"Bester, Alfred - Biped Reegan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bester Alfred)

across the crest of the ridge. We turned our attention then back to Spy-alpha in
the meeting room of the bipeds.
They were in a state of alarm, doubtless convinced from the reported troop
movements that our attack was coming. The red-haired biped, Ivar, was especially
concerned.
"I must have three hours more," he repeated over and over. "Three hours will
make the difference between success and failure. Can you give Chung and me three
hours?"
"I'd like to," Otis said, "but how?"
"I'LL tell you how!"
It was the biped, Reegan . . . The one of great daring whose long lean body and
reckless lean face we had all grown to hate and fear. The numbers of us whom he
had killed mounted to the millions. A wave of fury leaped across the battlefield
as all of us telecast our hatred of Reegan. At the room of the bipeds, Spy-alpha
warned us to be quiet lest we miss an important detail.
"If we sit here and wait," Reegan snarled, "we can sit and wait until the ants
make up their minds what they want to do with us. Waiting's no good. It just
plays right into their hands. Ivar wants three hours? Hell, I'll give him
sixty-three."
"How?" asked Otis.
"Counter-attack," Reegan snapped. "Give me a suicide squad. Ten men, that's all.
I'll go out there and blast the guts off them!"
"The man is crazy," spoke the biped, Chung.
"Sure I'm crazy," Reegan said. "I'm crazy with waiting. I've only got a lifetime
to live, and I know there's nothing worth living for anyway. If I die and I've
given Ivar his three hours . . . then what the hell?"
Chung said: "What would you do?"
"I'll take ten men and torches," Reegan said. "I'll go out there and stay out
until I'm dead. It ought to take them three hours to chew me to pieces. Me and
the rest. . ."
"No," said Otis, "I can't let you."
"I'm going anyway," Reegan said. "I'd like to see you stop me."
He arose to his full height and faced the biped, Otis. He raised hand to brow
languidly and started out of the chamber. Spy-alpha rushed to precede him so as
to learn the site of Reegan's attack, and just then the biped Otis clutched
Reegan by the arms.
"One more step," he said, "and I call the guard. No plan is worth your suicide,
Reegan."
The biped Reegan shook the arm away. Otis clutched him once more and this time
Reegan raised his fist and smote Otis full in the face. He was already out the
door when Otis arose and began to shout for the guard. The biped Ivar quieted
him.
"Let him alone, Otis," he said. "Don't you know the poor guy's been looking to
die since he lost his girl? You'll be doing him a favor if you'll let him kill
himself, . . And you'll be saving the rest of us."
SPY-ALPHA picked up no more of their vibrations, for he had slipped under the
portal and was following the biped Reegan down the hall. When he had caught up,
the biped Reegan had already summoned ten others, some with the slant eyes and
others with the white faces They were donning the tight suits of metal fabrix
with the glass helmets and Reegan was handing out the torches.