"Andre Norton - Astra 02 - Star Born [4.1]" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

shelter of a wood. The presence of those two-horned creatures, so like the
pictures he had seen of Terran horses, was insurance that the snake-devils did
not hunt in this district, for the swift-footed duocorns were never found within
a day’s journey of their archenemies.
Late afternoon faded into the long summer twilight and still Sssuri
kept on. As yet they had come across no traces of Those Others. Here were none
of the domed farm buildings, the monorail tracks, the other relics one could
find about Homeport. This wide-open land could have been always a wilderness,
left to the animals of Astra for their own. Dalgard speculated upon that, his
busy imagination supplying various reasons for such tract. Then the voiceless
communication of his companion provided an explanation.
“This was barrier land.”
“What?”
Sssuri turned his head. His round eyes which blinked so seldom
stared into Dalgard’s as if by the intensity of that gaze he could drive home
deeper his point.
“What lies to the north was protected in the days before the falling
fire. Even Those”—the distorted mermen symbol for Those Others was sharpened by
the very hatred of all Sssuri’s kind, which had not paled during the generations
since their escape from slavery to Astra’s one-time masters—could not venture
into some of their own private places without special leave. It is perhaps true
that the city we are seeking is one of those restricted ones and that this
wilderness is a boundary for it.”
Dalgard’s pace slowed. To venture into a section of land which had
been used as a barrier to protect some secret of Those Others was a highly risky
affair. The first expedition sent out from Homeport after the landing of the
Terran refugee ship had been shot down by robot-controlled guns still set
against some long-dead invader. Would this territory be so guarded? If so they
had better go carefully now—
Sssuri suddenly struck off at an angle, heading not northeast now,
but directly north. The brush lands along the foot of the cliffs gave way to
open fields, bare except for the grass rippled by the wind. It was not the type
of country to attract the night runners, and Dalgard wondered a little. They
should discover water, preferably a shallow stream, if they wanted to find what
the monkey creatures liked best.
Within a quarter-hour he knew that Sssuri was not going wrong.
Cradled in a sudden dip in the land was the stream Dalgard had been looking for.
A hopper lifted a dripping muzzle from the shore ripples and stared at them.
Dalgard contacted the animal. It was its usual curious self, nothing had alarmed
or excited its interest. And he did not try to establish more than a casual
contact as they made their way down the bank to the edge of the stream, Sssuri
splashing in ankle-deep for the sheer pleasure of feeling liquid curl about his
feet and legs once more.
Water dwellers fled from their passing and insects buzzed and
hovered. Otherwise they moved through a deserted world. The stream bed widened
and small islands of gravel, swept together in untidy piles by the spring
floods, arose dry topped, some already showing the green of venturesome plants.
“Here—” Sssuri stopped, thrusting the butt of his spear into the
shore of one such islet. He dropped cross-legged on his choice, there to remain
patiently until those he sought would come with the dark. Dalgard withdrew a