"Harry Harrison - SSR 06 - A Stainless Steel Rat is Born" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

could be grown. The native fauna was just as poisonous, with teeth and claws to match. It was
tough. So tough that ordinary cows and sheep had a shockingly short life expectancy. Selective
gene manipulation took care of that and the first porcuswine were sent here. Imagine if you
canтАФand you will need a fertile imagination indeedтАФa one-tonne angry boar hog with sharp tushes
and mean disposition. That's bad enough, but picture the creature covered with long quills like an
insane porcupine. Odd as it sounds, the plan worked; since the farms are Stil\ breeding porcuswine
in large numbers it had to have worked. Bit 0' Heaven Smoked Porcuswine Hams are famed galaxy-
wide.
But you won't find the galaxy rushing to visit this piggy planet. I grew up here, I know. This
place is so boring

even the porcuswine fall asleep.
The funny part is that I seem to be the only one who notices it. They all look at me funny. My
Morn always thought that it was just growing pains and burnt porcuswine quills in my bedroom, a
folk remedy for same. Dad was always afraid of incipient insanity and used to haul me off to the
doctor about once a year. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong and theorized that I might be a
throwback to the original settlers, a loser in the Mendelian crapshoot. But that was years ago. I
haven't been bothered with parental attention since Dad threw me out of the house when I was
fifteen. This was after he had gone through my pockets one night and discovered that I had more
money than he did. Morn agreed fervently with him and even opened the door. I think they were glad
to see the last of

me. I was certainly too much of an irritation in their bovine existence.
What do I think? I think it can be damn lonely at times, being anoutcast. But I don't think I
would have it any other way. It can have its problemsтАФbut problems have solutions.
For example, one problem I licked was getting beat up all the time by the bigger kids. This
began happening as

A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN 5

soon as I went to school. I made the mistake at first of letting them know I was brighter than



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they were. Barn, тАв black eye. The school bullies liked it w much that they had to take turns to
beat up on me. I only broke the punishment cycle by bribing a university physical education
teacher to give me lessons in unarmed combat. I waited until I was really proficient before
fighting back. Then I creamed my would-be creamer and went on to beat up three more of the, thugs
one after another. I can tell you, all the little kids were my friends after that and

never tired of telling me how great it looked to see me chasing six of the worst ruffians- down
the block. Like I said, from problems come solutionsтАФnot to say pleasures.
And where did I get the money to bribe the teacher? Not from Dad, I can tell you. Three bucks a
week was my allowance, enough to buy maybe two Gaspo-Fizzes and a small sized Get-Stuffed candy
bar. Need, not greed, taught

me my first economic lesson. Buy cheap and sell dear and keep the profits for yourself.