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

'Perhaps,' Watch said. 'But my gut instinct tells me something else is bothering him. I think I should risk trying to talk to him.'
'If you're going to talk to him, I'm going with you.'
Watch paused and stared at her with his thick glasses. 'You are remarkably brave.'
Cindy smiled. 'You mean, for a girl?'
Watch stuttered. 'No. I mean, yes and no.'
Cindy touched his arm. 'That's all right, I'm not offended. I'm not like Sally when it comes to such remarks. Hey, guess what I tried to tell Adam yesterday?'
'I can't imagine,' Watch said.
'I tried to tell him that I liked him. And you know what happened?'
'I can imagine.'
'He got all flustered. 'Do you think that means he likes me?'
'Definitely,' Watch said.
But Cindy was uncertain. 'Sometimes he confuses me. He likes being my friend but he likes to keep me at a distance as well. Why do you think that is?'
'Maybe it's because he is twelve years old.'
'But I'm twelve years old,' Cindy said.
It was Watch's turn to smile. 'Yeah, but you're a girl. Come on, let's try talking to Mr Snakol. He looks like he needs a friend right now.'
Watch may have been right. Mr Snakol did not even glance up as they came closer. Yet he was not focused on the hamster that sat in the cage beside him. He had his head down, maybe even his eyes closed, and seemed lost in thought. They actually had to call his name to get his attention.
'Mr Snakol,' Cindy said gently. 'It's Cindy Makey. And this is my friend Watch. We would like to talk to you.'
They did not startle him. Indeed, he raised his head slowly and looked over with only passing interest. 'Hello,' he said flatly.
Cindy and Watch came closer. 'Do you want to talk, sir?' Watch asked.
Mr Snakol sighed. 'You know I am no sir.'
'That is true,' Watch said. 'We were the ones who stole your transporting device. We have also located your ship in orbit above this city.'
Mr Snakol stared straight ahead. His green eyes were not as bright as they usually were. 'It is not in orbit above us right now,' he said quietly.
Cindy gave Watch an anxious look. 'But we beamed our friends aboard,' she said. 'Did we beam them into empty space?'
'It was there when we transported them,' Watch said confidently. 'I think what Mr Snakol means is that it is not there now.' Watch paused, hoping he was right. 'Is that not so, sir?'
But Mr Snakol shook his head. 'I don't know anything for sure anymore.'
Because he appeared so devastated, they found themselves kneeling close beside him. 'Can you tell us why you are here?' Cindy asked softly.
Mr Snakol put a large hand up to his face head. 'We are here because we are desperate.'
'There is something wrong with your home planet?' Watch asked.
'Yes.' Mr Snakol finally glanced over. 'But it is not your problem.'
'But we'd like to help, if we can,' Cindy said. 'Tell us.'
Mr Snakol drew in a long laboured breath, that sort of hissed into his lungs.
'Very well,' he said. 'But I don't know what can be done to save my people from extinction. You see, our technology is far more advanced then your people's. But even we could not deflect a comet that ploughed into the heart of our solar system. It was so big and it was moving so fast. We tried altering its course with anti-matter bombs, but they only severed to break it into fragments. A dozen of these large fragments hit our planet, and what had once been a warm and lush world was turned almost overnight into a black and barren freezer. The power of the impacts vaporised billions of tons of water and covered our entire world in clouds. Whole continents of dust were stirred up and that also served to blot out our sun.' Mr Snakol sighed. 'Our people began to die. They are dying now as we speak. Only a few spaceships escaped the destruction. They have been sent out to try to find another world where we can live.'
Cindy spoke carefully. 'We understand your predicament, but we already occupy this world. Can't you find another one?'
Mr Snakol stared at them once more. 'You misunderstand us. We have no intention of taking your world from you by force. That would be against our highest ideals.'
'Excuse me for being blunt,' Watch said. 'But it is obvious you would like at least to share our world with us.'
Mr Snakol nodded vigorously. 'But can you blame us? We are in a dire situation. Every day our ship orbits your world, ten thousand of my people die back home.'
'But why did you personally come here to Spooksville?' Cindy asked. 'Why pretend to be a science teacher? And why were you always telling us we had to perform dissections?'
'My role here at this school has been to perform psychological and sociological experiments,' Mr Snakol said. 'You probably know by now that we are a reptilian race. We must eat little animals alive in order to survive. As the class progressed, it was my plan to expose more of your students to the idea of how reptiles live. In other words, I was sent here to see if your youth would be repulsed by our lifestyle.'
'No offence,' Watch said. 'But you completely gross us out.'
'But why did you kill George?' Cindy asked.
'We did not kill George. He is aboard our ship, with Sarah. I decided to take George directly aboard because he seemed an unusually sensitive human. I thought if he could see our way of life, and adapt to it, the majority of mankind would also be able to accept us as well.'
'But you sit here depressed,' Watch said. 'It is like you feel your experiments have already failed.'
Mr Snakol groaned and lowered his head. 'But they have failed, and our race is already doomed. You are the best and brightest your world has to offer. And you have greeted us by attacking us.'
'No,' Cindy said. 'You attacked us by kidnapping George. We did nothing to your people.'
Watch frowned. 'Sally?'
Cindy turned to him. 'What?'
'Your friend is right,' Mr Snakol said. 'Sarah has taken at least partial control of our ship. My people notified me before they moved out of range of my communicator. She is threatening to blow up the vessel. But that act alone does not destroy us Ч it is what it represents. I see all too clearly now. Your people, especially your youth, will never accept us.'
'But can't you find another planet with hospitable conditions?' Watch said.
'We have looked hard. Our time is short No, we will be extinct before we find another world as suitable as this one.' Mr Snakol lowered his head further and it seemed as if he wept. 'We are finished.'
'Not necessarily,' Watch said, standing up. 'There may yet be a way for both our races to share this world. I have a plan, a wild plan. But to make it work I have to get to your ship, to the others. I have your transporter back at my house. Can you beam us to wherever your ship is?'