"Cordwainer Smith - A Planet Named Shayol" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Cordwainer)

УNo, maТam,Ф said the robot inspector. He looked as uncomfortable as a robot could look. The drug made Mercer think that it would be nice to have robots for company, out on the surface of Shayol.
УI declare this Top Emergency, in the ancient words. Do you understand? Connect me with the Instrumentality.Ф
УWe canТt ЦФ said the inspector.
УYou can ask,Ф said the Lady Da.
The inspector complied.
The Lady Da turned to BТdikkat. УGive Mercer and me those shots now. Then put us outside the door so the dromozoa can repair these scars. Bring us in as soon as a connection is made. Wrap us in cloth if you do not have clothes for us. Mercer can stand the pain.Ф
УYes,Ф said BТdikkat, keeping his eyes away from the four soft children and their collapsed eyes.
The injection burned like no fire ever had. It must have been capable of fighting the super-condamine, because BТdikkat put them through the open window, so as to have time going through the door. The dromozoa, sensing that they needed repair, flashed upon them. This time the super-condamine had something else fighting it.
Mercer did not scream but he lay against the wall and wept for ten thousand years; in objective time, it must have been several hours.
The Customs robots were taking pictures. The dromozoa were flashing against them too, sometimes in whole swarms, but nothing happened.
Mercer heard the voice of the communicator inside the cabin calling loudly for BТdikkat. УSurgery Satellite calling Shayol. BТdikkat, get on the line!Ф
He obviously was not replying.
There were soft cries coming from the other communicator, the one which the customs officials had brought into the room. Mercer was sure that the eye-machine was on and that people in other worlds were looking at Shayol for the first time.
BТdikkat came through the door. He had torn navigation charts out of his lifeboat. With these he cloaked them.
Mercer noted that the Lady Da changed the arrangement of the cloak in a few minor ways and suddenly looked like a person of great importance.
They re-entered the cabin door.
BТdikkat whispered, as if filled with awe, УThe Instrumentality has been reached, and a Lord of the Instrumentality is about to talk to you.Ф
There was nothing for Mercer to do, so he sat back in a corner of the room and watched. The Lady Da, her skin healed, stood pale and nervous in the middle of the floor.
The room filled with an odourless intangible smoke. The smoke clouded. The full communicator was on.
A human figure appeared.
A woman, dressed in a uniform of radically conservative cut, faced the Lady Da.
УThis is Shayol. You are the Lady Da. You called me.Ф
The Lady Da pointed to the children on the floor. УThis must not happen,Ф she said. УThis is a place of punishments, agreed upon between the Instrumentality and the Empire. No one said anything about children.Ф
The woman on the screen looked down at the children.
УThis is the work of insane people!Ф she cried.
She looked accusingly at the Lady Da. УAre you imperial?Ф
УI was an Empress, madam,Ф said the Lady Da.
УAnd you permit this!Ф
УPermit it?Ф cried the Lady Da. УI had nothing to do with it.Ф Her eyes widened. УI am a prisoner here myself. DonТt you understand?Ф
The image-woman snapped, УNo, I donТt.Ф
УI,Ф said the Lady Da, Уam a specimen. Look at the herd out there. I came from them a few hours ago.Ф
УAdjust me,Ф said the image-woman to BТdikkat. УLet me see that herd.Ф
Her body, standing upright, soared through the wall in a flashing arc and was placed in the very centre of the herd.
The Lady Da and Mercer watched her. They saw even the image lose its stiffness and dignity. The image-woman waved an arm to show that she should be brought back into the cabin. BТdikkat tuned her back into the room.
УI owe you an apology,Ф said the image. УI am the Lady Johanna Gnade, one of the Lords of the Instrumentality.Ф
Mercer bowed, lost his balance and had to scramble up from the floor. The Lady Da acknowledged the introduction with a royal nod.
The two women looked at each other.
УYou will investigate,Ф said the Lady Da, Уand when you have investigated, please put us all to death. You know about the drug?Ф
УDonТt mention it,Ф said BТdikkat, УdonТt even say the name into a communicator. It is a secret of the Instrumentality.Ф
УI am the Instrumentality,Ф said the Lady Johanna. УAre you in pain? I did not think that any of you were alive. I had heard of the surgery banks on your off-limits planet, but I thought that robots tended parts of people and sent up the new grafts by rocket. Are there any people with you? Who is in charge? Who did this to the children?Ф
BТdikkat stepped in front of the image. He did not bow. УIТm in charge.Ф
УYouТre underpeople!Ф cried the Lady Johanna. УYouТre a cow!Ф
УA bull, maТam. My family is frozen back on Earth itself, and with a thousand yearsТ service I am earning their freedom and my own. Your other questions, maТam. I do all the work. The dromozoa do not affect me much, though I have to cut a part off myself now and then. I throw those away. They donТt go into the bank. Do you know the secret rules of this place?Ф
The Lady Johanna talked to someone behind her on another world. Then she looked at BТdikkat and commanded, УJust donТt name the drug or talk too much about it. Tell me the rest.Ф
УWe have,Ф said BТdikkat very formally, Уthirteen hundred and twenty-one people here who can still be counted on to supply parts when the dromozoa implant them. There are about seven hundred more, including Go-Captain Alvarez, who have been so thoroughly absorbed by the planet that it is no use trimming them. The Empire set up this place as a point of uttermost punishment. But the Instrumentality gave secret orders for medicineФ Ц he accented the word strangely, meaning super-condamine Ц Уto be issued so that the punishment would be counteracted. The Empire supplies our convicts. The Instrumentality distributes the surgical material.Ф
The Lady Johanna lifted her right hand in a gesture of silence and compassion. She looked around the room. Her eyes came back to the Lady Da. Perhaps she guessed what effort the Lady Da had made in order to remain standing erect while the two drugs, the super-condamine and the lifeboat drug, fought within her veins.
УYou people can rest. I will tell you now that all things possible will be done for you. The Empire is finished. The Fundamental Agreement, by which the Instrumentality surrendered to the Empire a thousand years ago, has been set aside. We did not know that you people existed. We would have found out in time, but I am sorry we did not find out sooner. Is there anything we can do for you right away?Ф
УTime is what we all have,Ф said the Lady Da. УPerhaps we cannot ever leave Shayol, because of the dromozoa and the medicine. The one could be dangerous. The other must never be permitted to be known.Ф
The Lady Johanna Gnade looked around the room. When her glance reached him, BТdikkat fell to his knees and lifted his enormous hands in complete supplication.
УWhat do you want?Ф said she.