"George R. R. Martin -- Second Helpings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

тАЬAt the end,тАЭ she said impatiently, тАЬwhen I decided to help you escape with the Ark instead of helping
Josen Rael take it from you. You asked me why, and I explained my reasons.тАЭ
тАЬYou said,тАЭ Tuf stated, тАЬthat power corrupts, that absolute power corrupts absolutely, that the Ark had
already corrupted First Councillor Josen Rael and his associates, and that I was better fitted to retain
possession of the seedship because I was an incorruptible man.тАЭ
She gave him a wan smile. тАЬNot quite, Tuf. I said I didnтАЩt think there was such a thing as an incorruptible
man, but if there was, you were the item.тАЭ
тАЬIndeed,тАЭ said Tuf, stroking Dax. тАЬI stand corrected.тАЭ
тАЬNow youтАЩre making me wonder,тАЭ she said. тАЬYou know what you just did, back there? For starters, you
toppled another government. Creg canтАЩt survive this. You told the whole world heтАЩs a liar. Maybe thatтАЩs
fair enough; you made him, now you unmade him. First Councillors donтАЩt seem to last long when you
come calling, do they? But never mind that. You also told, oh, some thirty-odd billion members of the
Church of Life Evolving that their most deeply held religious beliefs are so much bladder bloat. You as
much as said that the entire basis of the technocratic philosophy that has dominated council policy for
centuries is mistaken. WeтАЩll be lucky if the next damned election doesnтАЩt bring the expansionists back in,
and if that happens, it means war. Vandeen and Jazbo and the other allies will not tolerate another
expansionist government. You probably ruined me, too. Again. Unless IтАЩm even faster on my goddamned
feet than I was last time around. Instead of a star-crossed lover, IтАЩm now the sort of gnarly old
bureaucrat who likes to lie about her sexual escapades, and I helped Citizen Anti-Life, too.тАЭ She sighed.
тАЬYou seem determined to see me in disgrace. But thatтАЩs nothing, Tuf. I can take care of myself. The main
thing is, you took it upon yourself to dictate policy to forty-plus billion people, with only the vaguest
conception of the consequences. By what authority? Who gave you the right?тАЭ
тАЬI would maintain that any human has the right to speak the truth.тАЭ
тАЬAnd the right to demand a worldwide all-net newsfeed to speak it on? Where did that puling right come
from?тАЭ she said. тАЬThere are several million people on SтАЩuthlam who belong to the zero faction, me
included. You didnтАЩt say much that we havenтАЩt said for years. You just said it louder.тАЭ
тАЬI am aware of this. It is my hope that the words spoken this evening, no matter how bitterly they were
received, will ultimately have a beneficial effect upon SтАЩuthlamese politics and society. Perhaps Cregor
Blaxon and his technocrats will grasp the truth that no true salvation can be found in what he calls TufтАЩs
Flowering and what you once referred to as тАШthe miracle of loaves and fishesтАЩ. Perhaps from this point
on, policies and opinions will be changed. Perhaps your zero faction may even triumph in the next
election.тАЭ
Tolly Mune scowled. тАЬThatтАЩs damned unlikely, and you should know it. And even if the zero faction won,
the question arises as to what the hell we could do.тАЭ She leaned forward. тАЬWould we have the right to
enforce population control? I wonder. Never mind about that, though. My point is that you donтАЩt have
any damned monopoly on truth. Any zero could have given your damned speech. Hell, half the damned
technocrats know what the ledger looks like. CregтАЩs no fool. Neither was poor Josen. What allowed you
to do that was power, Tuf. The power of the Ark. The help you can give us, or withhold, as you
choose.тАЭ
тАЬIndeed,тАЭ said Tuf. He blinked. тАЬI cannot take issue with you. The sad truth of history has always been
that the unreasoning masses follow the powerful, and not the wise.тАЭ
тАЬAnd which are you, Tuf?тАЭ
тАЬI am but a humbleтАФтАЭ
тАЬYes, yes,тАЭ she snapped, тАЬI know, a goddamned humble ecological engineer. A humble ecological
engineer who has taken it on himself to play prophet. A humble ecological engineer who has visited
SтАЩuthlam exactly twice in his life, for a total of maybe a hundred days, and yet feels competent to topple
our government, discredit our religion, and lecture forty-odd billion strangers about how many puling
children they ought to have. My people may be stupid, they may be shortsighted, and they may be blind,
but they are still my people, Tuf. I donтАЩt think I entirely approve of you arriving here and trying to remake
us according to your own enlightened values.тАЭ