"Harry Harrison - Deathworld 3" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

In a wave of shrieking brute flesh, the attackers rolled over the
charged fence. The leading ones died and were trampled down by the beasts
behind, who climbed their bodies, thick claws biting deep to take hold. Some
of the riders died as well, and they appeared to be as dispensable as their
mounts, for the others kept on coming in endless waves. They overwhelmed the
encampment, filled it, destroyed it.

"This is Second Officer Weiks," the pilot said, activating all the
speakers in the ship. "Is there any officer aboard who ranks me?" He listened
to the growing silence and, when he spoke again, his voice was choked and
unclear.

"Sound off in rotation, officers and men, from the Engine Room north.
Sparks, take it down."

Hesitantly, one by one, the voices checked in, while Weiks activated the
hull scanners and looked at the milling fury below.

"Seventeen-that's all," the radio operator said with shocked unbelief,
his hand over the microphone. He passed the list to the Second Officer, who
looked at it bleakly, then slowly reached for the microphone.

"This is the bridge," he said. "I am taking command. Run the engines up
to ready."

"Aren't we going to help them?" a voice broke in. "We can't just leave
them out there."

"There is no one out there to leave," Weiks said slowly. "I've checked
on all the screens and there is nothing visible down there except these
attackers and their beasts. Even if there were, I doubt if there is anything
we could do to help. It would be suicide to leave the ship. And we have only a
bare skeleton flight crew aboard as it is."

The frame of the ship shivered as if to add punctuation to his words.
"One of the screens is out-there goes another-they hit it with something. And
they're fixing lines to the landing legs. I don't know if they can pull us
over-and I don't want to find out. Secure to blast in sixty-five seconds."

"They'll burn in our jets, everything, everyone down there," the radio
operator said, snapping' his harness tight.

"Our people won't feel it," the pilot said grimly, "and-let's see how
many of the others we can get."


When the spacer rose, spouting fire, it left a smoking, humped circle
of death below it. But, as soon as the ground was cool enough, the waiting
riders pressed in and trampled through the ash. More and more of them,