"Gordon, Steve - Insectoid 03 - Death to the Insectoids!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gordon Steve)

There had been no substantial farming done on August for
centuries. But planets that did produced agricultural output were
fully mechanized. Unfortunately, the slavers didn't have any
autoplanters or roboplows at their disposal, and so used people for
every step of the planting and plowing process, as they had untold
centuries ago.
Mongo found the labor exhausting. His scrawny form wasn't built
for heavy labor, and he wasn't used to it. But when he stopped,
collapsing to the ground, an overseer rushed over. "Get up!" he roared.
Without waiting for a response he lunched out with his powerwhip.
As the current lashed into Mongo's back he shrieked, jumping to his
feet.
"Back to work!" the overseer roared.
Mongo, with hate-filled eyes, picked up the small tool he had
been given for digging, and laboriously continued to dig the ditch. But
his arms felt like lead.
"Gee, that wasn't a very nice thing for them to do," said Smiley.
As Mongo soon learned, Smiley always was smiling.
"Mongo weak. Mongo cannot survive," he said, digging slowly, but
just fast enough not to attract a return visit from the guard, who was
eyeing him caustically.
"You just need some enthusiasm for your work," said Smiley. "Come
on, dig, one-two-three."
Mongo groaned.
"How about a song while we work?" said Smiley. "I have a great
singing voice."

Mongo managed to get through the rest of the day without being
whipped again, but his arms had almost stopped working. After the
digging detail in the morning, he had been set to lifting and moving
heavy rocks around the perimeter. He knew he couldn't survive another
day like this. He was so tired he could barely stand, but he managed to
stand in line long enough for the daily ration. There hadn't been any
breakfast, or lunch, so whatever they were fed, he hoped it would be
sustaining. First they walked by a bowl of water which the serving
prisoner dipped a large cup of water into. He handed the cup to the
person in line in front of Mongo, who drank it eagerly. Then he stepped
forward as the server refilled the cup, handing it to Mongo. Mongo
looked at the contents of the cup. This was it? This was all they would
be allowed to drink for an entire day?
The guard standing by the vat barked at Mongo, and Mongo gulped
the water down. The line moved forward, and Mongo saw the prisoners in
front of him were moving forward with their hands cupped together. When
Mongo got to the second part of the line a server ladled a pile of
somethings into his open hands. Mongo cupped his hands tightly but that
didn't prevent one or two of the somethings from falling to the ground.
Before he could react, the person behind him in line had reached down,
picked them up, and swallowed them.
Mongo moved into better lighting to see what he held. They were
small, green balls, some kind of tiny vegetable or plant buds. He put