"Philip E. High - These Savage Futurians" - читать интересную книгу автора (High Phillip E)

He found a hollow into which twigs, dead leaves and dry grass had
drifted and lay down, uncaring if something got him in the night.

When he awoke, just before dawn, his body was stiff and cold but his
mind was clearer. He rose, swinging his arms to restore the circulation
and relieve the stiffness in his muscles. His body still ached from the
previous day's gauntlet but, apart from that, he felt tolerably fit.

He looked about him. Slowly rising ground covered in sparse grass,
outcroppings of white chalk, a few stunted trees clinging defiantly to the
soil and, far to his left, the white dawn-glimmer of the ocean.

He walked stiffly forwards, conscious that he was both hungry and
thirsty.
 He was fortunate—after a few hundred paces he found a hollow in the
soil which was filled with rain water. He drank, uncaring that it was
slightly rank and white with chalk.

When he raised his head a few moments later, he was shocked to see a
protage growing, splendidly alone and fully mature, a bare twenty paces
away. Probably grown from a wind-born seed from one of the cultivation
patches.

He devoured the juicy green leaves ravenously, pushing them into his
mouth with his fingers. Finally, satisfied, he wiped his hands on his
shirt-front and stood upright. As he did so, something caught his eye—a
curious rectangular object protruding from the soil.

He bent down, puzzled. The object was half covered in moss but there
was something about it. He scratched away some of the moss with a sharp
stone. The object was white and covered with black symbols which,
although curiously unlike the script of villages, was, after some effort,
understandable.

The symbols said—although they conveyed no particular
significance—Dower 3 K.L. DEAL—the rest of the object was broken at the
end.

He shrugged uncomprehendingly and went on, wary of danger. This
was, he reminded himself, forbidden territory into which he was
venturing.

Chapter Two
DESPITE HIS WARINESS, his mind was active as he tried to recall all
he had heard about the territory. He was surprised to discover it was very
little and most of it was implication rather than fact. A major part was
hearsay, someone who knew someone who had—or more often, repeated
the memories of a long dead relative.

He flicked open the files of memory trying to separate fact from general