"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 30 - Symbol of Terra" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

magnet of her body, her chin, her lips, the flaming cascade of her hair. The
emerald pools of her laughing eyes.

The hair, of course, it had to be the hair. The red which had betrayed
her when she had watched him. That and her shape and her lips and her
eyes. The eyes which held more than laughter.

She said, "Are you well?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You seem disturbed. Would you like to sit?" She gestured toward the
bench. "Would you like some fruit? Water? I could fetch it from the
stream."

And vanish while getting it but Dumarest felt certain she wouldn't. He
watched as she crossed the clearing, noting the movement of her legs, the
sway of her hips. A woman, but not the one he had known. Not the one he
had imagined standing before him so short a while ago. Yet the
impression had been so sharp. An illusion? The effect of the fruit he had
eaten? Had the juice held a subtle hallucinogen which distorted reality?

He narrowed his eyes as she returned bearing water in some folded
leaves. Against the vegetation she seemed neutral, a figure wearing green,
one who could have been anyoneтАФa female, well-made, but without
character. An impression heightened by her face as she concentrated on
her burden. It was smooth, somehow unformed, a collection of contours
and planes. Then, as she noticed his interest, it firmed into what he had
seen at first.

"Here." She handed him the folded leaf. "Drink and rest for a while."

Thirst and weariness made it easy to obey. The water was cool,
refreshing, and Dumarest swallowed it all. Relaxing he smelt the perfume
of the valley, listened to its quiet humming. The susurration of insects and
growing things, the rustle of an upper breeze which stirred the vegetation
as if to a giant's breath. Peace enfolded him and a calm tranquility.

To the woman he said, "What are you?"

"Who am I? My name is Govinda."

A question he hadn't asked and he wondered at the poetry which had
made him liken her to some elemental spirit. One who lived in a tree or a
stream, a thing of legend come real, belonging to this place like the stream
and the plants, the enigmatic face of the house which was barred like a
castle.

"Govinda." The name held music to match her tone. "Just that?"