"L. Ron Hubbard - Ole Doc Methuselah" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hubbard L. Ron)

UP! CLANG!

Page forty-nine of "Tales of the Early Space Pioneers"
went smoothly into operation in Hippocrates' gifted uni-
maginative skull, which page translated itself into un-
ruffled action.

He went inside and threw on "Force Field Beta" minus
the Nine Hundred and Sixtieth Degree Arc, that being
where Ole Doc was. Seeing that his worshipped master
went on fishing, either unwitting or uncaring, Hippocrates
then served out blasters and twenty rounds to himself and
went back to sit on the bottom step of the port ladder.

The big spaceship—dented a bit but lovely—simmered
quietly in Procyon's inviting light and the brook rippled
and Ole Doc kept casting for whatever outrageous kind of
fish he might find in that stream. This went on for an hour
and then two things happened. Ole Doc, unaware of the
Force Field, cast into it and got his fly back into his hat
and a young woman came stumbling, panic-stricken,
across the meadow toward the Morgue.

From amongst the stalks of flowers some forty feet high
emerged an Earthman, thick and dark, wearing the re-
mains of a uniform to which had been added civil space
garb. He rushed forward a dozen metres before he paused
in stride at the apparition of the huge golden ship with its
emblazoned crossed ray rods of pharmacy. Then he saw
Ole Doc fishing and the pursuer thrust a helmet up from a
contemptuous grin.

It was nearer to Ole Doc than to the ship and the girl,
exhausted and disarrayed, stumbled toward him. The Earth-
man swept wide and put Ole Doc exactly between him-
self and the ladder before he came in.

Hippocrates turned from page forty-nine to page one
hundred and fifteen. He leaped nimbly up to the top of the
ship in the hope of shooting the Earthman on an angle
which would miss Ole Doc. But he had no more than
arrived and sighted before it became apparent to him that
he would also now shoot the girl. This puzzled him.
Obviously the girl was not an enemy who would harm Ole
Doc. But the Earthman was. Still it was better to blast
girl and Earthman than to see Ole Doc harmed in any

cause. The effort at recalling an exact instance made
Hippocrates tremble and in that tremble Ole Doc also