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

years. Take him away, Sabina, before his buzzing gets on my nerves and I swat him as I would a Martian
mosquito."
Sabina hastily took Carl away, and George inhaled deeply. Ah, the blessed quiet, he thought. Too
bad it can't last.
He got out his repair kit. Then he undid the anti-radiation chest and gave himself a shot. He'd better
give them to Sabina and the kids too, he thought. Just in case they come monkeying around the engine
while I'm fixing it and get a burst of rays accidental-like. Even Carl тАФ especially Carl. He can scream all
he wants to, but the way that kid pokes his nose into everything I'd better take no chances. And maybe
the jab of the needle will convince him I mean business when I say I don't want to be bothered, and
make him stay away from me for a while.
They had left the door of the ship open, and the heavy native air of the planet had rushed in. It was a
little hard to breathe at first, but he knew he'd get used to it and suffer no after-effects. He had got used
to worse air. But what the devil was it so quiet about outside? What were Sabina and the kids doing? It's
nice to be left alone, it's wonderful to have Sabina take care of them all by her sweet self тАФ and she is
sweet, as I have to admit тАФ but still this is a strange planet, and there may be danger out there. She's
only a weak woman after all, and those kids тАФ well, you know how kids are, always thrusting their
snotty little noses into places where they have no business. Quiet as profound as this is positively
ominous.
He took another rifle from the rack and stepped out.
The scene was peaceful enough, if strange. The grass, oddly jointed red-green stalks a half foot thick,
rose 50 feet into the air, way above the ship, which had burned a path through it in making a landing. A
slight wind swayed the tops of the stalks and made a thin sighing noise as it wandered among them. The
grass was wet, as from recent rain. Probably the reason the fire hadn't spread.
Through the path burned in the grass he could see that a dozen miles away the mountainous trees
rose into the air, grotesque figures by virtue of their shape as well as their size. They were more like
enormous cacti, of the Martian type, than the trees he had known. If they moved in the wind at all, it was
to such a slight extent that he couldn't detect it. They seemed to be frozen into place.
It wasn't the plants, however, but the animals that worried him. Off to one side he heard a distant
noise, as if something were crashing through the stalks of grass. Then quiet. And then the noise came
from in front of him. It grew louder, came nearer
A small reddish animal about two feet long leaped from the forest of grass. It moved so quickly that
he had only a vague idea of the shape of the head and he couldn't be sure of the number of feet. Chasing
after it came a mighty hunter тАФ Carl, who pointed his finger and said, "Bang, bang!" And after Carl came
Lester, who pointed a pistol and made a louder and more ominous bang.
A stalk of grass, ripped in two, bent and broke and then came crashing down, barely missing the
eager Carl. "Lester!" shouted George. "Stop shooting! Stop it, do you hear me?"
After Lester came Jerry, and behind him Sabina. "What's going on here?" demanded George.
All three children began to explain at once, and George shut them up. "They were chasing that beast,"
said Sabina.
"Did it attack them?"
"Well, no. Jerry was in front, and Lester behind him, with Carl and me bringing up the rear. I was just
a little ahead of Carl, who was sucking on another heat-pop. Suddenly I heard him cry and yell, 'Bad
dog, bad dog!' "
"Bad dog," agreed Carl. "He took my pop."
"Yes, that brazen animal stole Carl's pop right out of his hand. When we came after it, it ran back in
this direction."
"And it made no attempt to harm any of the children?"
"No attempt at all."
"Let's hope the other animals aren't any more vicious. I think, Sabina, that from now on the kids had
better stick closer to the ship. At least until we know our fauna better."