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

intelligent, highly intelligent. That was the horrible truth, the stupendous danger that paralyzed Grayson's
mind. His knees buckled under him, and he sank back against a wall and gasped for breath. For the first
time since he had been released from prison, his fear for the human race was so great that he forgot his
hatred of it.
The A-beasts were very intelligent jailers. To prevent the human beings from escaping they had
removed the 'copter engines and retired, leaving the prisoners both their quarters and the weapons they
needed to protect themselves against lower beasts. In addition, as protection against the smaller lizards
against which the weapons had proved so useless, they had thoughtfully left two of their own kind as
guards.
The guards picked out Grayson and Stratton, the biochemist, herded them gently into the captain's
office, and began to question them.
They pointed to different objects and waited to hear the names. Very obediently, Captain Grayson
began to teach them the human language.
"Shrewd," he told himself, "very shrewd. They've picked us two as the most intelligent of the entire
ship. They figured we'd make the best teachers. Well, barring a touch of insanity, we're not bad."
The other man seemed to have been frightened out of his delusions of persecution. No delusions at
this moment, thought Grayson, just the persecution itself. Stratton said nervously, "They have a good
memory, Captain. They repeat the words we give them without making a mistake."
In fact, the A-creatures were learning to speak at a rapid rate. Grayson could not imagine himself
learning their language with such speed and accuracy.
At the end of three days they could communicate-with the human beings with a fair degree of fluency.
One of the first questions they asked was further evidence of their shrewdness. "Why do you have such
men?"
Stratton, with his delusions, naturally misunderstood. He began to explain, "All the men have different
duties. One plots the ship's course, one takes charge of the enginesтАФ"
The A-beast said, "That is not what is meant."
Grayson nodded. "I think understand. You want to know why I have such a peculiar crew. But first,
why do you think the men are peculiar?"
"There is not sufficient regularity. We do not know what the human norm is. But we do know that this
cannot be a normal sample. There is too great a variety of behavior. Some are dull and apathetic, like
Kerman, some are excitable, like McGant. There is both cowardice and reckless indifference to loss of
life. Some obey slavishly, others carry out orders only as a last resort."
"A fine crew, aren't we?" agreed Grayson bitterly. "But for a trip like this, the bunch I picked was the
best to be found."
"They are irrational. They hate. And they act upon their hatred."
"Yes, we hate. That is the one thing we have in common! McGant hates his native planet, which
banished him for crimes he had committed. Kerman hates the Interplanetary Transport Service, which
fired him for petty thievery. Fernald hates the Courts of Justice, which convicted his father of taking
bribes. Some hate for reasons which exist in their twisted minds only. Others, like me, have good reason
for hating the entire human race."
The two A-creatures exchanged glances. Grayson said angrily, "Don't look superior. If you knew
what they did to me, you'd understand. I was convicted for a murder I didn't commit. I was sent to a
penal colony to be reconditioned. After I had served ten yearsтАФthe full periodтАФthey discovered the real
murderer, who was by that time on his deathbed, and died thumbing his nose at them.
"Ten years out of my lifeтАФthink of it!" His voice choked with rage as he recalled his wrongs. "The
most precious ten years. They couldn't make it up to me, of course, but the thing was that they didn't
even try. They didn't begin to try. They simply informed me that they'd note the correction in my dossier,
and that I could go about my business as before, with no stain on my record."
He hadn't meant to speak so freely, but now that he had listeners, the temptation to go on was
irresistible. And in the back of his mind was another reason, a reason only half formed. He would hold