"Daniel Keys Moran - The Ring" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moran Daniel Keys)

He heard his own voice coming from somewhere else, the words moving out of
him in a calm and measured fashion.
"A long time ago people warred upon one another. They fought, children, poorly
and without sufficient skill to destroy those whom they thought their enemies, only
enough skill to harm those enemies and leave them free to seek vengeance, in a circle
from which there seemed no end. It started because the Workers wanted freedom,
and the Giants, who were working for the RulersтАж no," he said, and his voice
carried strongly, almost harshly, "it started because they wanted controlтАж" His
voice broke in the middle of the sentence, and he became aware of the trembling of
his hands, and crossed his arms across his chest to hide their lack of steadiness.
"Fools they were, all of them, they fought over the Light as though it were something
outside them, as though it were a weapon or a tool, never once before the end
stopped fightingтАФand that is not the way to go from the dark to the Light." His
bright blue eyes staring out sightlessly over the length of the Valley of the Rulers, the
Lord of Light named Loga told for the only time in his life, as though it were a vast
weight being lifted from his shoulders, the true story of Cain and Loden, Senta and
Solan, and yes, the truth behind the legend that was Orion of Eastmarch.




PART ONE
 The Diamond of the Day



The Theft
The Year 1284 After the Fire
┬л^┬╗
Beneath the rolling hills of Eastmarch the starship took shape over the space of a
decade. In the huge Caverns at the east end of the Valley, technicians designed and
built and tested, flew the ship and redesigned it, ran stress analysis tests on it,
crashed it and rebuilt it again.
The subwave motor they could not even test; they did not know enough about
how it functioned. As near as the engineers could estimate, the engine was reliable
forтАФperhapsтАФfour or five subspace Drops. They could not even attempt a Drop as
a test, for that would use up one of the precious few problematical Drops left to the
engine.
There was only one such engine in all the Caverns.
One morning, early in Winter Quarter 1284 a.t.f., a tall man with chalk-white skin
sought entrance to the presence of his master. The man's name was Kavad. He was,
to the folk of the ValleyтАФRulers and Workers alikeтАФa barbarian from beyond the
Glowing Desert, one of the pale, silver-eyed ken Selvren. If he did not act the role of
a barbarian, perhaps it was simply because he was quite old, and well versed in the
ways of the civilized world. Most of his adult life had been spent in the service of a
man whom even Kavad's mother had found formidable.
He knocked at the door to Cain's suite of quarters, once, sharply. The guards in
front of his master's doorтАФone of them ken Selvren, like KavadтАФdid not even seem
to notice him; they would near as soon have questioned Cain himself. Cain's bath
servant was sleeping with a blanket and pillow beside the door.