damn the things,' muttered the doctor.`I believe they know we're caught.They're only machines.They don't need food and drink, and if they need air atall, they've got enough.Standing there like that, using no fuel whatevertheir fuel may be they're good for a century if they like.We've got to movesooner or later and, damn them, they know we've got to move.''No good getting the wind up,' Dale advised curtly.'We can last a good manyhours yet.Something may happen before then.'Froud agreed.'A planet capable of producing things like that is capable ofmaking anything happen.How long is the night in these parts?''Not much longer than at home.We're pretty near the equator.'The first moon, Deimos, slid up from the ragged horizon, and the sand turnedsilver beneath it.The polished hull of the ship glittered under it, seemingtantalizingly close, but the rank of machines also gleamed, drawn across theway.The moonlight seemed to invest the metal shapes with a harsherrelentlessness, and the sharp shadows it cast from them were even more uncouththan the originals.The men lay silent, each racking his brains for a plan.Nearly two hours passed, and the night be came brighter still.'Lord, isn't that glorious?' Froud said.The second moon, the smaller Phobos, raced up the sky, rushing to overtakeDeimos.They looked up at it.'What a speed! You can see it go.'Dugan was the least impressed.'You'd show speed, too, if you had to do the round trip in seven and a halfhours,' he said practically.Dale rose suddenly to his feet.'I've had enough of this.I'm going to make a break for it.You can cover me.Those machines must have packed up for the night.They've not moved sincebefore sunset.'But he was wrong.He had gone less than a dozen yards before the rank stirred,clanking faintly in the thin air.He hesitated and advanced a further coupleof paces.'Come back,' Dugan called.'You'll never be able to rush it at that distance.'Dale recognized the truth of it.Even with the increased speed andagility which Mars gave he would not stand a chance of escaping all thetentacles which would grope for him.He turned reluctantly and came slowlyback.Phobos overtook its fellow moon and disappeared.Before long Deimos hadfollowed it round to the other side of the world.In the succeeding dimnessthe machines were scarcely distinguishable.The four men depended on theirPage 85ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlears to give them the first warning of movement, but there was nothing to hearsave the faint singing of the wind stirred sand.They began to suffer fromhunger and thirst particularly thirst.The small quantities of water in theirbottles had long ago given out, and their only food, hard cakes of chocolate,had increased their desire for drink.More than an hour passed without anyonespeaking.'There's only one thing for it,' Dale said at last.'We shall have to do theattacking.If our ammunition holds out we may have a chance, if it doesn't,well, it can't be as bad as what will happen if we stay here.The orders willbe: "Shoot for their lenses, and keep clear of their tentacles." 'In his own mind he had not much doubt that he was suggesting the impossible,but with a choice between a quick end and lingering asphyxiation he preferredthe former both for himself and for his men.'You, Dugan and Froud, take the sides ''Wait a minute! What's that?' The doctor held his head a little on one side,listening.The others caught the sound.A deep throbbing, growing momentarilylouder.They placed it somewhere beyond the canal.Evidently the diaphragms ofthe machines had picked it up too.The line could be seen faintly stirring.Low in the western sky a gleam of red light became visible.The throbbing grewquickly to a thunderous roar.Dugan was the first to see the effect on themachines.He looked down in time to see them scampering for the cover of thebushes.'Now's our chance,' he cried, and with the others behind him he ran down thatside of the Sandhill which was closest to the Gloria Mundi.The noise from the sky became a crashing, deafening din.Whatever was up thereseemed to be making straight for them.Dale and Froud flung themselves flat onthe sand with their hands clamped over their ears, and a moment later theother two did the same.The whole world seemed to be cracking and tremblingwith a noise which split the very sky asunder.Louder and yet louder untilnoise could be no louder [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]