Abna agreed blandly. “We are. It would help if we knew which one of you is now addressing us.”
The sea green one waggled his tendrils for identification.
“I am the ruler of this particular zone of the planet, my friends. Vashon by name. My companion here is my chief scientific adviser—Sazner.”
Abna inclined his head. “Greetings to both of you. I am Abna of Jupiter. This is my wife—known as the Golden Amazon, of the planet Earth. Here is our daughter, Viona, and her husband, Mexone, of a world many light years from here.”
“What do you seek here?” This time the voice was high and hard. It grated on the senses of the travelers, even though it was intensely distinct. Obviously it had come from the being who was scarlet.
“Nothing more than your friendship, and perhaps an exchange of information,” the Amazon responded, staring at the blazing color of the creature and trying to weigh him. “We have traveled countless light years and were resting in space when we saw a queer thing—or at least my daughter did. This world of yours apparently jumped from one position in space to another and yet was not in the space between at any time.”
Silence. In fact, more than silence. There was a curious impression of deep menace which each of the travelers felt at the same moment.
“Perhaps,” Abna ventured, “it was just an illusion—a trick of the light.”
“It wasn’t!” Viona protested heatedly. “I tell you—”
“No, it was not an illusion,” came Vashon’s deep voice, and he sounded strangely resigned. “This is a misfit planet, my friends, mysteriously cursed by not conforming to natural law. It is a world that doesn’t evolve naturally from birth to death, and enjoy the happiness or sorrow that lies in that path. Instead, it is out of step with the universe. It leaps ahead into time at unexpected moments, thereby suddenly accumulating many years of age and ruin—and killing tens of thousands of people, because old age and death catch up on them during the transition. Such a leap did happen a little while ago. At any moment another leap might come—and it would involve you, too. You would die, because you would abruptly leap ahead beyond the span of your life.”
“You were here when this last leap occurred?” the Amazon asked presently.
“I was.”
“Yet you did not die? Or evolve?”
“I am the ruler,” came the tired response. “Because of that I must be—and am—preserved. Sazner here, with his scientific skill, is always able to forecast when a leap will come. He then hurries me and certain other important dignitaries to his laboratory, where we are isolated until the leap has come and gone. The forces he controls prevent the time-leap affecting us. He himself travels into space to investigate.”
The Amazon’s violet eyes turned to the scarlet-colored adviser.
“I am surprised, Sazner, that a being of your scientific skill—who can evidently make time stand stíll for your king and his contemporaries—cannot overcome the main fault in the planet itself. Surely it is only a question of cosmic mathematics.”
“There are far more factors involved than that,” was Sazner’s acid response. “And in any event I do not propose to discuss the problem with outer-space visitors. We have our problems, as you have yours. Shall we let it stay that way?”
The Amazon glanced at Abna and for an instant she seemed on the verge of a hot retort. Then she checked herself.
“How long,” the ruler asked, glancing at Sazner, “do you think it will be before another leap takes place? I would not like our friends to be involved in anything that might cause them harm.”
“According to my calculations, Excellency, there will be no more trouble for some time to come.”
“Good!” There was relief in the ruler’s bass voice. “In that case, my friends, you must attend a celebration banquet when we can discuss our differing forms of life and pursuits. I will see to it that a suite is placed at your disposal, and we will dine at nightfall. Does that meet with your approval?”
“Decidedly, Excellency,” Abna smiled.
The ruler turned aside and crossed to a bell-push. It was only a matter of moments before a pale blue being came in and waited respectfully. He absorbed the weird sounds that came from his ruler, then the door was held wide and, Abna in the lead, the travelers passed out into the huge main hall and eventually found themselves in a resplendent suite of rooms where not one bit of furniture was the slightest use to them. But at least they were to themselves, and that was something.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
