"Stephen Goldin - Herds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

"No, I did not."

The Coordinator's grip on the pen eased slightly, but that was
the only visible indication of his relief. Coming from him, even
that was an enormous sign, for Coordi-nators were supposed to
be unemotional in the extreme. It only showed what the mere
concept of the Offasü could do to even the most controlled of
Zarticku.

Rwttin dutifully recorded Garnna's answer, then looked up at
the Explorer again. "I take it, though, that you did find an
inhabited planet, judging from the fact that your Exploration
lasted to the maximum allowed time limit."

"I did indeed," Garnna replied, and proceeded to give a short
physical description of the solar system he had encountered.
Then he described the bipedal omnivores that had inhabited the
third planet and the level their culture had attained.

"So far," Rettin said, "this is all standard. I would have
expected a seasoned Explorer like you to have become used to
these things and not find them particularly unpleasant."
 Garnna took a deep breath and tried to settle his jittery
stomachs. "These things I've told you so far are only preludes to
the big one. I had concluded the bulk of my investigations and
had some time to spare, so I was cruising along the seashore of
one continent. In doing so, I happened to witness a horrifying
event. I saw…" He had to gulp before he could continue. "I saw
one of these creatures killing its mate."

Rettin stared at him silently for a moment, then said,
"Explorers are not encouraged to investigate the phenomena of
individuals."

"I know that. As I said, I happened upon this quite by
chance."

"Describe the incident," Rettin said tersely.

With a great deal of hesitation and uncertainty, Garnna told
the Coordinator about the strangulation, about the
dismemberment of the body and the burying of clothes in the
woods. He explained the anger that had radiated from the killer's
mind, fear of punishment and the evolution of some plan not
only to evade that punishment but to shift it over to some
innocent member of the Herd. He described the unmistakable
feeling of triumph the creature had broadcast at the thought of
actually being able to outwit its Herd. By the time he finished,
his mouth was so dry that the lips were sticking together.