"Lisle,.Holly.-.Vincalis.The.Agitator1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

Solander said, УI understand, I guess. If I had escaped from that place, I would want to know why it was there, too.Ф

Rone Artis met with the rest of the Dragon Council in secret, in the tower that was the trueЧif unsuspectedЧheart of Oel Maritias.
He settled into his seat at due north on the round table and said, УWeТre called to order. What crisis have you found so great that it has to disrupt my preparations for the festival?Ф
Tare Desttor-fator, Master of Cities, an old man who had always loved his work, looked grimmer and unhappier than Rone had ever seen him. He said, УThereТs some cracking at the periphery of the city. Spellshields there have been suffering from fluctuating energy levels, and a few of us have added braces. But weТre going to have to increase our base power level.Ф
Rone tried not to show any expression, but he feared his colleagues might have seen some hint of his dismay in his eyes. УCracks?Ф
УThe Polyphony Center has severe weakening along the second-tier dome. Several of the houses along Sea Cliff Corridor have minor compression damage. Almost all of the buildings right up against the Upwelling have some shear damage. Nothing has started leaking yet, but you know that most of the year-rounders, myself included, stay in the city coreЧthe scenic peripheral properties are mostly occupied by those of you who arenТt here for half the year. A lot of damage can happen during half a year.Ф
УBut fluctuations should have been noticeable to everyone,Ф Jonn Dart, Master of the Air, said.
УTheyТve apparently been quite small but also quite persistent,Ф Tare told everyone. УIТve been doing some checkingЧthe spellshields are running at a constant underpower ofа.00125 percentЧnot enough to show unless youТre looking for it, but enough to allow the pressure to work constant, tiny damage.Ф
Around the circle of Dragons, heads shook, faces paled, knuckles whitened.
УI thought we had surplus power,Ф the Master of Transports, Kenyan Inmaris, said softly.
Rone, the Master of Energy, said, УWeТve been running tight Upstairs for the last year. A number of new projects have put a drain on the supply, and we havenТt been pouring in resources as quickly as we need. No wars, empty prisons, and a declining birthrate in the Warrens due to several centuries of serious inbreeding have kept us behind the curve. IТd like to say that this is an easy fix, but it isnТt. WeТre going to have to find a new energy source, and weТre going to have to do it fast. ResearchЧyouТve had people working on alternative energy for the past twenty years. I know weТve been funneling whole breeder pods out of the Oel Artis Warrens on a regular basis for you to use as research subjects. IТve heard that youТve had some breakthroughs, but none of them have ever come as far as Council.Ф
Chrissa Falkes, Master of Research, a stunning, young-looking woman who was in fact several years RoneТs senior, said, УI donТt like the direction some of our research has taken. Yes, we have some possible alternatives. But our current energy sources were supposed to be temporaryЧuntil we found non-human alternatives. And my alternatives are simply going to increase our dependence on human-based energy.Ф
Rone sighed. This again. Every time they tried to make changes, to expand services or improve the city, it came back to the complaint about human-based energy as the fuel that fed the Hars Ticlarim. УStolta Falkes, solar-driven magic is weak. Core-driven magic is weak. Elemental magic is weak. Even sea-driven magic is weak. Every attempt at amplification has failed to produce anything that would even come close to meeting the needs of the Empire. We have eight billion people pulling off of just eighteen main centers and one hundred fifteen secondary buffer sources. WeТre an absolute marvel of economyЧbut the only source that will allow us to support eight billion energy-using citizens at even our current level of civilizationЧnever mind making things betterЧis human-based.Ф Rone looked directly at Chrissa. УUnless youТve found something outside of flesh and bone and blood and life that will fuel spells of the magnitude and multitude we have to work with.Ф
Chrissa bit her lip and looked down at her hands. УHow bad is the shortage?Ф
The Master of Cities said, УI predict a collapse along the outer rim within the year unless we shore up the spellshields and repair the damage. And a collapse anywhere in the city will put extra pressure on the buildings closest to the one that goes: If we lose something sufficiently big in the first blowЧlike Polyphony, for exampleЧthe whole of the city could explode around us in a matter of minutes. We arenТt likely to have any more warning than what we already have.Ф
УOh, gods.Ф The stolta buried her face in her arms and sat there for a long time. Everyone watched her, silent, waiting. At last she lifted her head. УThe greater good,Ф she whispered, then said, УWeТve developed something that gives spell energy at an order of magnitude greater than the combined energies of flesh, bone, blood, and life. But itТs a dirty source. Dirtier than all of those together.Ф
Dirty meant that anyone using it was at risk of serious magical rebound effects, or rewhah. Rewhah was the bane of all magical researchЧit could turn a man into a smoking pile of twitching tissue in an instant if not properly handledЧand life energy was so dirty and so dangerous that Dragons only dared operate with it from a distance, and through mechanical devices that diverted the rewhah and spread the effects over the entire population. Rone couldnТt imagine a source of energy dirtier than life energy.
