"Jerry Pournelle & Roland Green - Janissaries 3 - Storms of Victory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pournelle Jerry)

"Do they own this planet, then?"
"It's complicated," Les said. "The Commission has rules about dealing with
primitives, but they don't seem to apply to this place. Most records of Tran
have been lost. I expect the Shalnuksis paid plenty to lose them. There are
rules, my friend, but who'll enforce them?"
"Agzaral?"
"Maybe. If it's to his interest."
"What is his interest?"
Les shrugged and held his glass out to be refilled. "I do not know. He doesn't
tell me."
"ButтАФ"
"But I do as he says anyway," Les said. His voice fell and he grew more
serious. "Agzaral's all I've got. I think he's doing his best to look out for
humans. All humans, everywhere, and especially Earth. Think, hell. I don't
think it, I know it. He's doing his best. Whether that's good enough is another
story, but he is trying."
"Okay. But about the ShalnuksisтАФ"
"They don't exactly own the planet, but you better act like they do. And if
Tran looks like it's about to spring an industrial and scientific revolution, the
Commission has some hard choices to make. They'd have to set up permanent
surveillance, with an inspector. Like Agzaral's operation on Earth's Moon.
That could be expensive. There'll be some to argue that it's cheaper and
simpler to blast Iran back to the Early Iron Age."
"Like they did beforeтАФ"
"Like the Shalnuksis did before," Les corrected. "Two or three times before.
But that was their own work. If the Commission orders it, the bombardment
will be a lot more thorough."
"Will they do that?"
Les shook his head. "Insufficient data. The Shalnuksis don't have 'as much
influence in the Commission as they used to have. That's the good side. And
there's Agzaral's plan."
"Whatever that isтАФ"
Les nodded firmly. "Whatever that is. Because it's about all we've got."
By the light of the Demon Star the dead sentry looked uglier than the run of
corpses. Lord Morrone knew that there was no such thing as a handsome
corpse; for all that he had not seen his eleventh name-day he had been in
enough battles to learn that. Even so, the sentry was an unwholesome sight,
his face dark, tongue protruding, and his clothes fouled and stinking. It's not
his look, it's what this foretells.
Morrone and his Guardsmen whirled, hands to swords, at the sound of
footsteps.
"Belay that."
The voice was soft, but there was no mistaking it. "Lord Mason. Well come. I
feared it was another." Well come indeed, Morrone thought. Now work your
star magic and discover who has done this
"Who found him?"
"Guardsman Echaino. An accident. He came into this passage to relieve
himself, found the sentry where you see him, and summoned the Guard."
"Did you leave the corpse, Echaino?"
"No, my lord."