we act.
Then he added, having a little raised the voice:
– The moment is too serious. Extra care is necessary. We go.
Chapter 9
LAST FIGHT
In the sky as far as there were enough eyes flocks of birds were visible. It was possible to think that somewhere crows were flown to a lodging for the night from all over the world. But it were not birds, and the air ships among which there was also ours.
– Atlantic Ocean! – Li shouted, trying to outvoice noise of wind behind walls of our shell.
Atlantic Ocean? Whether long ago we were in Turkestan? Resolutely, these people won against time.
The picture developed below forced me to scream from surprise. All seashore was filled by extraordinary beings who could be taken for the terrible died-out animals. It were some strange fresh-water and air animals. Though they were similar at each other, one of them, having reached the region of the low coast, plunged into waves and, obviously, continued the way under water, others floated on a water surface, others flew over the ocean.
– Isn’t that so, it reminds a picture of the primitive world? The herd of terrible pangolins goes on a watering place! These are our fighters. They equally well feel on water, under water and in air.
They were thousands, perhaps, hundreds of thousands. And thousands of the air ships flew in air. “What destructive war! – I thought. – At such number of participants in one day millions of people can die”.
– How many the person contains your army? – I asked Li.
– You wanted to ask probably how many kilowatt? – he answered with a question.
I looked at it bewildered.
– These tools of destruction conceal in themselves billions of kilowatts of energy. And people? Seventy three persons, considering also us.
– But allow who operates all these vehicles?
– These cars have no people. The small number of the people making all our “army” operates the movement of cars at distance, on radio.
– So, means?.
– Means, it will be more war of cars, than people. “That at whom the equipment is higher” will win – so, apparently, spoke also in your time?
In this the world, new to me, I absolutely lost idea of time. Winning against huge speeds of movement against space, these people won also against time. I could not define how many minutes or hours our flight over the ocean continued. Flying at reckless speed, we as though wanted to catch up with the sun. Its last beams still gilded high clouds over us when Li told:
– We fly up to coast of America.
I looked at it and saw that, against usage, he was excited.
– Day came – he told – when the destiny of the world is decided. – Whether we will die or our enemies will die, but the globe will not be divided into two half any more. But I am sure that they will die. We cannot die because for us – the future, and they – the last gloomy page of the past.
Li did not manage to tell this phrase, as well as I already distinctly saw the American coast.
Some more moments, and our ships already flew over the coast, crept out of the ocean, quickly covering with the bulky black bodies the low coast. The place was desert. We flew much more quietly, and I could consider a gloomy landscape well. The coast of otly rose and passed into the extensive plain which regions vanished in a haze of the approaching evening. “The quite good base, is where to be developed – I thought. – But why there is no enemy? We, obviously, took them unawares”.
Searchlights flashed, and at once over the plain “blue day” came. Bright blue light lit distances, and I saw a strange thing: because of the far wood slowly as elephants, moved some beings reminding huge centipedes… They went to the deep cleft crossing the plain.
– These are bridges – Li told. – Obviously, already learned about our arrival.
– Bridges? Walking bridges?
– Old piece – Li answered. – At us you unless had not to see? Their foundations are mobile as legs. These legs people, of course, operate. Operate from far away. And bridges go and become into place…
And bridges are silent, efficiently continued the procession, reached a crevice and began carefully as the horse lowering legs in water to grope the soil. The same minute I noticed that legs of “live bridges” are extended, grow, will not grope a bottom yet. Thus they get over through crevices until the forward end of the bridge lays down on the opposite side. And the bridge is ready. Did not manage to adjust bridges a crossing as the huge tanks creeping on the ground, and the sky appeared from behind the wood as a cloud of a locust, became covered by aircrafts.
We went down on the earth. Our air ship was placed in a deep crevice. Li spread out before himself the card of fight. It was the special, shining card where all picture of fight was reflected. At the same time on the card there were hardly noticeable buttons.
Fight was started.
However, the word “fight” did not approach what I saw. Some fight of elements was an ego. In the sky the air ships collided as two thunderclouds. These clouds vomited from themselves fire sheaves. The ships faced, crashed in spills and fell to the ground heavy rain of metal splinters and the shining rain of the melted metal. The mad round dance turned steel birds in a pursuit one after another, a tornado rose above clouds, fell almost to the earth, were carried away by a whirlwind aside and again came back. The clouds of steel birds spilling fragments on the earth thinned and again were condensed from the new flown ships. It was are innumerable, there was no end.
What happened on the earth was not less terrible, amazingly, fantastically. Unexpectedly for me amphibious tanks released huge claws from steel bodies and rushed at each other as huge ants or without restraint angry scorpions. They “stung” each other fire streams, to pieces tore steel claws steel bodies, scattering metal fragments far around. Did not pass also hour as on the place of the smooth plain the whole heap of fragments, ashes, pieces of the melted Metal grew. But this mountain lived, teemed as an ant hill. Tanks broke through the courses in this mountain, everywhere looking for the opponent.
The fact that in all this spontaneous fight, in all these cars there was no person was most surprising. In the field of battle not human blood, and the melted metal was shed, not heaps of meat, but steel fragments rolled. Li was right. It was in true meaning of the word war of cars. People somewhere sat, sat in the distance and directed cars which as though became living beings.
I saw one of these living beings animating dead cars before myself. It was Li.
He already regained self-control. At least, it was externally quiet. Having inclined over the card flickering fosforichesky light he watched closely the events in the field of battle, somehow understanding all this confusion of the spots flashing according to the card, shadows and beams, from time to time gave someone short orders to a loud-hailer and continuously pressed the keys strengthened on the card. I saw how from