УA whole order of magnitude?Ф the Master of Cities said with wonder in his eyes. УA hundred thousand luns per unit instead of ten thousand. YouТre sure?Ф
УIТm sure. And itТs constant per unitЧno factoring for size, age, or health.Ф
УGood gods,Ф Rone said. УWeТre only getting ten thousand LPU in controlled settings right now. With a constant, we could stop worrying about undersized units throwing off our power estimates. We would be able to tell exactly how much available power we had at any time.Ф
УThereТs a downside,Ф Chrissa said. УItТs a big one.Ф
УBigger than the rewhah factor?Ф
Chrissa nodded. УWeТd be burning souls.Ф
The debate ran a long time. They needed the energy, needed it badly. And their two options were to use more people, which meant rewriting laws that made into capital crimes things that were currently minor infractions, so that they could fill up the Warrens with fresh prisoners; or to use the people they already had more completely.
Kenyan finally said, УIt isnТt like the Warreners are real peopleЧthey donТt think from the moment theyТre born until the moment they dieЧweТve seen to that. TheyТre nothing but caged and cared-for animalsЧno feelings, no ideas, no dreams. That they have souls at all is a wonder, but that we can use those souls to provide a better life for real people is a gift. A true gift.Ф
Chrissa wasnТt appeased. УAnd what about the prisoners that we put into the Warrens? They were real people once.Ф
УWe only send in the life-criminals. IТve always thought the comfortable oblivion of the Warrens was too kind a treatment for the horrors they perpetrate on citizens. Look at what theyТve done and tell meЧwhat kind of souls could they have, anyway? Evil souls. If we can feed the good of the city with the loss of evil souls, then we are in effect turning evil into good.Ф
УYouТll find a way to justify anything, wonТt you,Ф Chrissa asked.
Rone held up a hand. УIn this instance, I have to agree with Kenyan. We have to find energy to protect and maintain the Empire. Our other alternative is to put more people into the Warrens, enlarge the Warrens, use people who arenТt nightmare criminals or the animals weТve been breeding for this purpose for the last thousand-plus years. If we broaden our spectrum of people weТre willing to have in the Warrens, where will our broadening stop? Our energy needs will grow. They must. We can keep moving our breeders around to prevent inbreeding and keep our reproductive rates high. We can move more criminals who have done less to deserve punishment into the Warrens. We can take the rebels and the traitors out of the mines and factories and feed them into the Warrens. But even so, our need for energy is expanding, and our space for new Warrens is not. This alternative youТve given allows us to make incredible use of limited resources. It isnТt pretty. WeТll certainly have to design specialized facilities to handle this new form of energy. But I think itТs the best alternative weТre going to get.Ф
Chrissa slumped back in her seat, disgusted and defeated. УFine. RoneЧIТll have the specifications and incantations couriered to your workroom as soon as I leave here. I want you to look over our research, see what IТve seen and noted on this in the past twenty years of development, and then decide if you still think itТs a good idea. With the power-to-rewhah curves in front of you, you might just change your mind. If you donТt, you and your people should be able to put together a quick patch in the next day or twoЧIТm sure youТll have long-term facilities set up in no time.Ф She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Then she stood. УAnd as soon as youТve received the information, youТll receive my formal resignation. IТve considered going into private practiceЧI think IТve just reached the point where I canТt do this job anymore. IТll send along my recommendations for successors from within the Research Department, some of whom are quite excited about the possibilities of this project. IТm sure youТll each have favorites of your own you would like to consider, too.Ф
УYouТre quitting?Ф Rone asked, stunned. Chrissa was second in line for Grand Mastership of the Dragons of the HarsЧno one who held the second spot had ever quit. It would be like being one step from godhood and turning down the job.
УIТm quitting. This isnТt something I can keep on my conscience. WeТve pursued this line of research against my personal recommendations, because influential researchers below me outvoted me; I presented the option hoping against hope that one of you would offer some alternativeЧa way of reducing energy consumption, of conserving the resources we currently have, of doing something sensible. But you are set on expansion, and you will have your added power. I just wonТt be a part of it.Ф
УChrissaа.а.а.Ф Jonn Dart, as Master of Air, specialized in developing and improving the special spells that kept the floating cities and the aircars aloft. His unit always had energy expenditures far above those in other units, and though he and his people had become quite good at economizing, their work was a massive energy drain. УAre you going to leave Oel Maritias? Or Oel Artis? Are you going to confine yourself to the dirt, to ground transport and ground housing, and turn your back on the wonders and the artistry and the beauty we have wrought in true civilization?Ф
Chrissa rose, gathered up her things, and looked at him with pain in her eyes. УI donТt know what IТm going to do. I just know that we shouldnТt be doing this.Ф
УIt isnТt voted on yet,Ф offered the Master of Cities.
