"Jerry Davis - A Long Curved Blade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

Damn it, he thought, this is not good.
He sidestepped to the left, circling around. The skike was 15 meters away now, passing
him. It can leap this far, he thought. And just as he was thinking that, he stepped on a dry
fallen limb and it snapped. Not too loud of a snap, but just enough. The skike stopped,
listening. Doug scrambled backwards, panicking. He stumbled into a clearing and turned and
ran. He could hear the skike moving behind him. It was coming fast, he could hear the
crashing and scraping as it moved recklessly through the underbrush.
Doug turned and dropped, raising his rifle. He could see it, it was light brown like the
color of the tree trunks, looking like a bundle of thick branches moving, raising and lowering,
and two shiny black blades raised on thick, strong arms, raised to strike. Doug fired the rifle,
blasting off one of the thing's legs. The skike went rolling and scrambling around the
clearing, slashing at the air. In his panic Doug fired two more times, missing the creature
entirely, and when the creature stopped and Doug could get a bead on the mass of black eyes,
he pulled the trigger and the gun did nothing. A red light came on, telling him to wait fifteen
seconds for the capacitors to recharge.
The beast raised its blades and came toward him.
Doug let out a cry and turned and ran.
He heard crashing behind him, the sound of the beast pursuing, but it fell behind. The
wound was slowing it down. There was a beep as the rifle was ready to fire again, and Doug
slid to a stop and turned around, rifle raised. The skike was nowhere in sight. The scanner had
it 40 meters away and fading as it retreated into the deep jungle. Doug considered following
it, but his nerves were shot. He couldn't bring himself to do it.
Feeling bitter, he turned and made his way back to the village.

#

It was only when Douglass arrived back at the capsule did he realize how much trouble he
was in. Leo Calderon, biologist, anthropologist, was also the expedition commander. He was
general, king, judge and jury, and god as far as the expedition was concerned. Douglass had
disobeyed a direct order in leaving the capsule after Leo had sealed it off.
Doug's wife, Janet, was standing beside Cromwell Flack as Leo ranted and raved and
stripped Doug of all rank and privilege. During the tirade Doug stood silently and stared into
his wife's eyes. She was a stranger, now. Janet Nerro, with a PhD in Human Sciences, was
willing to do anything to win a place on this Technica expedition, even willing to convince a
lowly technician, a repairman, into thinking she was in love with him. Lowly as he was,
Technica considered Douglass the best qualified "engineer" for the expedition and preferred
that he be married to maintain the stability of the team. Any woman scientist being
considered for the expedition would surely lock her place in on the team by marrying him.

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Da...%20Jerry%20-%20A%20Long%20Curved%20Blade.htm (3 of 18) [10/15/2004 12:49:56 PM]
A Long Curved Blade

Cromwell Flack, the eminent climate expert, was above all this --- he was allowed to join the
team without bringing a wife, which upset the balance. Seven team members instead of eight,
and four of them men. Out of all of them, Douglass was the only one who was not a scientist.
He was only along to keep everything running for the duration.
Six more years, Douglass thought. Six.
". . . you are not to interact with the colonists," Leo was raging at him, "you are not to
speak with them, you are not to look at them! Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."