"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

still going on. Some prince or duke was their commander here. I'd like to
meet and talk with them."
Maxim listened for sounds again. "No, it's no prince or duke. It's some
kind of animal, perhaps. Or..."
"Or what?"
"Remember, you said 'either the survivors of a garrison, or...?'"
"So I did. Well, it's nonsense, old wives' tales. Let's go take a
look."
Zef loaded the grenade thrower, heaved it on to his shoulder, and moved
forward, lighting the way with his flashlight. Maxim walked beside him. They
wandered along the corridor for a few minutes, came up against a wall, and
turned to the right.
"You're making an awful racket," said Maxim. "Something's going on in
there, but you're breathing so hard..."
"What am I supposed to do - stop breathing?" Zef bristled.
"And your flashlight is bothering me."
"What do you mean - bothering you? It's dark here."
"I can see in the dark," explained Maxim, "but with your flashlight on,
I can't make out a thing. Let me go on ahead, and you stay here. Otherwise
we won't find out anything."
"We-ell, suit yourself," said Zef hesitantly.
Maxim narrowed his eyes again, resting them from the flickering light.
Then, crouching, he moved alongside the wall as silently as possible. The
mysterious creature was somewhere nearby, and Maxim drew closer to it with
each step. The corridor seemed endless. Locked steel doors lined the right
side. A draft blew toward him. The air was dampish and smelled heavily of
mold and something else, something elusive, but warm and alive. Behind him
Zef rustled cautiously; uneasy and afraid to remain alone, he had decided to
follow Maxim. Maxim laughed to himself. He was distracted for only a split
second, but at that instant the mysterious creature vanished. The creature
had been in front of him, almost beside him; then, in a flash, it seemed to
vanish into thin air, only to reappear close behind him.
"Zef!" called Maxim.
"Yes!" boomed Zef.
Maxim imagined that the strange creature was standing between them. He
turned his head toward Zefs voice. "It's between us. Don't shoot!"
"OK," said Zef. "I can't see a damn thing. What does it look like?"
"I don't know. It's soft."
"An animal?"
"Doesn't seem to be."
"You said you could see in the dark."
"Not with my eyes," said Maxim. "Shut up!"
"Not with your eyes," muttered Zef.
The creature stood still for a short time, then crossed the corridor,
disappeared, and soon reappeared up ahead. "Its curiosity has also been
aroused," thought Maxim. He strained hard, trying to empathize with the
mysterious creature, but something interfered - probably, he thought, the
discordant combination of a humanoid intellect and a semianimal body. He
edged forward again. The creature retreated, maintaining a constant distance
between them.