"13 - Alien Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

George paled.'With us aboard?'
'Yes.'
'But I thought you just wanted to escape!'
Sally put a hand on his shoulder. 'One thing us kids who live in Spooksville have had to learn is that individual and global needs do not always coincide. Just being a twelve-year-old in Spooksville means living a life of complete and unselfish service.'
'But I just moved here,' George said. 'I just started school. I didn't even get to go to second period!'
Sally continued to study the weapon. 'I wonder if this weapon can be set on overload.'
'You mean, so it will explode like a bomb?'
'Yes.'
George was horrified. 'Don't do that now!' At least let us try to escape.'
Sally smiled and reached for a hand-sized weapon on the shelves. 'Like most brilliant young people, I have a few personal problems. But wanting to commit suicide isn't one of them. I will only blow up this ship if I am forced to.' She handed the smaller weapon to George. 'This one looks more like your size,'
George took the gun but eyed it suspiciously. 'We don't know if these weapons are set to stun or to kill.'
'Maybe it's better that we don't know,' Sally said. 'But if the Lizzies try to stop us, we open fire. Understood?'
'But we've just met these creatures. We might want to know more about them before we start an interstellar war.'
'We know enough already,' Sally said. 'They entered our society under false pretences and then kidnapped us by force. They are not peaceful. They want our world and they are technologically superior to us. In the end, even if they just want to live with us, they will take over. No, we have to harden our hearts and tighten our belts. This is all-out war.'
'But they took our belts,' George said. 'How can we tighten them?'
Sally had to smile, but the gesture was short lived. She stepped towards the exit. 'Follow me and do exactly what I say, and without argument. We are taking over this ship.'
George trudged behind. 'I just wish my family had stayed in Los Angeles.'
Once out in the grey corridor, they didn't see any Lizzies but they did notice a faint humming sound. It had been there before but now it interested Sally. It seemed to be coming from behind and below them. She told George to listen closely.
'That could be the engine room,' Sally said.
'So?'
'Don't be obtuse. The engine room will be the centre of power for the whole ship. If we can gain control of that, we can dictate our demands.'
'What does obtuse mean?'
'Just look in a mirror, George.' Sally turned. 'Now stay close, ready to fire. And whatever you do, don't accidentally shoot me.'
'I will do my best,' George said in a miffed tone.
They found the engine room a minute later, and there was no mistaking it. In the centre of the room was a huge transparent cube that obviously contained tremendous energies; the walls of it crawled with streams of high intensity light, mainly violets and blues. It was three times higher than a normal adult. Around it, on all four sides, was a complex control panel. Four separate Lizzies, minus their human disguises, stood by the instruments. None of the aliens seemed to notice as Sally and George crept into the room. Sally whispered over her shoulder.
'I am going to shoot the one on the far right,' she whispered. 'Then I am going to demand that the others surrender.'
'Why shoot any of them?' George said. 'Just have them surrender.'
Sally shook her head. 'I have to show that I mean business.'
George spoke with unexpected resolve. 'But to kill one of them by shooting him in the back Ч only a coward would do that.'
Sally was annoyed. 'If they are as civilised as you think they are, then their weapons should automatically be set on stun. Besides, they are the aggressors here. Now just shut up and let me make the tactical decisions. Remember, I'm the one rescuing you.'
But George spoke again. 'Just one other thing, Sally. They may not speak English. They may not know that you want them to surrender.'
Sally took aim. 'I will make it clear with my body language.'
She fired, and a thin stream of green energy poured from the barrel of the rifle and struck the Lizzie on the far right. With a painful cry he went down. The other turned; they appeared unarmed, stunned. Before they could move, Sally was up on her feet and moving towards them, her rifle threatening.
'Get your scaly arms in the air, you cold blooded monsters!' she screamed. 'I am Sarah Wilcox from Spooksville USA and I don't know the meaning of the word mercy. Get down on your slimy knees and get those claws up!'
They seemed to understand well enough. Glancing uneasily at each other, they fell to their knees and raised their arms. Sally hurried to the side of the alien she had shot and gave him a short kick in the side. He groaned; he was alive. George continued to hang by the door, which annoyed her.
'George!' she shouted. 'Take off your robe and rip it into tiny strips. I want these Lizzies bound and gagged.'
George blinked and wandered into the centre of the room with his ray gun hanging by his side. 'Why do I have to take off my robe? Why don't you take off yours?'
'Because I am a girl, all right? Stop complaining. You have your underwear on. Get to it while I continue to try to save the world.' Sally took a step towards one of the three kneeling Lizzies and put her gun to his head. Of course, it could have been a her but that was neither here nor there. It was an ugly brute, with a wide snout and angry green eyes. She nudged him with the gun. 'Do you understand English?' she asked.
The Lizzie nodded.
'Do you speak it?' she asked.
The Lizzie shook its head.
Sally gestured to the control panel with her rifle. 'Get over there. I want you to contact your bridge. Tell them that Sarah Wilcox has taken command of your engine room.'
George had pulled the white robe over his head and was busy tearing it up. 'What about me? I deserve some of the credit.'
'That's the trouble with your pacifists,' Sally said. 'When the battle is over, you always want a medal.' She turned her attention back to the Lizzie she had pinned to the control panel and again shoved her gun in its head. 'Convey my message now or I will shoot. In fact, tell them that if they try to break in here, I will fire at this cube here and blow up the ship. Do you understand?'
The Lizzie nodded. It pushed a button and spoke into a small red box. Its voice was mainly hissing and snarling. Sally couldn't make out a word, except she knew it was mad. When it finished talking, she gestured to the earth, which they could see out of a window at the rear of the engine room.
'I want to land there,' she said.
The Lizzie shook its head.
Sally raised her rifle and pointed between its eyes. 'Yes! Land!'
The Lizzie gestured helplessly to the earth.
Sally hesitated. 'You want to know where?'