Хребты безумия
V
Thisrampart,shapedlikeastarandperhapsthreehundredfeetfrompointtopoint,wasbuiltofJurassicsandstoneblocksofirregularsize,averaging6x8feetinsurface. Therewasarowofarchedloopholesorwindowsaboutfourfeetwideandfivefeethigh,spacedquitesymmetricallyalongthepointsofthestarandatitsinnerangles,andwiththebottomsaboutfourfeetfromtheglaciatedsurface. Lookingthroughthese,wecouldseethatthemasonrywasfullyfivefeetthick,thattherewerenopartitionsremainingwithin,andthatthereweretracesofbandedcarvingsorbas-reliefsontheinteriorwalls—factswehadindeedguessedbefore,whenflyinglowoverthisrampartandotherslikeit. Thoughlowerpartsmusthaveoriginallyexisted,alltracesofsuchthingswerenowwhollyobscuredbythedeeplayeroficeandsnowatthispoint.
Wecrawledthroughoneofthewindowsandvainlytriedtodecipherthenearlyeffacedmuraldesigns,butdidnotattempttodisturbtheglaciatedfloor. Ourorientationflightshadindicatedthatmanybuildingsinthecityproperwerelessice-choked,andthatwemightperhapsfindwhollyclearinteriorsleadingdowntothetruegroundlevelifweenteredthosestructuresstillroofedatthetop. Beforewelefttherampartwephotographeditcarefully,andstudieditsmortar-lessCyclopeanmasonrywithcompletebewilderment. WewishedthatPabodiewerepresent,forhisengineeringknowledgemighthavehelpedusguesshowsuchtitanicblockscouldhavebeenhandledinthatunbelievablyremoteagewhenthecityanditsoutskirtswerebuiltup.
Thehalf-milewalkdownhilltotheactualcity,withtheupperwindshriekingvainlyandsavagelythroughtheskywardpeaksinthebackground,wassomethingofwhichthesmallestdetailswillalwaysremainengravedonmymind.
