"A. E. Van Vogt - The Silkie" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Vogt A E)

He was not human.

The creature that had come out of the water had a humanlikebody. But the skin on his face and
elsewhere was unnaturally thick, as if it had fat layers and other barriers against cold and water.

And Marie, who had seen a great many variations in sea life, recognised what was under his arms
instantly тАФgills .... His feet were webbed, and he was at least seven feet long.

For years now, fear had been her least emotion, so she pulled back a little, shrank inwardly тАФ a little тАФ
and held her breath for a few seconds longer than normal.

Because her reactions were that tiny, she was looking at him when he... changed.

He was still in the water when it happened. And he was in the act of reaching for the gunwale of her little
craft.

The long, strong body shortened; the thick skin grew thin; the head became smaller. Within the space of
seconds Marie was aware that his muscles were twisting, writhing, working under a strangely mobile
skin. Light reflections and the roiling of the sea obscured some of those motions, but what she saw was a
seven-foot 'fish' being transformed in a matter of seconds into a completely naked young man.

This being, human in every way, vaulted aboard her craft with effortless strength. He was, she saw, six
feet tall and very matter-of-fact. He said in a pleasant baritone, 'I'm the person whom all the fuss is about.
Old Sawyer has really outdone himself in producing me. But I realise you must be shocked. So get me a
pair of trunks, will you?'

Marie didn't move. His face was vaguely familiar to her. Long ago тАФ it seemed long тАФ there had been
a young man in her life ... until she discovered that she was but one of a dozen girls, with most of whom
he carried on a far more exotic existence than she had ever permitted.

The young man looked like that young man.

'You're not тАФ ' she said.

He seemed to know what she meant, for he shook his head smiling. 'Ipromise to be completely faithful,'
he said.

He continued, 'We need тАФ Sawyer and I need тАФ a young woman who will bear my child. We think we
can reproduce what I can do, but we have to prove it.'

'B-but what you can do is so perfect,' Marie protested, only vaguely realising that she was not resisting
his proposal at all. Somehow, she already had a strange feeling of fulfillment as if at last she could do
something that would remedy the wasted years.

'You saw only a portion of what I can do,' said the young man. 'I have three shapes. Sawyer not only
reached back into the sea history of man, but he reached forward into its future potentiality. Only one of
my shapes is human.'
'What's the third?' Marie breathed.