"Anderson, Poul - For Love and Glory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Poul)
УI would be glad to hear something about it,Ф said Okuma eagerly.
Talk went on while clouds crossed the horizon. When Hebo explained why he had come back, Okuma assured him, УI am certain you will be well treated at the clinic, not merely with competence but with consideration, sympathy, and, yes, warmth. Good practice calls for it.Ф
УSure, theyТve got excellent interactive programs,Ф Hebo said cynically.
Okuma shook his head. УTrue, but I expect that you will deal with living humans, too, if only because you will interest them as you do me. And their feelings for you will be perfectly genuine. A person on Earth today can at any instant attain any chosen emotional state.Ф After a moment: УI have an idea that this is a major factor in making them foreign to us.Ф
When at last Hebo said goodnight and returned to his room, he could have had whatever virtual surroundings he wanted; but his wish was only for sleep.
He didnТt drift off at once, though. For a while he lay wondering whether maybe the Forerunners had gone the way of Earth and that was why they were no longer around and what they might have become by now.
Oh, sure, strictly speaking, there was no such thing as simultaneity when you looked at interstellar distances. HeТd heard about experiments with sending a hyperbeam signal into the past. But nobody had managed to boost a spacecraft to speeds high enough that the effect amounted to anything you didnТt need ultrasensitive instruments to detect. Energy considerations and friction with the interstellar medium seemed to forbid. Besides, didnТt theory say the effect was necessarily limited? A causal loop ... [55] you canТt rewrite what GodТs already written. ... Leave the philosophy to the physicists. For practical purposes, when he got home heТd have lived just about as many seconds, minutes, days, months as the folks whoТd stayed there. Meanwhile, he could call them on a hyperbeam if he had some reason for taking the trouble to arrange it. He might as well think of them as they were at Уthis moment.Ф
Forerunners reminded him ... how was Lissa Windholm getting along? Quite a girl, that. ...
X
INGA never quite slept. After dark the towers and slipways of its centrum flared with light, pulsed with traffic, life that the free city, largest on Asborg, drew unto itself from the whole planet and beyond. The harbor district lay quiet, though, watercraft and machines waiting for sunrise. Walls along the docks lifted sheer, their darknesses blocking off all but sky-glow. Thus eyes found stars above the bay. Past full, the bigger moon was nonetheless rising bright enough to throw a bridge over the waves, which they broke into shivers and sparkles. Their lap-lap against the piers sounded clear through the throbbing westward. Smells of salt, engines, cargoes drifted cool.
Gerward Valen stopped before his apartment building. УHere we are,Ф he said needlessly. Was it shyness that thickened his accent? Ordinarly he spoke fluent Anglay. The vague illumination showed him tensed within the gray tunic and breeks of a Comet Line officer. УThe hourТs gotten later than I expected. If youТd rather postpone the, the conferenceЧФ
Lissa considered him. He stood a head taller than her, with the slenderness, sharp features, fair complexion of his Brusan people. As was common these days on Asborg, he went beardless and kept his hair short. Those blond locks had thinned and dulled, furrows ran through brow and cheeks, he must be well overdue for a rejuvenation. She hadnТt ventured to ask why. The eyes, in their deep sockets amidst the crowТs-feet, remained clear. УNo,Ф she said, УI think we had best get to our business,Ф putting a slight emphasis on the last word, lest he misunderstand.
It had, after all, been a pleasant evening, dinner at the Baltica, [57] liqueurs, animated conversation throughout, that continued while they walked the three kilometers to this place. They discovered a shared passion for AsborgТs wildernesses; he resorted especially to the Hallan Alps, and had had some colorful experiences there. Otherwise he said little about himself, nothing about his past. However, she felt she had come to know him well enough for her purposes. Several personal meetings, after her agents had compiled a report on him, should suffice. TheyТd better. Time was growing short.
УVery well,Ф he agreed. УIf you please, milady.Ф The door identified him and retracted. He let her precede him into a drab lobby and onto the up spiral. It carried them to the fourth floor.
Admitted to his lodging, she glanced about, hoping for more clues to his personality, and found disappointment. The living room was small, aseptically clean, sparsely furnished. While she had gathered he was an omnivorous reader, it seemed he owned nothing printed but drew entirely on the public database. Well, maybe heТd picked these quarters because a transparency offered what must be a spectacular daylight view of bay, headlands, and ocean.
УPlease be seated,Ф he urged. УCan I offer you a drink?Ф
Lissa took a chair. Like the rest, it was rigid. УJust coffee,Ф she said. УNo sweetener.Ф
Valen raised his brows. УNor brandy? As you wish. IТll have a snifter myself, if you donТt mind.Ф The dossier related that he drank rather heavily, though not to the point of impairment and never in space. He shunned psychotropes. His occasional visits to CalieТs Bower hardly counted as a vice in a man unmarried. The girls there found him likeable, yet none of them had really gotten to know him, any more than his shipmates and groundside acquaintances had.
