"Robert F. Young - The Garden in the Forest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

THE GARDEN IN THE FOREST
by Robert F. Young

FROM: Administrator of Alien Cultures
Stellar Headquarters
Sosterich III
To: Ghan, Supreme Arbiter
Parapsychology Center
Sosterich IV

GENERAL: The Office of Perimeter Research reports that tile culture in Star Group 206 has entered
Phase Nine.
Phase Nine cultures have a fear base, are unstable, and are usually immune to regenerative
stimulus. (Ref.: THEORETICAL EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS, Official Version, I. S. Library.)

SPECIFIC: It is the carefully considered decision of the Office of Perimeter Research that the culture
in question constitutes a menace to Galactic Security. Therefore, the only logical recourse is immediate
extirpation. However, since no culture beyond Phase Eight has ever been known to exist, such procedure
will be unprecedented and will require the authorization of the Supreme Arbiter.

REQUEST: That the Supreme Arbiter personally check the culture in question and forward his
report to this headquarters, with authorization appended if his decision coincides with the decision
reached by the Office of Perimeter Research, or with recommendation as to alternate course of action if
it does not.

QUADRI-DIMENSIONAL SPATIAL WARPS involve neither subjective nor objective temporal
distortion. Ghan's transition not only seemed instantaneous; it was instantaneous.
Since the type of investigation he intended to make usually obtained the most relevant results when
conducted along unpremeditated lines, he had chosen his base at random. He was neither surprised nor
chagrined, then, when he materialized in a snow covered field. If anything, he was mildly pleased to have
struck a zone with a climate that was reminiscent of summer on Sosterich IV.
A small group of buildings showed against a blue backdrop of afternoon sky, and he set off across
the fields toward them. The terrain presented little of interest: a few isolated stands of timber, an eroded
hill, or two. Presently he came to a winding road and since it afforded a more comfortable base for
ambulation he chose it in preference to the more direct route. He could have teleported of course, but on
a mission of this sort it was better to be circumspect, at least until initial orientation had been completed.
The group of buildings resolved into a dominant red structure, a much smaller white structure, and
several odd nondescript structures. Ghan identified them tentatively with their word equivalents, drawing
from one of the languages he had assimilated just before his departure: a barn, a house, a coop or sty of
some sort, aтАФ
He had no word for the small skeletal structure in the immediate foreground. It was an elaborate
framework of some kind and it was overrun with tangled thorny vines. It stood in an area of small oval
hummocks and geometric pathways. It appealed to him instantly as a practical base for his operations.
The fact that it would afford him no protection from the weather was immaterial.
He stepped inside and found a bench and a small table. He placed his portable transmitter on the
table and he sat down on the bench. His headquarters was complete.
Before intensifying his 'pathic field he made a cursory probe of the adjacent buildings. All contained
sentient life but the house contained the only type he was concerned with. He did not pause to examine it,
however. It was more important, first, to ascertain whether he was centralized in an area that contained
sufficient specimens to make a cross-section analysis valid.