"Edward L. Ferman - Best From F&SF, 23rd Edition" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ferman Edward L)

not fall. Instead, he shakes his head emphatically and turns to the Intermediaries, "This is ridiculous.
Thoroughly ridiculous."
"Captain-"
He silences me with an imperious gesture. "Who do these Sreen think they ore?"
"The true and indisputable masters of the universe," the Intermediaries pipe in one high but full-toned
voice, "the lords of Creation."
"I want to see them," the captain insists.
"You must return to your ship," they insist, "and obey the will of the Sreen."
"Like hell! Like bloody God-damned hell! Where are they? What makes them think they have the
right, the right, to claim the whole damned universe for themselves?" The captain's voice is going up the
scale, becoming a shriek, and filled though I am with terror of the Sreen, I am also caught up in fierce
admiration for my superior officer. He may be a suicidal fool to refuse to accept the situation, but there is
passion in his foolishness, and it is an infectious passion. "How dare they treat us this way? What do they
mean, ordering us to go home and stay there because they own the universe?"
He takes a step toward the door. The Intermediaries move to block his path. With an inarticulate
screech, he ploughs through them, swatting them aside with the backs of his hands, kicking them out of
his way with his heavy-booted feet. The Intermediaries break easily, and it occurs to me then that they
are probably as disposable a commodity among the Sreen as tissue paper is among human beings. One
Intermediary is left limping along after the captain. Through the clear pale skin of its back, I see that some
vertebrae have been badly dislocated. The thing nevertheless succeeds in overtaking the captain and
wrapping its appendages around his calf, bleating all the while, "No, no, you must abide by the edict,
even as every other inferior species has, you must abide. . . ." The captain is having trouble disentangling
himself, and so I go to him. Together, we tear the Intermediary loose. The captain flings it aside, and it
bounces off the great portal, spins across the polished floor, lies crushed and unmoving.
Side by side, we pause directly before the door. My teeth, I suddenly realize, are chattering with
fear. "Captain," I say as my resolve begins to disintegrate, "why are we doing this?"
"The nature of the beast," he mutters, almost sadly, and smacks the palm of his gloved hand against
the portal. "Sreen!" he yells. "Come out, Sreen!"
And we wait
"If we don't make it home from this," I say at length, "if they never hear from us back on Earth, never
know what became of their starshipтАФ"
"They'll just keep tossing men and women at the stats until someone does come back. Sreen or no
Sreen." The captain strikes the door again, with the edge of his fist this time. "Sreen!" A bellow which,
curiously, does not echo in the vast antechamber. "Sreen! SREEN!"
The door starts to swing back on noiseless hinges, and a breath of cold, unbelievably cold air touches
our faces. The door swings open. The door swings open. The door swings open forever before we finally
see into the next chamber.
"Oh my God," I whisper to the captain, "oh, oh my God."
They are titans, they are the true and indisputable masters of the universe, the lords of Creation, and
they are unhappy with us. They speak, and theirs is a voice that shatters mountains. "WHO ARE.
YOU?"
The captain's lips draw back over his teeth in a mirthless grin as he plants his fists on his hips, throws
back his head, thrusts out his jaw. "Who wants to know?"


Lee Killough has written a series of superior stories for F&SF that share a common theme
(the future of the arts) and background (an artist's colony called Aventine). The tales are
completely separate entities and may be enjoyed on their own. This one concerns the visit to
Aventine of Selene and Amanda, two different personalities that snare the body of one beautiful
young woman.