He stepped into the cuisinette. She heard a pot whirr. He came back carrying a goblet half full of amber liquid. УYours will be ready in a couple of minutes,Ф he said, and sipped. The motion was jerky. УWould you care for some music? Only name it.Ф
[58] УNo, thank you,Ф she replied. УNice in the restaurant, but pointless now. Neither of us would hear, I think.Ф
He tautened further. УWhat do you want with me, Milady Windholm?Ф
Her hazel gaze met his blue. УFirst and foremost,Ф she told him, Уyour pledge to keep everything secret. IТve satisfied myself that you can. Will you?Ф
УI take for granted this is ... honorable,Ф he said slowly.
She stiffened her tone. УYou know my father is Davy, Head of our House.Ф
Despite herself, she felt her pulse quicken. УDonТt you think youТre wasted as mate on a wretched ore freighter?Ф
His expression blanked. He shrugged. УItТs the best berth available. At that, you remember, I had to work up to it. There isnТt much space trade hereabouts.Ф
The thought flitted unbidden: No, there isnТt, as isolated as we are, on this far fringe of human settlement. Not that distance matters when you hyperjump. But after two centuries, we are still not so many on Asborg, and most of us are preoccupied with our local affairs. The other planets of Sunniva suffice us. Even I and my comrades find exploration ample for lifetimes among the immediate neighbor stars.
Is that what called you to us, Gerward Valen? Our loneliness?
УOnce you had a command,Ф she threw at him. УIt was a fully robotic vessel. How would you like it again?Ф
He stood unstirring.
УThat was long ago,Ф she pursued, Уbut we, my associates in this enterprise and I, we donТt believe youТve lost the skills. A [59] little practice should restore them completely. If anything, to be an officer with a live crew, as you are these days, is more demanding, and your record is good.
He kept his countenance locked, but she barely heard his question, and it trembled. УWhat ship do you mean?Ф
УThe Dagmar, of course. Windholm only has one of that kind.Ф Few Houses possessed any; they cost. УWe sponsor scientific expeditions, you see. IТm lately back from one on her. No cosmonaut myself, but I can assure you sheТs a lovely, capable craft.Ф
УI know.Ф He stared beyond her, drank, and asked in an almost normal voice, УWhy do you want me? You have your qualified people.Ф
УThree,Ф stated Lissa. УFallen Windholm is currently undergoing rejuvenation. The other two are from client families, perfectly fine except thatЧChand Mikelsson is a blabbermouth. You can trust him with anything except a secret. Sara TomasdaughterТs husband is one Rion Stellamont. I donТt say she would betray our confidence to him and his House, but ... best not subject her to a conflict of loyalties, right?Ф
He seemed to have quite regained his balance. УSince weТre being so frank, what about me? The Comet Line belongs to the Eastlands, after all, and the Windholms have been at loggerheads with them as often as the Stellamonts or any others.Ф
УYouТre a resident foreigner. You owe them no fealty and theyТve had no oaths from you. Take an unpaid leave, and youТre a free agent. Afterward, I expect weТll offer you something permanent.Ф Lissa softened her words. УNot that we ask any betrayal. We simply donТt want outsiders thrusting inЧat least not till we understand the situation ourselves.Ф
His glance went to the transparency and the stars that the lighting hid from him. УDoes that include everybody? Human and nonhuman?Ф
She nodded. УAside from the Susaians, those of them that already know, and are concealing the truth. Whatever it is. [60] Something tremendous, we believe. PotentiallyЧexplosive? For good or ill, not anything we want irresponsibly released.Ф
His dryness was a challenge: УEspecially not to rival Houses.Ф
Anger flickered. УWeТre no saints in Windholm. But I donТt think you, either, would like this planet if the balance of power lay with a religious fanatic like Arnus Eastland or a clutch of reckless commercialists like the Seafell.Ф
He cocked a brow. She practically heard him refrain from saying: So you deem them.
УAnd as for the galaxy at large,Ф she continued, striving for calm, Уsimply think what an uproar that Forerunner artifact on Jonna is already raising. And it probably doesnТt hold a fraction of the potentials that this new thing may. I repeat, may. ThereТs no foretelling what equilibriums it could upset. Perhaps none, but itТd be irresponsible not to proceed with every possible precaution. There may well be danger anyway, danger enough to suit the rashest rattlebrain.Ф
He smiled. УWhich you assume I am not.Ф
The abrupt lightness of his manner eased her. He can handle people pretty well when he wants to, she thought. Excellent. She laughed. УExplorers have an old, old saying, that adventure is what happens to the incompetent. What we intend is simply an investigation. Once we know more, weТll decide what to do next.Ф Sobering, she finished, УMy father has been the Head of his House, with as strong a voice in the World Council as any, for nearly two hundred years. Ask yourself, hasnТt he proven out? A hardheaded realist, yes, but concerned with the welfare of Asborg more than of his kin or clients, and with civilization as a whole over and above that. Will you put your faith in him, or in a coven of lizards?Ф
Valen frowned the least bit. She suspected he found her language objectionable, as a person might who had fared widely about and dealt with many different beings. УOh, IТm not parochial,Ф she said quickly. УContrariwise. In fact, we were alerted to this by a Susaian, and heТll travel with us.Ф
[61] УUs?Ф he murmured.
Blood heated her face. УIf you accept the mission.Ф
| © 2025 Библиотека RealLib.org (support [a t] reallib.org) |