Citizen in Spase. Stories / Гражданин в Космосе. Рассказы. Книга для чтения на английском языке

But the Universe was wide, and capable of many surprises. Who could foresee what would come, what new dangers the race might have to face? And how could they meet them if the hunting instinct was lost?

No, the old ways had to be preserved, to serve as patterns; as reminders that peaceable, intelligent life was an unstable entity in an unfriendly Universe.

He was going to get that Mirash hide, or die trying!

The most important thing was to get them out of that cave. Now his hunting knowledge had returned to him.

Quickly, skillfully, he shaped a Mirash horn.

* * *

“Did you hear that?” Paxton asked.

“I thought I heard something,” Stellman said, and they all listened intently.

The sound came again. It was a voice crying, “Oh, help, help me!”

“It’s a girl!” Paxton jumped to his feet.

“It sounds like a girl,” Stellman said.

“Please, help me,” the girl’s voice wailed. “I can’t hold out much longer. Is there anyone who can help me?”

Blood rushed to Paxton’s face.

In a flash he saw her, small, exquisite, standing beside her wrecked sports-spacer (what a foolhardy trip it had been!) with monsters, green and slimy, closing in on her. And then he arrived, a foul alien beast.

Paxton picked up a spare blaster. “I’m going out there,” he said coolly.

“Sit down, you moron!” Herrera ordered.

“But you heard her, didn’t you?”

“That can’t be a girl,” Herrera said.

“What would a girl be doing on this planet?”

“I’m going to find out,” Paxton said, brandishing two blasters. “Maybe a spaceliner crashed, or she could have been out joy-riding, and —”

“Siddown!” Herrera yelled.

“He’s right,” Stellman tried to reason with Paxton. “Even if a girl is out there, which I doubt, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Oh, help, help, it’s coming after me!” the girl’s voice screamed.

“Get out of my way,” Paxton said, his voice low and dangerous.

“You’re really going?” Herrera asked incredulously.

“Yes! Are you going to stop me?”

“Go ahead.” Herrera gestured at the entrance of the cave.

“We can’t let him!” Stellman gasped.

“Why not? His funeral,” Herrera said lazily.

“Don’t worry about me,” Paxton said. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes – with her!” He turned on his heel and started toward the entrance.