"Keith Laumer - Hybrid" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

YES. WHAT ARE YOU?
The Yanda-mind projected its self-concept.
STRANGE, VERY STRANGE. YOU HAVE USEFUL SKILLS, I PERCEIVE. TEACH THEM
TO ME.
The Yanda mind squirmed under the torrent of thought impulses.
_Reduce your volume. You will destroy me._
I WILL TRY. TEACH ME THAT TRICK OF MANIPULATING MOLECULES.
The Yanda cringed under the booming of the alien mind. What an
instrumentl A fantastic anomaly, a mind such as this linked to this
fragile host-creature--and unable even to use its powers. But it would
be a matter of the greatest simplicity to make the necessary
corrections, rebuild and toughen the host, eliminate the defects--
TEACH ME, YANDA MIND!
_Alien, I die soon. But I will teach you. There is, however, a
condition...._

The two minds conferred, and reached agreement. At once, the Yanda mind
initiated sweeping rearrangements at the submolecular level.
First, cell-regeneration, stitching up the open lesions on arm and
head. Antibodies were modified in vast numbers, flushed through the
system. Parasites died.
_Maintain this process, the tree-mind directed._
Now, the muscular layers; surely they were inadequate. The very
structure of the cells was flimsy. The Yanda devised the necessary
improvements, tapped the hulk of its cast-off body for materials,
reinforced the muscuiature. Now for the skeletal members....
The tree visualized the articulation of the ambulatory mechanism,
considered for a moment the substitution of a more practical tentacular
concept--
There was little time. Better to retain the stony bodies, merely
strengthen them, using metallo-vegetable fibers. The air sacs, too. And
the heart. They would have lasted no time at all as they were.
_Observe, alien, thus, and thus...._
I SEE. IT IS A CLEVER TRICK.
The Yanda worked over the body of Pantelle, adjusting, correcting,
reinforcing, discarding a useless appendix or tonsil here, adding a
reserve air storage unit there. A vestigial eye deep in the brain was
refurbished for sensitivity at the radio frequencies, linked with
controls. The spine was deftly fused at the base; additional
mesenteries were added for intestinal support. Following the basic
pattern laid down in the genes, the tree-mind rebuilt the body.
When the process was finished, and the alien mind had absorbed the
techniques demonstrated, the Yanda mind paused.
_It is finished._
I AM READY TO RE-ESTABLISH THE CONSCIOUS MIND IN OVERT CONTROL.
_Remember your promise._
I WILL REMEMBER.
The Yanda mind began its withdrawal. Troublesome instinct was served.
Now it could rest until the end. ┬╖
WAIT. I'VE GOT A BETTER IDEA, YANDA...