"Norton, Andre - Redline the stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

points of cargo management," he responded, manfully
keeping out of his voice the defensive note threatening to
sharpen it. Alt used to make him feel like this, sometimes


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still did, with his superior air. He wondered if that was a
characteristic of all extraordinarily fine-looking people

who were also uncommonly intelligent. "You have, I sup-
pose?"

His companion failed to notice his discomfort. "Mara's
description intrigued me, so I did a little research. They're
rather fascinating little things. I can well understand why
the Captain would want to adopt one, given his interest in
X-Tee wildlife."

"That's more than the rest of us can say," he remarked,
his curiosity aroused almost despite himself. "How about
sharing your findings?"




34 Andre Norton &P.M. Griffin

She laughed. "Sure thing. -- Hoobats come from Tabor
and are quite rare even there, filling a very specific niche.
They live only in certain canyons that are little less than
wind tunnels and spend their entire lives clinging to stone
projections or ledges or to wildly swaying branches, wait-
ing for something falling within the appropriate size range
to come within striking or luring distance. They don't have
to eat often, and they hunt, of course, the way Queex did
when he rounded up those poisonous pests for you.

"The young are nurtured in free-hanging nests depend-
ing on slender branches to safeguard them from predators.
Both parents feed them during their short period of depen-
dency, but otherwise, hoobats are completely solitary crea-
tures. That's why Queex can exist happily in isolation from
his kind the way he does. As for the jarring, that's actually
soothing, a flashback to his old life and to his time in the
nest. In fact, a hoobat appears to require a certain amount

of sharp movement to remain healthy."