"Philip Jose Farmer - 1952-1964" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farmer Phillip Jose)

She came close and sniffed his breath. It was clean, innocent even of stew. That meant heтАЩd taken
Nodor, which probably meant heтАЩd been sampling some hidden rye. Otherwise, how explain hi.s
reckless disregard of the possible dangers? It wasnтАЩt like him.

She said nothing, for she knew that if he tried to hide a bottle in his clothes or field sack while they were
tracking down the radio signals, she would soon find it. And take it away. He wouldnтАЩt even protest,
merely let her lift it from his limp hand while his lips swelled with resentment.

3

They set out. Both wore knapsacks and carried the panrads. He carried a gun over his shoulder, and she
had snapped onto her sack her small black bag of medical and lab supplies.

High noon of late autumn was topped by a weak red sun that barely managed to make itself seen through
the eternal double layer of clouds. Its companion, an even smaller blob of lilac, was setting on the
northwestern horizon. They walked in a sort of bright twilight, the best that Baudelaire ever achieved.
Yet, despite the lack of light, the air was warm. It was a phenomenon common to certain planets behind
the Horsehead Nebula, one being investigated but as yet unexplained.

The country was hilly, with many deep ravines. Here and there were prominences high enough and
steep-sided enough to be called embryo mountains. Considering the roughness of the land, however,
there was a surprising amount of vegetation. Pale green, red, and yellow bushes, vines, and little trees
clung to every bit of ground, horizontal or vertical. All had comparatively broad leaves that turned with
the sun to catch the light.

From time to time, as the two Terrans strode noisily through the forest, small multicolored insect-like and
mammal-like creatures scuttled from hiding place to hiding place. Eddie decided to carry his gun in the
crook of his arm. Then, after they were forced to scramble up and down ravines and hills and fight their
way through thickets that became unexpectedly tangled, he put it back over his shoulder, where it hung
from a strap.

Despite their exertions, they did not tire quickly. They weighed about twenty pounds less than they would
have on Earth and, though the air was thinner, it was richer in oxygen.

Dr. Fetts kept up with Eddie. Thirty years the senior of the twenty-three-year-old, she passed even at
close inspection for his older sister. Longevity pills took care of that. However, he treated her with all the
courtesy and chivalry that one gave ones mother and helped her up the steep inclines, even though the
climbs did not appreciably cause her deep chest to demand more air.

They paused once by a creek bank to get their bearings.

тАЬThe signals have stopped,тАЭ he said.

тАЬObviously,тАЭ she replied.

At that moment the radar-detector built into the panrad began to ping. Both of them automatically looked
upward.
тАЬThereтАЩs no ship in the air.тАЭ

тАЬIt canтАЩt be coming from either of those hills,тАЭ she pointed out. тАЬThereтАЩs nothing but a boulder on top of