Читать книгу The Science Fiction Anthology онлайн

624 страница из 776

“Keep firing, Greer,” Straut snapped, almost with a feeling of triumph. The thing was impervious to artillery; now who was going to say it was no threat?

“How about the mortars, sir?” Greer said. “We can drop a few rounds right inside it.”

“All right, try that before the lid drops.”

And what we’ll try next, I don’t know, he thought.

The mortar fired with a muffled thud. Straut watched tensely. Five seconds later, the object erupted in a gout of pale pink debris. The lid rocked, pinkish fluid running down its opalescent surface. A second burst, and a third. A great fragment of the menacing claw hung from the branch of a tree a hundred feet from the ship.

Straut grabbed up the phone. “Cease fire!”

Lieberman stared in horror at the carnage.

The telephone rang. Straut picked it up.

“General Straut,” he said. His voice was firm. He had put an end to the threat.

“Straut, we’ve broken the message,” General Margrave said excitedly. “It’s the damnedest thing I ever....”

Straut wanted to interrupt, announce his victory, but Margrave was droning on.