"part4" - читать интересную книгу автора (Keith Brooke - Lord of Stone)

[Spring: The Year of Our Lords, 3964]

1

'The Seventh is the Fool, the Innocent.'
- The Book of the World, ch.2, v.47.

Command was situated in a school on the outskirts of the town
and Bligh had to repeat his story several times before coming
to wait in a deserted corridor. Eventually a door opened and
Merc Domenech gestured for him to enter his small office.

"We've met before," said Domenech. "On the plain. When I was
in command of the 12th. You brought supplies." Now Bligh
recalled his earlier feeling that his fate was somehow linked
to that of Domenech.

"I'm surprised you remember," he said defensively. "I was
sick for three days afterwards." He felt uncomfortable under
Domenech's scrutiny. He looked about the room and saw UPP
posters on the walls. One, presumably for the illiterate,
showed the Queen's Citadel burning, with drifts of black
smoke taking the shape of the icons of the six Lords
Elemental. Another urged the workers to unite in a holy
cleansing of their nation.

"We could find a place for you here at Command," said
Domenech, surprising Bligh. "You would have to join the UPP,
of course, but that could be arranged."

Bligh felt suddenly angry. "I'm LA," he said. "I came for
support by nightfall."

Domenech shrugged. "That's all being arranged. The
Landworkers' Alliance are no longer in favour," he continued.
"They are seen as inefficient - this fragmentation of
Cooperatives and Syndicates runs counter to the revolutionary
current. The UPP is growing and before too long the LA will
be integrated. Our seers have mapped it all out, you see. The
only way to victory is through unification of forces - it is
the only solution."

"And where does all this come into it?" Bligh swept his hand
to indicate the posters and the stacks of news-sheets.

Domenech tipped his head to one side and fixed Bligh with a
predator's stare. "Religion is a means of unification," he
said. "It soothes the necessary pain, it inspires the
necessary sacrifices, it convinces those who doubt."