JК
The Lovers :: Фармер Филип Хосе
Страница: 45 из 127As for the walk, it will be pleasant and stimulating. It is only a... kilometer? Or thereabouts.'
Hal threw his mask and goggles into the car, where the Ozagenians had put theirs. He picked up his suitcase from the floor in the compartment back of the rear seat. He left the gapt's on the floor. Not without a slight pang of guilt, however, for he knew that as Pornsen's ward, he should have offered to carry it.
'To H with him,' he muttered.
He said to Fobo, 'Aren't you afraid the driving clothes will be stolen?'
'Pardon?' said Fobo, eager to learn a new word. 'Stolen means what?'
'To take an article of property from someone by stealth, without their permission, and keep it for yourself. It is a crime, punishable by law.'
'A crime?'
Hal gave up and began walking swiftly up the road. Behind him the gapt, angry because he had been rejected and because his ward was breaking etiquette by forcing him to carry his own case, shouted, 'Don't presume too far, you – you joat !'
Hal didn't turn back but plunged on ahead. The angry retort he had been phrasing beneath his breath fizzed away. Out of the corner of his eye, he had glimpsed white skin in the green foliage.
It was only a flash, gone as quickly as it had come. And he could not be sure that it was not a bird's white wing opening. Yes, he could be. There were no birds on Ozagen.
7
' Soo Yarrow. Soo Yarrow. Wuhfvayfvoo, soo Yarrow.'
Hal woke up. For a moment, he had trouble placing himself. Then, as he became wider awake, he recalled that he was sleeping in one of the marble rooms of the ruins. The moonlight, brighter than Earth's, poured in through the doorway. It shone on a small shape clinging upside down to the arch of the doorway. It glittered briefly on a flying insect that passed below the shape. Something long and thin flickered down and caught the flier and pulled it into a suddenly gaping mouth.
The lizard loaned by the ruins custodians was doing a fine job of keeping out pests.
Hal turned his head to look at the open window a foot above him. The bugcatcher there was also busily ton-guing the area clean of mosquitoes.
The voice had seemed to come from beyond that moonwashed and narrow rectangle. He strained his ears as if he could force the silence to yield the voice again. But there was only more silence. Then, he jumped and whirled around as a snuffling and rattling came from behind him. A thing the size of a raccoon stood in the doorway. It was one of the quasi-insects, the so-called lungbugs, that prowled the forest at night.
Hal threw his mask and goggles into the car, where the Ozagenians had put theirs. He picked up his suitcase from the floor in the compartment back of the rear seat. He left the gapt's on the floor. Not without a slight pang of guilt, however, for he knew that as Pornsen's ward, he should have offered to carry it.
'To H with him,' he muttered.
He said to Fobo, 'Aren't you afraid the driving clothes will be stolen?'
'Pardon?' said Fobo, eager to learn a new word. 'Stolen means what?'
'To take an article of property from someone by stealth, without their permission, and keep it for yourself. It is a crime, punishable by law.'
'A crime?'
Hal gave up and began walking swiftly up the road. Behind him the gapt, angry because he had been rejected and because his ward was breaking etiquette by forcing him to carry his own case, shouted, 'Don't presume too far, you – you joat !'
Hal didn't turn back but plunged on ahead. The angry retort he had been phrasing beneath his breath fizzed away. Out of the corner of his eye, he had glimpsed white skin in the green foliage.
It was only a flash, gone as quickly as it had come. And he could not be sure that it was not a bird's white wing opening. Yes, he could be. There were no birds on Ozagen.
7
' Soo Yarrow. Soo Yarrow. Wuhfvayfvoo, soo Yarrow.'
Hal woke up. For a moment, he had trouble placing himself. Then, as he became wider awake, he recalled that he was sleeping in one of the marble rooms of the ruins. The moonlight, brighter than Earth's, poured in through the doorway. It shone on a small shape clinging upside down to the arch of the doorway. It glittered briefly on a flying insect that passed below the shape. Something long and thin flickered down and caught the flier and pulled it into a suddenly gaping mouth.
The lizard loaned by the ruins custodians was doing a fine job of keeping out pests.
Hal turned his head to look at the open window a foot above him. The bugcatcher there was also busily ton-guing the area clean of mosquitoes.
The voice had seemed to come from beyond that moonwashed and narrow rectangle. He strained his ears as if he could force the silence to yield the voice again. But there was only more silence. Then, he jumped and whirled around as a snuffling and rattling came from behind him. A thing the size of a raccoon stood in the doorway. It was one of the quasi-insects, the so-called lungbugs, that prowled the forest at night.