"William Morrison - Playground" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrison William)

тАФ"
Without turning around to look at her, George held up his hand. "Please, Sabina, not now. There's
something strange going on down there."
Sabina subsided. He peered at the view screen, but the visible light that came from below was still
gray and diffuse. And the radar wasn't too clear, while the altimeter still wavered. Fifty-nine thousand тАФ
48,000 тАФ 58,000 тАУ 48,000
Mountains all over the place. Mountains that stuck sharp and high into the air as individuals, with
deep valleys between them and their neighbors. And not a sign of flat land suitable for landing.
Or was there? Forty-six thousand, 45,000, 45,000 тАФ it was holding rather steady now. This might
be the place. The needle suddenly shot down again to 31,000, and he turned the ship back. He had
found one plain, he mightn't find another. He'd land where he could.
They were breaking through the clouds now, and a sudden gasp came from the kids. "Look, Dad!"
exclaimed Jerry. "Tree-mountains!" The boy was right, he thought. That's what they were, huge trees as
tall as mountains. That's why they rose into the sky as individuals, and there were no mountain ranges.
They stretched away into the distance as far as he could see. A good thing, he told himself, we didn't try
to land among them, or sure as shootin' we'd have had a bad smash.
Lucky too that he had turned back to find that one plain. It was a large clearing, with a dozen times
as much space as he needed to make a landing. He could set the ship down right in the middle.
Sabina said wonderingly, "Is that grass down there?"
"It looks pretty tall, but I guess it is. Things seem to be done here on a big scale, Sabina."
"Gosh, Pop," said Jerry, "do you think the animals here are big too?"
"They probably are. However, I don't think we have to worry about that. Our atomic rifles should be
able to scare them away."
"Will you let me shoot a rifle, Pop?" asked Lester eagerly.
"No," he said curtly. "And don't ask me again."
"Can I shoot it, Pop? I'm eleven, almost twelve тАФ"
"Nobody is going to touch a rifle except your mother and me. Now, if you kids know what is good
for you, you're going to drop the subject. I don't want anybody to distract my attention while I'm
landing."
He made the landing without trouble, not far from the center of the clearing. Then he began to take
samples of the air and soil. The kids waited impatiently, anxious to get out into the fresh air. Gravity was
low, about a half gee. They'd have a wonderful time running and bouncing around тАФprovided there was
no danger.
But they'd have to wait, he thought. It took three hours to complete the tests, and although the ship
carried a wide range of antibiotics, it was still silly to take chances. They'd just have to hold their horses
until he'd made sure there were no viruses or other strange forms of life that their medicines couldn't
handle.
Sabina filled part of the time by giving them a meal. Then they watched a home stereo film. After that
they came over to him, not saying a word, but nagging him by their mere presence. He was annoyed
enough even without their help, and when Carl awoke, irritable as usual, and began to bawl, he was
ready to send them out there to face whatever the planet had to offer.
But he didn't. He waited the full three hours, and at the end of that time he said, "All right, you can go
out тАФ with Mother. Sabina, better take a rifle. And give them their pocket pistols. I'll get set to make
repairs."
"But you can't touch the engine until it cools off, dear."
"I know, but I want to get things ready. Now, remember, Jerry and Lester, don't put your pistols
down, not for a minute. Keep them aimed at the ground. Do not point them at each other. And stay
close to your mother."
"I wanna pistol," wailed Carl.
"You can sweat bullets, my fine-feathered friend, but you still won't get a pistol. Not for another two