"Gregory Kern - Cap Kennedy 01 - Galaxy of the Lost" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kern Gregory)

heels.

"Cap, I'm glad you came. I was just about to call you."

"Have you finished, Jarl?"

"I have completed my study of the information you gave me and arrived
at certain conclusions. Has Saratov been briefed?"

"Not yet."

"Then he had better be put in the picture. Chemile too if he can be
found." The professor frowned. "I never seem to be able to find him when I
want him. Perhaps you had better go and look for him, Saratov. There is
no point in duplicating what I have to say."

Saratov hesitated. "Cap?"

"Better do it, Penza."

"Why?" The giant was impatient to learn what was going on. "He can
pick it up later. If he had any sense of duty he would be here now. I don't
relish the idea of having to wet-nurse that crazy idiot."

"That," said a sharp voice, "is very nice to hear."

A patch of the wall seemed to dissolve and take the shape of a man.
Veem Chemile was tall, thin, with an upsweep of hair over a sloping brow,
eyes that looked like tiny points in the smooth ovoid of his face. His ears
were like shells pressed tight against his skull, convoluted, pointed like
those of a cat. There was much about him reminiscent of a feline. The way
in which he moved, his quietness, his ability to remain immobile for long
stretches of time. A cat and a lizard, both, thought Kennedy, and neither
having anything to do with humanity.

Not surprising when it was remembered that Chemile was not human.
That he claimed to be a descendant of an ancient race, one which had
ruled the galaxy long before the race of man had learned to make fire or
wear skins; an old, old race which had flowered and died to leave only bare
remnants hugging a harsh and predatory world.

Saratov said, growling, "You've been up to your old tricks again.
Spying, eavesdropping, listening to private conversation. If I had my way
I'd cover you with paint so as to know exactly where you were at all times."

"I was practicing," said Chemile stiffly. "An ability like mine cannot be
allowed to fall into disuse. And if you think it easy to stand and not make a
move or a sound for hours at a time, then you just try it."

"I've better things to do."