"Arkady & Boris Strugatsky - The Ugly Swans" - читать интересную книгу автора (Strugatski Arkady)

next to them, and started to do some-thing with the injured leg. The slimy groaned softly, but Diana didn't
say anything comforting, as doctors usually do in cases like that.
"Can I help you?" asked Victor.
She didn't answer. He stood up. "Stay for a minute, don't go away," said Diana, not turning her head.
"I'm not going anywhere," said Victor. He watched her deftly putting on a splint.
"We'll need you," said Diana.
"I'm not going anywhere," said Victor again.
"As a matter of fact you can run upstairs. Run up to the room, take a slug of something while there's still
time, but come right back down."
"Forget it," said Victor. "I'll manage."
From somewhere behind the screen of rain came the rumble of a motor and the flash of headlights.
Victor could make out a jeep carefully turning into the gates. The jeep drove up to the porch, and Yul
Golem, in his ill-fitting raincoat, clambered
The Ugly Swans 45

out. He climbed up the steps, bent over the slimy, and took his hand.
"No injections," said the slimy in a hollow voice.
"All right," said Golem and looked at Victor. "Help me with him."
Victor took the slimy in his arms and carried him to the jeep. Golem ran ahead of them, threw open the
door, and crawled inside.
"Let's have him here," came his voice from the darkness. "No, feet first. Don't be afraid. Hold him by
the shoulders."
Golem, breathing heavily, arranged things in the car. The slimy groaned again, and Golem said something
incomprehen-sible, like "six angles on the neck," or maybe he was cursing. Then he crawled out, slammed
the door shut, and, getting behind the wheel, asked Diana, "Did you call them?"
"No," answered Diana. "Should I?"
"It's not worth it anymore," said Golem, "They'll seal the place up. Good-bye."
The jeep started moving, drove over a flower bed, and sped off down the path.
"Let's go," said Diana.
"Let's swim," said Victor. Now that it was all over he felt nothing more than irritation.
In the lobby Diana linked her arm in his.
"Never mind," she said. "You'll change your clothes, have some vodka, and everything will be all right."
"I'm dripping like a wet dog," said Victor. He was angry. "And now perhaps you'll explain to me at long
last what was going on?"
Diana gave a weary sigh.
"Nothing in particular was going on. He shouldn't have left his flashlight behind."
"Setting traps all over the place is nothing in particular? Is that the way you see it?"
"The burgomaster does it, the bastard."
46 The Ugly Swam

They reached the second floor and walked along the corri-dor.
"Is he crazy?" asked Victor. "It's a criminal offense. Or is he really crazy?"
"No. He's just a bastard and he hates the slimies. Like every-one else in town."
"I've already noticed. We don't like them either, but as for
traps What did the slimies do to them?"
"They have to hate somebody," said Diana. "In some places they hate Jews, in other places they hate
blacks, and we hate slimies."
They stopped in front of a door. Diana turned the key, en-tered, and turned on the light.
"Wait a minute," said Victor, looking around. "Where are we?"
"This is the lab," said Diana. "I'll just be a second."