"Tuf Voyaging - 06 - Call Him Moses" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

УDax,Ф said Haviland Tuf to the quiet tomcat, УI fear for us. We are shut up in this small place with a congenital idiot, a man with neither ethics nor courtesy nor comprehension. I must explain every obvious ramification of a task that was childishly simple to begin with.Ф
УWhat?Ф
УSir,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УThe Griffin is a shuttle. It is unique in its design, and it has no stardrive. Should you be caught landing in such a craft, even a person with less intellectual equipment than yourself might deduce that a larger ship such as the Ark remained above, since shuttles frequently need something to shuttle from, and seldom materialize from the vacuum of deep space. The Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices, in contrast, is a common model Avalon-made starship, complete with drive, albeit dysfunctional in this case. Do you understand the point, sir? Do you grasp the essential differences between the two craft?Ф
УYes, Tuf. But since I donТt intend to be captured, the distinction is academic. Still, IТll humor you. For an additional fifty standards above and beyond my debt, I will consent to use your Cornucopia.Ф
Haviland Tuf said nothing.
Jaime Kreen fidgeted. УDax is telling you that IТm going to give in if you wait, isnТt he? Well, IТm not. You canТt trick me that way any more, do you understand.Ф He crossed his arms more tightly than ever. УI am a rock. I am steel. I am adamantine in my resolve on this matter.Ф
Haviland Tuf stroked Dax, and said nothing.
УWait all you like, Tuf,Ф said Kreen. УJust this once, IТm going to fool you. I can wait, too. WeТll wait together. And IТll never give in. Never. Never. NEVER.Ф

When the Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices returned from the surface of Charity a week and a half later, Jaime Kreen had three others with him, all former top administrators of the City of Hope. Rej Laithor was an elderly hatchet-faced woman with iron-gray hair who had formerly chaired the council. Since Moses had taken over, she had been undergoing retraining as a spinning-wheel operator. She was accompanied by a younger woman and a large man who looked as if he had once been very fat, although now his skin hung from his face in loose yellow folds.
Haviland Tuf received them in a conference room. He was seated at the head of the table when Kreen ushered the Charitans in, his hands folded neatly in front of him, and Dax curled up lazily on the polished metal.
УI am pleased that you could come,Ф he said as the administrators took seats. УYou appear hostile, however, and I regret this. Let me begin by assuring you that I played no role whatsoever in your vicissitudes.Ф
Rej Laithor snorted. УI interrogated Kreen when he found me, Tuf, and he told me of your protestations of innocence. I believe them no more than he did. Our city and our way of life were destroyed by ecological warfare, by the plagues that this Moses let loose on us. Our computers tell us that only you and this ship are capable of waging such warfare.Ф
УIndeed,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УI might suggest that you consider reprogramming your computers, if they frequently make such errors.Ф
УWe have no computers now,Ф the formerly fat man said dolefully. УI was chief of programming, however, and I resent the inference that I was less than capable.Ф
УYou are less than capable, Rikken, or you never would have let those lice infest the system,Ф Rej Laithor said. УThat makes Tuf not one whit less guilty, however. They were his lice.Ф
УI do not have a monopoly on lice,Ф Haviland Tuf said simply. Then he raised a hand. УWe should desist from this squabbling. It takes us nowhere. Let us, instead, discuss the sad history and plight of the City of Hope, and of Moses and the plagues. Perhaps you are familiar with the original Moses, the Old Earth Moses whom your own antagonist patterns himself after. This elder Moses had no seedship, no formal tools for biowar. He did, however, have a god, who proved to be equally effective. His people were being held in captivity. To free them, he sent ten plagues against his enemies. Did your Moses follow this selfsame pattern?Ф
УDonТt answer him for free,Ф Jaime Kreen said, from where he lounged against the door.
Rej Laithor glanced at him as if he were insane. УWe looked up the original Moses story,Ф she said when she turned back to Tuf. УOnce the plagues started coming, we wanted to know what to expect. Moses used the same plagues as the original, but he varied the order a bit. And we only got six of them, at which point the council gave in to the Altruistic demands, closed Port Faith, and evacuated the City of Hope.Ф She held up her hands. УLook at them-look at those blisters, look at that callus. He has us all scattered through these rotting Altruistic villages, living like primitives. Hungry, too. HeТs mad.Ф
УFirst Moses turned the waters of the river into blood,Ф said Haviland Tuf.
