"Andre Norton - Dark Piper" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

forward, one did not just remain still; one slipped back. Were we slipping back? We were still
conditioned by the laws, intended to keep us at peace with each other and the life about us. ButтАФ
тАЬVereтАФтАЭ Thad changed the subject now, either because he wanted to escape GythaтАЩs accusation or
because he was really interested. тАЬWhat is all this?тАЭ He gestured to indicate the four walls of the room.
Time had set lightly here. I believed the Butte must have been sealed airtight. The walls were as bright
under the diffused light as if they were newly painted. Three were unbroken; the fourth, with the door,
was separated by that into two tall panels. And what they all displayed were maps, each covering a
quarter of our continent, north, east, south, and west. All the settlements were marked with small bulbs,
unlit. In addition, I picked out some of the long abandoned Security holds, most of them mere sentry
posts.
Below each wall was a board with a range of levers and buttons, and in front of each board a chair
that slid with ease along the full length of the controls. The center of the room was occupied by a square
platform a step above the surface of the floor, and on it was a fifth chair, made to face any wall, as Dinan
Norkot had discovered, sitting in it to whirl dizzily about. Memories of the past when I was about
DinanтАЩs age stirred. I had been here once and had seen my father in that center seatтАФnot whirling but
turning slowly to watch lights winking on the board. BlueтАФyes, blue for the sectors, red for the Security
posts, and yellowтАФno, greenтАФfor the Reserves. тАЬThis is a com post,тАЭ I told Thad. Not a com post
either, but the com postтАФmore important even than the one at the port. Butte Hold had been the most
secure of all the posts, and so the most necessary installations were here. Did it still work, I wondered?
The lights were out, but that might only mean that the boards were closed down, not really dead. I went
to the one facing north. The port lightтАФI leaned over the board, discovered that that was too
uncomfortable, so seated myself in the chair, and compared numbers on board and wall until I found the
button to press.
Voices boomed into the room so that I heard Annet cry out, and we all stared at the wall map from
which they seemed to break with a clarity that would have been more natural had the men speaking
stood before us.
Dagny Norkot ran over to stand beside my chair. тАЬThatтАЩs my father.тАЭ she declared. тАЬBut he went to
the portтАФтАЭ
тАЬтАФsatisfied with their statements. ThenтАФтАЭ
It faded as if Norkot had walked away from an open com mike or else that the power installation
weakened. Annet was beside me now. тАЬWeтАЩre not supposed to be listening in on a Committee meeting,тАЭ
she said. That was the truth. But somehow I wanted to know just how effective the whole system still
was. I snapped up the port lever and depressed that of Yetholme. Again we had a pickup. Not clear
voices as NorkotтАЩs had been, but enough to know that the old setup was partially effective.
тАЬYou knowтАЭтАФThad pushed between Annet and my chairтАФтАЬthis Griss Lugard, he can about hear all
that is going onтАФeverywhereтАФand stay right here! Voice pickup anyway. IsnтАЩt there any visa-screen
relay?тАЭ
Again I remembered. Getting out of the seat before the north board, I went to that center control chair
where Dinan had been spinning moments earlier. It took me two false starts before I either remembered,
and was not aware of it, or lit by chance on the proper combination of two buttons in the chair arms, plus
a foot lever. A section of the wall slid up to disclose a screen. тАЬYah!тАЭ Thad expressed his excited
interest. тАЬNow what do you do?тАЭ I glanced quickly over the rest of the map, having no mind to look at
any occupied sector house. The easiest choice would be one of the abandoned Security ports in the far
north.
тАЬThad, press the first lever, first row,тАЭ I ordered, holding the screen ready with my own fingers.
He did so. There was a flicker on the screen and then a picture, so dim at first that I thought the
power was nearly exhausted. But as I continued to hold, it built up into a brighter display, and we were
looking at another room. This, too, had banks of controls, a couple of chairs. But there was a great crack
in the wall behind the control board andтАФ
тАЬLookтАФa wart-horn!тАЭ