"Dan Simmons - The rise of Endymion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Simmons Dan)

Pelli Cognani's frown deepened. "Your Eminence," she said. "May I speak freely?"
Lourdusamy extended a pudgy palm. He had always distrusted people who asked to speak freely or
who vowed to speak candidly or who used the expression "frankly." He said, "Of course, my dear
friend. I regret that the pressing circumstances of the day allow us so little time."
Anna Pelli Cognani nodded tersely.
She had understood the command to be precise. "Your Eminence," she said, "we asked for this
conference so that we could speak to you not only as loyal members of His Holiness's Pancapitalist
League, but as friends of the Holy See and of yourself."
Lourdusamy nodded affably. His thin lips between the jowls were curled in a slight smile. "Of
course."
M. Helvig Aron cleared his throat. "Your Eminence, the Mercantilus has an understandable
interest in the coming papal election."
The Cardinal waited.


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"Our goal today," continued M. Hay-Modhino, "is to reassure Your Eminence -- both as Secretary
of State and as a potential candidate for the papacy -- that the League will continue to carry out
the Vatican's policy with the utmost loyalty after the coming election."
Cardinal Lourdusamy nodded ever so slightly. He understood perfectly. Somehow the Pax
Mercantilus -- Isozaki's intelligence network -- had sniffed out a possible insurrection in the
Vatican hierarchy. Somehow they had overheard the most silent of whispers in whisperproof rooms
such as this: that it had come time to replace Pope Julius with a new pontiff. And Isozaki knew
that Simon Augustino Lourdusamy would be that man.
"In this sad interregnum," M. Cognani was continuing, "we felt it our duty to offer private as
well as public assurances that the League will continue serving the interests of the Holy See and
the Holy Mother Church, just as it has for more than two standard centuries."
Cardinal Lourdusamy nodded again and waited, but nothing else was forthcoming from the four
Mercantilus leaders. For a moment he allowed himself to speculate on why Isozaki had come in
person. To see my reaction rather than trust the reports of his subordinates, he thought. The old
man trusts his senses and insights over anyone and anything else. Lourdusamy smiled. Good policy.
He let another minute of silence stretch before speaking. "My friends," he rumbled at last, "you
cannot know how it warms my heart to have four such busy and important people visit this poor
priest in our time of shared sorrow."
Isozaki and Cognani remained expressionless, as inert as argon, but the Cardinal could see the
poorly hidden glint of anticipation in the eyes of the other two Mercantilus men.
If Lourdusamy welcomed their support at this juncture, however subtly, it put the Mercantilus
on an even level with the Vatican conspirators -- made the Mercantilus a welcomed conspirator and
de facto co-equal to the next Pope.
Lourdusamy leaned closer to the table. The Cardinal noticed that M. Kenzo Isozaki had not
blinked during the entire exchange. "My friends," he continued, "as good born-again Christians" --
he nodded toward M.'s Aron and Hay-Modhino -- "Knights Hospitaller, you undoubtedly know the
procedure for the election of our next Pope. But let me refresh your memory. Once the cardinals
and their interactive counterparts are gathered and sealed in the Sistine Chapel, there are three
ways in which we can elect a pope -- by acclamation, by delegation, or by scrutiny. Through
acclamation, all of the cardinal electors are moved by the Holy Spirit to proclaim one person as
Supreme Pontiff. We each cry eligo -- "I elect" -- and the name of the person we unanimously
select. Through delegation, we choose a few of those among us -- say a dozen cardinals -- to make