[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
teeth closed on Shaguff's rear leg and lifted him off the ground. He dangled upside down while everyone
except Lyda scattered. One of the dinosaur animal's rear legs brushed her in passing, sending her flying.
She hit the hard-packed earth with a bone jarring thud, but her improved body absorbed the shock
easily. She rolled over and was instantly back on her feet.
Lyda stifled the start of a scream at the sight of Shaguff hanging from the miniature Tyranosaur's mouth
as it turned. It flung Shaguff away, preparing to charge again. Lyda ran toward where her alien
companion landed; she couldn't abandon him after he had saved her life. The creature lowered its head to
see better. It took a hesitant step forward with one of its huge legs, then stopped. If Lyda had been
watching, she might have seen puzzlement in the intelligent glint of its eyes as it watched her succoring the
rat animal instead of running.
Lyda found Shaguff still alive, but great gaps had been torn in the flesh of his rear leg. It was leaking a
copious amount of fluid the color and consistency of maple syrup. She emptied her backpack of all the
cloth she had in it and began applying pressure to the worst wounds. Shaguff gibbered painfully. While
she worked, some of the others who had run began returning, circling around the big dinosaur that was
still where it had halted, staring at them from round orange eyes.
"Here, hold this in place, Lyda ordered the first person she saw. Get some more cloth and wrap the
dressings in place. She looked up to see the big group of people who had been doing the attacking
moving in their direction. Don't let any of those people hurt him or Spidey. Where's the hive?"
"We here, the nearest one said, a spindly stick figure whose specialty was to carry what the chubby
little grass harvesters sliced off at ground level and wound into bundles for later consumption.
"Come, she said, hoping they would obey. Sometimes they did; other times, they ignored orders. This
time, they chose to follow her.
Lyda led them in the direction of the pair of dinos, which had paired up and were standing together,
simply observing. She figured the hive could lose a member or two and still function normally, while a
member of any other species would be lost for good including herself. As she neared them, she slowed
down, alert for any hint of an attack.
Up close, the beings appeared much larger than they actually were. They towered over her by a good
three feet or more but still made no threatening moves. Lyda glanced behind her and saw the hive trailing
behind her. The hive was all in a row, with the different shaped specialties staying together, as always.
She stopped half a dozen feet from the nearest reptile and held still with her hands hanging by her side.
From this close, she could see that they each wore what appeared to be tool belts with unidentifiable
gadgets secured by loops.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Two great heads lowered to the level of her eyes. They stayed there for a few minutes while she waited
on them to decide what to do. Finally, first one, then the other, stretched their snouts toward her and
prodded her in the chest with a motion resembling a horse looking for an apple in a pocket. She
remained very still and let them explore with their snouts and then their forelegs. She sighed with relief
when she saw how careful they were being about not hurting her with the sharp tips of their flexible digits.
All the while, the hive stayed in a long row strung out behind her, as useless as a tail on a grounded kite.
She might as well have not brought them with her, except she had wanted to show the dinos that humans
could get along with creatures different from themselves.
Lyda looked back again. The bigger group of humans had joined her own followers and were staring at
the scene, some of them with their mouths hung open in utter disbelief that she had still not been harmed.
At last the Tyrannosauruslike animals raised their heads, bellowed something sounding like a foghorn, and
strode rapidly away. Lyda turned and hurried back to see how Shaguff was making out. She passed
some of the strangers on the way, noting that they gazed at her in awe, like a prophet who had just
returned to earth and begun performing miracles.
Lyda kept a tight rein on her emotions. Did no one but herself ever think of trying to make friends with
the other inhabitants of this place? It beat fighting any day of the week. She knelt down by Shaguff's side.
He blinked his little red eyes at her and uttered a string of gibberish.
Lyda answered with a soothing comment she knew he wouldn't understand, but she hoped the tone of
her voice would convey her feelings. She saw Spidey coming through the throng of strange humans. They
moved quickly aside, like the parting of the Red Sea. Spidey folded his legs under him and began using
his two tentacled appendages to touch the area of Shaguff's wounds. Lyda patted them both, then stood
up and moved away. She faced the combined group, standing with her legs spread a foot apart and
hands on her hips, presenting a magnificent image of a strong, beautiful woman, one who could handle
anything life threw at her.
"I hope that demonstration, and seeing how this being threw himself into the jaws of the dinosaur to save
my life, is enough to make it clear that no matter how frightening the creatures of this place look, they are
intelligent. They fight only when provoked, as I saw you doing when we arrived. Wouldn't it be better to
follow our example and make friends with them? Her mind roved the crowd and felt the shame rising
from most of them at having allowed themselves to be led into yielding to their fear instead of using their
minds to overcome it.
"Who the hell are you? a gruff voice asked from the middle of the crowd.
