"Leinster, Murray - Keyhole" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leinster Murray)

УWe humans class you as an animal, Butch. We tell ourselves that all the animal world should be subject to us. Animals should work for us. If you act too smart well hunt down all your relatives and set them to work digging minerals for us. YouТll be with them. But I donТt want you to work your heart out in a mine, Butch! ItТs wrong!Ф
Butch remained quite still. Worden thought sickishly of small furry creatures like Butch driven to labor in airless mines in the MoonТs frigid depths. With guards in spacesuits watching lest any try to escape to the freedom theyТd known before the coming of men. With guns mounted against revolt. With punishments- for rebellion or weariness.
It wouldnТt be unprecedented. The Indians in Cuba when the Spanish cрme . . . Negro slavery in both Americas . . . concentration camps . . .
Butch moved. He put a small furry paw on WordenТs knee. Worden scowled at him.
УBad business,Ф he said harshly. УIТd rather not get fond of you. YouТre a likable little cuss but your race is doomed. The trouble is that you didnТt bother to develop a civilization. And if you had, I suspect weТd have smashed it. We humans arenТt what youТd call admirable.Ф -
Butch went over to the blackboard. He took a piece of pastel chalkЧordinary chalk was too hard for his Moon-gravity muscles -to useЧand soberly began to make marks on the slate. The marks formed letters. The letters made words. The words made sense.
YOU, wrote Butсh quite incredibly in neat pica lettering, GOOD FRIEND.
He turned his head to stare at Worden. Worden went white. УI havenТt taught you those words, Butch!Ф he said very quietly. УWhatТs up?Ф
HeТd forgotten that his words, to Butch, were merely vibrations in the air or in the floor. HeТd forgotten they had no meaning. But Butch seemed to have forgotten it too. He marked soberly: -
MY FRIEND GET SPACESUIT. He looked at Worden and marked once more. TAKE ME OUT. I COME BACK WITH YOU.
He looked at Worden with large incongruously soft and appealing eyes. And WordenТs brain seemed to spin inside his skull. After a long time Butch printed againЧ YES.
Then Worden sat very still indeed. There was only Moon gravity in the nursery and he weighed only one eighth as much as on Earth. But he felt very weak. Then he felt grim.
УNot much else to do, I suppose,Ф he said slowly. УBut IТll have to carry you through Earth gravity to the air lock.Ф
He got to his feet. Butch made a little leap up into his arms. He curled up there, staring at WordenТs face. Just before Worden stepped through the door Butch reached up a skinny paw and caressed WordenТs cheek tentatively.
УHere we go!Ф said Worden. УThe idea was for you to be a traitor. I wonderЧФ
But with Butch a furry ball, suffering in the multiplied weight Earth-gravity imposed upon him, Worden made his way to the air lock. He donned a spacesuit. He went out.
It was near sunrise then. A long time had passed and Earth was now in its last quarter and the very highest peak of all that made up the crater wall glowed incandescent in the sunshine. But the stars were still quite visible and very bright. Worden walked away from the station, guided by the Earth-shine on the ground under foot.
Three hours later he came back. Butch skipped and hopped beside his spacesuited figure. Behind them came two other figures. They were smaller than Worden but much larger than Butch. They were skinny and furry and they carried a burden. A mile from the station he switched on his suit radio. He called. A startled voice answered in his earphones.
УItТs Worden,Ф he said dryly. УIТve been out for a walk with Butch. We visited his family and IТve a couple of his cousins with me. They want to pay a visit and present some gifts. Will you let us in without shooting?Ф
There were exclamations. There was confusion. But Worden went on steadily toward the station while another high peak glowed in sunrise light and a third seemed to burst into incandescence. Dawn was definitely on the way.
The aft-lock door opened. The party from the airless Moon went in. When the air lock filled, though, and the gravity coils went on, BUtch and his relatives became helpless. They had to be carried to the nursery. There they uncurled themselves and blinked enigmatically at the men who crowded into the room where gravity was normal for the Moon and at the other men who stared in the door.
