"Baxter, Stephen - Manifold 03 - Origin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baxter Stephen)

Fire's eyes see Dig. They can't see Loud. Fire calls out. 'Loud, Loud, Fire!'
But Loud is gone.

Shrugging, the rain running down his back, he turns away. Fire will never think
of his brother again.

A new person is coming towards him. This stranger has blue and brown skin on his
body. Fire can't see his member. It is a woman. But he can't see breasts. It is
a man.

The new person holds out empty hands. 'Please, can you help us? Do you know what
happened to us? What place is this?'

Fire hears: 'Help. What. Us. What.' The voice is deep. It is a man.

Stone is standing beside Fire. 'Nutcracker-man,' he says softly.

'No,' says Fire.

'Elf-man.'

'No.'

'Please.' The new person steps forward. 'I have a wife and child. Do you speak
English? My wife is hurt. We need shelter. Is there a road near here, a phone we
could use -'

Stone's axe slams into the top of the new person's head. The head cracks open.
Grey and red stuff splashes out.

The new person's eyes look at Fire. He shudders. He falls backwards.

Stone grunts. 'Nutcracker-man.' Stone slices off the new person's cheek and
crams it into his mouth.

Fire hoots at the kill. Nutcracker-folk fight hard. This kill was easy.

Other people's legs bring them running from the trees to join Stone at his
feast. They have forgotten the rain. They get wet again. But they are all drawn
by the scent of the fresh meat.

The new person's skin yields easily to Stone's axe. It comes off in a sheet.
Fire's finger touches the sloughed skin. It is blue and brown, thick and dense.
Fire is confused. It is skin. It is not skin.

The flesh under the strange skin is white. Stone's axe cuts into it easily. The
axe butchers the body rapidly and expertly, an unthinking skill honed across a
million years.