"Philip Jose Farmer - 1952-1964" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farmer Phillip Jose)

De Salcedo grinned conspiratorially and passed the monk the bottle heтАЩd hidden under his jacket. As the
friar tilted it, and the chug-chug-chug of vanishing sherry became louder, the two sailors glanced
meaningfully at each other. No wonder the priest, reputed to be so brilliant in his branch of the alchemical
mysteries, had yet been sent off on this halfbaked voyage to devil-knew-where. The Church had
calculated that if he survived, well and good. If he didnтАЩt, then he would sin no more.

The monk wiped his lips on his sleeve, belched loudly as a horse, and said, тАЬGracias, boys. From my
heart, so deeply buried in this fat, I thank you. An old Irishman, dry as a camelтАЩs hoof, choking to death
with the dust of abstinence, thanks you. You have saved my life.тАЭ

тАЬThank rather that magic nose of yours,тАЭ replied de Salcedo. тАЬNow, old rind, now that youтАЩre well
greased again, would you mind explaining as much as you are allowed about that machine of yours?тАЭ

Friar Sparks took fifteen minutes. At the end of that time, his listeners asked a few permitted questions.

тАЬтАж and you say you broadcast on a frequency of eighteen hundred k.c.?тАЭ the page asked. тАЬWhat does
тАШk.c.тАЩ mean?тАЭ

тАЬK stands for the French kilo, from a Greek word meaning thousand. And c stands for the Hebrew
cherubim, the тАШlittle angels.тАЩ Angel comes from the Greek angelos, meaning messenger. It is our concept
that the ether is crammed with these cherubim, these little messengers. Thus, when we Friar Sparkses
depress the key of our machine, we are able to realize some of the infinity ofтАЩmessengersтАЩ waiting for just
such a demand for service.

тАЬSo, eighteen hundred k.c. means that in a given unit of time one million, eight hundred thousand
cherubim line up and hurl themselves across the ether, the nose of one being brushed by the feathertips of
the cherubs wings ahead. The height of the wing crests of each little creature is even, so that if you were
to draw an outline of the whole train, there would be nothing to distinguish one cherub from the next, the
whole column forming that grade of little angels known as C.W.тАЭ

тАЬC.W.?тАЭ

тАЬContinuous wingheight. My machine is a C.W. realizer.тАЭ

Young de Salcedo said, тАЬMy mind reels. Such a concept! Such a revelation! It almost passes
comprehension. Imagine, the aerial of your realizer is cut just so long, so that the evil cherubim surging
back and forth on it demand a predetermined and equal number of good angels to combat them. And this
seduction coil on the realizer crowds тАШbadтАЩ angels into the left-hand, the sinister, side. And when the bad
little cherubim are crowded so closely and numerously that they canтАЩt bear each otherтАЩs evil company,
they jump the spark gap and speed around the wire to the тАШgoodтАЩ plate. And in this racing back and forth
they call themselves to the attention of the тАШlittle messengers,тАЩ the yea-saying cherubim. And you, Friar
Sparks, by manipulating your machine thus and so, and by lifting and lowering your key, you bring these
invisible and friendly lines of carriers, your etheric and winged postmen, into reality. And you are able,
thus, to communicate at great distances with your brothers of the order.тАЭ

тАЬGreat God!тАЭ said de Torres.

It was not a vain oath but a pious exclamation of wonder. His eyes bulged; it was evident that he
suddenly saw that man was not alone, that on every side, piled on top of each other, flanked on every
angle, stood a host. Black and white, they presented a solid chessboard of the seemingly empty cosmos,