"The Soul Empty Ones" - читать интересную книгу автора (Miller Walter M)

"Speak, android!" A booted foot pushed at Falon's ribs. "I've got nothing to say."
The boot crashed against his mouth, and a brief flash of blackness struck him again. He spat a broken tooth.
"Speak!"
"Very well. What the pilot says is true. Others know that you are not men. They will come soon to kill all of you."
The boot drew back again angrily, but hesitated. For the king-creature was cackling with senile laughter. The guards joined in politely.
"When will they come, android?" jeered the king.
"The forest fires will cause them to come at once. They will sweep over your city and drive you into the sea."
"With knivesЧagainst machine guns and flamethrowers?" The king glanced at a guard. "This one bores me. Flog him, then bring me the girl. That will be more amusing."
Falon felt loops of wire being slipped over his wrists. Then he was jerked erect, suspended from the ceiling so that his toes scarcely touched the floor.
"Shall we do nothing about the forest fires, Your Lordship?" a guard asked.
The king sighed. "Oh . . I suppose it would be wise to send a platoon to meet the savages when they emerge. Our fattening pens need replenishing. And we can see if there is any truth in what the captive says. I doubt that they suspect us, but if they do, there is small harm done."
Falon smiled to himself as the first lash cut across his back. He had accomplished the first step in his mission. A platoon was being sent.
The whip master was an expert. He began at the shoulders and worked stroke by stroke toward the waist, pausing occasionally to rub his fingers roughly over the wounds. Falon wailed and tried to faint, but the torture was calculated to leave him conscious. From his dais, the king-creature was chortling with dreamy sensuality as he watched.
"Take him to the man pen," ordered the king when they were finished. "And keep him away from other androids. He knows things that could prove troublesome."
As Falon was led away, he saw Ea just outside the throne room. She was bound and naked to the waist. Her eyes hated him silently. He shuddered and looked away. For she was the sacrifice which he had no right to make.

The man pen was nearly deserted, for the soul-men were busy with the building of the city. Falon was led across a sandy court-yard and into a small cell, where he was chained to a cot. A guard pressed a hypodermic into his arm.
"This will make you eat, android," he said with a leer, "and grow weak and fat."
Falon set his jaw and said nothing. The guard went away, leaving him alone in his cell.
An old man came to stare through the bars. His eyes were widewith the dull glow of fatalistic acceptance. He was thin and brown, his hands gnarled by the wear of slave work. He saw Falon's toe-less feet and frowned. "Android!" he murmured in soft puzzlement. "Why did they put you in here?"
Falon's throat worked with emotion. Here was a descendant of his creators. ManЧwho had gone away as a conqueror and re-turned as a slave. Nervously Falon met the calm blue-eyed gaze for a moment. But his childhood training was too strong. Here was Man! Quietly he slipped to his knees and bowed his head. The man breathed slow surprise.
"Why do you kneel, android? I am but a slave, such as your-self. We are brothers."
Falon shivered. "You are of the immortal ones!"
"Immortal?" The man shrugged. "We have forgotten our ancient legends." He chuckled. "Have your people kept them alive for us?"
Falon nodded humbly. "We have kept for you what we were told to keep, soul-man. We have waited many centuries."
The man stared toward one of the watchtowers. "If only we had trusted you! If only we had told you where the weapons were hid-den. But some of the ancients said that if we gave you too much knowledge, you would 'destroy us when we tried to return. Now you have nothing with which to defend yourselves against our new masters."
Falon lifted his head slightly. "Weapons, you say? God-weapons?"
"Yes, they're hidden in vaults beneath the ancient cities. We sent a man to tell you where to find them. But he probably failed in his mission. Do you know anything of him? Come, man! Get off your knees!"
Self-consciously, Falon sat on the edge of his cot. "We found this man dead in the trailЧlast night." He paused and lowered his eyes. It had been easy to lie to the invaders, but it would be harder lying to the gods. He steeled himself for a rebuke. "The emissary failed to tell us of the god-weapons, but he told us that the invaders were not men. The tribes now know this fact. In a few hours, they will attack. Will you help us, soul-man?"
The man gasped and wrinkled his face in unbelief. "Attack! With only knives and spears? Android, this is insanity!" Falon nodded. "But notice how smoke is dimming the sun,
soul-man. The forest fires are driving the people forth. They have no choice but to attack."
"It's suicide!"
Falon nodded. "But it is to save you that they do it. And to save the earth for both of us. Will you help?"
The man leaned thoughtfully against the bars. "Our people are slaves. They have learned to obey their masters. It is hard to say, android. They would rally to a hopeful causeЧbut this seems a hopeless one."
"So it seems. I have planted a seed in the mind of the one known as Kepol. He also thinks it is hopeless, but when he sees a certain thing, the seed may bloom into panic. He underestimates us now. If later he comes to overestimate us, we may have a chance."
"What do you propose to do?"
Falon was loath to take the initiative and tell a soul-man what to do. It seemed somehow improper to him. "Tell me," he asked cautiously, "can you fly the skyboats in which the invaders brought you?"
The man chuckled grimly. "Why not? It was our civilization that built them. The invaders were but savages on Mars, before we came to teach them our ways. They learned from us, then enslaved us. Yes, we can fly the rockets. But why do you ask?"
"I am uncertain as yet. Tell me another thing. How did the one man escape?"
The man frowned, then shook his head. "This, I shall not tell you. We were months in preparing his escape. And the way is still open. Others might follow him. I cannot trust you yet, android,"
Falon made no protest. "You've told me what I want to know-that others can escape. Can many go at once?"
The man was thoughtful for a moment. "It would take a little timeЧto evacuate the entire man pen. But the others are already outside, working on the city."
"They will be brought back soon," Falon said dogmatically. "Wait and see."
The man smiled faintly. "You're sure of yourself, android. You tempt me to trust you."
"It would be best."
"Very well. The escape route is only a tunnel from beneath your cot to the center of the city." The man glanced around at the towers, then tossed Falon a key. "This will unlock your door. Wefiled it from a spoon. Let your unlocking of it be a signal. I'll speak to the others if they return, as you say."
Man and android eyed each other for a moment through the bars.
"Can you get word to the ones who are working on the city?" Falon asked.
The man nodded. "That is possible. What would you have them know?"
"Tell them to watch the forests. Tell them to set up a cry that the tribes are coming to save us."