Ребёнок у неё на руках

Женщина бежала уже не так быстро, как раньше, когда несла на руках ребенка. Волна ликования захлестнула Гулдрана, заглушив неприятное чувство вины за неподчинение приказу.
Инструкции были четкими и недвусмысленными: «Не предпринимать попыток захвата в одиночку. В случае обнаружения представителей человеческой расы необходимо немедленно сообщить об этом на корабль. Все малые суда должны вернуться на посадочную площадку не позднее чем за час до взлета. Любой, кто не выполнит приказ, будет считаться пропавшим без вести».
Гулдран с тревогой подумал о бескрайних снежных и ледяных просторах, неумолимо надвигающихся друг на друга с тех пор, как в результате великой катастрофы тысячелетие назад…
******
as she was by the child in her arms, the woman was running less fleetly now. A wave of exultation swept over Guldran, drowning out the uneasy feeling of guilt at disobeying orders.
The instructions were mandatory and concise: "No capture must be attempted individually. In the event of sighting any form of human life, the ship MUST be notified immediately. All small craft must be back at the landing space not later than one hour before take-off. Anyone not so reporting will be presumed lost."
Guldran thought uneasily of the great seas of snow and ice sweeping inexorably toward each other since the Earth had reversed on its axis in the great catastrophe a millennium ago. Now, summer and winter alike brought paralyzing gales and blizzards, heralded by the sleety snow in which the woman's skin-clad feet had left the tracks which led to discovery.
His trained anthropologist's mind speculated avidly over the little they had gotten from the younger of the two men found nearly a week before, nearly frozen and half-starved. The older man had succumbed almost at once; the other, in the most primitive sign language, had indicated that, of several humans