Read Online Captain Future 25 - Moon of the Unforgotten (January 1951) by Edmond Hamilton - Free Book Online Page A
Book: Captain Future 25 - Moon of the Unforgotten (January 1951) by Edmond Hamilton
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Edmond Hamilton
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy
Ads: Link
artificial intelligence equal to the human, rumbled a question in his deep booming voice. But Curt Newton only vaguely heard him. His gaze had followed Joan’s out into the alien night.
This was not his first visit to Europa. And he was surprised to find that Joan had put into words exactly what he had always felt about the silent moon, the old old moon that was scarred so deep by time.
Here, on one side, were the modern glare and thunder of the spaceport, busy with freighters and one or two sleek liners. Beyond the spaceport was Europolis, a glow of light behind a barren ridge. But on the other side, before him and behind him, was a sadness of ancient rock and distant hills, of brooding forest hung with shadow, of great plains empty in the red glow of Jupiter, dusty wastes where no herds had grazed and no armies fought for a hundred thousand years.
The woods and plains were scattered with the time-gnawed bones of cities, dead and forsaken even before the last descendants of their builders had sunk into final barbarism. A thin old wind wandered aimlessly among the ruins, whimpering as though it remembered other days and wept.
Newton could not suppress a slight shiver. The death of any great culture is a mournful thing and the culture that had built the shining cities of Europa was the greatest ever known — the proud Old Empire that once had held two galaxies. To Curt Newton, who had followed the shadow of that glory far back toward its source, the very stones of these ruins spoke of cosmic tragedy, of the age-long night that succeeded the blazing highest noon of human splendor.
The functional gleaming Patrol building brought his mind back to the present. Joan took them into a small office. From a locked file she drew a neat folder of papers and placed it on the desk.
“Ezra and I,” she said, “were called into this case some time ago. The Planet Police had been handling it as a routine matter until some peculiar angles turned up that required the attention of Section Three.
“People had been disappearing. Not only people from Earth but other planets as well — and nearly all of them older people. In each case when they vanished, they took most of their wealth with them.
“Planet Police discovered that all these missing persons without exception had come to Europa. And here in Europolis their trails ended.”
Simon Wright asked in his toneless voice, “Did they leave no clue as to why they came to this particular moon?”
“A few of them did,” answered Joan. “A few of them before they left talked a little of something called the Second Life. That was all — just the name. But they seemed so eager and excited about it that it was remembered.”
She continued, “Since they were nearly all aging people it seems obvious that the Second Life they were hoping for was some form of rejuvenation. A form of rejuvenation that must be illegal in nature or it wouldn’t be carried on secretly.”
Curt nodded. “That sounds reasonable enough. ‘The Second Life’ — the term is a new one to me. However, Jupiter and its moons retained the civilization and science of the Old Empire long after the other planets had relapsed into barbarism. To this day odd scraps of that ancient wisdom keep rising to plague us.”
“Quite,” said Simon dryly. “You will recall the case of Kenneth Lester, also that of the Martian, Ul Quorn. Europa in particular has always had a reputation in the System as a repository of knowledge that has been lost elsewhere. It’s an interesting problem. It occurs to me —”
JOAN cut him short, genuinely angry now. “Are you and Curt going to start on that archaeological obsession of yours at a time like this? Ezra may be dead or dying!”
Captain Future said, “Steady on, Joan — you haven’t yet told us exactly what happened to Ezra.”
Joan caught a deep breath and went on more calmly.
“When we came here to investigate, we found that the missing people who had arrived
This was not his first visit to Europa. And he was surprised to find that Joan had put into words exactly what he had always felt about the silent moon, the old old moon that was scarred so deep by time.
Here, on one side, were the modern glare and thunder of the spaceport, busy with freighters and one or two sleek liners. Beyond the spaceport was Europolis, a glow of light behind a barren ridge. But on the other side, before him and behind him, was a sadness of ancient rock and distant hills, of brooding forest hung with shadow, of great plains empty in the red glow of Jupiter, dusty wastes where no herds had grazed and no armies fought for a hundred thousand years.
The woods and plains were scattered with the time-gnawed bones of cities, dead and forsaken even before the last descendants of their builders had sunk into final barbarism. A thin old wind wandered aimlessly among the ruins, whimpering as though it remembered other days and wept.
Newton could not suppress a slight shiver. The death of any great culture is a mournful thing and the culture that had built the shining cities of Europa was the greatest ever known — the proud Old Empire that once had held two galaxies. To Curt Newton, who had followed the shadow of that glory far back toward its source, the very stones of these ruins spoke of cosmic tragedy, of the age-long night that succeeded the blazing highest noon of human splendor.
The functional gleaming Patrol building brought his mind back to the present. Joan took them into a small office. From a locked file she drew a neat folder of papers and placed it on the desk.
“Ezra and I,” she said, “were called into this case some time ago. The Planet Police had been handling it as a routine matter until some peculiar angles turned up that required the attention of Section Three.
“People had been disappearing. Not only people from Earth but other planets as well — and nearly all of them older people. In each case when they vanished, they took most of their wealth with them.
“Planet Police discovered that all these missing persons without exception had come to Europa. And here in Europolis their trails ended.”
Simon Wright asked in his toneless voice, “Did they leave no clue as to why they came to this particular moon?”
“A few of them did,” answered Joan. “A few of them before they left talked a little of something called the Second Life. That was all — just the name. But they seemed so eager and excited about it that it was remembered.”
She continued, “Since they were nearly all aging people it seems obvious that the Second Life they were hoping for was some form of rejuvenation. A form of rejuvenation that must be illegal in nature or it wouldn’t be carried on secretly.”
Curt nodded. “That sounds reasonable enough. ‘The Second Life’ — the term is a new one to me. However, Jupiter and its moons retained the civilization and science of the Old Empire long after the other planets had relapsed into barbarism. To this day odd scraps of that ancient wisdom keep rising to plague us.”
“Quite,” said Simon dryly. “You will recall the case of Kenneth Lester, also that of the Martian, Ul Quorn. Europa in particular has always had a reputation in the System as a repository of knowledge that has been lost elsewhere. It’s an interesting problem. It occurs to me —”
JOAN cut him short, genuinely angry now. “Are you and Curt going to start on that archaeological obsession of yours at a time like this? Ezra may be dead or dying!”
Captain Future said, “Steady on, Joan — you haven’t yet told us exactly what happened to Ezra.”
Joan caught a deep breath and went on more calmly.
“When we came here to investigate, we found that the missing people who had arrived
Similar Books
