"Larry Niven - Crashlander (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

"Next?"

The man I'd seen hadn't appeared yet.

She was taking it all in, but muscles were flexing at the corners of her jaw and her eyes were
wide and frightened. I asked, "How tough are you?"

Her eyes slid away, watching the game, because someone might be watching her. She said again,
"Next?"

"If you can. Get Jeena. Go to Shasht. Get Outbound Enterprises to freeze you for transfer to
Home, sign me in, too, and pay the extra to ship Jeena. I'll be there when I can."

Her jaw set. Sharrol was a flat phobe, and the continent Shasht wasn't just halfway round the
world; it was the surface. I couldn't guess whether she was strong enough to get through this. I
said, "If you can't do it, leave word --"

"When can you join us?"

"If I'm not on the same ship, go to Carlos. I'll get to you soonest."

"You'd better have one tanj of a good story for me when you do," Sharrol said, and then a head
came into view, reflected in the glass. With my head still turned away. I flicked off the phone,
my back blocking the action, and wiggled out my pocket phone.

It was him. Square face, thin blond hair, jaw like a prey turde, muscles rippling under the
shirt. He was puffing a little. Ander was born of Earth, and he'd kept a flatlander's wild taste
in dress and appearance. Today his drawstring pants were a miracle of wriggling colored lines. He
wore a tunic in solid colors, green and brown with a jagged black line across chest and back.
Classical cartoon characters kept peeking over the black line, chattering to each other about what
they saw, then dropping back. He wore a backpurse, disappointingly drab.

He was taking his time, looking puzzled but determined, coming right at me.

So I let him see me pocket my unused phone as I turned and stepped out of the booth and right



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into him. I yelped. "Aghh!"

"Sorry. Beowulf, how you've changed!" He looked me over, visibly shocked, blocking me in the
booth.

I shied back, wimp intimidated by a street thug, a bit offended and a bit afraid. "Sorry, man, I
didn't mean to nudge you."