"I'm Lyda Brightner. I'm the leader of this group. I can't order you around but I'll tell you plainly that I
will become very angry if I see anyone abusing the beings different from us for no good reason." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
teeth closed on Shaguff's rear leg and lifted him off the ground. He dangled upside down while everyone
except Lyda scattered. One of the dinosaur animal's rear legs brushed her in passing, sending her flying.
She hit the hard-packed earth with a bone jarring thud, but her improved body absorbed the shock
easily. She rolled over and was instantly back on her feet.
Lyda stifled the start of a scream at the sight of Shaguff hanging from the miniature Tyranosaur's mouth
as it turned. It flung Shaguff away, preparing to charge again. Lyda ran toward where her alien
companion landed; she couldn't abandon him after he had saved her life. The creature lowered its head to
see better. It took a hesitant step forward with one of its huge legs, then stopped. If Lyda had been
watching, she might have seen puzzlement in the intelligent glint of its eyes as it watched her succoring the
rat animal instead of running.
Lyda found Shaguff still alive, but great gaps had been torn in the flesh of his rear leg. It was leaking a
copious amount of fluid the color and consistency of maple syrup. She emptied her backpack of all the
cloth she had in it and began applying pressure to the worst wounds. Shaguff gibbered painfully. While
she worked, some of the others who had run began returning, circling around the big dinosaur that was
still where it had halted, staring at them from round orange eyes.
"Here, hold this in place, Lyda ordered the first person she saw. Get some more cloth and wrap the
dressings in place. She looked up to see the big group of people who had been doing the attacking
moving in their direction. Don't let any of those people hurt him or Spidey. Where's the hive?"
"We here, the nearest one said, a spindly stick figure whose specialty was to carry what the chubby
little grass harvesters sliced off at ground level and wound into bundles for later consumption.
"Come, she said, hoping they would obey. Sometimes they did; other times, they ignored orders. This
time, they chose to follow her.
Lyda led them in the direction of the pair of dinos, which had paired up and were standing together,
simply observing. She figured the hive could lose a member or two and still function normally, while a
member of any other species would be lost for good including herself. As she neared them, she slowed
down, alert for any hint of an attack.
Up close, the beings appeared much larger than they actually were. They towered over her by a good
three feet or more but still made no threatening moves. Lyda glanced behind her and saw the hive trailing
behind her. The hive was all in a row, with the different shaped specialties staying together, as always.
She stopped half a dozen feet from the nearest reptile and held still with her hands hanging by her side.
From this close, she could see that they each wore what appeared to be tool belts with unidentifiable
gadgets secured by loops.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Two great heads lowered to the level of her eyes. They stayed there for a few minutes while she waited
on them to decide what to do. Finally, first one, then the other, stretched their snouts toward her and
prodded her in the chest with a motion resembling a horse looking for an apple in a pocket. She
remained very still and let them explore with their snouts and then their forelegs. She sighed with relief
when she saw how careful they were being about not hurting her with the sharp tips of their flexible digits.
All the while, the hive stayed in a long row strung out behind her, as useless as a tail on a grounded kite.
She might as well have not brought them with her, except she had wanted to show the dinos that humans
could get along with creatures different from themselves.
Lyda looked back again. The bigger group of humans had joined her own followers and were staring at
the scene, some of them with their mouths hung open in utter disbelief that she had still not been harmed.
At last the Tyrannosauruslike animals raised their heads, bellowed something sounding like a foghorn, and
strode rapidly away. Lyda turned and hurried back to see how Shaguff was making out. She passed
some of the strangers on the way, noting that they gazed at her in awe, like a prophet who had just
returned to earth and begun performing miracles.
Lyda kept a tight rein on her emotions. Did no one but herself ever think of trying to make friends with
the other inhabitants of this place? It beat fighting any day of the week. She knelt down by Shaguff's side.
He blinked his little red eyes at her and uttered a string of gibberish.
Lyda answered with a soothing comment she knew he wouldn't understand, but she hoped the tone of
her voice would convey her feelings. She saw Spidey coming through the throng of strange humans. They
moved quickly aside, like the parting of the Red Sea. Spidey folded his legs under him and began using
his two tentacled appendages to touch the area of Shaguff's wounds. Lyda patted them both, then stood
up and moved away. She faced the combined group, standing with her legs spread a foot apart and
hands on her hips, presenting a magnificent image of a strong, beautiful woman, one who could handle
anything life threw at her.
"I hope that demonstration, and seeing how this being threw himself into the jaws of the dinosaur to save
my life, is enough to make it clear that no matter how frightening the creatures of this place look, they are
intelligent. They fight only when provoked, as I saw you doing when we arrived. Wouldn't it be better to
follow our example and make friends with them? Her mind roved the crowd and felt the shame rising
from most of them at having allowed themselves to be led into yielding to their fear instead of using their
minds to overcome it.
"Who the hell are you? a gruff voice asked from the middle of the crowd.
"I'm Lyda Brightner. I'm the leader of this group. I can't order you around but I'll tell you plainly that I
will become very angry if I see anyone abusing the beings different from us for no good reason." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]