Islands in the Sky by Arthur C Clarke

Author:Arthur C Clarke [Clarke, Arthur C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780795325601
Google: GZAqAAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 24628202
Publisher: RosettaBooks
Published: 1952-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

7 WORLD OF MONSTERS

My reaction was instinctive and violent. Though I was floating in mid-air and so unable to get hold of anything solid, I could still thrash around pretty effectively. The others were doing the same, and presently I came into contact with the floor so that I was able to give a mighty kick. The thin tentacles released their grip as I shot toward the ceiling. I just managed to grasp one of the light fittings in time to stop myself from crashing into the roof, and then looked down to see what had happened to the others.

They had all got clear, and now that my fright was subsiding I realized how feeble those clutching tentacles had really been. If we had been on solid ground with gravity to help us, we could have disengaged ourselves without any trouble. Even here, none of us had been hurt, but we were all badly scared.

“What the devil is it?” gasped Tim when he had recovered his breath and untangled himself from some rubber tubing draped along the wall. Everyone else was too shaken to answer. We were making our way unsteadily to the door when there was a sudden flood of light, and someone called out, “What’s all the noise?” A door opened and a white-smocked man came drifting in. He stared at us for a moment and said:

“I hope you haven’t been teasing Cuthbert.”

“Teasing!” spluttered Norman. “I’ve never had such a fright in my life. We were looking for Dr. Hawkins and ran into this—this monster from Mars or whatever it is.”

The other chuckled. He launched himself away from the door and floated toward the now motionless cluster of tentacles.

“Look out!” cried Tim.

We watched in fascinated horror. As soon as the man was within range, the slim tendrils struck out again and whipped round his body. He merely put up an arm to protect his face, but made no other movement to save himself.

“I’m afraid Cuthbert isn’t very bright,” he said. “He assumes that anything that comes near him is food and grabs for it. But we’re not very digestible, so he soon lets go—like this.”

The tentacles were already relaxing. With a gesture exactly like disdain, they thrust away their captive, who burst out laughing at our startled faces.

“He’s not very strong, either. It would be quite easy to get away from him, even if he wanted to keep you.”

“I still don’t think it’s safe to leave a beast like that around,” said Norman with dignity. “What is it, anyway? Which planet does it come from?”

“You’d be surprised—but I’ll let Dr. Hawkins explain that. He sent me to look for you when you didn’t turn up. And I’m sorry that Cuthbert gave you such a fright. That door should have been locked, but someone’s been careless again.”

And that was all the consolation we got. I’m afraid our mishap had left us in the wrong mood for conducted tours and scientific explanations, but despite this bad start we found the Biology Labs quite interesting.

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