"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 10 - The Yoke of Shen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

for
Geo. W. Proctor, Lanatian
A: All planets are not shown. B: Map is not to scale, because of the vast distances
between stars.
SCARLET HILLS

Alas, fair ones, my time has come. I must depart your lovely home-Seek the bounds of this galaxy To find what lies beyond.
(chorus)
Scarlet hills and amber skies,
Gentlebeings with loving eyes;
All these I leave to search for a dream
That will cure the wand'rer in me.
You say it must be glamorous For those who travel out through space. You know not the dark, endless night Nor the solitude we
face.
(reprise chorus)
I know not of my journey's end Nor the time nor toll it will have me spend. But I must see what I've never seen And know what I've
never known.
Scarlet hills and amber skies, Gentlebeings with loving eyes; All these I leave to search for a dream That will cure the wand'rer
in me.

-Ann Morris


Prologue
Most cosmological -questions, especially those involv-ing the creation of the universe, were explained as the direct,
divine action of one or more superhuman beings. -William J. Kaufmann, Black Holes and Warped Spacetime


First they waited for her, overnight. Next morning they began to seek her. That became a search, and that became
frustration.
For four days the four of them searched Yamato. They queried and requested, bribed and threatened, cajoled and
castigated, demanded and urged, blustered and pleaded with tears. Late in the second day they even enlisted the aid
of the city's policers. Or tried to.
After being shunted from one department to another and another and from one minor official to another, they
gained the agreement of Yamato Guardian Agency: the Terasak policers would be on the lookout. Yes, they would
even check around, a little.
None of the searchers learned anything, including Y.G.A.
She had come down into Terasaki's capital city from space station Ukiyo. She had come alone, secretly and indeed
sneakily, for she had told her companions that she intended merely to do some shopping, onstation.
They traced her to the small hotel where they would never have stayed. She had arrived alone, meaning that she had
not been forced off Ukiyostation, and so had 1
2
intended to deceive and avoid them. They discovered that she had appeared wearing stylish local clothing, which told
them that she had done some shopping. They traced her back to that store. The trail ended there-or rather formed a
loop. They could find no way out of it. From station to store to hotel to . . . disappearance.
She had not checked out. She had made no calls and received none. She was gone, just the same, as if she had
vanished into the wall. Her go-bag was gone, too. There had been no sign of a struggle, the hotel staff assured.
The absence of that ancient cliche, the man in the broad-brimmed hat pointed out to his companions, could merely
mean that her kidnapper was the careful sort. A professional, perhaps. At least someone competent.