"Harry Harrison - Planet Of No Return" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

"Do you usually sleep with all your clothes on?" she asked. "And your boots as
well?"

"It's called establishing a body image." He drew a large glass of water from
the dispenser and sipped at it. "I'll be living in these clothes for some
days, so they must be accepted as a part of my body. My body and my reflexes
are my major defense, my most important weapon. I will be taking a knife as
well. I have considered it carefully and I think the defense it will offer
will be worth the gamble of taking it with me."

"What knife—and what gamble? I don't understand."

D-Day Minus One

47

"The knife will have to be made of a mineral. It will be the only exception,
the only object not of completely natural origin. These clothes are made of
vegetable fibers, their buttons are carved from bone. My boots are of leather
made from animal hide, sewn and glued together. I have no metal, nor do I wear
anything made of artificial fibers."

"Not even the fillings in your teeth?" she asked, smiling.

"No, not even them." Brion was unsmiling and deadly serious. "All of the
metallic fillings have been removed and have been replaced with ceramic
inlays. The closer I resemble any other creature in the natural environment,
the safer I will be. That is why the knife is a calculated risk." He turned so
she could see the leather scabbard suspended at his side. From it he drew the
long and transparent weapon and held it out for her inspection.

"It looks like glass. Is that what it is?"

He shook his head. "No, plasteel. A form of silicon that resembles glass in
some ways, but it is stronger by a factor of one hundred since the molecules
have been realigned to form a single giant crystal. It is virtually
unbreakable and has an edge that will never dull. Since it is silicon, like
sand, it should resemble sand to any detection apparatus. That is why I am
taking the chance of having it with me."

Lea watched in silence as Brion put the weapon carefully away, arched his
fingers, then stretched like a great cat. She could see the movement of his
muscles beneath the fabric of his clothing, was aware of his strength that was
more than something simply physical.

"I have a feeling that you can do it," she said. "I

48

PLANET OF NO RETURN