"Clarke, J Brian - The Last Walk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clark Brian)

The media reported the Aelak was meeting with the
Secretary General at a secret location, and it was logical
enough to be accepted. There were the usual editorial
cartoons showing a flustered S.G. in the company of a
dinosaur, although the depiction of Ottrah as a streamlined
T-Rex was about as unlikely as his excellency being shown as
a wooly mammoth.
The current fashion fad of a rainbow-hued cape topped
by a broad brimmed sombrero, turned out to be an adequate
disguise when Ottrah was ushered into to my apartment in
Orlando. She was accompanied by my love and conscience, Gail
Sovergarde. The three security escorts who brought them to
my door were more likely to have attracted attention,
although if I was asked (I was not), I was ready to explain
that my taller guest was a visiting dignitary from the Lagos
Institute of Planetary Physics.
With hat and cape removed, Ottrah was exactly as I
first saw her when she stepped out of her shimmering bubble
at the Cape. A slender humanoid two meters plus in height,
she was clad in a gray form-fitting garment which left only
the face exposed.
It was a face I shall not forget.
Large golden eyes with nictitating membranes, vertical
nostril slits, a wide lipless mouth with no chin, and
greenish skin with a faintly visible texture, combined into
a whole both terrible and fascinating. I felt my heart thump
as I said lamely, "I am honored you chose to come to my
home."
The Aelak turned to Gail. "Your mate is nervous."
Although the mouth moved (writhed?) in synchronization with
the words, the voice was a mechanical contralto without
inflection. I wondered if it was artificial, although there
was no visible sign how it was done
"A lot of things make my mate nervous," Gail said as
she sank into my easy chair and crossed her slender legs.
"Isn't that right, Freddy?"
Ottrah chose an upright chair and folded herself down
onto it. Although that strange head was now lower than mine,
it did not make her less intimidating. "Degruton, I am here
to persuade you and your mate to return with me to Aelak."
"Er--oh?"
The events of this remarkable day were moving too fast
for me. Starting with Ottrah's arrival at the Cape, the
manner Gail and I were ignored as Ottrah was driven away in
an official limousine, my increasing anger as my phoned
demands for an explanation always got the response 'we will
get back to you', and finally the Deputy S.G.'s call in
which I was calmly informed, 'The alien and Ms Sovergarde
will be brought to your apartment at nineteen hundred hours
this evening. Please make sure you are there.'