"Roberts, John Maddox - Cingulum 03 - The Sword, The Jewel and the Mirror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Roberts John Maddox)

great, numerous people like some others." He stared at Soong. "The Han own many worlds; they are a numerous minority on many others. You," he said, looking Haakon in the eye, "represent the old European culture, from which sprang the expansion of men from Earth into the stars. No amount of slaughter, even the Bahaduran sterilization of worlds, would wipe out your heritage. "We," he said, sweat shining on his brow, "are a small people. Not numerous, not even unified, but a people. As far as we know, the culture of the Home Islands is lost except for Grass Cutter. Our language, our legends, our customs and religions may exist nowhere else except here. We are quite willing to accept casualties in order to preserve these things. To you, we may appear to be a backward peopleЧdivided into warring religious and political sects, an agricultural, iron-age race on a primitive planet. To us, we are the conservators of an ancient cultural tradition. Any of us will happily die to preserve it."
There was another short silence, then Haakon said, "All right, I'll go for it. We nee4 a little time, though. I want to bring another of my crew down. When do you want to set off on this expedition?"
"The day after tomorrow will be convenient," the woman said.
"We'll stay in the inn at Masamune we were told about," Haakon said. "Are there any other surprises we should be looking for?"
She smiled once again. "No, ail the cards are on the table now."
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I'll bet, Haakon thought. "We'll need an excuse to prolong our stay. Bring Kiley back in."
One of the monks got up and ran out of the shed. After a few minutes, he returned with the junkyard-keeper in tow.
"Kiley," Haakon said, "how long was it you figured it'd take to get those Tesla nodes pried out?"
"Tesla nodes?" asked Kiley, mystified. "I already explained, they deteriorate so fast."
"Kiley," Jemal said, "we need an excuse to stay here about four or five days."
"Oh, Tesla nodes! Well, like I was telling you, they get covered with all this corrosion that takes days to chip away. You gotta do it careful, too. Job like that, it could take five, six days easy."
"That's better," Haakon said. "One thing we can be pretty sure the BT's will know nothing about, it's Teslas. Now I think it's time we had a look at that inn. When you're ready to leave, bring transport for four of us."
"You'll have it." The woman rose and redonned her metal mask and helmet. She left the shed, trailing her escort of warrior-monks. Overhead, another thundering hailstorm commenced.
As they rode back to the town, Haakon said, "How do you read that woman? She's not Chamukan."
"Unless my ethnological analysis is terribly inaccurate," Soong said, "she is a high-born lady of some Bahaduran house. During my years as an assassin, I studied those people in great detail. She shows gene traces of some of the very highest houses. Those families
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are so inbred that their genetic signatures are quite distinct."
"Now what's a Bahaduran noblewoman doing involved in an anti-Bahadur movement on a place like Chamuka?" Jemal asked.
"Damned if I know," Haakon said. "But we don't trust her."
"When did we ever trust any but our own shipmates?" Soong asked.
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Four
NUMA DIDN'T SMELL HAPPY To EVERYBODY'S GREAT relief, Felid males were not nearly the scent factories that the females were, but his changes of mood were nevetheless signaled by different odors.
"I've always hated wearing armor," he rumbled.
His large, clawed fingers adjusted the laces of his suit with incongruous delicacy. It had taken them most of a day to find armor large enough to fit him. They had had to hire a craftsman to fashion some of the plates especially for the Felid.
The locals had never seen a Felid, and many had wandered by to gawk, further irritating his already uncertain temper. He hissed at a bystander as they awaited their transport on the veranda of the inn.
"You look splendid," Soong assured him. "The red armor sets off your gold coloration to perfection. That
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particular color combination is regarded as most felicitous by Asian cultures."
"Makes you look mean as hell, too," Jemal said. Numa's rumbling subsided. Felids also had a weakness for flattery.
Haakon scanned the area. The inn was set in a picturesque grove of local foilage and some kind of modified bamboo. The buildings were set on posts that had been soaked in poison, to keep local wildlife from crawling in. There was a rock garden with a pool and an ornamental bridge, giving a deceptive aura of peace in the midst of this deadly environment. The bridge looked fragile, but it was made of the same durable ceramic as their armor. He had carefully examined some of the local trees. Their trunks were hard as stone and the leaflike appendages were tough and leathery. Everything here was adapted to resist the hailstones, winds, and earthquakes.
Their transport arrived to take them to the wrecking yard and they climbed in. "I hope we don't run into the BT's on the road," Jemal said.
"We have our excuse ready," Haakon reminded him.
"I just don't want to attract attention. Hulagu may just be looking for an excuse to kill us."
"He knows he'd have to answer to his boss for that," Haakon objected.
"With a situation as confused and volatile as this," Soong pointed out, "one can get away with many things. Unsettled times are the traditional opportunity for settling old scores."
"You two are just doing wonders for my equanimity,"
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Haakon groused. "Why not just shut up and let's deal with our problems as they arise?" He could only take so much pessimism, especially when it was justified.
Their traveling party did not appear until after the transport had returned to town. They rushed for cover as a hailstorm arrived, and when it was safe to leave the shed, they saw what was emerging from the tree line.
"What the hell are those things?" asked Jemal, aghast.
"Those are turkles," Kiley said. The creatures being ridden or led were about four meters long and moved on four short, stumpy legs. Their backs were covered with a jointed carapace and their low-slung heads were capped with a plate of knobby horn.
"I can't decide," Haakon said, "whether they're incredibly ugly or just plain dumb-looking."
Kiley shrugged. "They ain't pretty, but they're about the only animals on this planet that won't deliberately try to kill you. Might accidentally stomp you to death, though."
"I don't think 1 like this idea," Jemal said. There was an ancient spacer's superstition that said it was bad luck for a spacer to climb aboard any riding animal.