"Piper, H Beam - Fuzzy 3 - Other People" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piper H Beam)

They all looked quickly above them, and then began tearing loose
meat and cramming their mouths. They would not have long to
enjoy this feast. He put up a hand to keep the sun from his eyes,
and saw a gotza approaching—the thin body between the wide
pointed wings, the pointed head in front, the long tail. It was closer
than he liked, and he was sure it had seen them.

There was another behind it and, farther away, a third.

This was bad.

They all snatched their killing-clubs and the big hind legs of the
hatta-zosa which they had saved for last in case they might have to
run. The first gotza was turning to dive upon them and they were
about to dash under the trees when the terrible thing happened.

From the top of the cliff above them came a noise, loud as
thunder, but short and hard; he had never heard a noise like that
before. The nearest gotza thrashed its wings and then fell, straight
down. There was a second noise like the first, but sharper and less
loud; the next gotza also fell, into a tree, crashing down through the
branches. A third noise, exactly like the first, and the third gotza
dropped into the woods. Then was silence.

"Gotza make dead!" somebody cried. "What make do?"

"Thunder-noise kill gotza; maybe kill us next."

"Bad place this," Lame One was clamoring. "Make run fast."

They fled, carrying all they could of the meat, back to the spring.
Everything was silent now, except for frightcries of birds, also
disturbed by the loud noises. Finally they were still, and there was
nothing but the buzzing of insects. The People began to eat. After
a while, there was a new sound, shrill but not unpleasant. It
seemed to move about, and then grew fainter and went away. The
birds began chirping calmly again.

The People argued while they ate. None of them knew what had
really happened, and most of them wanted to go as far from this
place as they could. Maybe they were right, but Wise One wanted
to know more about what had happened.

"A new thing has come," he told them. "Nobody has ever told of a
thing like this before. It is a thing that kills gotza. If it only kills gotza,
it is good. If it kills People too, it is bad. We not know. Better we
know now, then we can take care." He finished gnawing the meat
from the leg-bone and threw it aside, then washed his hands, dried
them on grass, and picked up his club. "Come.