"Anderson, Poul - 1964 Nicholas Van Rijn 02 - Trader to the Stars 1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Poul)

are some beasts might do," he said. "We had one like
them on Earth once. What they called it? Quintilla? No,
gorilla. Or chimpanzee, better, of gorilla size."
Torrance felt his heart thud. Two adjoining sections
each held four animals of a kind which looked extremely
hopeful. They were bipedal, short-legged and long-armed.
Standing two meters tall, with a three-meter arm span,
one of them could certainly operate that control console
alone. The wrists, thick as a man's thighs, ended in pro-
portionate hands, four-digited including a true thumb.
The three-toed feet were specialized for walking, like man's-
feet. Their bodies were covered with brown fleece. Their
heads were comparatively small, rising almost to a point,
with massive snouts and beady eyes under cavernous
brow ridges. As they wandered aimlessly about, Torrance
saw that they were divided among males and females. On
the sides of each neck he noticed two lumens closed by
sphincters. The light upon them was the familiar yellow-
ish-white of a Sol-type star.
He forced himself to say, "I'm not sure. Those huge
jaws must demand corresponding maxillary muscles, at-
taching to a ridge on top of the skull. Which'd restrict the
cranial capacity." .
"Suppose they got brains in their bellies," said Van Rijn.
"Well, some people do," murmured Torrance. As the
merchant choked, he added in haste, "No, actually, sir,
that's hardly believable. Neural paths would get too long,
and so forth. Every animal I know of, if it has a central
nervous system at all, keeps the brain close to the principal
sense organs. which are usually located in the head. To be
sure, a relatively small brain, within limits, doesn't mean
these creatures are not intelligent. Their neurones might
well be more efficient than ours."
"Humph and hassenpfeffer!" said Van Rijn. "Might,
might, might!'; As they continued among strange shapes:
"We can't go too much by atmosphere or light, either. If
hiding, the crew could vary conditions quite a bit from
their norm without-hurting themselves. Gravity, too, by
twenty or thirty percent."
"I hope they breathe oxygen, though-Hoy!" Torrance
stopped. After a moment, he realized what was so eerie
about the several forms under the orange glow. They
were chitinous-armored, not much bigger than a squarish
military helmet and about the same shape. Four stumpy
legs projected from beneath to carry them awkwardly
about on taloned feet; also a pair of short tentacles ending
in a bush of cilia. There was nothing special about them,
as extra-Terrestrial animals go, except the two eyes which
gazed from beneath each helmet: as large and somehow
human as-well-the eyes of an octopus.