"Keith Laumer - The Monitors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

on the bench, shuffling papers; his mouth twitched as though he was needing a drink bad.
"Remanded to custody," he barked. "I'm setting the hearing for ... " he shuffled more papers.
"I'll set the date later, Harry," he said to a shifty-eyed fellow in a chalk-stripe, who nodded. A
lanky man with a hangdog look grabbed his arm.
"Hey, I got a job to hold down ... " The sharpie shook him off. The judge banged his gavel. The
defendant was still talking as the guard hustled him away.
" ... and so long as your legal profession was designed primarily to generate legal fees the
trend would never have been reversed," Frokinil was saying blandly. "The situation is no better
with regard to higher education, care of orphans, treatment of unwed mothers, the aged and the
infirm, minority groups, criminals - - " Grim scenes formed and faded like documentary D.T's. "Do
you mean me to believe, Mr. Blondel," Frokinil concluded in a gently reproving tone, "that all
these abuses meet with your full approval?"
"Why don't you stick to invading the country and skip the complaints?" Blondel proposed. "If
you don't like it you can go back where you came from and let us handle it our own way."
"What is your own way? Do you ever question the programs you read of in your favorite
picture- magazine, or even gain a true understanding of what they entail? Have you any personal
knowledge of the laws relating to the insane, divorce, rape, insurance, marriage, suicide, pure
food, bankruptcy, misleading advertising, fraud, citizen arrest, kidnapping, assault and battery,
sodomy, witchcraft -- "
"What do you mean -- witchcraft? We haven't believed in that since the 1600's!"
"You're wrong, Mr. Blondel. Witchcraft is a punishable offense in parts of this zone today. What
about the laws governing use of liquor and narcotics, smuggling, bearing arms - - "
"I've got you on that one," Blondel cut him off. "It says right in the Constitution that the right
to bear arms shall not be abridged."
"Your right to bear arms has been sharply abridged, Mr. Blondel, and not without reason. There
are also a number of curious laws dealing with vagr ancy, loitering, trespass, zoning, et cetera; all
affecting your personal liberty, with which every citizen would do well to familiarize himself - - but
the complexity of the codes makes that impossible, of course, even if the desire were there, which
it isn't. We have changed all that. The new laws are rational, enforceable and just, and will apply
with absolute impartiality to every citizen. There will be no more bribes, graft, lobby pressure ... "
Frokinil swam into view as the fog dissipated to reveal the fish-tanks and potted plants of the
conservatory, and the little gray sphere that had projected the pictures.
"You don't get the idea," Blondel told him. "We Americans aren't a bunch of Pavlov's pet
poodles, standing around waiting for a signal to get hungry. In this country - - "
" - - your opinions are moulded by an irresponsible press which feeds on advertising accounts
and state department handouts designed to whitewash the latter. You travel as you like - -
provided you've paid the appropriate taxes, passed the required inspections, have adequate
funds, and have no personal enemies on the police forces. You eat whatever suits your tastes -- if
you can pay for it; you spend your time as you wish - - with the permission of your employer - - "
"I'm a free-lance pilot. If I don't like my job, I can move on."
"You're fortunate. But still -- you need some job. And when your unregulated economy
produces another depression, you might find your keen sense of personal determination yielding
to the need for food and a warm bed."
"OK, maybe it isn't Utopia - - but we like doing it our own way ... without any help from a
blimp- load of foreigners!"
"Mr. Blondel ... " Frokinil put a perfectly groomed hand on Blondel's arm. "Think of the welfare
of your children - - of future generations! Your petty nationalisms of today will mean no more to
them than Queen Boadicea does to you!"
"My ancestors were on the other side."
"You're simply adopting a stance." Frokinil was beginning to look exasperated. "You're not