"Timothy Zahn - Spinneret" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

Sherman smiled, reaching up to fasten Radford's helmet to his suit neck. "With all
that green out there, it has to be running on chlorophyll."

"We'll find out soon enough." Carefully, refusing to rush, Radford completed his
pre-EVA suit check. Then, giving the rest of the team a thumbs-up gesture, he
stepped into the airlock. A ninety-second eternity later, the outer door snicked
open тАж and Captain Radford of the U.S.S. Pathfinder stepped out onto mankind's
first colony world.

He'd thought a lot about this moment, and he was ready. "In the name ofтАФ" He
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stopped short, the words dying in his throat.

"Captain?" Sherman's voice asked tentatively.

"All outside cameras on," Radford ordered quietly, wondering if the words would
be audible over the thunder of his heart. The alien who had risen from the waist-
high grass fifteen meters away was holding an oddly shaped metal device тАж and
if it wasn't pointed directly at Radford, it wasn't off by very much.

"Uh-oh," someone muttered. "CaptainтАФwe're surrounded."

"Acknowledged," Radford said. "Kyle, are you getting all this?"

"Perfectly," the clipped voice of the Pathfinder's first officer said. "We're on full
alert; no sign of spacecraft up here."

"Yet," Radford said tensely. The aliensтАФhe could see four more, now, in backup
array behind the first oneтАФwere definitely wearing clothing of some sort, and the
devices they held were identical enough to have been mass produced. No
primitives, theseтАФand the fact that the Pathfinder had spotted no traces of
widespread civilization from orbit strongly suggested the aliens were themselves
visitors here. "All right. I'm going to try backing into the airlock. We'll lift as soon
as I'm aboard. Kyle, get the ship ready to shift."

"We'll be ready by the time you're back."

"Make sure you're ready before that," Radford said, "because if any alien
spacecraft appear, you're to take off immediately. We're expendable; the
information you've got isn't."

"Yes, sir." Kyle didn't sound very happy with the situation.

Radford wasn't especially thrilled with it either, but as it happened, the necessity
for heroic self-sacrifice never arose. The aliens watched impassively as Radford
eased back through the door; the shuttle regained orbit without anything like
fighter aircraft appearing; and all screens were still clear as the Pathfinder shifted