《Leviathon 》作者：- Larry Niven【EPUB】

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Leviathon Larry Niven Produced by calibre 0.6.40 Leviathon TWO MEN STOOD on one side of a thick glass wall. quotYoull be airborne.quot Svetzs beefy red-facedboss was saying. quotWe made some improvements in the small extension cage while you were in thehospital. You can hover it or fly it at up to fifty miles per hour or let it fly itself:theres a constant-altitude setting. Your field of vision is total. Weve made the shell of theextension cage completely transparent.quot On the other side of the thick glass something was trying to kill them. It was 40 feet longfrom nose to tail and was equipped with vestigial batlike wings. Otherwise it was builtsomething like a slender lizard. It screamed and scratched at the glass with murderous claws. The sign on the glass read: GILA MONSTER RETRIEVED FROM THE YEAR 230 ANTE ATOMIC APPROXIMATELY FROM THE REGION OF CHINA EARTH.EXTINCT. quotYoull be well out of his reachquot said Ra Chen. quotYes sir.quot Svetz stood with his arms folded about him as if he had a chill. He was being sentafter the biggest animal that had ever lived and Svetz was afraid of animals. quotFor science sake What are you worried about Svetz Its only a big fishquot quotYes sir. You said that about the Gila monster. Its just an extinct lizard you said.quotquotWe had only a drawing in a childrens book to go by. How could we know it would be so bigquot The Gila monster drew back from the glass. It inhaled hugely and took aim. Yellow-and-orangeflame spewed from its nostrils and played across the glass. Svetz squeaked and jumped forcover. quotHe cant get throughquot said Ra Chen. Svetz picked himself up. He was a slender small-boned man with pale skin light-blue eyes andvery fine ash-blond hair. quotHow could we know it would breathe firequot he mimicked. quotThat lizardalmost cremated me. I spent four months in the hospital as it was. And what really burns meis he looks less like the drawing every time I see him. Sometimes I wonder if I didnt get thewrong animal.quot quotWhats the difference Svetz The secretary-general loved him. Thats what counts.quot quotYes sir. Speaking of the secretary-general what does he want with a sperm whale Hes got ahorse hes got a Gila monster-quot quotThats a little complicated.quot Ra Chen grimaced. quotPalace politics Its always complicated.Right now Svetz somewhere in the United Nations palace a hundred different scientists aretrying to get support each for his own project. And every last one of them involves gettingthe attention of the secretary-general and holding it. Keeping his attention isnt easy.quot Svetz nodded. Everybody knew about the secretary-general. The family that had ruled the United Nations for 700 years was somewhat inbred. The secretary-general was 44 years old. He was a happy person he loved animals and flowers andpictures and people. Pictures of planets and multiple star systems made him clap his hands andcoo with delight so the Institute for Space Research shared amply in the United Nationsbudget. But he liked extinct animals too. quotSomeone managed to convince the secretary-general that he wants the largest animal on earth.The idea may have been to take us down a peg or twoquot said Ra Chen. quotSomeone may think weregetting too big a share of the budget. quotBy