УIТve got a sort of message,Ф said Worden. УButch and his relatives want to make a deal with us. YouТll notice that theyТve put themselves at our mercy. We can kill all three of them. But they want to make a deal.Ф
The head of the station said uncomfortably, УYouТve managed two-way communication, Worden.Ф
У1 havenТt,Ф Worden told him. УThey have. TheyТve proved to me that theyТve brains equal to ours. TheyТve been treated as animals and shot as specimens TheyТve fought backЧnaturally! But they want to make friends. They say that we can never use the Moon except in spacesuits and in stations like this, and they could never take EarthТs gravity. So thereТs no need for us to be enemies. We can help each other.Ф
The head of the station said dryly, УPlausible enough, but we have to act under orders, Worden. Did you explain that?Ф
УThey know,Ф said Worden. УSo theyТve got set to defend themselves if necessary. TheyТve set up smelters to handle metals. They get the heat by sun mirrors, concentrating sunlight. TheyТve even begun to work with gases held in containers. TheyТre not far along with electronics yet, but theyТve got the theoretic knowledge and they donТt need vacuum tubes. They live in a vacuum. They can defend themselves from now on.Ф
The head said mildly, УIТve watched Butch, you know, Worden. And you donТt look crazy. But if this sort of thing is sprung on the armed forces on Earth thereТll be trouble. TheyТve been arguing for armed rocket ships. If your friends start a real war for defenseЧif they canЧmaybe rocket warships will be the answer.Ф Ч
Worden nodded.
УRight. But our rockets arenТt so good that they can fight this far from a fuel store, and there couldnТt beЧ one on the Moon with all of ButchТs kinfolk civilizedЧЧas they nearly are now and as they certainly will be within the next few weeks. Smart people, these cousinsТand such of Butch!Ф -
УIТm afraid theyТll have to prove it,Ф said the head УWhereТd they get this sudden surge in culture?Ф
УFrom us,Ф said Worden. УSmelting from me, I think. Metallurgy and mechanical engineering from the tractor mechanics. GeologyЧcall it lunology hereЧmostly from you.Ф
УHowТs that?Ф demanded the head.
УThink of something youТd like Butch to do,Ф said Worden grimly, Уand then watch him.Ф
The head stared and then looked at Butch. ButchЧ small and furry and swaggeringЧstood up and bowed profoundly from the waist. One paw was placed where his heart could be. The other made a grandiose sweeping gesture. He straightened up and strutted, then climbed swiftly into WordenТs lap and put a skinny furry arm about his neck.
УThat bow,Ф said the head, very pale, Уis what I had in mind. You meanЧФ
УJust so,Ф said Worden. УButchТs ancestors had no air to make noises in for speech. So they developed telepathy. In time, to be sure, they worked out something like musicЧsounds carried through rock. But like our music it doesnТt carry meaning. They communicate directly from mind to mind. Only we canТt pick up communications from them and they can from us.Ф
УThey read our minds!Ф said the head. He licked his lips. УAnd when we first shot them for specimens they were. trying to communicate. Now they fight.Ф
УNaturally,Ф said Worden. УWouldnТt we? TheyТve been picking our brains. They can put up a terrific battle now. They could wipe out this station without trouble. They let us stay so they could learn from us. Now they want to trade.Ф
УWe have to report to Earth,Ф said the head slowly, УbutЧФ -
УThey brought along some samples,Ф said Worden. УTheyТll swap diamonds, weight for weight, for records. They like our music. TheyТll trade emeralds for textbooksЧthey can read now! And theyТll set up an atomic pile and swap plutonium for other things theyТll think of later. Trading on that basis should be cheaper than war!Ф
УYes,Ф said the head. УIt should. ThatТs the sort of argument men will listen to. But howЧЧФ
УButch,Ф said Worden ironically. УJust Butch! We didnТt capture himЧthey planted him on us! He stayed in the station and picked our brains and relayed the stuff to his relatives. We wanted to learn about them, remember? ItТs like the story of the psychologist. . .

ThereТs a story about a psychologist who was studying the intelligence of a chimpanzee. He led the chimp into a room full of toys, went out, closed the door and put his eye to the keyhole to see what the chimp was doing. He found himself gazing into a glittering interested brown-eye only inches from his own. The chimp was looking through the keyhole to see what the psychologist was doing.