"Russell, Eric Frank - Space Willies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Eric Frank)

Eric Frank Russell
THE SPACE WILLIES



CAST OF CHARACTERS

John Leeming
His life depended on his proving a lie.

Mayor Snorkum
When it came to "lapping a pie," the mayor couldn't
be beaten.

Major Klavith
He had a habit of taking fact for fiction - and fiction
for fact

Commodore Keen
There was nothing more important to this commander
than a properly zipped zipper!

Eustace Phenackertiban
His intelligence was such that he was commonly known as "Brain
Child"

Colonel Farmer
He sometimes mistook the scout-pilot barracks for a
day nursery.



I


HE KNEW he'd stuck his neck out and it was too late to with-
draw. It had been the same since early childhood, when he'd
accepted dares and been sorry immediately afterward. They
say that one learns from experience; if that were true, the
human race would now be devoid of folly. He'd learned
plenty in his time, and forgotten most of it within a week.
So yet again he'd wangled himself into a predicament and
undoubtedly would be left to wangle himself out of it as best
he could.
Once more he knocked at the door, a little harder but not
imperatively. Behind the panels a chair scraped and a harsh
voice responded with obvious impatience:
"Come in!"
Marching inside, he stood at attention before the desk,
head erect, thumbs in line with the seams of the pants, feet