"Jerry Davis - Dna Prospector" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

"Don't do it!"
Gregson turned to leave. Bethany shouted, "James!"
He turned back. "I've got to see what it is."
"It's not worth it." Bethany's eyes were pleading.
He gave her his best smile. "I'll be back."

#

The carnivorous trees looked more like gigantic moss-covered
fish bones than trees. They had an exoskeleton structure not unlike
Terran insects, and the "moss" was a sticky, deadly substance which
paralyzed and slowly digested several species of indigenous birds.
The most common was the flying dodo, which was a big green
bat-winged creature that regularly crashed into obstacles such as
houses, light poles, and carnivorous trees. One was fluttering and
crying out in its final moments as Gregson entered the forest.
He walked for a couple of kilometers before coming upon a
large, winding creek. He turned and followed it up hill, heading
east. The carnivorous trees thinned, being replaced by a taller,
uglier variety, which grew closer together and blocked out more
sunlight. Here and there a shaft of sunlight made it through, but
otherwise the forest was frighteningly dark.
Gregson slowed his pace and finally stopped. In front of him
the creek was dammed, creating a shallow pond of crystal clear
water. It was here that Vern Hudson was working on a strain of
catfish to be released into the main river. Beyond the pond is
where the trouble was.
He pulled out his biotascope and waved it back and forth.
There were hundreds of life form readings, mostly bugs. There was
nothing much bigger than his thumbnail. He checked the plant life
for biological outgassing; there were numerous substances, but none
registered as a psychoactive nor a pheromone -- at least none that
should affect a human being.
All around the pond were human footprints. One fresh set,
heading straight away from the pond and into the forest back toward
town, were clearly from someone running hard. As he studied them
Gregson realized his heart was pounding, that he was already
afraid. He wondered if it was natural, or if it was somehow being
induced. It's natural, he told himself. I'm a natural coward. He
took a deep breath and pushed on, walking cautiously around the
pond and into dense woods beyond.
About 40 meters past the pond, his biotascope began picking up
readings of a creature. It was right on the outside range of the
device, so he couldn't get much information. It was a larger life
reading, bigger than a dog but smaller than a human. He moved
toward it, wanting to get a look. The forest was so dense here he
couldn't see more than a few meters in any direction; the pond was
completely out of sight.
There was a loud cracking sound, and looking down Gregson saw
a crushed, hollow branch under his right foot. It was like the leg