"Adams, Douglas - So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" - читать интересную книгу автора (Adams Douglas)

the ground, and which at an altitude of six inches became a heavy
throb.

At last it dropped and was quiet.

A hatchway opened. A short flight of steps unfolded itself.

A light appeared in the opening, a bright light streaming out
into the wet night, and shadows moved within.

A tall figure appeared in the light, looked around, flinched, and
hurried down the steps, carrying a large shopping bag under its
arm.

It turned and gave a single abrupt wave back at the ship. Already
the rain was streaming through its hair.

"Thank you," he called out, "thank you very ..."

He was interrupted by a sharp crack of thunder. He glanced up
apprehensively, and in response to a sudden thought quickly
started to rummage through the large plastic shopping bag, which
he now discovered had a hole in the bottom.

It had large characters printed on the side which read (to anyone
who could decipher the Centaurian alphabet) Duty free Mega-
Market, Port Brasta, Alpha Centauri. Be Like the Twenty-Second
Elephant with Heated Value in Space - Bark!

"Hold on!" the figure called, waving at the ship.

The steps, which had started to fold themselves back through the
hatchway, stopped, re-unfolded, and allowed him back in.

He emerged again a few seconds later carrying a battered and
threadbare towel which he shoved into the bag.

He waved again, hoisted the bag under his arm, and started to run
for the shelter of some trees as, behind him, the spacecraft had
already begun its ascent.

Lightning flitted through the sky and made the figure pause for a
moment, and then hurry onwards, revising his path to give the
trees a wide berth. He moved swiftly across the ground, slipping
here and there, hunching himself against the rain which was
falling now with ever-increasing concentration, as if being
pulled from the sky.

His feet sloshed through the mud. Thunder grumbled over the
hills. He pointlessly wiped the rain off his face and stumbled