"Mike Resnick - Tales Of The Galactic Midway 03 - The Wild Alien Tamer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

/head>
Fictionwise
www.Fictionwise.com
Copyright ┬й1983 by Mike Resnick
NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this
work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file
transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and
subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.


Thaddeus Flint stopped two of the alien crewmen as they hauled the rectangular slab of granite down the
cargo ship's gangplank.
тАЬ What the hell isthat supposed to be?тАЭ he demanded.
тАЬ Check the manifest,тАЭ was the bored reply, filtered through a translating mechanism.
тАЬ Just lay the damned thing down and let me take a look at it.тАЭ
They shrugged and did as he ordered, and he stood, hands on hips, cigarette dangling from his lips, staring
at it.
тАЬ Strictly speaking,тАЭ commented Flint dryly, тАЬ he was a son of a bear.тАЭ
The two crewmen stared at him blankly.
тАЬ Don't know what I'm talking about, do you?тАЭ he said.
тАЬ No, sir.тАЭ
He sighed. тАЬ Well, why the hell should I expect a pink lizard with a goiter condition to know what a bear is?тАЭ
he muttered. He turned his eyes to the distant horizon, found a moon that didn't belong there, looked up, and
spotted six more of varying sizes and colors.
тАЬ What the hell kind of a world has seven moons out at noon?тАЭ he asked.
тАЬ This is Girodus II,тАЭ said one of the crewmen.
BRUNO Born 1973, Earth Died 1984, Pollux IV THE MEANEST, DUMBEST, UGLIEST SON OF A BITCH
EVER TO COME OUT OF THE KLONDIKE R.I.P.


Chapter 1
тАЬ Spare me the details,тАЭ said Flint sardonically. He took a salt tablet to help him cope with the heat and
humidity, and an adrenaline capsule to ease the feeling of strain caused by the planet's somewhat higher
gravity. Now, he thought, if only I could take a pill to get rid of idiot cargo hands, alien tank towns, brown
grass and yellow water and too goddamned many moons....
He turned back to the unloading area and looked around until he saw a tall, cadaverous, hairless being with
blue skin, orange eyes, and oddly jointed limbs.
тАЬ Mr. Ahasuerus!тАЭ he bellowed.
тАЬ Yes, Mr. Flint?тАЭ said the blue man, walking over.
тАЬ What's the story on this thing?тАЭ asked Flint, gesturing toward the headstone.
тАЬ Ah! It arrived!тАЭ said Mr. Ahasuerus happily.
тАЬ Yes, it arrived,тАЭ repeated Flint. тАЬ My Ferris wheel didn't arrive. My replacement part for the cotton candy
machine didn't arrive. But someone, somewhere, has seen fit to sendThe Ahasuerus and Flint Traveling
Carnival and Sideshow a goddamned tombstone for a dead animal. You wouldn't happen to know why, would
you?тАЭ
тАЬ Bruno was the last of the original animals from Earth,тАЭ replied the blue man. тАЬ It seemed a fitting memorial.тАЭ
тАЬ It did, did it?тАЭ
тАЬ Yes,тАЭ said the blue man, nodding. тАЬ Mr. Monk himself suggested the inscription after explaining that such
memorials are common on Earth.тАЭ
тАЬ Did Mr. Monk also explain that such memorials, on those very rare occasions when they are given to