"A. E. Van Vogt - The Rat & the Snake & Other Stories" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Vogt A E)

you're not satisfied you can get your money back. That's right. That's what I said. You get your
money back merely by stepping up and asking for it..."
And so on. However, his ballyhoo was not the most enticing angle. What began to titillate my
nerves was the reaction of the people who went inside. They were allowed to enter in groups,
and there must have been a guide inside, because his barely audible voice would mumble on for
THE CATAAAA
Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com
7
some minutes, and then it would rise to a hearable level, as he said, "And now, folks, I will draw
aside the curtain and show you--the cat!"
The curtain must have been pulled with a single jerk, on a carefully timed basis. For the word,
cat was scarcely out of his mouth, when the audience reaction would sound:
"Aaaaaa!"
Distinct, unmistakable exhalation of the breaths of a dozen startled people. There would follow
an uncomfortable silence. Then, slowly the people would emerge and hurry to the outer exit. Not
one, that I was aware of, asked for his money back.
There was a little embarrassment at the gate. Silkey started to mumble something about only
owning part of the show, so he couldn't give passes. But I ended that by quickly purchasing the
necessary tickets, and we went inside with the next group.
The animal that sat in an armchair on the dais was about five feet long and quite slender. It had a
cat's head and vestiges of fur. It looked like an exaggerated version of the walkey-talkey animals
in comic books.
At that point resemblance to normalcy ended.
It was alien. It was not a cat at all. I recognized that instantly. The structure was all wrong. It
took me a moment to identify the radical variations.
The head! High foreheaded it was, and not low and receding. The face was smooth and almost
hairless. It had character and strength, and intelligence. The body was well balanced on long,
straight legs. The arms were smooth, ending in short but unmistakable fingers, surmounted by
thin, sharp claws.
But it was the eyes that were really different. They looked normal enough, slightly slanted,
properly lidded, about the same size as the eyes of human beings. But they danced. They shifted
twice, even three times as swiftly as human eyes. Their balanced movement at such a high speed
indicated vision that could read photographically reduced print across a room. What sharp, what
incredibly sharp images that brain must see.
All this I saw within the space of a few seconds. Then the creature moved.
It stood up, not hurriedly, but casually, easily, and yawned and stretched. Finally, it took a step
forward. Brief panic ensued among the women in the audience, that ended as the guide said
quietly:
"It's all right, folks. He frequently comes down and looks us over. He's harmless.
THE CATAAAA
Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com
8
The crowd stood its ground, as the cat came down the steps from the dais and approached me.
The animal paused in front of me, and peered at me curiously. Then it reached gingerly forward,
opened my coat, and examined the inside breast pocket.
It came up holding the postcard with the picture of Silkey on it. I had brought it along, intending
to ask Silkey about it.
For a long moment the cat examined the card, and then it held it out to Silkey. Silkey looked at
me.
"Okay?" he said.