"Alan Dean Foster - Humanx 2 - Cachalot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

that were the only land on Cachalot. Nor were the iso-
lated islands formed of rock or stone. On Cachalot, the
eternal war of wave and cliff had long ago been de-
cided in favor of the wave. Tiny creatures called hex-
alates left behind their hard exoskeletons, building
atolls and reefs much like the corals of Earth.

There was nothing that could be called a continent,
though in places the oceans were quite shallow, if
never for any great extent. All that showed above
water from Cora's present position were the bright
mirror-white patches at opposite poles, ice packs tense
on the water. They were far smaller than those of
Earth.




CACHALOT

11

10 CACHALOT

Cora pointed them out to Rachael, who responded
by picking indifferently at the strings of her neurophon.
"Stop that." Cora frowned at her. "You know better

than that."

Rachael wrinkled her brow. "Oh, Mother . . . I've

got the projection matrix turned off and the power way
down, I can't possibly bother the shuttle."

But Cora had experienced a telltale if faint tingle
along her spine. "Your axonics are lit. I felt it. You

might disturb the other passengers."

"I haven't heard any complaints," Rachael said
softly. But she touched several contact points on the
chordal dendritics, cut final power. She plucked petu-
lantly at one string. It produced a normal musical tone
that drifted through the cabin. Several passengers

turned back to look at her.
Cora's nerves did not respond. Satisfied, she returned

her gaze to the port.