"Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena (ГИБЕЛЬ ФАЭНЫ, англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Smel Ven trembled and raised his visor.
This was the Mada whom the sculptors had tried to catch sight of on the
Great Shore and whom Smel Ven himself had admired. Head flung back on the
slender neck, dark blue, ecstatic eyes. She was holding a golden apple in
each hand.
"Ave and I are now the first inhabitants of Terr. It'll go down in the
planet's history!"
Ave followed behind her, also without his space-suit. They had
evidently been enjoying a swim. He was also carrying two golden fruits.
"Maybe we are at fault," he said in response to the reproach in Dm
Sat's eyes, "but it's now been proved that Faetians can live on Terr. The
planet will feed them. The labours of the colonists will be generously
rewarded. This means an end to overpopulation on Faena!"
Dm Sat merely gave Ave a look; the other bowed his head in
embarrassment.
"We simply carried out an experiment. Someone had to, otherwise there
would have been no point in flying here."
Smel Ven waited for many days, but in vain. Ave and Mada, Terr's first
inhabitants, enjoyed all the benefits of the paradise they had found and did
not succumb to any form of illness.
After a sufficient period of time had elapsed. Dm Sat permitted the
other Faetians to take off their space-suits.
They took this alien world of nature at once: the air, filled with
strange perfumes, the bright light, unknown on Faena, and the unfamiliar
sounds coming from the forest. Something would be walking about in there,
hiding, leaping from branch to branch, shrieking, bellowing. Then, suddenly,
all the noises would die down and from the depths of the forest Silence
itself would seem to be watching the uninvited guests.

Chapter Three

PARADISE FOUND


Dm Sat was regarding his companions with a kind of strange sadness,
trying not to go near them. He made a sign to Smel Ven and climbed up into
the rocket. The First Pilot of Quest found the scientist already lying on
the couch in the common cabin. His cheeks were hollow and the pouches under
his eyes were even more pronounced.
Smel Ven stopped a short distance away. His narrow face with the big
bald patches on his head looked even longer because of the straggly little
goatee beard.
"I feel a great weakness," said the Elder. "I have no headache or rash.
It might pass off. Let the Sister of Health stay with me; the rest can carry
on with their work. However, I still consider it my duty to hand over the
leadership of the expedition to you, as the ship's commander."
"So be it," declared Smel Ven solemnly, drawing himself up as if on
parade. "I assume all the authority! Henceforth, I shall be in charge of
everything. And I order you, my aged friend, to lie down. You know where the
provisions are. I forbid all subordinates to come near the rocket."