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

individualism was to be our downfall. On this basis it struck me that the spanner-holder and Sam
Hignett might be chosen for first carving if the carvers had any preferences, because theyтАЩd be
curious about why the former possessed a half-metal, double-length arm and why the latter had a
black skin in contrast with everyone elseтАЩs white. I also wondered what would be their reaction
when they got the measure of Jay Score.
The door shook to a terrific blow, did not turn on its hinges but did begin to bulge in the middle.
Brilliant light streamed through the gap between its bent top edge and the wall. Caterpillar treads
rattled past outside while the mechanism thrusting at the door maintained its powerful pressure.
тАЬDonтАЩt shoot until you see the green of their teeth,тАЭ grinned the door-wedger. He spat on the
floor, leaned on his spanner like a waiting knight leaning on his mace. The pose made his tattooed
nautch dancer look incongruous. Came a loud tearing sound from the roof as a great section of it
was pulled away bodily. Sunlight poured over our upturned faces. A large, leathery, bulbous body
with many huge, sucker-surfaced arms tumbled over the ragged rim, clung with three of its snaking
limbs and hung grotesquely in mid-air. It was Sug Farn.
Adding three more tentacles to those maintaining his overhead hold, he extended the remaining
four downward. His full spread was thirty-two feet, now reduced by five or six feet of sucker-hold
upon the roof. His tentacle tips dangled and curled enticingly a good fourteen feet from the floor.
The door made an alarming bend inward while Sug Farn hung there and we looked up at him with
various degrees of hope. The lobster creatures surveyed him aghast.
Then suddenly he came down another ten feet, grabbed four of the crew, swung them up to the
hole in the roof. They went like mahouts lifted in elephantsтАЩ trunks. Eyeing the hole, I could see
that Sug Farn no longer had any direct hold of his own, his upper tentacles being closely entwined
with the equally ropey limbs of another Martian anchored out of view on the roof-top. Sug Farn
raised the four to within a few feet of the hole whereupon other tentacles writhed through from
above, took them from him. Then four more and four more.
What with trying to keep my attention divided between this circus act and the dangerously
creaking door, I hadnтАЩt taken overmuch notice of the Vargans, but now I discovered they were
having a bitter argument with McNulty.
тАЬNo,тАЭ declared the skipper, firmly. тАЬWe do not give in. We do not face the inevitable. We do
not die with aplomb, as you put it тАЬ He sniffed his disgust. тАЬWe had a tribe on Earth that looked at
things your way. They celebrated their miseries with nonchalant belly-slitting. It never got them
anywhere.тАЭ
тАЬBut escape simply isnтАЩt done,тАЭ the Vargans persisted, as though talking about a war atrocity. тАЬIt
is dastardly. It is contrary to convention. It is outrageous defiance of the accepted rules of war.
Even a child knows that a prisoner must maintain honour by uncomplainingly accepting his fate.тАЭ
тАЬBunk!тАЭ snorted McNulty. тАЬBalderdash! WeтАЩre not on parole. WeтАЩve made no promises and
donтАЩt intend to make any.тАЭ He watched another four sail upward to freedom.
тАЬIt is wrong, utterly wrong. It is disgraceful. A captive is lost forever. Why, our own people
would kill us from sheer shame were we to go away. Have you no conscience?тАЭ
тАЬBut, damn it,тАЭ swore McNulty, тАЬyour rules are idiotic.
We arenтАЩt bound by them. We donтАЩt subscribe to them. No matter what you say, itтАЩs perfectly
legitimate for us to ---тАЬ
тАЬListen!тАЭ interjected Jay Score. His glowing eyes shifted from the expostulating skipper to the
partially wrecked door which now threatened to give way at any moment. тАЬIsnтАЩt this a hell of a time
to debate different codes of ethics?тАЭ
тАЬSure, Jay, but these hard-shelled dunderheads-ouch!тАЭ
His surprised expression was comical as the imperturbable Sug Farn fished for him, got him and
lugged him clean out of the argument.
The door gave way at last, bursting with a sound that tore the ears. Not counting the defeatist
Vargans, there were seven of us remaining on the floor when the door fell in and a thing like a fifty