"Elric Saga - 02 - The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

"Womanslayer? An unpleasant nickname. Who is this other Elric?"
"That I cannot completely answer," said Erekosы. "But I share a name, it seems, with more than one aboard this ship. I, like Brut, sought Tanelorn and found myself here instead."
"We have that in common," said another. He was a black-skinned warrior, the tallest of the company, his features oddly enhanced by a scar running like an inverted V from his forehead and over both eyes, down his cheeks to his jawbones. "I was in a land called Ghaja-Ki, a most unpleasant, swampy place, filled with perverse and diseased life. I had heard of a city said to exist there and I thought it might be Tanelorn. It was not. And it was inhabited by a blue-skinned, hermaphroditic race who determined to cure me of what they considered my malformations of hue and sexuality. This scar you see was their work. The pain of their operation gave me strength to escape them and I ran naked into the swamps, floundering for many a mile until the swamp became a lake feeding a broad river over which hung black clouds of insects which set upon me hungrily. This ship appeared and I was more than glad to seek its sanctuary. I am Otto Blendker, once a scholar of Brunse, now a hireling sword for my sins."
"This Brunse? Does it lie near Elwher?" said Elric. He had never heard of such a place, nor such an outlandish name, in the Young Kingdoms.
The black man shook his head. "I know naught of Elwher."
"Then the world is a considerably larger place than I imagined," said Elric.
"Indeed it is," said Erekosы. "What would you say if I offered you the theory that the sea on which we sail spans more than one world?"
"I would be inclined to believe you." Elric smiled. "I have studied such theories. More, I have experienced adventures in worlds other than my own."
"It is a relief to hear it," said Erekosы. "Not all on board this ship are willing to accept my theory."
"I come closer to accepting it," said Otto Blendker, "though I find it terrifying."
"It is that," agreed Erekosы. "More terrifying than you can imagine, friend Otto."
Elric leaned across the table and helped himself to a further mug of wine. His clothes were already drying and physically he had a sense of well-being. "I'll be glad to leave this misty shore behind."
"The shore has been left already," said Brut, "but as for the mist, it is ever with us. Mist appears to follow the ship-or else the ship creates the mist wherever it travels. It is rare that we see land at all and when we do see it, as we saw it today, it is usually obscured, like a reflection in a dull and buckled shield."
"We sail on a supernatural sea," said another, holding out a gloved hand for the jug. Elric passed it to him. "In Hasghan, where I come from, we have a legend of a Bewitched Sea. If a mariner finds himself sailing in those waters he may never return and will be lost for eternity."
"Your legend contains at least some truth, I fear, Terndrik of Hasghan," Brut said.
"How many warriors are on board?" Elric asked.
"Sixteen other than the Four," said Erekosы. "Twenty in all. The crew numbers about ten and then there is the captain. You will see him soon, doubtless."
"The Four? Who are they?"
Erekosы laughed. "You and I are two of them. The other two occupy the aft cabin. And if you wish to know why we are called the Four, you must ask the captain, though I warn you his answers are rarely satisfying."
Elric realized that he was being pressed slightly to one side. "The ship makes good speed," he said laconically, "considering how poor the wind was."
"Excellent speed," agreed Erekosы'. He rose from his corner, a broad-shouldered man with an ageless face bearing the evidence of considerable experience. He was handsome and he had plainly seen much conflict, for both his hands and his face were heavily scarred, though not disfigured. His eyes, though deep-set and dark, seemed of no particular color and yet were familiar to Elric. He felt that he might have seen those eyes in a dream once.
"Have we met before?" Elric asked him.
"Oh, possibly-or shall meet. What does it matter? Our fates are the same. We share an identical doom. And possibly we share more than that."
"More? I hardly comprehend the first part of your statement."
"Then it is for the best," said Erekosы, inching past his comrades and emerging on the other side of the table. He laid a surprisingly gentle hand on Elric's shoulder. "Come, we must seek audience with the captain. He expressed a wish to see you shortly after you came aboard."
Elric nodded and rose. "This captain-what is his name?"
"He has none he will reveal to us," said Erekosы. Together they emerged onto the deck. The mist was if anything thicker and of the same deathly whiteness, no longer tinted by the sun's rays. It was hard to see to the far ends of the ship and for all that they were evidently moving rapidly, there was no hint of a wind. Yet it was warmer than Elric might have expected. He followed Erekosы forward to the cabin set under the deck on which one of the ship's twin wheels stood, tended by a tall man in sea-coat and leggings of quilted deerskin who was so still as to resemble a statue. The red-haired steersman did not look around or down as they advanced toward the cabin, but Elric caught a glimpse of his face.
The door seemed built of some kind of smooth metal possessing a sheen almost like the healthy coat of an animal. It was reddish-brown and the most colorful thing Elric had so far seen on the ship. Erekosы knocked softly upon the door. "Captain," he said. "Elric is here."
"Enter," said a voice at once melodious and distant.
The door opened. Rosy light flooded out, half-blinding Elric as he walked in. As his eyes adapted, he could see a very tall, pale-clad man standing upon a richly hued carpet in the middle of the cabin. Elric heard the door close and realized that Erekosы had not accompanied him inside.
"Are you refreshed, Elric?" said the captain.
"I am, sir, thanks to your wine."
The captain's features were no more human than were Elric's. They were at once finer and more powerful than those of the Melnibonшan, yet bore a slight resemblance in that the eyes were inclined to taper, as did the face, toward the chin. The captain's long hair fell to his shoulders in red-gold waves and was kept back from his brow by a circlet of blue jade. His body was clad in buff-colored tunic and hose and there were sandals of silver and silver-thread laced to his calves. Apart from his clothing, he was twin to the steersman Elric had recently seen.
"Will you have more wine?"
The captain moved toward a chest on the far side of the cabin, near the porthole, which was closed.
"Thank you," said Elric. And now he realized why the eyes had not focused on him. The captain was blind.
For all that his movements were deft and assured, it was obvious that he could not see at all. He poured the wine from a silver jug into a silver cup and began to cross toward Elric, holding the cup out before him. Elric stepped forward and accepted it.
"I am grateful for your decision to join us," said the captain. "I am much relieved, sir."
"You are courteous," said Elric, "though I must add that my decision was not difficult to make. I had nowhere else to go."
"I understand that. It is why we put into shore when and where we did. You will find that all your companions were in a similar position before they, too, came aboard."
"You appear to have considerable knowledge of the movements of many men," said Elric. He held the wine untasted in his left hand.
"Many," agreed the captain, "on many worlds. I understand that you are a person of culture, sir, so you will be aware of something of the nature of the sea upon which my ship sails."
"I think so."
"She sails between the worlds, for the most part-between the planes of a variety of aspects of the same world, to be a little more exact." The captain hesitated, turning his blind face away from Elric. "Please know that I do not deliberately mystify you. There are some things I do not understand and other things which I may not completely reveal. It is a trust I have and I hope you feel you can respect it."
"I have no reason as yet to do otherwise," replied the albino. And he took a sip of the wine.
"I find myself with a fine company," said the captain. "I hope that you continue to think it worthwhile honoring my trust when we reach our destination."
"And what is that, Captain?"
"An island indigenous to these waters."
"That must be a rarity."
"Indeed, it is, and once undiscovered, uninhabited by those we must count our enemies. Now that they have found it and realize its power, we are in great danger."