"Jean and Jeff Sutton - Alien From The Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sutton Jean and Jeff)

considered the sounds reassuring, for there was no indication of larger, more
formidable life-forms.
He let the pod descend slowly, watched the growth close around it.
Finally it came to rest on the sandy floor. Conscious that the instruments
emitted electromagnetic waves that could lead to the pod's detection, he shut
them off. Next he armed the destruct package -- a standard procedure when
landing on a strange planet -- and memorized its firing code. Gathering a few
items he thought he might need, he dropped them into the pockets of the
reddish, metallic material that covered his slight torso.
Silently, then, he opened the hatch and stepped out into the new world.

Barlo heard the soft rustling of the small feathered creatures in the
brush, felt the coolness of the breeze against his face. He was thankful that
the yellow sun had not yet topped the mountains, for his large, violet, light-
sensitive eyes, better adapted to nocturnal vision, suffered when exposed to
glare.
Filled with the wonder that he never failed to feel when landing on a
new world, he let his senses drink in the new sights and sounds and odors that
bombarded him from every side. The alien stimuli gave him intense pleasure.
A feathered creature hopped into view on a limb. Its head cocked, its
small bright eyes watched the planetary archeologist warily. Chirping, it
hopped closer. Barlo probed its mind with his own; there was no response.
Neither had he expected there would be. Yet the telepathic ability to bridge
two radically different life forms, while extremely rare, did occur. He had,
on a ghostly planet beneath a dying red sun, exchanged thoughts with a small,
furry creature that had adapted to deep underground burrows as protection
against the encroaching cold. He remembered the creature wistfully; it had
preferred to die with its world rather than move out into the universe.
He followed the ravine until he found a place where he could scale its
steep walls. Picking his way upward through the thick brush with agile ease,
he peered cautiously over the edge. The land swept downward, dotted with a
profusion of trees, shrubs, and small knolls that greatly limited his vision.
His mental probes returned nothing. The scene was quiet and peaceful, yet he
knew that soon it would burn beneath the brassy sun.
A small animal with tan-colored fur, enormous ears, and
disproportionately long hind legs hopped into view, halting a short distance
from him. Its sensitive nose quivered apprehensively as it regarded him
through sad, pink-rimmed eyes. Its mind was blank -- a mere transfer point
where incoming stimuli were converted to the appropriate motor responses
without the intervention of even the slightest reasoning.
Barlo struck out from the ravine and crossed several low spurs and
valleys before following the course of a gully. Now and then he paused to
watch, listen, mentally probe the world around him. Occasionally he glimpsed
small animals that didn't appear too greatly different from those he had seen
on other planets. He reflected that given any particular environment, he could
fairly accurately predict its life forms. Nature, with all its wonders, still
clung to molds.
The gully intersected a valley which he crossed, ascending the far side.
At the top of the ridge he followed the course of another ravine. The brush
was thicker, taller, the animal life more abundant. He spotted a strange,