"Mike Resnick - Kirinyaga" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

sustenance to our crops, we slaughter a goat to thank him for the harvest.
Our pleasures are simple: a gourd of pombe to drink, the warmth of a
boma when the sun has gone down, the wail of a newborn son or daughter, the
footraces and spear-throwing and other contests, the nightly singing and
dancing.
Maintenance watches Kirinyaga discreetly, making minor orbital
adjustments when necessary, assuring that our tropical climate remains
constant. From time to time they have subtly suggested that we might wish to
draw upon their medical expertise, or perhaps allow our children to make use
of their educational facilities, but they have taken our refusal with good
grace, and have never shown any desire to interfere in our affairs.
Until I strangled the baby.
It was less than an hour later that Koinnage, our paramount chief,
sought me out.
"That was an unwise thing to do, Koriba," he said grimly.
"It was not a matter of choice," I replied. "You know that."
"Of course you had a choice," he responded. "You could have let the
infant live." He paused, trying to control his anger and his fear.
"Maintenance has never set foot on Kirinyaga before, but now they will come."
"Let them," I said with a shrug. "No law has been broken."
"We have killed a baby," he replied. "They will come, and they will
revoke our charter!"
I shook my head. "No one will revoke our charter."
"Do not be too certain of that, Koriba," he warned me. "You can bury a
goat alive, and they will monitor us and shake their heads and speak
contemptuously among themselves about our religion. You can leave the aged
and the infirm out for the hyenas to eat, and they will look upon us with
disgust and call us godless heathens. But I tell you that killing a newborn
infant is another matter. They will not sit idly by; they will come."
"If they do, I shall explain why I killed it," I replied calmly.
"They will not accept your answers," said Koinnage. "They will not
understand."
"They will have no choice but to accept my answers," I said. "This is
Kirinyaga, and they are not permitted to interfere."
"They will find a way," he said with an air of certainty. "We must
apologize and tell them that it will not happen again."
"We will not apologize," I said sternly. "Nor can we promise that it
will not happen again."
"Then, as paramount chief, I will apologize."
I stared at him for a long moment, then shrugged. "Do what you must
do," I said.
Suddenly I could see the terror in his eyes.
"What will you do to me?" he asked fearfully.
"I? Nothing at all," I said. "Are you not my chief?" As he relaxed, I
added: "But if I were you, I would beware of insects."
"Insects?" he repeated. "Why?"
"Because the next insect that bites you, be it spider or mosquito or
fly, will surely kill you," I said. "Your blood will boil within your body,
and your bones will melt. You will want to scream out your agony, yet you
will be unable to utter a sound." I paused. "It is not a death I would wish