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

force!тАЭ The way he said тАЬsecurityтАЭ made it sound like an oath. тАЬThere is certainly no danger here, and we
will not have any of those controls foisted on us again. The sooner they learn that, the better.тАЭ He glanced
from Alsay to Corson. тАЬThis puts another light on the whole matter.тАЭ
But what matter he did not explain. Instead, he demanded of me a full accounting of what I had
learned from Lugard, and when I had given that, Alsay cut in. тАЬIt would seem Lugard has the hold as a
pension.тАЭ
тАЬWhich could be only a cover-up he used with the boy.тАЭ Ahren was still aroused. тАЬBut his port
papersтАФthey ought to tell us something. AndтАЭтАФonce more he turned his attention to meтАФтАЬyou might
well keep an eye on him, Vere. Since he accepted your help in getting there, he could well understand
your dropping in againтАФтАЭ What he was suggesting I did not like, but I would not say that yet, not before
these others and across the table where I ate by his leave, under the roof he had made mine. Something
in LugardтАЩs return seemed to have flicked Ahren on the raw; otherwise, he would not have gone to the
length of hinting I should spy on a man who had been my fatherтАЩs good friend.
тАЬFatherтАЭтАФonce more Gytha cut in, still intent on her own wishesтАФтАЬcanтАЩt Vere take us with him? The
Rovers have never been to the lava lands.тАЭ I expected Ahren to quell her with one of those single glances
he used with effect. But he did not, and when he made no quick answer, Alsay spoke. тАЬAh, the Rovers.
And what has been their latest adventure, my dear?тАЭ He was one of those adults who were never at ease
with children, and his voice took on a stilted note, used earlier to a lesser extent with me.
Gytha could be polite when the occasion, by her measurement, warranted it. She smiled at the
Yetholme leader, and she could smile winningly when she chose. тАЬWe went to the gullat lizard hatchery
and made a recording of peep cries,тАЭ she replied. тАЬIt was for Dr. DraxтАЩs communication experiment.тАЭ I
applauded her cunning. To remind her father at this point of some volunteered aid in the past was a
bolster for her present demand to widen horizons. тАЬYes,тАЭ Ahren agreed. тАЬIt really was an outstanding
piece of work, Alsay, showing great patience and perseverance. So now you would like to see the lava
bedsтАФтАЭ I was startled. Could he actually agree? Across the table I saw Annet stiffen; her lips moved as
if they were already shaping a protest. But Alsay spoke again and this time to me.
тАЬQuite a useful organization, Collis. You are supplementing the teaching tapes very well. It is a pity we
have not been able to advance to off-world study. But now that the war is over, there will be
opportunities for that.тАЭ Did he really believe so, I wondered. The Rovers were more GythaтАЩs idea than
mine, though she had drawn me into it and locked me to her purposes so well that I could not now have
dropped the project even if I wanted to. When the settlers had come to Beltane, they had intended to
train their children into a science-minded caste. In fact, experiments in such education had been part of
the original plan. However, the war had interfered with this as with so much else. Off-world science
during those years might have made some great strides. We suspected as much. But our knowledge had
become so specialized and narrowed that, lacking fresh imports of taped information, we generally still
went over ground ten years old by planet dating, perhaps a hundred by advances elsewhere.
To counteract this stultifying effect had been one of the tasks of the educators. However, the cream of
them had been drafted for service. Those remainingтАФlike the sector peopleтАФtended to be conservative,
the older ones. Then there was a drastic epidemic in the third year of the war (caused said rumorтАФwe
always had rumorтАФby over-zealous experimentation for the Services that resulted in a battle between
the sector chiefs and the commandant and the closing down of two projects). After that there were even
fewer left to be concerned with the training of the next generation. By spasms parents came out of their
labs and studies long enough to be excited for a moment over the lack of concentrated cramming for their
children. Then some sudden twist in their own work, some need for complete concentration, took their
minds off the matter. There were never many childrenтАФat Kynvet now only eight, ranging from the
seven-year-old twins Dagny and Dinan Norkot to Thad Maky, who was fourteen and considered
himselfтАФirritatingly at timesтАФnearly adult. Gytha early dominated. She had a vivid imagination and a
total recall memory. Her use of every tape she could lay hand on, though she was barred from digging
into lab recordings, had given her a wide range of the most miscellaneous and amazing information. But
she differentiated clearly between fact and fiction, and she could spin a fantasy or answer a factual