"Eric Frank Russel - Mechanistria" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Eric Frank)

spanner, two tear-gas pencils.
Events had shown the ray guns to be a fat lot of use against our armour-plated enemies. The rest
of the stuff was mere lumber. But the inventory served to reveal one interesting angle of the foeтАЩs
psychology in that anyone whoтАЩd clung grimly to his weapon had been permitted to keep it. This
suggested that they didnтАЩt know weapons when they saw them!
WeтАЩd just finished inspecting this inadequate armament when the door shot open with
suddenness that caught us napping and two lobsterlike things were thrust into our prison. The door
shut with a vicious clash, giving us not the slightest glimpse of what lay beyond it. Skidding
helplessly across a corner of the metal floor, the lobsters brought up against the wall in a manner
that laid them flat. For a moment they reposed there while we stared at them fascinatedly and they
gaped back at us. Recovering, they came to their legs. It could now be seen that their heads more
resembled those of insects than of lobsters, for they had multiple-lensed eyes and butterfly
antennae.
Getting over their surprise, these creatures talked to us, not vocally, but with quasi-telepathic
speech that seemed to pop up inside our brains. Their weird mouths never opened, their palps did
not move, but so efficient was their projection of thought-forms that it was difficult to believe they
werenтАЩt addressing us in our own language. It was a feat very much like the iguanaтАЩs.
One of them-I couldnтАЩt decide which one-said, тАЬYou are strangers from some other place. You
are soft-bodied things, quite unlike the hard-shelled things of our solar system. Can you understand
us?тАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ replied MeNulty, bugging his eyes at them. тАЬWe understand you.тАЭ
тАЬSound waves!тАЭ The strange pair stared at each other in mutual dumbfoundment, their delicate
antennae quivering. I could almost hear the ejaculation-mark at the end of their comment. тАЬThey
communicate by means of modulated sound waves!тАЭ For some reason best known to themselves,
this verged on the incredible. They gazed at us as though we outraged a basic law of nature, then,
тАЬYou are difficult to talk with. You do not assist with your minds. We have to push in our thoughts
and pull out yours.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm sorry,тАЭ apologized McNulty. He gulped, composed himself. тАЬMental communication is not
our specialty.тАЭ
тАЬIt is of no consequence. We are managing.тАЭ Each of them made identically the same vague
gesture with the same claw. тАЬDespite our differences in shape and form, it is apparent that we are
brothers in misfortune.тАЭ
тАЬAt the moment,тАЭ agreed McNulty, refusing to see anything permanent about this status. He was
now beginning to regard himself as something of a universal contact-man
.
тАЬHave you any idea of what they intend to do with us?тАЭ
тАЬTheyтАЩll dissect youтАЭ
тАЬDissect us? Cut us up?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
McNulty scowled and asked, тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬThey dissect all the individualistic. TheyтАЩve been doing it for years, centuries, trying to
discover the cause of personal independence. They are intelligent machines, but their intelligence is
completely communal.тАЭ The lobster or whatever it was, mused and went on, тАЬUpon our own world
of Varga there are tiny aquatics of similar type in that theyтАЩre nothing remarkable as individuals but
display high intelligence when functioning in organized groups. They share a racial mind.тАЭ
тАЬLike certain termites,тАЭ suggested the skipper.
тАЬYes, like termites,тАЭ confirmed whichever of the two was doing the mental talking-or was it
both? I couldnтАЩt see how he-or they-could agree about termites of which they knew nothing until I
remembered that what was in the skipperтАЩs mind had been impressed on their minds, too.
тАЬFor many, many circumsolar revolutions they have been trying to conquer the neighbouring