"Jacqueline Lichtenberg - Molt Brother" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lichtenberg Jacqueline)

"I doubt I'll be in danger of becoming misinformed."
Frozen-faced, the guard let the crowd swallow him. Zref stared rudely at the Brenilak until Sudeen nudged him.
"My name is Zref MorZdersh'n. This is Sudeen Mor-Zdersh'n."
"So you have the same last name? Isn't that unusual?"
Again the Brenilak's interest was kindled in a way that
made Zref uncomfortable. Sudeen answered, "Zref is bhir-hir to me, so he's entitled to my family name. If you like, Zref
will explain the bhirhir relationship while I get the car."
Beyond the colonnade that rimmed the plaza, Zref halted the visitor while Sudeen dashed off to the parking stack. But
the Brenilak said, "I'm acquainted with the so-ciodynamic of the kren." He gazed at the distant Mautri kyralizth. "What
can you tell me about that landmark?"
Zref hastily shifted focus. "The tour starts here with this view of the Mautri temple and school buildings. Be-hind
them, on the peak rising highest in these mountains, you can see the Mautri kyralizth and its traditional free-standing
archway that straddles the path to it. This temple was founded long after that kyralizth was built by ... uh, I suppose
you know about the Mautri priests, fugitive from their lowland order, founding the temple when not a soul lived in
these mountains?"
"I did look up the facts about the city and its five hills." He brought his eyes to the south, where two of the city's
peaks shielded the view of the lake. "Rayah Lake would be off in that direction."
"It's a volcanic lake, surrounded by a ridge that used to be its cone.''
"I'd like to go down to the lake."
"They don't permit tours down there. It's all privately owned. Spawning grounds and nurseries and hospitals take up
most of the lakefront. The healthful fresh waters here are one of the reasons Firestrip has boomed into a major city."
"So I understand."
Zref remembered again that he was talking to an Inter-face, a man who had access to all the information ever stored
anywhere. It was said that they paid a dire price for that power, but the man before him seemed perfectly normal. "Sir
Brenilak," said Zref respectfully, "I simply can't imagine what you want a guide for."
"As an Interface, you mean?" He paused, and there was something indefinably sad in the almost expressionless,
muzzled countenance. "You may call me Zaviv." He glanced again at the Mautri temple and added almost wist-fully,
"What does being a guide mean to you? Merely the recitation of information?"

"No. Sudeen and I like to make our history come alive."
"Are you then archeovisualizers?"
"No, but the First Lifewave sometimes seems more real to us than the present. We want to finish our schooling and
join the search for the real City of a Million Legends." Zref didn't like the measuring look that the Brenilak gave him,
but he didn't retract his statement.
Zaviv held his gaze steadily. "Let us say then I'm curious to see this city through your eyes, not the eyes of comnet
statistics."
Zref had never heard an Interface use the word "curious" before. He'd heard that for them curiosity replaced all other
emotions and motivations, including sex. Before he could phrase a question, Sudeen drove up to the curb and
presented the car with a flourish. And so they were off on their well-rehearsed afternoon tour of the city.
They climbed the eastern end of one of the five hills nearest the shuttleport. At the lookout point called Hermit's Cave,
Sudeen told the legend of the founder of the Mautri temple, disenchanted with his followers, coming to live alone here,
out of sight of the kyralizth, which might have been built during the First Lifewave. "The kyralizth is a structure found
only on Camiat. The older ones are always found near the remains of a stone circle such as the Wassly Crown here in
Firestrip."
Zref told the wild story about the kren who disappeared into the caves and reappeared in the middle of the Mautri
temple fountain to live out his years as a white priest. "They say he met the ghost of the Mautri founder down there,
and it changed him."
Sudeen shot him a dark look, but the Brenilak en-couraged them, and soon they were both telling fanciful tales that
held for them an odd ring of truth. At Firestrip Park, Zref told the story of how the first human colony ship, the Stellar
Dust, had crashed, leaving a long furrow scarring the valley floor and giving the city its current name. At that time, the