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

black for the nay-sayers, white for the yea-sayers, maintained by a Hand in delicate balance and subject
as the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea to exploitation by man.

Yet de Torres, having seen such a vision as has made a saint of many a man, could only ask, тАЬPerhaps
you could tell me how many angels may stand on the point of a pin?тАЭ

Obviously, de Torres would never wear a halo. He was destined, if he lived, to cover his bony head with
the mortar-board of a university teacher.

De Salcedo snorted. тАЬIтАЩll tell you. Philosophically speaking, you may put as many angels on a pinhead as
you want to. Actually speaking, you may put only as many as there is room for. Enough of that. IтАЩm
interested in facts, not fancies. Tell me, how could the moons rising interrupt your reception of the
cherubim sent by the Sparks at Las Palmas?тАЭ

тАЬGreat Caesar, how would I know? Am I a repository of universal knowledge? No, not I! A humble and
ignorant friar, I! All I can tell you is that last night it rose like a bloody tumor on the horizon, and that
when it was up I had to quit marshaling my little messengers in their short and long columns. The Canary
station was quite overpowered, so that both of us gave up. And the same thing happened tonight.тАЭ
тАЬThe moon sends messages?тАЭ asked de Torres.

тАЬNot in a code I can decipher. But it sends, yes.тАЭ

тАЬSanta Maria!тАЭ

тАЬPerhaps,тАЭ suggested de Salcedo, тАЬthere are people on that moon, and they are sending.тАЭ

Friar Sparks blew derision through his nose. Enormous as were his nostrils, his derision was not
smallbore. Artillery of contempt laid down a barrage that would have silenced any but the strongest of
souls.

тАЬMaybeтАЭтАФde Torres spoke in a low toneтАФ тАЬmaybe, if the stars are windows in heaven, as IтАЩve heard
said, the angels of the higher hierarchy, the big ones, are realizingтАФuhтАФthe smaller? And they only do it
when the moon is up so we may know it is a celestial phenomenon?тАЭ

He crossed himself and looked around the vessel.

тАЬYou need not fear,тАЭ said the monk gently. тАЬThere is no Inquisitor leaning over your shoulder.
Remember, I am the only priest on this expedition. Moreover, your conjecture has nothing to do with
dogma. However, thatтАЩs unimportant. HereтАЩs what I donтАЩt understand: how can a heavenly body
broadcast? Why does it have the same frequency as the one IтАЩm restricted to? WhyтАФтАЭ

тАЬI could explain,тАЭ interrupted de Salcedo with all the brash-ness and impatience of youth. тАЬI could say
that the Admiral and the Rogerians are wrong about the earthтАЩs shape. I could say the earth is not round
but is flat. I could say the horizon exists, not because we live upon a globe, but because the earth is
curved only a little ways, like a greatly flattened-out hemisphere. I could also say that the cherubim are
coming, not from Luna, but from a ship such as ours, a vessel which is hanging in the void off the edge of
the earth.тАЭ

тАЬWhat?тАЭ gasped the other two.