"Peter Freewheel - Argol the Barbarian" - читать интересную книгу автора (Freewheel Peter)

"Have you killed him?" she gabbled. "Have you saved me? He's mad. He's trying to kill me. He's chased
me half way across the Galaxy."

Was this the mad murderer that the alien had told him about? Looking at the girl, he just couldn't believe
it. She was like an angel in this hell.

"We must escape," she continued, breathlessly. "He's killed my husband, and now he's after me. I saw
him you see."

"Not really," Argol muttered, but he was beginning to.
"Have you somewhere safe to hide?" the girl asked. "He'll recover soon, and then he'll get me."

"Yes," Argol decided. "He'll never find us in my cave." He took the girls hand, and began to run through
the swampy ground back towards his cave. As he ran, he cursed himself mentally for being tricked so
easily by the alien. He must have appeared pretty gullible. The creature had probably been laughing
behind its helmet, all the way to the ship.

They arrived at his cave panting, and they collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. When the girl had got
her breath back, she began to explain what had happened.

"Me and Juk, my husband, lived on Tyuish 4, a planet near the Galactic rim. Juk was in charge of one of
those automatic mining stations. One day this alien landed on our planet to effect an overhaul on his ship
before he left for deep space. He seemed okay, and when we found out he was a Ytrew, we were
honoured to take him in. We treated him like one of the family. Then, one day, he said he would be
leaving the next morning, as he had completed the repairs on his ship.

I remember hearing something being knocked over down stairs, and when I came down to investigate, I
found this alien standing over Juk's dead body. He'd opened our precious metals safe. He tried to take a
shot at me, but missed. I managed to escape in the spaceship that the Company had loaned us, and he's
been chasing me ever since. I've managed to lose him for a while every now and then, by creating a
powerful magnetic field. They can't stand that, you know. That's how I brought his hovercar down."

"I see," Argol replied grimly. "What state is your ship in?"

"It's wrecked. It'll never fly again. I tried to land in a clearing, but I overshot it."

"Well, I don't know what state the alien is in, but we'd better hope that a monster gets him before he
comes to. It seems to be our only chance. Don't worry though, I won't let him get you, without taking me
first."

"Thank you," she said. She threw her arms round him, and hugging him tightly began to kiss him
passionately. It had been over five years since he'd been near a girl, and he found her hard to resist.

That afternoon, Argol sat at the mouth of the cave, looking anxiously around for a sign of the alien.

"As far as I can see," the girl suddenly said, creeping up from inside the cave, "we've got just one chance
of survival."

"What's that?" Argol asked.