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

I donтАЩt know which star that sun was supposed to be. Jay Score told me it was a minor luminary
in the region of Bootes. We had picked on it because it was the only one in this area with a
planetary family and weтАЩd selected the second planet because its present position stood in nice,
convenient relationship with our line of flight.
At that, we were going a devil of a lot too fast to circle it and submit it to close inspection before
landing in some choice spot. We were striking its orbit at a tangent with the planet immediately
ahead. The landing was to be a direct one, a hawklike dive with a muffled prayer and no prancing
around the mulberry bush.
The way FlettnerтАЩs unorthodox notions went into action was again something to bring oneтАЩs
heart into oneтАЩs gullet before it could be swallowed back. I believe that the vessel could have done
even better had its functioning not been handicapped by the limits of human endurance. McNulty
must have gained the measure of those limits with astonishing accuracy, for the deceleration and
drop brought me down alive and kicking-but I had the deep impression of my harness all over my
abused carcass for a week.
Reports from the lab said the air was twelve pounds and breathable. We drew lots for first out:
McNulty and all the government experts lost. That was a laugh! Kli YangтАЩs name came first out of
the hat, then an engineer named Brennand was lucky, followed by Jay Score, Sam Hignett and me.
One hour was our limit. That meant we couldnтАЩt go much more than a couple of miles from the
Marathon. Spacesuits werenтАЩt needed. Kli Yang could have used his head-and-shoulder
contraption to enjoy his customary three pounds pressure but he decided that he could tolerate
twelve for a mere hour without becoming surly. Hanging binoculars around our necks, we strapped
on needle-ray guns. Jay Score grabbed a tiny two-way radiophone to keep us in touch with the
vessel.
тАЬNo fooling, men,тАЭ warned the skipper as we went through the air-lock. тАЬSee all you can and be
back within the hour.тАЭ
Kli Yang, last through the lock, ran his saucer eyes over the envious shipтАЩs company, said,
тАЬSomebody had better go wake Sug Farn and tell him the fleetтАЩs in port.тАЭ Then four of his ten
tentacles released their hold and he dropped to ground.
My, was that alien surface hard! Here it shone black and glassy, there it was silvery and metallic
with patches of deep crimson appearing in odd places. I picked up a small lump of silvery outcrop,
found it amazingly heavy; solid metal as far as I could tell.
I tossed the lump through the open door of the air-lock so that they could get busy analysing it,
and at once Kli Morg stuck out a furious head, goggled his eyes at the inoffensive Kli Yang and
remarked, тАЬA blow on the cranium is not funny. The fact that you are now with a bunch of
Terrestrials doesnтАЩt mean that you have to be equally childish.тАЭ
 тАЬWhy, you amateur pawn-pusher,тАЭ began Kli Yang,
speaking with considerable warmth. тАЬIтАЩd have you know ---тАЬ
тАЬShut up!тАЭ snapped Jay Score authoritatively. He started off toward the setting sun, his long,
agile legs working as though intent on circumnavigating the globe. The radio swung easily from
one powerful hand.
We followed in single file. In ten minutes he was half a mile ahead and waiting for us to catch
up.
тАЬRemember, long brother, weтАЩre only flesh and blood,тАЭ complained Brennand as we reached the
emergency pilotтАЩs huge, efficient figure.
тАЬNot me,тАЭ denied Kli Yang. тАЬThank Rava, my kind are not made of so sickening a mess.тАЭ He
emitted a thin whistle of disgust, made swimming motions with his tentacles through air four times
as thick as that of Mars.
тАЬI could row a boat!тАЭ
Our progress was slightly slower after that. Down into a deep, shadowy valley, up the other side
and over the crest. No trees, no shrubs, no birds, no other sign of life. Nothing but the black, silver