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

other toward Steve Gregory. What with his off-centre eyes and SteveтАЩs jiggling eyebrows, I began
to wonder what hidden talents I might possess. тАЬI suppose,тАЭ said Kli Yang, gloomily, тАЬit didnтАЩt
occur to anyone in the pinnace to leave a chess-board behind? тАЬ
 тАЬNo, it didnтАЩt,тАЭ Steve admitted, secretly thankful for the omission.
тАЬIt wouldnтАЩt,тАЭ grumbled Kli Yang. Edging away from us, he dug out a tiny bottle of hooloo
scent, sniffed at it pointedly. I suppose the twelve pounds pressure was beginning to get him down.
I never did believe those indecent Martian descriptions of the human odour.
тАЬHow did you know which building we were in?тАЭ Jay Score inquired.
тАЬWe came drumming over,тАЭ Kli Yang told him, тАЬwith poor hope of finding you in this jumble of
edifices. We circled around several times and were much surprised that the mob of things in the
streets took not the slightest notice of us. Eventually we saw that line of parked vehicles with
Brennand and Wilson standing on top of one signalling frantically. So we picked them up and
landed on this, the nearest roof. Our drop was slightly clumsy because the pinnace is hard to handle
with controls made for human limbs.тАЭ
тАЬBrennand and Wilson are safe then? тАЬI put in.
тАЬYes. KIi Dreen yanked them into the boat. They said theyтАЩd got out of their vehicle through the
hole in its floor instead of the door, after which they were completely ignored. They were amazed
by the way in which theyтАЩd been left alone and they couldnтАЩt understand itтАЭ
Glancing at me, Jay said, тАЬSee-escapees! The abnormal factor! Nobody knew what to do about
them. They were in blatant denial of local ethics, a problem that required time to solve solely
because new and previously unknown:тАЭ He strolled to the edge of the roof, his crepe-rubber soles
carrying his weight silently on the smooth surface. Another roof adjoined ours, but on a lower
level. He stared down at it, his eyes aglow.
тАЬThose screams came from somewhere under there. Come on, letтАЩs see whether we can tear up
a corner and have a look at whatтАЩs beneath.тАЭ
He dropped four feet onto the lower roof, followed by Armstrong, me and the others. Together
we heaved and strained at a lapping metal corner. It gave way, coming up with unexpected ease.
That metal was darned peculiar stuff, fairly hard, impervious to heat, yet bendable along the line of
a hidden grain. No wonder the Martians had been able to rip a hole in the roof.
Peering through the gap, we found a long, narrow room that might have been either a laboratory
or an operating theatre. Apparatus of all kinds littered it, including radiant lamps, sterilising chests,
trays of peculiar instruments, wheeled tables, and an assortment of junk we couldnтАЩt recognise.
Half a dozen highly polished and superbly finished machines were busy in this room, their
shiney, unemotional lenses intent on their tasks. They had dexterous digits. What they were doing
gave me the willies.
Two lobster-things were spread all over the room, part of one on a near table, two heads on
another, a mass of innards on a third. Whether they had been the same pair with which we had
talked or whether they were two others, it was impossible to tell. The machines were fooling
around with the bits, putting sections under odd-looking microscopes, sticking pieces into various
kinds of apparatus.
The lobsters had nothing recognisable as blood but their mutilated parts exuded an oily,
colourless juice. All the same, there were significant daubs of crimson on one of the unoccupied
tables, spots of crimson on the floor, spatters of crimson on a couple of the mechanical
vivisectionists. In a wire basket, carelessly tossed aside, lay a pair of human hands. The left one,
white and flaccid, still bore a gold signet ring. It had belonged to Haines!
Armstrong cursed violently and said, тАЬGod, what wouldnтАЩt I give to be able to blow this place to
shreds.тАЭ
тАЬThereтАЩs nothing we can do-yet,тАЭ commented Jay Score not visibly moved. тАЬ WeтАЩre too late to
save anyone.тАЭ He eyed the next roof which lay on the same level and about twenty-five feet away.
Like the outpiece on which we were standing, it projected from a bigger and higher building