"Andre Norton - Dark Piper" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

For a moment it was startling. Crouched in the chair, which was still on an even keel, was indeed a
wart-horn. Its warty skin, its froglike head and face with the forward pointing horns, made it anything but
a pleasant-looking object. But the way it crouched in the chair, its webbed forepaws even resting on the
arms as it seemed to lever itself up to meet our gaze, always supposing that our actions here had
activated the appearance of a twin screen for reception there and two-way viewing, gave it a disturbing
air of intelligence, as if it had been about some secret business of its own in our alien structure and had
been surprised.
We watched its throat swell and heard, muted but still recognizable, its harsh croaking grunt. It leaned
up and out even farther, its face filling the screen, and I heard Pritha cry out, тАЬNo! No!тАЭ
I released the com buttons, and the screen not only went dark but also the wall moved to cover it
again.
тАЬI donтАЩt like it! It looked at us!тАЭ PrithaтАЩs voice became a wail.
 I swung around in the chair, but Annet had already taken her in her arms.
тАЬYou know wart-horns,тАЭ she said soothingly. тАЬThey are nothing to be afraid of. And if that one saw
us, he probably was just as startled as you were. ThatтАЭтАФshe turned to meтАФтАЬwas an old sentry post,
wasnтАЩt it, Vere?тАЭ At my nod, she continued. тАЬAnd itтАЩs been left empty for years. I bet the wart-horn may
have a den there.тАЭ
тАЬIt looked at us,тАЭ Pritha repeated.
тАЬAnd we looked at it,тАЭ Annet answered. тАЬSo weтАЩre even. And that place where it is is a long way
from here!тАЭ
тАЬTwo days by hopper, Pritha,тАЭ I cut in. тАЬNobody goes there any more.тАЭ тАЬVereтАЭтАФGytha was beside
Thad, her hand poised above the levers and buttonsтАФтАЬletтАЩs try another oneтАФmaybe this?тАЭ
тАЬNo!тАЭ Annet snapped before I had a chance to answer. тАЬThereтАЩs been enough of this listening and
peeping. And since Sector-Captain Lugard made off with our lunch, suppose we try to find out what is in
the cupboards here. As you said, Vere, he owes us thatтАЭ тАЬIndeed he does.тАЭ I backed her up. But I
lingered to make sure I was the last to leave the room, Gytha and Thad going reluctantly, gazing back at
the tempting display of possible peeps hither and thither across our world. тАЬVere?тАЭ A small hand slipped
into mine. I looked down into PrithaтАЩs almost triangular face. The families that had been brought in to
settle Beltane had not been homogeneous in the beginning but came from widely separated worlds, since
it had been their special talents and training that selected them. So we did indeed represent types of many
kinds, some of which had mutated physically from the ancient norm of our species.
Pritha Wymark, within one month of GythaтАЩs age, was hardly taller than Dagny, five years younger.
Her delicate bones and slender body, though, were not those of a small child. She had a quick mind, but
she was timid, highly sensitive to things that perhaps the others were never aware of or felt only lightly.
Now there was a shadow on her ethereal face.
тАЬVere,тАЭ she repeated, and her voice was hardly above a whisper. тАЬThat wart-hornтАФitтАФit was
watching us!тАЭ
тАЬYes?тАЭ I encouraged, for behind that statement of fact something troubled her. Dimly I felt it
alsoтАФthat the way the thing had squatted in the chair before the screen, its stance aping that of a man
minding the control board, had been disturbing.
тАЬItтАФit was notтАФтАЭ She hesitated as if she could not put her troubled thoughts into words.
тАЬPerhaps it was just the way it was hunched in the chair, Pritha. Wart-horns have never been
submitted to the up-raying, you know. They are too low on the learn-scale. And that was a sentry post
we picked up, way out in the wastelands. It was not on one of the Reserves.тАЭ
тАЬPerhapsтАФтАЭ But I knew she was not satisfied.
тАЬWhen we get back, PrithaтАЭтАФI tried to reassure herтАФтАЬIтАЩll report it. If by chance some wart-horn has
been up-scaled and escaped, they will have a record of it. But one does not have to fear even an
up-scaled animalтАФyou know that.тАЭ
тАЬYes, Vere. I guess it was just the way it sat there, looking at us.тАЭ But still she kept her hand in mine
until we reached the last of the open doors and looked in upon a scene of activity as Annet examined