Read Online The Secret of the Martian Moons by Donald A. Wollheim - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Donald A. Wollheim
Ads: Link
passages and chambers unseen by man. He could almost see the plants closing in on themselves, folding their leaves into furry fists against the oncoming cold thin-aired night.
Slowly the vision in his eyepiece grew darker as night swept over the city. In a few more minutes he would have to shift his view elsewhere, for the city at night became invisible in the darker dark of the Martian night. Still buried in his thoughts, he stared down at the city, his eyes straining to keep the details of houses and markings as the view changed from light to dark, turned gray, became blue-gray, then blacker and finally merged into black. At the very instant that he stared, he saw a flicker.
A light went on in the city! A tiny circle of white light where there had been a doorway to a building. A tiny circle that had been an open door, where no door should have been opened!
And even as Nelson gaped speechless with surprise, the tiny circle flickered, blinked, and vanished as the door swung shut!
Chapter 7 Deimos
Nelson Parr caught his breath, let out a shout. “Hey!” came Jim Worden s voice in his earphones. “You trying to blast my ears off?”
“I saw a light, Jim!” Nelse held his voice back by sheer force of will. He felt like shouting and jumping around. “Where?” came back Jim's voice, rising excitedly in pitch. Worden crowded in to the eyepiece of the scope, trying to push Nelson aside so that he could take a look.
“It's gone now, but I saw something,” was young Parr’s reply, and he told Worden what he had seen. Jim looked carefully, but the city was in darkness and they could see nothing. Not a light broke the secrecy of the view.
“What did it look like, son?” came the voice of the elder Parr on their helmet phones. Though in the ship, he had been tuned in on their suit speakers and heard their comments. Soon Nelson could hear the voices of the other expedition members chiming in as the excitement woke them from their sleep or task.
In very short order, all six were outside, grouped around the scope while Nelson was explaining again what he had seen. There were excited comments and suggestions, then John Carson Parr called for silence.
“Now listen, men, let s not lose our heads. We’re not likely to spot any more signs immediately and certainly not while that area is in darkness. We know where to look and from now on, we’ll keep a strict watch there every minute it’s in the sunlight. Go on back to your duties. I think we’ve finally found our quarry, but this is only the beginning.”
Reluctantly the four off duty drifted back to the ship. Jim and Nelson stood out the rest of their watch, but they saw nothing further to excite comment.
In spite of their efforts, it was not until four watches later that something was seen. This time, again in the same ancient Martian city, one of the men was sure that he had seen a crushed spot in the growths around a certain structure that looked as if some large craft had landed and departed from there. But keeping track of one certain spot is hard to do when the surface is constantly turning and your own observation platform, the little moon, is also moving.
Next thing was the discovery by Gutman of a door in another part of the city that was unquestionably half open. They could see no sign of action near it, but there it was, not closed. By the time the next observation of the city occurred, about twenty hours later, that door was shut again.
The six watchers were keyed up with excitement. Among themselves they were discussing who would be the lucky man to first spot the Martians. “It’s pretty obvious,” said Gutman, expressing the general opinion, “that they waited until Earth was entirely out of the sky to come out of their hiding places.”
John Parr was not certain, however, that they would ever be able to actually make out the forms of the Martians if they did spot them. “We re still a little
Slowly the vision in his eyepiece grew darker as night swept over the city. In a few more minutes he would have to shift his view elsewhere, for the city at night became invisible in the darker dark of the Martian night. Still buried in his thoughts, he stared down at the city, his eyes straining to keep the details of houses and markings as the view changed from light to dark, turned gray, became blue-gray, then blacker and finally merged into black. At the very instant that he stared, he saw a flicker.
A light went on in the city! A tiny circle of white light where there had been a doorway to a building. A tiny circle that had been an open door, where no door should have been opened!
And even as Nelson gaped speechless with surprise, the tiny circle flickered, blinked, and vanished as the door swung shut!
Chapter 7 Deimos
Nelson Parr caught his breath, let out a shout. “Hey!” came Jim Worden s voice in his earphones. “You trying to blast my ears off?”
“I saw a light, Jim!” Nelse held his voice back by sheer force of will. He felt like shouting and jumping around. “Where?” came back Jim's voice, rising excitedly in pitch. Worden crowded in to the eyepiece of the scope, trying to push Nelson aside so that he could take a look.
“It's gone now, but I saw something,” was young Parr’s reply, and he told Worden what he had seen. Jim looked carefully, but the city was in darkness and they could see nothing. Not a light broke the secrecy of the view.
“What did it look like, son?” came the voice of the elder Parr on their helmet phones. Though in the ship, he had been tuned in on their suit speakers and heard their comments. Soon Nelson could hear the voices of the other expedition members chiming in as the excitement woke them from their sleep or task.
In very short order, all six were outside, grouped around the scope while Nelson was explaining again what he had seen. There were excited comments and suggestions, then John Carson Parr called for silence.
“Now listen, men, let s not lose our heads. We’re not likely to spot any more signs immediately and certainly not while that area is in darkness. We know where to look and from now on, we’ll keep a strict watch there every minute it’s in the sunlight. Go on back to your duties. I think we’ve finally found our quarry, but this is only the beginning.”
Reluctantly the four off duty drifted back to the ship. Jim and Nelson stood out the rest of their watch, but they saw nothing further to excite comment.
In spite of their efforts, it was not until four watches later that something was seen. This time, again in the same ancient Martian city, one of the men was sure that he had seen a crushed spot in the growths around a certain structure that looked as if some large craft had landed and departed from there. But keeping track of one certain spot is hard to do when the surface is constantly turning and your own observation platform, the little moon, is also moving.
Next thing was the discovery by Gutman of a door in another part of the city that was unquestionably half open. They could see no sign of action near it, but there it was, not closed. By the time the next observation of the city occurred, about twenty hours later, that door was shut again.
The six watchers were keyed up with excitement. Among themselves they were discussing who would be the lucky man to first spot the Martians. “It’s pretty obvious,” said Gutman, expressing the general opinion, “that they waited until Earth was entirely out of the sky to come out of their hiding places.”
John Parr was not certain, however, that they would ever be able to actually make out the forms of the Martians if they did spot them. “We re still a little
Similar Books
