"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 9 - The Omicron Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

breathe and swallow, but she couldn't pull it off over her head.

The ceremony over, Yvette rose and went to stand with the other newly banded humans, more
questions than ever swirling about in her head. What did the band mean? Did it do anything? If the
invaders just came last week, how did they manage to build up such a big supply of the bands so quickly?
Did that mean they'd been preparing for this invasion for a long time, unbeknownst to the Empire? Of
course, the way the attack had been carried out showed they'd scouted Omicron pretty thoroughly—but
how had they done it without making their presence known to the humans?

There were more questions than easily available answers, so Yvette just stood silently with the
group, waiting for the remainder of her fellow captives to receive their collars.

When that was accomplished, the prisoners were herded off again in another direction, this time to
a lumberyard's worth of boards and timber. A few brisk gestures from the overseer made it clear their task
would be to carry the lumber from its present location to where it was needed for building. It was a
mindless and simple enough task, and Yvette fell to it enthusiastically, hoping the physical exertion would
help rid her body of the last of the poisons from the yellow smoke so she could be fresh to confront her
new situation.

An older woman in the group, though, was not up to such strenuous activity. She looked to be in
her late fifties, and appeared to have some problem with her legs. She was carrying one end of a heavy
load of boards across the compound when her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. The lumber
she'd been carrying went down with her, scattering across the dirt.

The overseer was beside her immediately, exhorting her to get up, but the woman merely cried
with the pain. Angrily the alien grabbed her by the arms and yanked her to her feet, which only collapsed
under her again more painfully. The woman was sobbing hysterically, and work stopped around her as the
prisoners stood by and watched the drama, waiting to see what would happen next.

Waiting, though, was not Yvette's style. Even though it meant some risk to herself, her instincts
would not let her be a mute witness as some innocent woman was beaten and abused. Putting down her
own load, she walked quickly to the side of the fallen woman. "It'll be smooth, gospozha," she whispered
gently in the woman's ear. "I'll help you up."

She felt a hand on her shoulder as the overseer moved to push her away. Yvette looked angrily up
into that green, alien face. "I'm just helping her do her job, no thanks to you. She'll be smooth if you leave
her alone."

If the alien understood, he gave no indication of it. Instead he pushed Yvette away from the
woman's body, hard enough to knock the DesPlainian to the ground herself. Yvette was a bit surprised—
these little fellows were stronger than they looked. Getting back on her feet, she returned to where the
overseer had started beating the fallen woman, then grabbed his arm and pushed him over backwards the
same way he'd pushed her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yvette could see a few of the alien guards converging on the spot.
The last thing she'd wanted was real trouble, where they were armed and she wasn't; even with her knives,
she could scarcely hope to survive such an encounter. She quickly helped the woman to her feet again and
turned to face the approaching overseers with her hands spread apart from her body in what she hoped
would be interpreted as a gesture of submission.
 "I don't want to give you mokoes a hard time," she said in a soothing tone. "I was just helping a