"Herbert, Frank - Man of Two Worlds (CA by Frank Herbert)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

The clear fluid: vol-tol!

It had been an extremely artistic Dreen story explaining vol-tol, the highly explosive fuel used in Earthers' primitive ships.

The other ship in the collision was of Earther origin! One of its occupants lay dead and another appeared to be dying.

But the vol-tol demanded immediate attention. It could ignite, destroying the shambles of the collision and every living thing aboard.

Ryll knew he had to deal with the problem himself. Patricia was no longer functional.

I must move quickly!

He touched the surviving human's crushed head and neck.

Yes, dying.

Darts of agony shot through Ryll as he moved. It occurred to him that he, too, might be fatally injured. He paused to make an internal assessment.

By the blessed left arm of the Supreme Tax Collector! Almost ten percent of my mass is gone!

This time there was no trouble with the defensive-ball reaction. His probing hands fanned into cilia, an automatic reaction against which every Dreen child was warned. Ryll watched the cilia slither into the dying human's face.

Merging!

He knew he must prevent this. Combining life forms created unpredictable and often dangerous results. That was one piece of harsh information taught to every child.

But without more mass immediately I will die.

Ryll stared at an audio-visual ID tag on what remained of the mortally wounded Earther's green and black tunic.

"I am Lutt Hanson, Jr.," it said in English.

Ryll's language-interpretive facility, a product of Dreen storytelling and education, immediately shifted to the proper linguistic form.

What odd names Earthers chose.

No matter the harsh warnings, survival necessity drove him. There was no time for idmaging, and he needed portions of this dying body to rebuild his Dreen mass.

Abruptly, he heard wreckage moving. Metal grated against metal. Then . . . voices!

Discarding niceties, Ryll allowed Earther flesh to flow into and combine with his own, an oddly pleasing sensation. He felt his Dreen resources using Earther protoplasm, letting it creep into and around his cells. Alien memories intruded.

Fascinating! The cells carried Earther information -- too much to review at once, but similar to assimilating a Dreen Storyteller's account.

Suddenly, a voice boomed from behind Ryll.

"All personnel evacuate this ship immediately!"

Ryll identified the characteristic sound-clipping of an artificial amplifier.