Classics fantasy – 6

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 each its touch dark specks move on the card, and peering into a periscope – as packs of the ships and dense ranks of tanks, повинуясь to his hand, move diversely. If not this periscope, then, looking at Li, it was possible to think that he is busy with a game in chess.

“Eventually, this war is not so terrible – I thought, without introducing aloud the idea not to prevent Li. – And, perhaps, it is more humane than former wars. Here not people, and cars perish”.

– But behind cars there are people, their life and wellbeing.

Who told it – Li or I thought aloud? That minute I could not realize it. I looked at Li. His face frowned. He nervously squeezed lips and several times pressed the same button. But she, probably, did not act. I looked in a periscope and saw that our tanks stand on one site as paralyzed, and enemy strenuously exterminate them.