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

But he had never let himself care for or love them the way he had cared for and loved Shina. They were his friendsа.а.а. but fragile friends, held always at a slight remove, so that if he lost themЧthe way he had now lost Smoke, second-born of the freeЧhe would still be able to sleep at night, at least a little. Would still be able to rise to face the new day. Would still be able to go on, sneaking out the gate, gathering food for hisа.а.а. companions? Associates? Pets?
Wraith leaned back against the doorframe and felt the movement of air against his cheek, and smelled the night smells of the city, and wondered what mistake had created him free in this city-within-a-city of helpless slaves. Solander said that magic couldnТt touch him. But why? Why was he different? Why had he been so long alone, so long hungry for simple acknowledgment from another human being?
Wraith ran a finger over one of the pieces of fruit Solander had sent. HeТd lost so many people. With each one he lost, he lost another part of himself, because when he alone remembered the things that happened, it was as if they had not happened. Only when he had someone to talk to and to remember with did he feel that he had really existed at all.
He took a bite of the fruit, marveling at its sweetness and the way it quenched both his thirst and his hunger at the same time. To him it represented wealthЧmore than the grand houses of the Aboves, more than the streets built on air, that single piece of fresh fruit, intact, unbruised, and free from maggots and flies, spoke of a life that he wanted to have, and wanted to share. With ShinaЧthe dark-haired, dark-eyed girl he still loved and still cried out for in his nightmares. It was the best of the world he had wanted to give her. Of everything that he had fought for, of everyone he had tried to save, only Jess remainedЧthe youngest. The one who had shared the least with him. He would have traded her for any of the rest.
But he tried to be grateful that at least she survived, and that he did not go to his new life alone.

Solander sat in his room working on the distance viewing kit his father had brought for him from the research base in Benedicta, when the doorman rang his room. Solander snapped his fingers to activate the speaking spell and said, УIТm here, Enry. What do you need?Ф
УThereТs a boy here for you, Ris Solander. He says his name isа.а.а. er, Wraith. Were you expecting him?Ф
УHeТs a friend of mine,Ф Solander said. УBring him in, will you? I canТt get the pieces on this dorfing kit to go together, but I donТt want to leave it right now. I think I almost see where IТm going wrong.Ф
УYes, ris. IТll bring him straightaway.Ф
He must have taken Wraith by the long way, though, for Solander already had the lens fitted against the spell-projector and was connecting them when Wraith finally tapped at his door.
Solander watched Wraith as the Warrener nodded polite thanks to Enry. Nothing the boy did would have told Solander that he was from the lowest of the lower classes. A chadri like the merchant who imported silks and brought samples to the house would duck his head to any stolti. A mufere like Enry kept his head down and averted his eyes unless spoken to directly, and never spoke uninvited or about something not within the realm of his duty as houseman. A parvoi would have hidden himself from the presence of a stolti. And Wraith was a Warrener, even lowerЧif not by muchЧthan a parvoi. Considering that, WraithТs complete lack of awe or respect seemed to Solander astonishing, if fortunate. Just as well Solander had given the boy some of his own clothing, though; the questions WraithТs old clothes would have raised with the houseman might have found their way to SolanderТs fatherЧand who needed that? Not Solander. He was simply grateful to have come through his fatherТs last test without making an ass of himself again.
The houseman gave Wraith the same bow he would have given Solander and said, УRis Wraith, when you need to leave you may call on me. I have greatly enjoyed our talk.Ф Wraith nodded politely and smiled at Enry, and met his eye; the houseman was first to look away.
This pleased Solander. Wraith had none of the subservient characteristics of the lower classes. He acted exactly like the highest of the stoltiЧlike Solander or any of his cousins. When Solander brought Wraith and his friends into the house and presented them to his father as relatives from someplace far away, Wraith would have to look SolanderТs father in the eyeЧSolanderТs father, who made everyone nervousЧlie about where he came from and who he was, and exhibit no fear of the great man. And then Wraith would have to live that lie for gods-only-knew-how-many months or years. Maybe forever. And his friends would, too.
Solander had a brief, niggling sense that perhaps this plan of his was not the bestЧthat if he enlisted his father in it as an ally, he might hope to at least gain some of the credit for the discovery of the magical rules that Wraith broke simply by existing. Solander would still further his career, would still get an appointment into the Academy, would still be able to become a researcher.
But he wouldnТt have the discovery under his name alone. He would be a minor footnote to the single greatest proof ever presented that the DragonsТ view of the magical universe was incomplete, when what he wanted was to be that theoryТs sole author. The difference would be one of degree, but at fifteen he was sensitive to how great a degree that would be.
And his father might decide not to share at all. Rone might decide that the secrets to be found on WraithТs person were far too important to be entrusted to a child; he might classify Wraith УSecretЧWith Prejudice,Ф as he did anything that he thought might be of real interest to his competitors, and if he did that, Solander wouldnТt even be able to find out what was happening.
Wraith might not like becoming a classified study object, either, Solander thought.
