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

five creatures from the machine. He began reading off his own reactions. The human assessment always
helped the computer's sensors.

'Humanoid,' he said. 'Upright tubular bodies about a meter and a half tall with two legs encased in some
kind pf boot. Sack-like garments belted at the waist. Each has five pouches dangling from the belt.
Number five is significant here. Flesh color is pale blue-violet. Two arms; articulation - humanoid, but
very long forearm. Wide hands with six fingers; looks like two opposable thumbs, one to each side of the
hand. Heads - squarish, domed, covered with what appears to be a dark blue-violet beret. Eyes
semi-stalked, yellow and just inside the frontcorners of the head. Those heads are very blocky. I suspect
the eyes can be twisted to look behind without turning the head.'

The creatures began climbing down off their machine. Beirut went on with his description: 'Large mouth
orifice centered beneath the eyes. There appears to be a chin articulation on a short hinge. Orifice lipless,
ovoid, no apparent teeth ... correction: there's a dark line inside that may be the local equivalent.
Separate small orifices below each eye stalk - possibly for breathing. One just turned its head. I see a
slight indentation centered on the side of the head - purpose unknown. It doesn't appear to be an ear.'

The five were advancing on the ship now; Beirut backed off the scanner to keep them in view, said:
'They carry bows and arrows. That's odd, considering the cannon. Each has a back quiver with ... five
arrows. That five again. Bows slung on the string over left shoulder. Each has a short lance in a back
harness, a blue-violet pennant just below the lance head. Some kind of figure on the pennant - looks like
an upside down 'U' in orange. Same figure repeated on the front of their tunics which are also blue-violet.
Blue-violet and five. What's the prognosis?'

Beirut waited for the computer's answer to come to him through the speaker grafted into his neck.
Relays clicked and the vocoder whispered through the bones of his head: 'Probable religious association
with color and number five. Extreme caution is indicated on religious matters. Body armor and hand
weapon mandatory.'

That's the trouble with computers,Beirut thought.Too logical.

The five natives had stopped just outside the fire-blackened landing circle. They raised their arms to the
ship, chanted something that sounded like 'Toogayala-toogayala-toogayala.' The sound came from the
oval central orifice.

'We'll toogayala in just a minute,' Beirut muttered. He brought out a Borgen machine pistol, donned
body armor, aimed two of the ship's bombards directly at the steam wagon and set them on a dead-man
switch keyed to a fifteen-second stoppage of his heart. He rigged the stern port to the PTW syslem,
keyed to blow up any unauthorized intruders. Into various pockets he stuffed a lingua pack receptor
tuned to his implanted speaker through the computer, a standard contact kit for sampling whatever
interested him, a half dozen minigrenades, energy tablets, food analyzer, a throwing knife in a sheath, a
miniscanner linked to the shipcomputer and a slingshot. With a final, grim sensation, he stuffed a medikit
under the armor next to his heart.

One more glance around the familiar control center and he slid down the tube to the stern port, opened it
and stepped out.



The five natives threw themselves flat on the ground, arms extended toward him.