"Herbert, Frank - Man of Two Worlds (CA by Frank Herbert)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

He tried to consider the possibility of something wrong with Patricia and recalled instead the appearance of the ship on the Dreenor Flat -- a golden egg with cilia-sensors glistening. Each time passing the Flat he had looked to see that his ship remained unchosen by an adult.

Wait for me, beautiful ship. When I graduate you will be mine.

Once he had seen a group of adult Dreens working on the ship, all under the direction of Mugly the Elder. They conferred, pointed and swiveled their eyes inward to idmage, making the ship even more perfect, no doubt.

Nothing could go wrong with a perfectly idmaged ship.

Could it?

Early one morning before school he had sneaked past the sleeping monitor and boarded the ship to take away copies of its flight-simulation manuals in their crimson displays.

He rationalized that gifted children were expected to prepare themselves for the day they would go out as Storytellers to create new worlds. But this was secret preparation, teaching himself to pilot an Excursion Ship, something far beyond the careful pacing of the adult-monitored curriculum.

No one suspected he could pilot his ship, could take it without permission and vanish into the Creative Spirals -- no matter that he was too young and had not absorbed enough cautionary instruction.

I'll be the youngest Dreen ever to create new worlds.

He saw himself in the Elite class of Junior Storytellers, training ground for advancement to Elder.

Idmaging!

How attractive to contemplate the supreme Dreen ability: to make tangible the living fantasies of the mind, to create new life forms and return to Dreenor with stories of his artistic efforts. That was why he had taken Patricia.

So why was he here on a deck with a slippery fluid under him? There was an odd smell. Vaguely familiar. What was it?

"Patricia?" he ventured.

The ship did not reply.

Patricia had not opposed him when he took over the controls, although she called his pretensions "an interesting dream produced by your immaturity and boredom but consistent with a Dreen's natural idmagination."

Did Patricia self-destruct?

That was a terrifying thought and flooded his mind with Patricia's irritating voice: "You are going to a dangerous place and the Storyteller who commands me likely will die."

By Habiba's everlasting seedglands! He suddenly remembered the awful revelations of his ship: "The Earther Zone Patrol holds captive Dreens. I have this information to explain why I must self-destruct rather than permit Earthers to learn my secrets."

This was more than the bits and pieces from adult whispers about Dreen disasters.

"The creatures he made worshiped him!"

"His creatures did not evolve and just died out. Faulty precepts."

Children heard such things and created their own myths. But his present situation was no myth to be greeted with amused tolerance by adults.

Why wasn't I told?

Patricia said children could not share real disaster tales until deemed capable of handling harsh information.