"Alan E. Nourse - Peacemaker" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nourse Alan E)

balancing the question in their minds. Soundlessly, he lifted one eyelid a trifle. The searing light burst in on
his retina, blinding him for a moment; then he caught a distorted glimpse of them opening the hatch and
withdrawing in their jerking, uneven gait. And still the alien thought came through with a parting jab to his
tortured mind: "The only thing we can do is to kill it. The risk of tampering with it is too great. And we
don't dare take it back home alive."
The light was gone now. Flicker took a deep breath of the heavy air, allowing his tensed muscles to
relax as the sweet coolness and comfort crept through his body. First he stretched his legs, as far as they
would go in the restrainers, then his arms, and coughed a time or two to clear his throat. Almost fearfully
he opened his eyes to the cool, soothing darkness. His mind still ached with the afterglow of the furious
lights, but gradually the details of the cabin appeared. Far in the background the throbbing drive of the
great ship altered subtly, then increased slightly in volume. Bound where? Flicker sighed, trying to turn his
mind away from the undermining awareness of failure, of something gone very wrong. Carefully he
reviewed his rescue, his actions, the aliens' reactions. They had cut their drive almost immediately when
they had spotted him, and sent out a lifeboat for him without previous reconnaissance ; surely he had
been helpless enough when they dragged him from his crippled gig, half-frozen, to allay any suspicions of
his immediate dangerousness. A crippled man is no menace, nor an exhausted man. The whole thing had
been carefully planned and skillfully executed. The aliens couldn't have detected his own ship which had
dropped him off hours before, in the proper place to intercept their ship. And yet they were suspicious
and fearful, as well as curious, and their first thought was to kill him first, and examine him after he was
dead.
Flicker's face twisted into a sour grin at the irony. To think that he had come, so quietly and naively,
to these aliens as a peacemaker! If he were killed, the loss would be theirs far more than his. Because
contact, living contact, and a mutual meeting of minds was desperately necessary. They had to be
warned. For three decades they had been observed, without contact, in their slow, consuming march
across the galaxy, conquering, enslaving, pillaging. The curiosity of their nature had started them on their
way; greed and lust for power had carried them on until now, at last, they were coming too close. They
could not be allowed to come closer. They had to be warned away.
Flicker had been present at the meeting where that decision had been reached. There had been
voices raised in favor of attacking the encroaching aliens, without warning, to deal them a crippling blow
and send them reeling back home. But most of the leaders had opposed this, and Flicker could see their
point. He knew that his people's struggle for peace and security and economic balance had been
exhausting, the final settlement dearly won. Part of the utter distaste of his people for outside contact lay
deep within Flicker's own mind: they asked no homage from anyone, they desired no power, they felt no
need for expansion. The years of war had left them exhausted and peace-hungry, and they demanded but
one thing from any culture approaching them: they wanted to be left alone. Cultural and economic
contacts they would eagerly seek with this alien race, but they would tolerate no upset diplomatic
relations, no attempts to infiltrate and conquer, no lies and forgeries and socio-economic upheavals. They
were tired of all these. They had found their way as a people, and with characteristic independence they
wanted to follow it, without interference or advice.
And then the aliens had come. Closer and closer, to the very fringes of their confederation. Like a
cancer the aliens came, stealthily, nibbling at the fringes, never quite contacting them, never really
annoying them, but preparing little by little for the first small bite. And Flicker knew that they could not be
allowed to take that bite, for his people would fight, if necessary, to total extinction for the right to be left
alone.
Flicker shifted his weight, and sighed helplessly. The plan of his leaders had been simple. A few
individual contacts, to warn the aliens. A few well-planned demonstrations of the horrors they could
expect if they would not desist. There were other parts of the galaxy for these aliens to explore, other
stars for them to ravage. If they could be made to realize the carnage they were inevitably approaching,
the frightful battle they were precipitating, they might gladly settle for cultural and commercial contacts.
But first they must be stopped and warned. They must not go any further.