"Julian May - Rampart Worlds 3 - Sagittarius Whorl" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

Design is going to succeed! Almighty Luk will shower his beneficence upon us and
shatter the spines of the human despots."
"There is still great danger," she said softly. "And this one is not speaking only of the
possibility that the turncoat agent's identity may be detected. He himself is a traitor to his
race and perhaps not entirely sane. One has seen his personality analysisтАФ"
"Yes, yes, curse it for a wad of odoriferous lepido nose wax! One knows all about that.
But the scheme he proposed is brilliant. If it succeeds, our grand expansion strategy will
be accomplished in years, rather than centuries or even millennia."
"If the scheme succeeds."
"Wah! Would you have us abandon our great hopes, crawl back to the cluster,
embrace our fatal allomorphic heritage, and go down to extinction as we exhaust the
balance of our dwindling resources? Or shall we continue to submit to humanity's tyranny
here in the Milky Way? ... No! This one has promised the people that all will be freed
from allomorphyтАФthat our children will live on new, uncrowded worlds. If the Grand
Design succeeds, this goal will be achieved peacefully. If it fails, we will use force to
seize the planets we require from the loathsome humans. Curse their arrogance up a
necrotic copulatory orifice!"
"Be tranquil, Servant of Servants," Ru Kamik advised. "This one has a duty to
examine contingencies. Even unpleasant ones. Why would it not be possible to use a
Haluk demiclone rather than the disguised turncoat to fulfill the Grand Design?"
"The scheme was conceived by him," the Servant pointed out, simmering down a bit.
"And he alone is in a unique position to carry off the deceptionтАФat least in its initial
stages. No Haluk demiclone would be able to worm his way into the confidence of the
Frost family and Rampart Concern quite so readily, or so quickly, as the rogue human
life-form. Once he is well-established, however, the situation changes. Taking his place, a
trained Haluk demiclone will be able to maneuver freely, inserting other demiclones into
positions of power and influence. Humanity will find itself in thrall to us before it realizes
its peril."
"But how can we be certain that the turncoat will not fly out of control?"
"One has made the personal decision that the risk is acceptable. One is aware of the
individual's limitations, and they have been factored into the operational equation. He
will be carefully monitored by our other demiclone operatives in the Earth capital city.
The rogue's personal agenda, vengeful and perfidious though it may be from the point of
view of his own race, coincides with ours. At least for the time being."
"As you say, Servant of Servants." She lowered her head so that her eyes were
momentarily concealed by the hood of her black garment.
"Don't worry, Ru Kamik," the Servant reassured her. "As soon as possible, the
wretched human creature will be replaced by one whose loyalty is above suspicion. Our
own esteemed agent, Ru Balakalak, will carry the mission to its successful completion.
Meanwhile, the turncoat will have laid the groundwork for the coup. Needless to say, the
rogue human knows nothing of our intention to eliminate him when his services are no
longer required."
She made a noncommittal gesture and turned to address the scientist. "Is it true, then,
Archiator Malotuwak, that the more lengthy demiclone procedure performed upon Ru
Balakalak will create a totally undetectable duplicate?"
Mustard Smock hesitated. "That is the theory, Great Lady, according to the
reassurances of the late Scientist Milik, who introduced the genetic procedure to us. Of
course, there exists no validation. So far as we know, no Haluk-human demiclone has
ever been subjected to DNA analysis by the Commonwealth Criminal Investigation
Department."