"Frank Herbert - Escape Felicity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

extended tripods.

Beirut clutched the arms of his chair then sprang to the controls of the ship's automatic defenses, poised
a hand over the disconnect switch.

The crawling device outside whirled away, headed east toward a herd of the bouncing animals.

Beirut punched the 'Warning-Only' button.

A giant gout of earth leaped up ahead of the crawler, brought it to a lurching halt at the brink of a
smoking hole. Another gout of earth bounced skyward at the left of the machine; another at the right.

Beirut punched 'Standby' on the defense mechanisms, turned to assess the damage. Any new threat from
the machine out there and the B-ship's formidable arsenal would blast it out of existence. That was
always a step to be avoided, though, and he kept one eye on the screen showing the thing out there. It
sat unmoving but still chuffing on the small patch of earth left by the three blast-shots from the ship.

Less than ten seconds later, the computer out-chewed a strip of tape that said the ship's nose section
had been blasted open, all proximity detectors destroyed. Beirut was down on this planet until he could
make repairs.

Oddly, this eased the pressures of the push within him. It was still there and he could sense it, but the
compulsive drive lay temporarily idle as though it, top, had a standby switch.

Beirut returned his attention to the crawler.

The damage had been done, and there was no helping it. A ship could land with its arsenal set on
'Destroy,' but deciding what needed destruction was a delicate proposition. Wise counsel said you let the
other side get in a first shot if their technology appeared sufficiently primitive. Otherwise, you might make
yourself decidedly unwelcome.

Who'd have thought they'd have a cannon and fire the thing without warning?he asked himself. And the
reply stood there accusingly in his mind:You should've thought of it, stupid. Gunpowder and
steam-power are almost always concurrent.

Well, I was too upset by the push,he thought.Besides, why'd they fire without warning?



Again, the crawler's cab extruded the cannon muzzle and the cab started to turn to bring the weapon to
bear on the ship. A warning blast sent earth cascading into the hole at the left of the crawler. The cab
stopped turning.

'That's-a-baby,' Beirut said. 'Easy does it, fellows. Let's be friends.' He nicked a blue switch at the left
side of his board. His external microphones damped out as a klaxon sent its bull roar toward the crawler.
It was a special sound capable of intimidating almost any creature that heard it. The sound had an
astonishing effect on the crawler. A hatch in the middle of the cab popped open and five creatures boiled
out of it to stand on the deck of their machine.

Beirut keyed the microphone beside him into the central computer, raised amplification on his view of the