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

Herrera smiled to himself, contemplating certain gaudy ways of spending a million dollars before settling down to the serious business of ranching. And Stellman was already phrasing his Ph.D. thesis on extraterrestrial mineral deposits.

They were all in a pleasant, relaxed mood. Paxton had recovered completely from his earlier attack of nerves. Now he wished an alien monster would show up – a green one, by preference – chasing a lovely, scantily clad woman.

“Home again,” Stellman said as they approached the entrance of the cave.

“With onions,” Paxton said, starting into the cave. He jumped back abruptly. “What’s that?”

A few feet from the mouth of the cave was a small roast beef, still steaming hot, four large diamonds, and a bottle of whiskey.

“That’s odd,” Stellman said. “And a trifle unnerving.”

Paxton bent down to examine a diamond. Herrera pulled him back.

“Might be booby-trapped.[14 - Might be booby-trapped.

“There aren’t any wires,” Paxton said.

Herrera stared at the roast beef, the diamonds, the bottle of whiskey. He looked very unhappy.

“I don’t trust this,” he said.

“Maybe there are natives here,” Stellman said. “Very timid ones. This might be their goodwill offering.”

“Sure,” Herrera said. “They sent to Terra for a bottle of Old Space Ranger just for us.”

“What are we going to do?” Paxton asked.

“Stand clear,” Herrera said. “Move ’way back.” He broke off a long branch from a nearby tree and poked gingerly at the diamonds.

“Nothing’s happening,” Paxton said.

The long grass Herrera was standing on whipped tightly around his ankles. The ground beneath him surged, broke into a neat disk fifteen feet in diameter and, trailing root-ends, began to lift itself into the air. Herrera tried to jump free, but the grass held him like a thousand green tentacles.

“Hang on!” Paxton yelled idiotically, rushed forward and grabbed a corner of the rising disk of earth. It dipped steeply, stopped for a moment, and began to rise again. By then Herrera had his knife out, and was slashing the grass around his ankles. Stellman came unfrozen when he saw Paxton rising past his head.

Stellman seized him by the ankles, arresting the flight of the disk once more. Herrera wrenched one foot free and threw himself over the edge.