"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 19 - Looters of Tharn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

"I thought that the machine would not strike down living creatures who carried nothing that was not once
also living because it had orders not to. But I begin to wonder if the purple ray cannot strike down such a
living creature even when the machine has orders to fire. We must learn more about this."

"We certainly must," said Krimon briskly. "This is a weakness of the Looters. Until now we in Tharn did
not believe they had any weaknesses. We would have laughed at anyone who told us we might be
wrong. But now Mazda has shown us that our enemy has a weakness. We can learn ways to take
advantage of that weakness and fight the Looters. With Mazda to show us the way-"

Blade shook his head. "Though I am Mazda, I cannot show you the whole way. You must discover
much of it for yourselves. All that is learned the people must remember. If I die"-Krimon shuddered--"or
must go away again before my work is done, the fight against the Looters must go on until victory."

"It shall be done as Mazda wishes," said Krimon solemnly.

Blade knew it would be. In this dimension people would willingly follow his orders. But however willing
the people might be, could he give the right orders? Could he teach them everything they needed to
know-particularly when he didn't know half of it himself?

They spotted their first herdsmen of the people just before noon. Blade made no effort to follow either
the herd or the herdsmen as they scattered wildly in all directions.

Krimon smiled thinly. "They will be very surprised when they ride into the villages and learn that the
machine was carrying Mazda."

"They will," said Blade. Provided, he thought, this machine carries us as far as we want to go. If it ran
out of power suddenly, they wouldn't be able to test out the machine's weaknesses and demonstrate
them to the people. Also, the two of them would be practically defenseless. They might not live long
enough to tell anyone that here was Mazda, returned to Tharn after a whole generation!

Less than half an hour later they passed to the north of a small village, sprawling along the bank of a
small stream tinged dark red.

Krimon's eyes noted on the screen the village's streets suddenly exploding into activity as people and
animals ran in all directions. His mouth hardened into a thin line.

"It will take days to calm the people after this," he said with a sigh.

"Would you rather have them panic-stricken now, or dead when the Looters move in sooner or later?"

"Put that way, there is no choice," said Krimon wearily. He was silent for a moment, then pointed. "The
New City of the People, where King Rikard has his house, is off that way." His hand pointed roughly
north-northwest.

"How far is it?"

"Three days on horseback from Red Water, the village we just passed."

"At this speed we should be there in less than two hours."