"Mike Resnick - Hunting The Snark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

"How do we know there's any game to be found there, then?" asked Marx
pugnaciously.

"There's game, all right," I assured him. "The Pioneer who charted it claims
her sensors pinpointed four species of carnivore and lots of herbivores,
including one that goes about four tons."

"But she never landed?" he persisted.

"She had no reason to," I said. "There was no sign of sentient life, and there
are millions of worlds out there still to be charted."

"She'd damned well better have been right about the animals," grumbled Marx.
"I'm not paying this much to look at a bunch of trees and flowers."
"I've hunted three other oxygen worlds that Karen Dodgson charted," I said, "and
they've always delivered what she promised."

"Do people actually hunt on chlorine and ammonia worlds?" asked Pollard.

"A few. It's a highly specialized endeavor. If you want to know more about it
after the safari is over, I'll put you in touch with the right person back at
headquarters."

"I've hunted a couple of chlorine worlds," interjected Marx.

_Sure you have,_ I thought.

"Great sport," he added.

When you have to live with your client for a few weeks or months, you don't call
him a braggart and a liar to his face, but you do file the information away for
future reference.

"This Karen Dodgson -- she's the one the planet's named for?" asked Ramona
Desmond.

"It's a prerogative of the Pioneer Corps," I answered. "The one who charts a
world gets to name it anything he or she wants." I paused and smiled. "They're
not known for their modesty. Usually they name it after themselves."

"Dodgson," she said again. "Perhaps we'll find a Jabberwock, or a Cheshire Cat,
or even a Snark."

"I beg your pardon?" I said.

"That's was Lewis Carroll's real name: Charles Dodgson."

"I've never heard of him," I replied.