"Keith Laumer - Galactic Odyssey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

тАЬI donтАЩt omit thy ill-placed japery, Orfeo! Rid me this urchin, ere you vex me out of all humor!тАЭ
тАЬA bit of a sticky wicket, that, old boy. HeтАЩs still alive, you know. If I nurse him alongтАФтАЭ
тАЬHow say you? What stuff is this! Art thou the parish comfort, to wax chirurgeonly oтАЩer this
whelp?тАЭ
тАЬIf he can be trainedтАФтАЭ
тАЬYou oтАЩertax my patience, Orfeo! IтАЩd make a chough of as deep chat!тАЭ
тАЬHeтАЩll make a gun-boy, mark my words.тАЭ
тАЬBah! You more invest the misadventure than a marketplace trinket chafferer! In any case, the
impтАЩs beyond recovery!тАЭ
Part of me wanted to just skip over this part of the dream and sink back down into the big, soft
black that was waiting for me, but a little voice somewhere back behind my eyes was telling me to
do something, fast, before bad things happened. I made a big effort and got one eyelid open.
Everything looked red and hazy. The three of them were standing ten feet away, near the door.
The one with the funny way of speaking was big, built solid as a line-backer, with slicked -back
black hair and a little moustache. He wore a loose jacket covered with pockets; he looked like
Clark Gable playing Frank Buck.
The other man was not much older than me; he had a rugged jawline, a short nose, curly
reddish-brown hair, wide shoulders, slim hips in a form -fitting gray coverall. He was pretty
enough to be a TV intern.
The girl . . . I had to stop and get the other eyelid up. No girl could be that pretty. She had jet
black hair and smoky gray eyes big enough t o go wading in; an oval face, mellow ivory -colored
skin, features like one of those old statues. She was wearing a white coverall, and the form it fit
was enough to break your heart.
I made a move to sit up and pain broke over me like a wave. It seemed to be coming mostly
from my left arm. I took hold of the wrist with my other hand and got up on one elbow with no
more effort than it takes to swing a safe in your teeth.
 Nobody seemed to notice; when the whirly lights settled down, they were still standing there, still argu-
ing.
тАЬ . . . a spot of bother, Desroy, but itтАЩs worth a go.тАЭ
тАЬMethinks sloth instructs thee, naught else!тАЭ The big fellow turned and stamped off. The young
fellow grinned at the girl.
тАЬJust twisting the old boyтАЩs tail. Actually, heтАЩs right. You nip off and soothe him down a bit. IтАЩll
attend to this.тАЭ
I slid over the edge of my nest and kind of fell to the floor. At the noise, they both whirled on
me. I got hold of the floor and swung it around under me.
тАЬI just came in to get out of the weather,тАЭ I meant to say, but it came out as a sort of gargly
sound. The man took a quick step toward me and over his shoulder said, тАЬPop off now, Milady.тАЭ
He had a hand on a thing clipped to his belt. I didnтАЩt need a set of technical specifications to tell
me it was some kind of gun. The girl moved up quickly and put her hand on his arm.
тАЬOrfeoтАФthe poor creature suffers!тАЭ She spoke English with an accent that made it sound like music.
He moved her around behind him. тАЬHe might be dangerous. Now do be a good child and toddle
off.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm . . . not dangerous,тАЭ I managed to get the words out. The smile was less successful. I felt
sick. But I wasnтАЩt going to come unfed in front of her. I got my back against the pile of furs and
tried to stand up straight.
тАЬSo you can talk,тАЭ the man said. He was frowning at me. тАЬDamn me if I know what to do with
you.тАЭ He seemed to be talking to himself.
тАЬJust . . . let me rest a few minutes . . . and IтАЩll be on my way . . .тАЭ I could hear my pulse
thudding in my ears like bongo d rums.
тАЬWhy did you come aboard?тАЭ The man snapped the question at me. тАЬWhat did you think youтАЩd