"Raymond Z. Gallun - Seeds of Dusk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gallun Raymond Z)

water and carbon dioxide into starch and free oxygen.
 Gift a man with the same power that the invaderтАЩs kind had acquired,
perhaps by eons of practice and directed will тАФthat of feeling vividly even
the division of cells, and the nature of the protoplasm in his own
tissuesтАФand it is not hard to believe that he would soon delve out even the
ultimate secret of life. And in the secret of life there must be involved
almost every conceivable phase of practical science.
The spore plant proceeded with its marvelous self-education, part of
which must have been only recalling to mind the intricate impressions of
inherited memories.
Meanwhile it studied carefully its bleak surroundings, prompted not
only by fear, but by curiosity as well. To work effectively, it needed
understanding of its environment. Intelligence it possessed beyond
question; still it was hampered by many limitations. It was a plant, and
plants have not an animalтАЩs capacity for quick action, either of offense or
defense. Here, forever, the entity from across the void was at a vast
disadvantage, in this place of pitiless competition. In spite of all its
powers, it might now have easily been destroyed.
The delicate, ruined tower of blue porcelain, looming up from the brink
of the gullyтАФ The invader, scrutinizing it carefully for hours and days,
soon knew every chink and crack and fanciful arabesque on its visible side.
It was only a ruin, beautiful and mysterious alike by sunshine and
moonlight, and when adorned with a fine sifting of snow. But the invader,
lost on a strange world, could not be sure of its harmlessness.
Close to the tower were those rude, high, sugar-loaf mounds, betraying
a sinister cast. They were of hard-packed Earth, dotted with many tiny
openings. But in the cold, arid winter, there was no sign of life about them
now.
All through those long, arctic months, the spore plant continued to
develop, and to grow toward the reproductive stage. And it was making
preparations tooтАФcombining the knowledge acquired by its observations
with keen guesswork, and with a science apart from the manual
fabrication of metal and other substances.




II
 A milder season came at last. The SunтАЩs rays were a little warmer now.
Some of the snow melted, moistening the ground enough to germinate
Earthly seeds. Shoots sprang up, soon to develop leaves and grotesque,
devilish-looking flowers.
In the mounds beside the blue tower a slow awakening took place.
Millions of little, hard, reddish bodies became animated once more, ready
to battle grim Nature for sustenance. The ages had done little to the ants,
except to increase their fierceness and cunning. Almost any organic
substances could serve them as food, and their tastes showed but little
discrimination between one dainty and another. And it was inevitable, of
course, but presently they should find the spore plant.
Nor were they the latterтАЩs only enemies, even in this desert region. Of