"James Van Pelt - Lashawnda at the End" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pelt James Van)

movements. In the treesтАЩ shadow I found more green than orange and yellow.

тАЬYeah, I looked at it.тАЭ Except in a narrow band around the equator, Papaver appeared lifeless. But in the
planetтАЩs most temperate region, in every sheltering hole and crevice, small plants grew. And peculiar
forests, like the one we were in now, filled the gullies. The remote survey, taking samples at even the
coldest and deadest-looking areas found life there too. Despite the punishing changes in temperature and
the lack of rain, porous rock served as a fertile home for endolithic fungi and algae. Beneath them lived
cyanobacterias.

тАЬIf the results are uniform over the rest of the surface, thereтАЩs enough water for a small ocean or two.тАЭ
She wiggled between two large trunks, streaking her suit with greenish-orange residue. тАЬDo you know
why the leaves stick to our suits?тАЭ

тАЬTransference of seeds?тАЭ I hadnтАЩt had time to study the treesтАЩ life cycle. Classifying the types had filled
up most of my time, and I did that from within the ship. Lashawnda sent samples so fast, IтАЩd had little
chance to investigate much myself.

тАЬNope. They use airborne spores. What theyтАЩre really trying to do is to eat you.тАЭ

Obviously she knew where she was going. WeтАЩd worked our way far enough into the plants that I wasnтАЩt
sure what direction the ship lay. тАЬExcuse me?тАЭ I said.

тАЬYou were wondering what preyed on the gopher-rats. TheyтАЩre herbivores. You said they couldnтАЩt be
the top of the food chain, and they arenтАЩt. They eat lichens, fungus and leaves, and the trees eat them.тАЭ
She stopped at a clump of stems, like warped bamboo, and gently pushed the branches apart. тАЬSee,тАЭ she
said.

Half a meter off the ground, a yellow and orange cocoon hung between the branches, like a
football-sized hammock. IтАЩd seen the lumps before. тАЬSo?тАЭ

She dropped to her knees and poked it with her finger. Something inside the shape quivered and
wiggled, pushing aside several leaves. A gopher-rat stared out at me for a second, a net of tendrils over
its eye.

I stepped back. For a second I thought of Beatitude, her face marked with the tiny, waxy leaves. тАЬHow
long . . . when did it get caught?тАЭ

She laughed. тАЬYesterday. I startled him, and he jumped into the trees here. When he didnтАЩt come out, I
went looking.тАЭ

I knelt beside her. Up close I saw how the plant had growninto the gopher-rat. In the few uncovered
spots, tufts of fur poked out. The biologist in me was fascinated, but for the rest, I found the image
repugnant. тАЬHow come he didnтАЩt escape? The leaves are a little sticky, but notthat sticky.тАЭ

тАЬDrugs. Tiny spines on the leaves inject some type of opiate. I ran the analysis this morning. Same stuff
that kept Marvin and Beatitude from feeling pain.тАЭ

тАЬA new data point to add to the ecology.тАЭ I rested my hands on my knees. The poor gopher-rat didnтАЩt
even get to live out its short life span. For a second I thought about burning down the entire forest for
Marvin and Beatitude and the gopher-rat, who were dead and never coming back, except the gopher-rat