УNo. Shall I wait for the vote to be counted to see who among you are secret advocates for the poor and the defenseless?Ф
УThere are no poor and no defenseless involved in this,Ф Rone protested. УOnly lab animals who wear almost-human skinsЧthough you have seen them in the flesh, and you know how little they resemble real peopleЧand criminals who have caused so much suffering that they have been exiled from humanity.Ф He rose so that he stood facing Chrissa and, with a voice carefully controlled but edged with anger, said, УThe Hars is the most humanitarian government this world has ever seen. No one starves in our Empire. No one goes without food, without clothing, without a solid roof or a place to sleep. No one is without an education. For the poorest people, we pay for everything. Even the Warreners, whose ancestors were gathered from the gutters and the madhouses and the prisons, have food and water, beds and shelter, clothing and protection, supplied by us from cradle to grave. They want for nothing, and they want nothing, and they live long lives.Ф
УAnd you burn them as fuel in payment for your Сgenerosity.Т And now you will be burning not just what is mortal about them, but what is immortal, too. Do not be too quick to applaud yourselves for your generosityЧfor your humanitarianism. Not everyone in this world is equal, Rone.Ф
УEquality is a myth. A fantasy of dreamers and revolutionaries. We do the best we can. There are always costs. But I think we have done well in keeping our costs within reason, and offering good to the most people for the least price.Ф
УIf you and yours were the ones who had to pay the price, I suspect that you would think it a little less reasonable.Ф She gave a formal bow to all of themЧcoldly precise, almost insulting in its perfectionЧand said, УI wonТt wait for the results of your vote. IТll simply go and ready the information you will need. And will, in the meantime, come up with a suitable story for my sudden resignation.Ф
She left, and in the wake of the slamming of the door, the Dragon Masters of the Hars sat in quiet contemplation.
Finally, however, the Grand Master of the Dragon Council, who until this time had been silent, rose and said, УA vote must be called. We have a quorum present, and due to the severity of the situation we face, and the way that history will judge what we do here, I hereby declare that we require not a simple majority but a two-thirds majority in the question we must now answer. Before we bring the question before this body, you have heard discussion both for and against the use of this new form of energy. Does anyone among you have anything further you wish to add?Ф
No one spoke. No one moved. To RoneТs eyes, it seemed they barely breathed.
The Grand Master nodded. УThen I ask that one of you present the question to this body for consideration and vote.Ф
The Grand Master stood and waited. A few of the Dragons cleared their throats uncomfortably. Finally the Master of Air and the Master of Cities both started to rise at the same time, and the Master of Air, junior in both age and seniority, bowed slightly to the Master of Cities and sat back down. Tare Desttor-fator straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. УI bring before the Master Dragons of the Council of Dragons of the Empire of the Hars Ticlarim the following Question of Merit, requiring a two-thirds vote of approval of a quorum of this body: I move that weЧwith all haste and yet all cautionЧbring into use soul-energy drawn from current fuel units. Furthermore, I move that Oel Maritias and such other undersea cities as are found to have low-energy damage be immediately given access to the first energy drawn from this new resource, in order to effect emergency repairs and prevent unnecessary loss of life. Finally, I move that no new fuel units be acquired or placed at this time, but that we make all efforts to efficiently use those units already in place.Ф
УSecond,Ф a couple of voices from around the table said.
УDuly moved and seconded,Ф the Grand Master said. УAt this time we will entertain discussion either for or against the merits of this motionЧeach speaker has three minutes.Ф
No one rose to defend either the pro or con views. Rone watched, already quite sure of how he would vote. Everyone else seemed certain, too. The Grand Master waited long enough to be sure that no one would leap to his feet at the last moment for one impassioned plea, then said, УVery well. We have a motion on the floor to make more efficient use of our current energy units by adding soul-energy usage to their current utility. This motion specifically excludes the possibility of adding new units to our energy production, and requires first fruits of the new technology go to undersea cities to effect emergency repairs. A two-thirds vote of quorum is necessary to pass this motion. Twenty-five of twenty-eight active members of the Council are presentЧa two-thirds majority of that number is seventeen. Since no tie is possible, I will not vote.Ф
Rone had a sudden sense that there were things the Grand Master was leaving unsaid. He raised a finger. УRone?Ф the Grand Master asked.