"Mike Resnick - A Miracle Of Rare Design" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

A Firefly infant, no more than two years old, toddled up to him, totally nude, his golden skin reflecting the
sunlight, his tiny vestigial wings flapping furiously to no good purpose. Lennox looked away from the child,
hoping that it would lose interest in him and wander off.
Suddenly it tugged at his robe.
"Bebu?"it asked."Bebu?"
тАЬI'm not yourbebu ,тАЭ replied Lennox, grateful that a toddler wouldn't be able to spot his accent as the alien
words rolled uncomfortably off his tongue. тАЬGo home.тАЭ
"Bebu?"repeated the infant.
Lennox looked around to make sure no one was watching him, then slowly lifted his arms and dropped them.
It was a sign of aggression in the fierce, carnivorous avians, now almost extinct, that for eons had preyed
upon the Fireflies. The infant instinctively recoiled at the gesture, then raced into an angular mud house. It
would be, Lennox knew, a typical Firefly dwelling with no windows, crazy angles, and a high ceiling covered
with their incomprehensible religious symbols.
A moment later the infant's mother stuck her head out of the doorway, looking at Lennox as the child pointed
in his direction. After glaring at him for what she considered a sufficient length of time, she disappeared back
inside the house, and Lennox released his grip on the pistol he had hidden beneath his flowing robes.
A bead of sweat trickled down his face, ran along his upper lip, and made its way into his mouth. Then
another, and another, and suddenly he realized that he was thirsty. More than thirsty; he was in serious
danger of dehydration. The thought infuriated him. He had spent so long training his body for this day that he
felt betrayed by it. For reasons he could not comprehend, for all oxygen-breathers needed water and Medina
was a sweltering hellhole, the Fireflies drankтАФsipped, reallyтАФonly at sunrise and sunset. Now he would have
to risk exposure by giving his body the water it craved while the sun was still high in the sky.
He slowly shuffled down the street, peering casually into the interior of each building he passed. Every one of
them was occupied, and the thought of having to wait for water made him lust for it even more.
Finally he reached the end of the street and found himself confronted by five more crazily winding
thoroughfares, all narrow, all crowded with angular buildings that made little or no sense. He bore to the right,
not out of any belief that he was more likely to find an empty domicile there, but simply so he could find his
way back, and again began inspecting each structure as he walked by. Fireflies of both sexes and all sizes
stared out at him, neither speaking nor showing any interest.
Maybe it's even hot forthem , he thought as he continued. About halfway down the street he came to a
stableтАФthe least likely place to put it, so of course that's where it was locatedтАФand stepped inside, grateful
to be out of the sun despite the alien smells. There were ten stallsтАФseven on the left, three on the right, all
irregularly-shapedтАФand he walked slowly down the aisle between them, half-expecting to be stopped with
every step he took.
But nobody was there to stop him, and he found that two of the stalls were empty. Trying to ignore the soft
bleats of the shaggy, incredibly ugly beasts of burdenтАФ"They make old Earth's wildebeest look like creatures
of grace and beauty", Fallico had remarked during their first visit to MedinaтАФhe entered a stall, sat in a
corner below eye level of anyone passing by, quickly removed his canteen, and greedily poured half of it down
his throat before pausing for breath.
He sat still for a moment, reveling in the relief from sun and thirst, then drained the canteen and walked over
to the stall's water trough to refill it. The trough was empty.
He walked cautiously into the aisle and inspected all the other troughs. Evidently the beasts kept to the
same schedule as their masters; there wasn't a drop of water to be had.
Lennox returned to the empty stall, buried the canteen beneath the bedding, and walked back out the way he
had come. As he was about the leave the stable, he saw a pair of Fireflies approaching him. His first
inclination was to duck back inside, but he quickly decided that was more likely to draw attention than simply
walking down the street, swathed in his robes, acting as if he belonged there. His mind made up, he began
walking directly toward the Fireflies, staring at the ground, circling around them without missing a step. They
passed by silently, without giving him a second glance.
He smelled the odors of alien cooking. Good. The Fireflies were preparing for the evening meal. That meant