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

Sally walked towards the interior of the ship.
A lion stood at the threshold.
She shot it, stunned it.
The animal collapsed and she stepped over it.
Another lion came and she shot it as well. But then four came at her at once and she almost had her arm taken off by the last one to go down. If she did not stun them enough, they kept charging. Each animal required at least a two-second burst from the weapon to get knocked out. She had been wrong about one thing. They did not scare easily.
She had no idea where the control room was. But passing a room that might have been a transporter deck, she heard human cries. Peering inside, she saw Adam and Bryce huddled in a corner with one Lizzie guard, who was carrying one obviously failing hand gun. Six lions had them cornered, and they were big suckers.
Sally wasted no time. Striding towards the beasts, she fired in quick succession. Naturally the lions turned on her and it seemed as if there was no way she was going to knock them all out in time. But just then a burst of green light came from behind her and she turned in surprise to find George. The last of the lions hit the floor.
'I ordered you to stay outside,' Sally said.
'I couldn't let you get all the glory,' George said, glancing behind him. 'But let's get out of here while the coast is clear.'
But before they could leave the transporter room, three figures appeared on a glowing platform: Mr Snakol, Cindy and Watch. They stared at the fallen lions in wonder.
'I can see you guys have been having fun,' Watch said.
'These lions will wake up any second!' Sally gasped. 'Let's get outside!'
As a group they rushed out of the saucer and on to the hot plain, locking the door behind them. There were twenty Lizzies waiting in the boiling sun, including Mr Snakol. A few even held weapons but no one was in a mood to shoot at each other. Nevertheless, Mr Snakol held up his arms and asked for a truce.
'There is no reason for us to behave like enemies,' he said. 'Especially now that Watch has come up with a plan that may save our race from annihilation. Watch, could you explain it while I translate for my partners?'
'No problem,' Watch said. But before he told of his solution, he outlined to his friends what had happened on Mr Snakol's home planet. They all listened with interest, even Sally, who continued to keep her rifle ready. Then Watch launched into his plan.
'The Lizzies have not been able to find another suitable world in this sector of the galaxy,' he said. 'It's possible they might find one tomorrow, or ten years from now. But it would be unfair to them to leave their existence to chance. So what I propose is this. We will help them build a super-powered transporter in Spooksville's cemetery, with which I am told they can transport all their people here from their home planet, even without the aid of spaceships Ч as long as they have a receiver on this end.'
'But that is no solution at all,' Sally protested. 'This world isn't big enough for both races.'
'It isn't big enough for both races at this time,' Watch said. 'But as the Lizzies are transported here, they can immediately use the Secret Path to travel back in time seventy million years, back to the era of the dinosaurs. At that time the conditions will actually be more hospitable for the Lizzies. They like hot humid weather.'
'But can they survive with a bunch of dinosaurs walking around?' Adam asked, although he thought his friend's plan was brilliant. Mr Snakol spoke up.
'Don't worry, Adam,' he said. 'We survived a killer comet. We can survive a few dinosaurs.'
'All this may be destined,' Bryce said. 'Perhaps the Lizzies are the ones who bring about the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs.'
'Just a second,' Sally said. 'If all your people are on our world seventy million years ago, then you will mess up our own evolution.'
'No,' Watch said. 'Before any transporting begins, Mr Snakol will get his people to promise to leave our world after ten thousand years. That will give them one hundred centuries to find another suitable world. Plenty of time.'
'But what is the promise of a snake worth?' Sally asked.
Mr Snakol spoke up. 'We are an honourable people. When we make a promise, we keep it. It must be obvious to you that we could take your world from you right now if we wanted to.'
'Over my dead body,' Sally said grimly, fingering her gun.
Adam raised a hand. 'Sally, calm down. I think Watch's plan is perfect. Both races get to enjoy this planet. That's how it should be.'
'But you do have to be careful not to tamper with our future evolution in any way,' Bryce told Mr Snakol. 'That is crucial. The slightest change in our ancestors could affect us drastically here in the present.'
'We will be very careful not to change anything,' Mr Snakol promised.


Epilogue

Yet after they got the transporter set up, and finished sending the entire Lizzie race through Madeline Templeton's tombstone, they got a scare. They were walking to school from the cemetery Ч they had missed a whole day of class saving the alien race Ч when Sally suddenly stopped on the road and picked up a frog.
'Yummy,' she said. 'A big fat juicy one.'
'Sally?' Adam said, instantly worried that their genes had been affected in the distant past. His worry leapfrogged to outright anxiety when Sally opened her mouth wide and held the dangling frog above it.
'This is going to be good,' Sally murmured in anticipation.
'Stop!' Cindy cried. 'That's disgusting.'
'This is a definite change in character,' Watch said.
'I don't know about that,' Bryce muttered.
'Wait and have it for lunch,' George said, perhaps suffering from the belief that this was just another odd thing kids in Springville did while walking to school. But Adam stepped to Sally's side and grabbed her arm before she could bite into the frog.
'What is wrong with you?' Adam gasped. 'Have you been changed?'
But Sally burst out laughing and set the frog down.
'Nah,' she said. 'I just wanted to scare you guys, that's all.'
George laughed but he was the only one.
The rest of them just wanted to get to school.
And maybe have a normal day. For once.