"Eliot Fintushel - Uxo, Bomb Dog" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fintushel Eliot)

тАЬAre they dead or alive?тАЭ This was the point of it. This was what he was trying to sneak by me.

тАЬAlive,тАЭ I says. тАЬThose bugs are living things, Sonny. Bacteria, you call them.тАЭ

тАЬAlive.тАЭ He thinks about it a minute. He squeezes dirt in the webs of his toes. He puckers and un puckers
his lips. тАЬAlive, huh? Damn. ThereтАЩs no beating a live thing, is there, a wily live thing? Hell, IтАЩd rather fight
a dinger, a damn dead dinger, than a live thing like that.тАЭ
тАЬWhy did you need to squirrel that out of me, Sonny? WhatтАЩs your interest in bacteria?тАЭ

тАЬWhoтАЩs interested in bacteria?тАЭ says he. And he runs off.



BETTER SAFE THAN

SCARRY!

тАЬKARELESSNESS KAN KILL.тАЭ



Far as I know, Spot had no wife and no woman and no friends but me and his General Checkers. He
was not too keen on animals. All he cared about was his general. It was Checkers this and Checkers
that, тАЬme and the general,тАЭ тАЬthe general and me.тАЭ тАЬтАШCause, Blackie, me and the General, I swear to
NaderтАЭ - thrusting up his right hand with two fingers curled together - тАЬweтАЩre like this.тАЭ

HeтАЩd find me moping sometimes, polishing my prosthesis or staring at the blue yonder. тАЬWhat you
studying, Blackie boy?тАЭ says he.

And IтАЩd tell him, тАЬItтАЩs my bomb dog, Uxo. I miss him, Spot. Honest to Nader, I do. Never had a woman
longer than a night, even before I was one leg short of a pair. But my Uxo . . . тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩre a loon,тАЭ heтАЩd say. тАЬIf I had me a dog IтАЩd train her to carry bombs, not sniff тАШem. Big furry dog,
see? Strap plastique twixt her tits and send her into the enemy camp. Train тАШem and sell тАШem. Hell, the
accessories alone - special straps, special ordnance, all that - thereтАЩs dough in it, Blackie boy.тАЭ

I had to blink. тАЬWho gave you an idea like that?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs in the air, Blackie.тАЭ Surprising how mystical the fellow might wax. тАЬOpen up your eyes.тАЭ

Now, of course, I understand what тАЬin the airтАЭ meant: General Checkers.

Spot didnтАЩt want to hear about bloody Kabul when Uxo sniffed the cluster bomb bits and I smithereened
тАШem with explosive foam. (Wonderful stuff. Spread it, ignite it, and blow the dingers harmless.) Somalia?
Maputo? He didnтАЩt care worth spit. He didnтАЩt care about old Nick, eitherтАУNicaragua, I mean, where my
Uxo earned his big medal nearly at the cost of his hide.

Spot never cared to hear about any of it. I feel it was a defect in his character.