"Bruce McAllister- Kin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcallister Bruce)

face. The face came back: The tremendous skull, the
immense eyes that could see so many kinds of light and make
their way in nearly every kind of darkness. The heavy weltsтАФ
the auxiliary gillsтАФinside the breathing globe. The dripping
ducts below them, ready to release their jets of acid.
"Who is it ... that you wish to have killed?" the voice
asked, and the boy almost looked up. It was only a voiceтАФ
mechanical, snake-like, haltingтАФhe reminded himself. By
itself it could not kill him.
"A man named James Ortega-Mambay," the boy answered.
"Why?" The word hissed in the stale apartment air.
"He is going to kill my sister."
"You know this ... how?"
"I just do."
The alien said nothing, and the boy heard the long,
whispering pull of its lungs.
4
 Kin
by Bruce McAllister


"Why," it said at last, "did you think ... I would agree to
it?"
The boy was slow to answer.
"Because you're a killer."
The alien was again silent.
"So all Antalou," the voice grated, "are professional
killers?"
"Oh, no," the boy said, looking up and trying not to look
away. "I mean...."
"If not ... then how ... did you choose me?"
The boy had walked up to the creature at the great
fountain by the Cliffs of MonicaтАФa landmark any visitor to
Earth would take in, if only because it appeared on the
sanctioned itinerariesтАФand had handed him a written
message in crude Antalouan. "I know what you are and what
you do," the message read. "I need your services. LAX cell
873-2345-2657 at 1100 tomorrow morning. I am Kim."
"Antalou are well known for their skills, sir," the boy said
respectfully. "We've read about the Noh campaign, and what
happened on Hoggun II when your people were betrayed, and
what one company of your mercenaries were able to do
against the Gar-Betties." The boy paused. "I had to give out
ninety-eight notes, sir, before I found you. You were the only
one who answered...."
The hideous head tilted while the long arms remained
perfectly still, and the boy found he could not take his eyes
from them.
"I see," the alien said.