"Asimov, Isaac - Cleon the Emperor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

Namarti said, УIt's impossible to do anything with a guarantee that no one at all will be hurt. You just do your job. Do it in such a way that you hurt as few as possible, if your conscience insists upon it, but do it.Ф

Kaspalov said, УLook! I have one thing more to say, Chief.Ф

УThen say it,Ф said Namarti wearily.

УWe can spend years poking at the infrastructure. The time must come when you take advantage of gathering dissatisfaction to seize the government. How do you intend to do that?Ф

УYou want to know exactly how we'll do it?Ф

УYes, the faster we strike, the more limited the damage, the more efficiently the surgery is performed.Ф

Namarti said slowly, УI have not yet decided on the nature of this surgical strike. But it will come. Until then will you do your part?Ф

Kaspalov nodded his head in resignation. УYes, Chief.Ф

УWell, then, go,Ф said Namarti, with a sharp gesture of dismissal.

Kaspalov rose, turned, and left. Namarti watched him go. He said to the man at his right, УKaspalov is not be trusted. He has sold out and it's only so that he can betray us that he wants to know my plans for the future. Take care of him.Ф

The other nodded, and all three left, leaving Namarti alone in the room. He switched off the glowing wall panels, leaving only a lonely square in the ceiling to provide the light that would keep him from being entirely in the darkness.

He thought: Every chain has weak links that must be eliminated. We have had to do this in the past and the result is that we have an organization that is untouchable.

And in the dimness, he smiled, twisting his face into a kind of feral joy. After all, the network extended even into the Palace itselfЧnot quite firmly, not quite reliably, but it was there. And it would be strengthened.


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6.

The weather was holding up over the undomed area of the Imperials Palace groundsЧwarm and sunny.

It didn't often happen. Hari remembered Dors telling him once how it came about that this particular area, with its cold winters and frequent rains, had been chosen as the site.

УIt wasn't actually chosen,Ф she said. УIt was a family estate of the Morovian family in the days when all there was was a Kingdom of Trantor. When the Kingdom became an Empire, there were numerous sites where the Emperor could liveЧsummer resorts, winter places, sports lodges, beach properties. And, as the planet was slowly domed, one reigning Emperor, living here, liked it, and it remained undomed. And, just because it was the only area left undomed, it became specialЧa place apartЧand that uniqueness appealed to the next Emperor, and the next, and the next ... and so, a tradition was born.Ф

And as always, when hearing something like that, Seldon would think: And how would Psychohistory handle this? Would it predict that one area would remain undomed but be absolutely unable to say which area? Could it go even so far? Could it predict that several areas would remain undomed, or noneЧand be wrong? How could it account for the personal likes and dislikes of an Emperor who happened to be on the throne at the crucial time and who made a decision in a moment of whimsy and nothing more? That way chaos layЧand madness.

Cleon I was clearly enjoying the good weather.

УI'm getting old, Seldon,Ф he said. УI don't have to tell you that. We're the same age, you and I. Surely it's a sign of age when I don't have the impulse to play tennis, or go fishing, even though they've newly restocked the lake, but am willing to walk gently over the pathways.Ф

He was eating nuts as he spoke, something which resembled what on Seldon's native world of Helicon would have been called pumpkin seeds, but which were larger, and a little less delicate in taste. Cleon cracked them gently between his teeth, peeled the thin shells and popped the kernels into his mouth.

Seldon did not like the taste particularly but, of course, when he was offered some by the Emperor, he accepted them, and ate a few.

The Emperor had a number of shells in his hand and looked vaguely about for a receptacle of some sort that he could use for disposal. He saw none, but he did notice a gardener standing not far away, his body at attention, as it should be in the Imperial presence, and his head respectfully bowed.