"Philip Jose Farmer - Jesus on Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farmer Phillip Jose)

the lurch. It'd be another three years before another ship could have been sent.
But even stronger was my curiosity. I could not endure not knowing what had
happened to you and what all this was about.'
'And I,' Danton said, 'would have protested strongly if you had decided to
return.'
' Did Carter say anything about sending a relief expedition?' Orme said.
'Yes. He swore that another ship would be coming along as swiftly as
possible. Of course, he can't determine that. If the funds aren't available...'
'Do you think for one moment that all this hasn't put the public into a
frenzy? They'll find the money, you can bet on that!'
Orme paused, then said, 'Okay. Now here's what's happened to us.'
There was a short silence after he had finished. Then Shirazi said, 'So
these people are Jews? Including the Krsh?'
'Yes,' Bronski said.
'Yet they mentioned lesous ho Christos, that is, Jesus Christ. And they
claimed, by implication anyway, to be Christians?'
The Iranian-Scot was pale. No wonder, Orme thought. He's a Muslim.
Maybe he's not orthodox enough to satisfy the more religious of his compatriots,
but he was brought up by zealous parents. And he is convinced that Mohammed
was the last and the greatest of the prophets, even if he doesn't take literally
everything in the Koran, the Moslem scriptures.
But if it was a shock for Shirazi, it had also been one for Orme, the only
professed Christian of the four. And Bronski, though not an orthodox Jew, was
also disturbed.
What about Danton, who had been raised in a devout Roman Catholic
family, though she was now an atheist? She was sitting fairly relaxed, her legs
out straight before her, her hands quiet on her lap. She was wearing a maroon
robe given her by the captors, her slightly thick ankles and broad sandalled feet
showing. Her garment hid the too-wide hips and the very narrow waistline but
could not conceal the superbly large breasts. She had a rather striking face,
broad, high-cheekboned, wide-mouthed, and big-eyed. Her nose was a ^little too
long and curved, but it enhanced, rather than detracted from, her features. She'd
had two husbands and was said to be a devil to get along with in her laboratory.
But her brilliance in her field, biochemistry, and her overall psychological profile
had made her one of the four top candidates for the crew. Certainly, during the
training and the long flight, she had co-operated fully. She'd had no personality
conflicts, and she was congenial enough, if you stayed away from the subject of
religion. Then she clammed up, though it was obvious she would like to argue.
And had the circumstances been different, she would have.
Perhaps she looked so... serene... because here, finally, would be proof
that the founder of her natal religion was only a man. It was obvious that the
human beings here had been brought by the Krsh and picked up about 50 AD. It
was also obvious that some of them had been acquainted with Jesus.
At least, it seemed to Orme that it was so. These people might have
records, writings of eyewitnesses, perhaps even filmed interviews and
testimonies from men and women who'd known Jesus intimately.
His heart was beating fast, and he was shaking a little.
Abruptly, Hfathon's image, smaller than the other two, and hanging above
them, appeared in the set. He spoke to Bronski, and he disappeared.
The Frenchman said, 'We're being cut off. Good night, you two. Perhaps