УIt was disgusting,Ф the younger woman said. УAll the water in the arcology, the fountains, the swimming pools, the taps. You turned on the faucet or stepped into the shower and suddenly you were covered with blood. Even the toilets were full of blood.Ф
УIt wasnТt real blood,Ф Jaime Kreen added. УWe analyzed it. Some organic poison had been added to the city water supply. But whatever it was made the water thick and red and undrinkable. How did you do it, Tuf?Ф
Haviland Tuf ignored the question. УThe second plague was a plague of frogs.Ф
УIn our yeast tanks, and our whole hydroponics section,Ф said Kreen. УI was the supervising administrator. It ruined me. The frogs gummed up all the machinery with their bodies, and they died and rotted and spoiled the food. Laithor gave me a summary discharge when I couldnТt contain themЧas if it was my fault!Ф He grimaced at his former superior. УWell, at least I didnТt wind up slaving for Moses. I left for KТtheddion when it was still possible to leave.Ф
УThird,Ф said Haviland Tuf, Уwas the plague of lice.Ф
УEverywhere,Ф muttered the former fat man. УEverywhere. They couldnТt live inside the system, of course, so they died there, but that was bad enough. The system went down. The lice just moved on. Everybody had them. You couldnТt stay clean enough to avoid it.Ф
УFourth was the plague of flies.Ф
The Charitans all looked glum. No one said anything.
УFifth,Ф continued Haviland Tuf, УMoses set loose a murrain that killed all the cattle of his enemies.Ф
УHe skipped the murrain,Ф said Rej Laithor. УWe had our herds out on the prairies, but we put guards around them, and down in the cellars around the meatbeasts, too. We were expecting him. Nothing happened. He skipped the boils, too, thank goodness, and the hail. I would have liked to have seen him make it hail inside the arcology. He went straight to the locusts.Ф
УIndeed,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УThe eighth plague. Did these locusts eat your fields clean?Ф
УThe locusts didnТt touch our fields. They were inside the city, in the sealed grain storage compartments. Three yearsТ worth of surplus was gone overnight.Ф
УThe ninth plague,Ф said Haviland Tuf, Уwas darkness itself.Ф
УIТm glad I missed that one,Ф volunteered Jaime Kreen.
УEvery light in the city died,Ф said Rej Laithor. УOur repair crews had to fight through piles of dead flies and live locusts, scratching at their lice all the while. It was hopeless, and the people were already leaving by the thousands. I ordered the city abandoned once it became clear that even the secondary power stations were full of bugs. After that, everything went very fast. A week later I was living in an unheated cabin in the Hills of Honest Labor, and learning how to operate a spinning wheel.Ф Her tone was savage.
УYour fate is a sad one,Ф Haviland Tuf agreed in a placid voice. УYet you should not despair. When I heard of your plight from Jaime Kreen, I resolved at once to help you. And here I am.Ф
Rej Laithor looked suspicious. УHelp us?Ф she said.
УI will win back your City of Hope for you,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УI will smite Moses and his Holy Altruistic Restoration. I will free you from your spinning wheel and give you back your vocoder.Ф
The young woman and the former fat man were beaming. Rej Laithor continued to frown. УWhy?Ф
УRej Laithor asks me why,Ф Haviland Tuf said to Dax, stroking the cat softly. УMy motives are always imputed. People have no trust in this hard modern age, Dax.Ф He looked at the top administrator. УI will help you because the situation on Charity moves me, because your people are obviously in pain. Moses is no true altruist, as we both know, but this does not mean the impulse to self-sacrifice and benevolence is dead in humanity. I deplore Moses and his tactics, his use of innocent insects and animals in an unnatural manner to impose his will on his fellow human beings. Are these motives sufficient for you, Rej Laithor? If not, say as much, and I will take my Ark and depart.Ф
УNo,Ф she said. УNo, donТt do that. We accept. I accept, on behalf of the City of Hope. If you succeed, we will build a statue to you, and set it atop the city to be seen for kilometers.Ф
УPassing birds would relieve themselves upon such a statue,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УThe wind would abrade and erode it, and it would be placed too high for any to see its features clearly. Such a statue might tickle my vanityЧI am a small man, for all my size, easily pleased by such thingsЧbut I would want it set in your largest public square, safe from all harm.Ф
УOf course,Ф Laithor said quickly. УAnything.Ф
УAnything,Ф said Haviland Tuf. It was not a question. УIn addition to the statue, I will also require fifty thousand standards.Ф
Her face went pale and then red. УYou said,Ф she began in a sort of a choked whisper. УYouа.а.а. benevolenceа.а.а. altruismа.а.а. our needа.а.а. the spinning wheelа.а.а.Ф
УI must meet my expenses,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УCertainly I am willing to donate my own time to this matter, but the resources of the Ark are too valuable to squander. I must eat. Surely the coffers of the City of Hope are sufficient to meet this small sum.Ф
Rej Laithor made a sputtering noise.
УIТll handle this,Ф Jaime Kreen interjected. He turned to Tuf. УTen thousand standards. No more. Nothing. Ten thousand.Ф
УImpossible,Ф said Haviland Tuf. УMy costs will surely exceed forty thousand standards. Perhaps I can diet for a time, take only that sum, and content myself with a small loss. Your people do suffer.Ф
УFifteen thousand,Ф Kreen said.