"GOLDEN, CHRISTIE - THE LAST ROUND-UP" - читать интересную книгу автора (Golden Christie)

"But we are not they. We do not have to regard what has happened in the
same light as they do. What they have done, I tell you truly, is freed
us. The land is rich with fruit and game. We have a small amount of
technology that will enable us to build shelters and communicate and
find and prepare food. We have our hearts yet, and our keen minds. And
we also have this!"

He gestured to a youth standing behind him, holding what seemed to be an
innocuous box. It was scratched and dented, but within it ... ah, within
... Takarik had deliberately hidden it in this shabby box, tucked it
away casually with clothes and supplies as if it had no more worth than
those ordinary things. It had escaped discovery during a cursory search
by a guard who obviously thought handling such tainted things was
beneath him.

With a ceremonial flourish, Takarik lifted the lid and withdrew the
precious contents. He held it aloft proudly, and heard some murmurs. The
gem was as large as his head, and even though it had not been faceted as
so many precious stones were, it caught and seemed to hold the very sun.
It was almost completely transparent save for its amber tinting like
liquid sunlight, and without flaw as far as Takarik could determine.

"That we were able to bring this safely from our homeworld to here,
without our captors ever discovering it, tells me that we have a great
destiny in this place," Takarik continued. "Many of you have glimpsed
this as you labored for those who deemed themselves superior. But many
more of you have never seen it.

Oh, you have heard the tales; so have our captors, but as far as they
know, they are children's stories.

"We do not yet know its true value, for we have never been permitted to
reveal its existence to others, but its beauty alone inspires us. We
took heart in our labors, knowing that it shone for us alone. Our
captors never even knew it was there. This gem, this precious jewel, has
made the bitter journey with us to symbolize hope."

Carefully, he replaced the stone in its deceptively nondescript box.

"This place will become our new home, but we will never forget our true
heritage. We will thrive here, in a place where we will finally have the
opportunity to govern ourselves. We will live in the shelters we build,
and eat what we have harvested.

We will devote our culture to knowledge and development. We will always
remember the Great Stone and its beauty, and know that the gods gave it
to us alone. And one day, we will take what is rightfully ours, earned
by our labor, our blood, our sweat."

He looked at their eager, upturned faces. Such hope was another