"Damon Knight - Short Stories Vol 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Knight Damon)

Well, I was interested in spite of myself, for I knew it would be a long job. We spent some evenings
together, working with material from Kanamit bulletin boards and so forth, and with the extremely limited
English-Kanamit dictionary they issued to the staff. My conscience bothered me about the stolen book,
but gradually I became absorbed by the problem. Languages are my field, after all. I couldn't help being
fascinated.

We got the title worked out in a few weeks. It wasHow to Serve Man , evidently a handbook they were
giving out to new Kanamit members of the embassy staff. They had new ones in, all the time now, a
shipload about once a month; they were opening all kinds of research laboratories, clinics and so on. If
there was anybody on Earth besides Grigori who still distrusted those people, he must have been
somewhere in the middle of Tibet.

It was astonishing to see the changes that had been wrought in less than a year. There were no more
standing armies, no more shortages, no unemployment. When you picked up a newspaper you didn't see
H-BOMB or SATELLITE leaping out at you; the news was always good. It was a hard thing to get used
to. The Kanamit were working on human biochemistry, and it was known around the embassy that they
were nearly ready to announce methods of making our race taller and stronger and healthierтАФpractically
a race of supermenтАФand they had a potential cure for heart disease and cancer.

I didn't see Grigori for a fortnight after we finished working out the title of the book; I was on a
long-overdue vacation in Canada. When I got back, I was shocked by the change in his appearance.

тАЬWhat on earth is wrong, Grigori?тАЭ I asked. тАЬYou look like the very devil.тАЭ

тАЬCome down to the lounge.тАЭ

I went with him, and he gulped a stiff Scotch as if he needed it.

тАЬCome on, man, what's the matter?тАЭ I urged.

тАЬThe Kanamit have put me on the passenger list for the next exchange ship,тАЭ he said. тАЬYou, too,
otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you.тАЭ

тАЬWell,тАЭ I said, тАЬbutтАФтАЭ

тАЬThey're not altruists.тАЭ

I tried to reason with him. I pointed out they'd made Earth a paradise compared to what it was before.
He only shook his head.

Then I said, тАЬWell, what about those lie-detector tests?тАЭ

тАЬA farce,тАЭ he replied, without heat. тАЬI said so at the time, you fool. They told the truth, though, as far as it
went.тАЭ

тАЬAnd the book?тАЭ I demanded, annoyed. тАЬWhat about thatтАФHow to Serve Man? That wasn't put there
for you to read. Theymean it. How do you explain that?тАЭ

тАЬI've read the first paragraph of that book,тАЭ he said. тАЬWhy do you suppose I haven't slept for a week?тАЭ