"John Morressy - A Law for the Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO




PART ONE
JADJEEL : THE INNOCENTS
Power, like a desolating pestilence,
Pollutes whate'er it touches; and obedience,
Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth,
Makes slaves of men, and, of the human frame,
A mechanized automaton.

тАФShelley



Contents
Prev/Next


Prologue

The world called Jadjeel was settled by the last survivors of a religious sect that had suffered
near-extinction at the hands of the Earthly tyrant Bordon Moran. They made planetfall only
after a long voyage filled with hardship and suffering, and they had no wish to seek further for
a sanctuary.

Other humanoids, the "blue folk," dwelt in the forests and among the mountains of Jadjeel,
but they ignored the newcomers. The seacoast was uninhabited. The pioneers gladly settled by
the water and began to build a new life.

After two generations, some of the younger colonists journeyed to farther stars. The rest
remained behind to enjoy the bounty of the world they had been given.

Centuries passed in peaceful contentment. Jadjeel was a fruitful, tranquil world, and in the
easy pleasure of each new day and the certainty of a good tomorrow, the past became an
encumbrance. It was allowed to die. Those suffering Earthbound generations were forgotten.
Their hard-won knowledge was lost. The facts of history blurred into myth and legend.

Little trace of Old Earth origins survived. Bordon Moran became a name to frighten
naughty children. North America was a place as remote as the Home Beyond Death. In time,
even the starfaring voyage of the first colonists came to be regarded as a symbolic tale. Surely,
said these fisherfolk, farmers, and traders of Jadjeel, our ancestors could not actually have
flown through the emptiness overhead. No human can do such things. It is a story passed
down to teach us humility. Life began here, on Jadjeel, long ago. That is the truth; the rest is
fable.