"Adams, Douglas - - Life the Universe and everything (3)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Adams Douglas)

He was returning to his cave just a little after dusk when he
became aware of lights flashing eerily through the clouds. He
turned and stared, with hope suddenly clambering through his
heart. Rescue. Escape. The castaway's impossible dream - a ship.

And as he watched, as he stared in wonder and excitement, a long
silver ship descended through the warm evening air, quietly,
without fuss, its long legs unlocking in a smooth ballet of
technology.

It alighted gently on the ground, and what little hum it had
generated died away, as if lulled by the evening calm.

A ramp extended itself.

Light streamed out.

A tall figure appeared silhouetted in the hatchway. It walked
down the ramp and stood in front of Arthur.

"You're a jerk, Dent," it said simply.

It was alien, very alien. It had a peculiar alien tallness, a
peculiar alien flattened head, peculiar slitty little alien eyes,
extravagantly draped golden ropes with a peculiarly alien collar
design, and pale grey-green alien skin which had about it that
lustrous shine which most grey-green faces can only acquire with
plenty of exercise and very expensive soap.

Arthur boggled at it.

It gazed levelly at him.

Arthur's first sensations of hope and trepidation had instantly
been overwhelmed by astonishment, and all sorts of thoughts were
battling for the use of his vocal chords at this moment.

"Whh ...?" he said.

"Bu ... hu ... uh ..." he added.

"Ru ... ra ... wah ... who?" he managed finally to say and lapsed
into a frantic kind of silence. He was feeling the effects of
having not said anything to anybody for as long as he could
remember.

The alien creature frowned briefly and consulted what appeared to
be some species of clipboard which he was holding in his thin and
spindly alien hand.