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

her."
Vern said nothing. He clutched his blaster close to his chest,
sweat pouring from his forehead. His eyes were bulging and his head
continuously turned from side to side, like he was expecting
something to sneak up behind him.
They trudged several meters further into the murky forest, and
Gregson paused, pointing down. Bethany's footprints continued
forward, while Frank's lead around and back. This is where the
terror had gotten to him, and he'd left his sister all alone. The
Bankrightk men had paused here, and had continued on following
Bethany.
From somewhere in the forest came a weird, undulating cry.
Vern began to back away, but Gregson grabbed him by the shirt and
pulled him forward.
Vern blustered. "Let go of me!"
"Stay with me, Vern."
"I ... I can't."
"She's your daughter, damn it -- if you love her half as much
as I do, you going to stay with me."
It was dark, but there was a breeze tousling the tops of the
trees and occasionally a shaft of sunlight would spear down for a
second or two. The warbling, undulating cry seemed to come from
everywhere. Gregson pushed forward, rifle pointing forward, every
nerve on edge. He felt like he was dancing across the surface of
the terror, keeping above it while still feeling it. It was a
freefall feeling, unnerving and at the same time exhilarating. He
moved through a momentary patch of weak sunlight and once again
into shadow, the shadow now seeming deeper than ever.
His biotascope registered a life form ahead. A humanoid in a
highly agitated state. Blood pressure high, pulse rate high,
adrenal secretions abnormal. Neural pulse rate was two per second
higher than the usual ten. A far removed part of Gregson thought
that was odd.
Gregson made it to twenty meters from the person, keeping a
tree trunk between him and whoever it was. He turned to say
something to Vern and found he was alone. Vern had slipped away,
abandoning him. Gregson felt like turning and running after him,
but he didn't. He wanted to, but instead he held tightly to his
father's gun and closed his eyes, focusing his will. I am here for
Bethany, he thought. I am here for her.
He opened his eyes and studied his biotascope. The person near
him wasn't Bethany -- the body mass was too high. It was probably
Rudd, from Bankrightk. Beyond him was another humanoid, and thirty
meters further in was the creature.
There was more yelling, and then gunfire. Gregson stayed
behind the tree, hiding. The idiots were firing wildly at random,
totally out of their minds. The bio-readings from both were
identical; same high pulse, same accelerated neural rate. The brain
pulse, which was usually right at 40 cycles per second front to
back, was at an odd 57 cycles per second.