"William Kotzwinkle - The Amphora Project" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kotzwinkle William)

Kotzwinkle. William.
The Amphora Project / William Kotzwinkle-1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8021-1803-8 I. Title.
PS3561.O85A83 2005 813'.54-dc22 2005046159
Grove Press
an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
05 06 07 08 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1



For Elizabeth Gundy, my partner in life and literature


I would like to thank the following scientists for their invaluable help: Sydney
Brenner, Nobel Laureate, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Peter Goddard,
Director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton; Steven Katona, President
of the College of the Atlantic; Kenneth Paigen, former Director of the Jackson
Laboratory; Beverly Paigen, Senior Staff Scientist, Jackson Laboratory; Leon
Rosenberg, Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University; and Peter Wells,
Director of Technology Transfer, Jackson Laboratory.
My special thanks also to David Einhorn; Dan Burt; Thomas Rolfes; my editor,
Morgan Entrekin; and my agents, Elaine Markson and Ron Bernstein.
And finally, my thanks to Ernest McMullen, an extraordinary painter, who
accompanied me on this long journey through other worlds.



CHAPTER 1
"Sky mines," hissed Lizardo, his throat inflating nervously as he gazed out the flight
deck window at the ornaments of doom flickering in the darkness. His armored
scales made a scraping sound as he wrapped his tail around the pedestal of his seat.
"No one mentioned minefields."
"You worry too much," said Commander Jockey Oldcastle, his formidable
paunch pressed against the controls of their descending ship.
"That's why we haven't been killed until now," hissed Lizardo. He was a navigator
from Planet Serpentia. The pupils of his eyes were shaped like keyholes in an ancient
lock, glowing with menace. In the rooms of his brain were recipes for poisons in all
dilutions, from mild to murderous. Two fangs lay backward against the roof of his
mouth. When they swung forward, they filled with venom and the recipient of it was
going to go to sleep, for hours, days, or forever, depending on the mixture.
Jockey looked beyond the sky mines to the little moon below. "Made for
pleasure."
"Only fools seek pleasure on such places. We don't need this job."
"We need any job we can get." Jockey touched the controls lightly, taking the ship
closer to the minefield.
Lizardo's scaly claws clicked on the control face of his navigational equipment. He
was preparing a flight plan for escape, back out through the minefield. Serpentians