"Andre Norton - Brother To Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

were star rovers. However, this creature was so far from anything he had ever seen or
heard tell ofтАФ except there was a faint relationship perhaps to one of the "demons" of old
talesтАФthat he was shaken.

The other more than matched Jofre in height, perhaps being a handsbreadth the taller. His
uncovered head was domed and hairless, but about his neck, rising like a great frilled
collar, was a fringe of skin which pulsated with colorтАФnow a dusky scarlet, though that
was fading even as Jofre set eyes on it. The skin of the face and head were scaled,
minutely prismatic. In the somewhat fore-pointed face, which was chinless, a well-
marked and toothed lower jaw showed no fullness, the eyes were very large and by this
garish light appeared to reflect small points of flame.
The stranger was wearing a spacer's suit monotone in color and with no badges to be
seen. He was busy now settling one of those fabled off-world weapons into a holster at
his belt. His other arm, that which Jofre still held onto in support, was but half the size of
the right one and completely covered with the sleeve of the uniform which was turned
back and fastened over it.

Having holstered his weapon, the stranger turned his attention to Jofre.

"Well met, Night wandererтАФor do you agree?" Those large eyes seemed to narrow a
fraction. The voice had a hissing note which tended to distort the words a fraction.

"Who are you?" Jofre was startled enough to demand, bluntly.

The frill had lost its color, subsiding now to lie about the stranger's narrow shoulders like
a small cape collar.

"You meanтАФwhat am I? There are no others of my kind on planet now, none that I have
heard of. We, too, are wanderers of a sort but circumstances have led me to exceed the
reach of my fellow clansmen for a while. I am a ZacathanтАФmy call name Zurzal."

Zacathan! The Master had spoken once of that race. Old, far older than Jofre's own kind,
their history stretched back into time mists so dim that no one now could penetrate them.
Not a warrior-producing race, on the contrary they were scholars and students, the
keepers of archives, not only of their own kind but of all those others they had contact
with throughout their explorations into the pasts of many worlds. There were Zacathans
to be found among the First-In scouts, for their particular senses and minds made them
excellent observers and explorers. And there were fabled repositories of knowledge for
which they were responsible, their long lives (when compared to other races) making
them excellent record keepers.

Zacathans occupied a strange niche in the galactic worldтАФserving at times as diplomats,
peacemakers. Their neutral status was acknowledged and they were made free of any
world they wished to visit.

But to find one in the Stinkhole? That Zurzal wore one of the stun weapons was only
prudent for anyone venturing here; but why would he have come in the first place?

"I seek a manтАФ"