"William Morrison - The Haters" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrison William)

Fernald said gloomily, "We couldn't make a dent on that thing, Captain, but the big one seems to
have torn it to pieces in no time at all. Absolutely no time at all."
"What'll happen to us if the big one comes after us?" asked McGant.
Grayson shook his head. "Better not talk about it. So far we've been lucky enough to have it avoid
us. God help us if it ever acquires a fondness for our company, " he told them.
Fernald pointed. "Here's another little one, dead as a door nail. Looks like it's been burned."
The skin seemed to have been scorched. Grayson said, "That must be one of the pair we caught with
our midget nuclear, bomb."
"So the bomb had an effect after all," observed McGant.
"Not enough. If we had a full sized oneтАФ"
"Which we haven't, Captain.'
"Which we haven't. But if we had, we might protect ourselves. As it isтАФ" He hesitated. "As it is,
we're getting off this planet."
"No, Captain!" exclaimed McGant. "By Pluto, we were all going to get rich here and go back and
show them. You can't go off now, leaving all that valuable metal untouched."
Grayson's lips tightened. "In the 'copter, you fools," he ordered. "We're going back to the ship, and
once we get there we're leaving the planet. If you don't like the idea, McGant, you can stay here with
these lizard beasts. And you can keep any man who wants to stay here with you."
The others shook their heads and Fernald spoke for them "Not us, Captain. Not after what we've
seen them do."
The flight back to the ship was made in swift silence. Grayson got out and saw Kerman gaping
foolishly at him. "All quiet, Kerman?"
"All quiet, Captain."
"Get back on the ship. Have Sparks send out a message recalling all reconnaissance and mining
crews. We're leaving in fifteen minutes. Anybody not on board in that time stays behind on this planet."
He ran down the corridor and threw open the door to his office. In the doorway he stood as if
paralyzed. One of the A-beasts was there near his desk, staring at him. A hole torn in the metal floor
showed how the beast had entered.
His hand swung to the weapon at his belt and then dropped away. Explosive weapons were useless.
The only thing that could save him was his head, his human brain, the great brain of a race which had set
out to conquer the universe.
A crewman came running down the corridor to him and shouted, "Captain! They've torn a hole in the
side! And they're ripping out the engine!"
Another A-beast suddenly opened the storeroom door and looked out at him. It was at this moment
that Grayson almost realized the full hopelessness of their situation. But not quite. He knew that the ship
could not take off without extensive repairs, and that he and the other crew members were prisoners at
the mercy of the A-race. What he did not realize was the most important fact of all.
There came the burst of an explosion from an adjoining corridor, then screams of panic. There must
have been at least half a dozen guns blasting, thought Grayson. All, he knew, were useless, completely
useless. Not one of them could harm the big lizard-like things. They could only excite them, enrage them,
inspire them to revenge.
He peered around the corner and saw what was happening. Very gently, two of the A-race were
advancing upon a dozen cowering crew members. Like nurses removing dangerous toys from children
who might hurt themselves, they were taking away the guns and grenades which the latter had been
using.
It was at that moment that the full truth burst upon Grayson. The A-beasts were not averse to killing.
The way in which one of them had slaughtered the smaller creatures of his own planet showed that. If
they were caring for the human beings it was for one reason aloneтАФthat the human beings were valuable
to them, that the human beings knew things that they needed to know.
And if they could acquire knowledge from the human beings, that meant that they themselves were