"Andre Norton - Solar Queen 03- Voodoo Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

while on taming runs. TomorrowтАФno,тАЭ he corrected himself, тАЬthe day after tomorrow I will be able to
show you how the process works.тАЭ

тАЬAnd tomorrow?тАЭ inquired the captain.

тАЬTomorrow my men make hunting magic.тАЭ AsakiтАЩs voice was expressionless.

тАЬYour chief witch doctor being?тАЭ questioned Tau.

тАЬLumbrilo.тАЭ The Chief Ranger did not appear disposed to add to that but Tau pursued the subject.

тАЬHis office is hereditary?тАЭ

тАЬYes. Does that make any difference?тАЭ For the first time there was a current of repressed eagerness in the
otherтАЩs tone.

тАЬPerhaps a vast amount of difference,тАЭ Tau replied. тАЬA hereditary office may carry with it two forms of
conditioning, one to influence its holder, one to affect the public-at-large. Your Lumbrilo may have come
to believe deeply in his own powers; he would be a very remarkable man if he did not. It is almost certain
that your people unquestionably accept him as a worker of wonders?тАЭ

тАЬThey do so accept,тАЭ Once more AsakiтАЩs voice was drained of life.

тАЬAnd Lumbrilo does not accept something you believe necessary?тАЭ

тАЬAgain the truth, Medic. Lumbrilo does not accept his proper place in the scheme of things!тАЭ
тАЬHe is a member of one of your Five Families?тАЭ

тАЬNo, his clan is small, always set apart. From the beginning here those who spoke for gods and demons did
not also order men.тАЭ

тАЬSeparation of church and state,тАЭ commented Tau thoughtfully. тАЬYet in our Terran past there have been
times when church and state were one. Does Lumbrilo desire that?тАЭ

Asaki raised his eyes to the mountain peaks, to the northward where lay his beloved work.

тАЬI do not know what Lumbrilo wants, save that it makes mischiefтАФor worse! This I tell you: hunting
magic is part of our lives and it has at its core some of those unexplainable happenings which you have
acknowledged do exist. I have used powers I can neither explain nor understand as part of my work. In the
jungle and on the grasslands an off-worlder must guard his life with a stass belt if he goes unarmed. But
IтАФany of my menтАФcan walk unharmed if we obey the rules of our magic. Only Lumbrilo does other
things which his forefathers did not. And he boasts that he can do more. So he has a growing following of
those who believeтАФand those who fear.тАЭ

тАЬYou want me to face him?тАЭ

The Chief RangerтАЩs big hands closed upon the rim of the parapet as if they could exert enough pressure to
crumble the hard stone. тАЬI want you to see whether there is trickery in this. Trickery I can fight, for that
there are weapons. But if Lumbrilo truly controls forces for which there is no name, then perhaps we must
patch up an uneasy peaceтАФor go down in defeat. And, off-worlder, I come from a line of warriorsтАФwe do