Wraith came over and looked at the equipment Solander was putting together and said, УThat looks complicated. What is it going to do?Ф
УItТs a distance viewerЧone of the really good new models with focusable sound. My father told me he wouldnТt buy the completed model for me because it was much more expensive and had more features than I could justify, but he told me that he would get the kit for me if IТd do all the preliminary studies so that I could put it together when I got it. He tested me, too. When I had the theory down, he got me the kit.Ф
Wraith nodded. УWell. ThatТsа.а.а. very good of him, I suppose. But what does it do?Ф
Solander stared at him. УYouТve never seenа.а.а.Ф But perhaps they didnТt have distance viewers in the Warrens. УOnce itТs all together, IТll be able to look at the screen on the baseЧright hereЧand turn these knobsЧthey adjust for altitude, longitude, and latitude, you see, based on true north. This one has gross controls and a switchЧright over here, you see?Чthat changes the knobs over to fine controls, so that you have basically room-to-room capability anywhere within the viewerТs range. And hereЧthis is your sound capability, so that you can hear what people are saying. Getting the spells for simultaneous sound-and-view transmission into place has been almost as hard as doing the gross-to-fine coupling link-up to the switch.Ф
Wraith sighed, and Solander, whoТd become absorbed in the explanation of his new piece of equipment, looked over to find that the Warrener looked exasperated.
УWhat?Ф
УWhat can you do with it?Ф Wraith asked. УWhatТs it good for?Ф
УOh.Ф Solander felt just a bit stupid. УYou can watch people with it. This one has a range of about fifteen furlongsЧpretty good, really. You can get amplifiers that let you see farther away than that, but a lot of them ruin the purity of your main signalЧФ He caught himself and said, УYou can turn the viewer to anyplace youТd like to watch, and if that place isnТt shielded by magic, you can see what the people there are doingЧand with this model, you can also hear what theyТre saying.Ф
УWhen theyТre outside?Ф Wraith asked.
УIt wouldnТt be much good if it only worked when they were outside. No, you can see inside, too. No place like here, of courseЧmy father has shields on top of shields around this place. All the Dragons do. And a lot of the other people who live in the Aboves, tooЧthe ones who know about things like the distance viewers. They arenТt too happy about the idea that someone might be watching them at any time.Ф
УI can understand that,Ф Wraith said.
УBut itТs a lot of fun,Ф Solander told him. УAnd you can learn some interesting things by focusing on places that arenТt shielded.Ф
Wraith gave Solander a doubtful look. УI bet.Ф
УYou donТt sound like you like the idea much.Ф
УI donТt. The fact that someone might have been watching me at any timeЧФ
Solander stopped him. УNot a chance. The Warrens are shielded.Ф
Wraith looked startled. УThey are?Ф
Solander nodded.
УJust like the houses of the richest and most powerful people in the world?Ф
Solander nodded again.
УWhy?Ф
Solander, dumbfounded, couldnТt come up with an answer to that. He had never even considered the strangeness of the fact that an entire section of the city had a shield around it as solid as the shield his father had cast around their house. УIа.а.а. thatТs a really good question,Ф he said. УOnce you and your friends have moved in, weТll find out.Ф
УMe and my friend,Ф Wraith corrected. УI lost one right after I left to get food the last time.Ф
Solander didnТt catch his meaning. УLost? Lost how?Ф
УHe gave up. He went back to the houses, and he went back to Sleep.Ф
УThat doesnТt sound so bad. When will he be back with you?Ф
Wraith said, УNever. HeТs too old. If Jess and I tried to wake him up now, heТd die. Just like my brother.Ф
Solander considered that and tried to understand what Wraith might mean. УThat doesnТt make sense. What kind of sleep donТt people wake up from?Ф
Wraith said, УThe food in the Warrens makes people Sleep their whole lives away. They have their eyes open, they can follow the instructions of the prayer-lights and the dictates of the gods, but when they arenТt being told what to do, they donТt do anything. They sit. They stare ahead of them. For their entire lives, they just sit and stare ahead of them.Ф
Solander shuddered. УHow many people does this happen to?Ф
УAll of them. Mothers give their babies Way-fare as soon as theyТre born, and the babies donТt cry. They sleep, they wake, the mothers give them Way-fare just like the prayer-lights tell them to, and the babies grow up to be children who walk in lines to classes where they learn command words, and how to bathe, and how to move while theyТre sitting so they donТt get sores on their bodies, and how to use a toilet, and how to flush it when theyТre done. And how to take their own disposable bowls, and get their own Way-fare from the taps.Ф
Wraith closed his eyes, remembering the endless, repetitious droning of the gods who spoke through the prayer-lights: УTime now to get out of bed. Walk in place. Walk. Walk. Walk. Go to piss and move your bowels now, each in turn. Form a line, and wait patiently until the door opens in front of you. Wait. Wait. Wait. Eat your Way-fare now. Two bowls each for people this tall, and one bowl for people this tall,Ф with the lights flashing the correct heights, Уand in a disposable bottle mixed with water for those no taller than this. Remember to feed littles who cannot feed themselves. DonТt forget the littles. DonТt forget. DonТt forget. DonТt forget.Ф