"Norton, Andre - Solar Queen 03- Voodoo Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

between those curved fangs, words which Dane might not understand but which undoubtedly held meaning
for the men nodding in time to the hypnotic cadence of that da--da--da . . .

"Beautiful!" Tau spoke in honest admiration, his own eyes almost as feral as those of the talking beast as
he leaned forward, his fists on his knees.

Now the animal was dancing also, its paws following the pace set by the masked attendants. It must be a
man in an animal skin. But Dane could hardly believe that. The illusion was too perfect. His own hands
went to the knife sheath at his belt. Out of deference to local custom they had left their stun rods in the
palace, but a belt knife was an accepted article of apparel. Dane slid the blade out surreptitiously, setting its
point against the palm of his hand and jabbing painfully. This was another of Tau's answers for breaking a
spell. But the white and black creature continued to dance; there was no blurring of its body lines into
those of a human being.

It sang on in a high-pitched voice, and Dane noted that those of the audience nearest the stools where
Asaki and the captain were seated now watched the Chief Ranger and the space officer. He felt Tau tense
beside him.

"Trouble coming . . . " The warning from Tau was the merest thread of sound. Dane forced himself to look
away from the swaying cat-dog, to watch instead the singers who were now furtively eying their lord and
his guest. The Terran knew that there were feudal bonds between the Ranger and his men. But suppose this
was a showdown between Lumbrilo and Asaki--whose side would these men take?

He watched Captain Jellico's hand slide across his knee, his fingers drop in touching distance of knife hilt.
And the hand of the Chief Ranger, hanging lax at his side, suddenly balled into a fist.

"So!" Tau expelled the word as a hiss. He moved with surefooted speed. Now he passed between the stools
to confront the dancing cat-dog. Yet he did not look at that weird creature and its attendants. Instead his
arms were flung high as if to ward off--or perhaps welcome--something on the mountain side as he
shouted:

"Hodi, eldama! Hodi!"
As one, those on the terrace turned, looked up toward the slope. Dane was on his feet, holding his knife as
he might a sword. Though of what use its puny length would be against that huge bulk moving in slow
majesty toward them, he did not try to think.

Gray-dark trunk curled upward between great ivory tusks, ears went wide as ponderous feet crunched
volcanic soil. Tau moved forward, his hands still upraised, clearly in greeting. That trunk touched skyward
as if in salute to the man who could be crushed under one foot.

"Hodi, eldama!" For the second time Tau hailed the monster elephant and the trunk raised in silent greeting
from one lord of an earth to another he recognized as an equal. Perhaps it had been a thousand years since
man and elephant had stood so, and then there had been only war and death between them. Now there was
peace and a current of power flowing from one to the other. Dane sensed this, saw the men on the terrace
likewise drawing back from the unseen tie between the medic and the bull he had so clearly summoned.

Then Tau's upheld hands came together in a sharp clap and men held their breath in wonder. Where the
great bull had stood there was nothing--except rocks in the sun.

As Tau swung around to face the cat-dog, that creature had no substance either. For he fronted no animal