"Tom Purdom-Moonchild" - читать интересную книгу автора (Purdom Tom)

The change wouldn't be detectable for most of those six months. Three Earth months from now, Dr.
Oliver would return to the life support system and spread a virus he had already developed in his home
lab. The virus would spread through a species of plants that had exceeded its normal population density
and huge areas of oxygen-producing vegetation would be blighted and put out of action. At the very
minimum, oxygen production would be reduced by twenty-five percent. If any unexpected side effects
took place and the thing got out of hand, it might be reduced by fifty to seventy-five percent.
Nobody in the area served by the system would be killed. Oxygen could be pumped into the area
from other systems. The damage would probably be repairable. Dr. Gibson and his chums would merely
be getting a warning message in the only language they seemed to understand. They had rigged the
electoral system in their favor and there was nothing anybody could do about it; you couldn't vote the
rascals out when they had set up the political system and had made sure it included a lot of nice little
items like the rule that all employees of research stations had to cast their votes at their places of
employment. But that didn't mean they could ignore the anger of the people they lived with.
Dr. Oliver backed out of the bushes on his hands and knees. He glanced at both ends of the path as
he stood up and Ted nodded reassuringly.
"Five more to go," Dr. Oliver murmured.
The six containers had to be scattered around the park. The exact locations weren't important but they
had to be sure the odor would cover most of the area.
A girl laughed behind Harvey's back. He turned around as if he had been jabbed with a pin and saw a
girl and a young man five steps behind him. He had turned his head when his father had crawled out of
the bushes and they had apparently rounded the bend and walked up on him before he had seen them.
Dr. Oliver turned toward a rose bush behind a bench. Ted stepped off the walk and raised his head as
if he was examining the top branches of a tree. The couple walked across the little clearing with their
arms around each other's waists and Dr. Oliver turned away from the rose bush and stalked toward
Harvey.
"Keep your eyes on the damned path, Harvey," Dr. Oliver whispered. "Don't worry about me."
"You were already standing up when they came up behind me. They didn't see a thing."
"Keep your eyes on the path. We aren't playing games."
Harvey's face reddened. Ted came up behind his father and shrugged.
"Where to next?" Ted said.
Dr. Oliver shook his head. He put his hand on Harvey's shoulder and Harvey smiled wryly and
punched him on the biceps.
"I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather be doing right now," Harvey said.
"You're doing fine," Dr. Oliver said. "Let's go."
A middle-aged couple were sitting in the next open area. Dr. Oliver, Harvey, and Ted trudged across
it without saying anything and Dr. Oliver turned left when they came to a branch in the path.
"There's another little clearing about thirty meters ahead," Dr. Oliver said.
A woman was sitting in the clearing with a baby in her arms. A boy and girl were playing
hide-and-go-seek in the bushes.
"I was afraid it would turn out like this," Dr. Oliver murmured.
"It went off fine the first time," Harvey said.
"It looks like we had beginner's luck."
They stepped out of the clearing and rounded another bend in the path. Dr. Oliver gestured with his
hand and his sons stopped in their tracks.
Dr. Oliver looked around him. His whole body stiffened. He gestured at Harvey and Harvey reached
inside his robe and handed him another container.
Dr. Oliver lowered his head and ducked into the dark, hedge-like bushes beside the path. Ted and
Harvey faced each other and watched the path by looking over each other's shoulders.
Ted stiffened. Harvey turned his head and saw a square, muscular man in a red beret coming down the
path.