"Carol Emshwiller - The General" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emshwiller Carol)

The General
By CAROL EMSHWILLER
They had conquered his people, then raised him
as one of their own. How far would they be willing
to go to destroy their own creation?




One of the enemy has escaped into the mountains. An important general. He knows our language, he knows our
ways, but we don't know his nor where his men are, nor even if there are any of his men left at all. We were holding him
in our maximum-security facilities and we had thought to torture him until he told us what he knew of his own army.
We had called in others to torture him because we don't believe in torture, but he escaped before they arrived.
There's a large reward for his capture. For a sum like this, even his own men would turn him in. He can't count on
anybody. There's no way that he can survive very long anyway. It's too cold and everybody is on our side around
here. Most likely they'll fight among themselves over the reward. There'll be a few more of us dead.
We had dressed him in orange. He'll have to steal some clothes. We hope he won't kill any of us to get them. He
must be very stupid to try to escape in a place like this and at this season. The weather can only get worse. But
perhaps death is better than our (deliberately) rat-infested, latrineless cells. He has been trained by us in our own
schools to laugh at death. Most likely his body is already out there somewhere. We've sent local children to search the
rocks and bushes. They know the area better even than our experts. We'll give them pennies and salt for any clues
they pick up. We warned them if they find him and he's not dead, they should run, as he is extremely dangerous and
has probably obtained or made a weapon.

I'm on a trail now. At first I just headed out, not following any road or path, but there's no way to cross these
mountain passes and not be on one. Every now and then there's a hut. This time of year they're all empty. I don't dare
spend the night in any. I stole clothes from one, long underwear, and a worn-out sheepskin jacket. I found a knit cap.
They shaved my head so I needed a good hat. Everything I took was worn out and smelled bad, but I wear them
anyway. I stole food and a blanket. I was wearing leg irons. At the hut I found tools to break them off. I'll be able to go
a little faster now. I stole a sickle but dropped it later. I don't want to be tempted to lash out at anyone, especially not
with a sickle.
I sleep several yards from the trail in any handy sheltered spot. Or if there are scattered boulders I cover myself
with the blanket and lie along them as if I were just another stone. I haven't met a single person up here, but I don't
dare relax.
I sleep the sleep of exhaustion. I'll think to myself: This is a good spot, and that's all I know until I wake up.
I'm aware that I'm walking through great beauty but if I sit down to appreciate it for a minute I fall asleep.
Sometimes the moon has risen and I lie back and think to look at the sky and take some time to realize I'm in a
wondrous place and this is a luminous moment, but no sooner do I have that thought than I'm asleep.

Notices have been put up on every corner:
WANTED REWARD. Wild and dangerous man. Medium height, shaved head, dark eyes. He'd as soon kill you
as look at you. By now he may have weapons. If you harbor him or give him food, you'll be considered as guilty as he
is. There's a microchip imbedded in his shoulder where he can neither see it or reach it. Anyone who has removed it
will be considered as traitorous as he is. The sentence for helping him is death.
The irony is, we brought him up ourselves in our own military schools. We thought contact with us would
civilize him, but he's no more civilized than he was at the age of nine when we took him in. At that time he said he'd kill
us all and, in spite of all these years in our care, that's what he still wants to do.
We thought he would soon see that life with us was preferable to the primitive ways of his own people. We had
thought he would realize our superiority. Anybody with any sense, we thought, even a child with any sense at all,
could see we had the science, the money, the schools, the workforce, the wealth. . . . And we were ready to share our