"E. E. Doc Smith - Lensman 3 - Galactic Patrol" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

friends. He did not know that we knew all about it, but we did
Kinnison's very ears burned scarlet, but the Commandant went imperturbably
on.
"So it was with Voelker and the hypnotist of Karalon, with LaForge and the
bentlam-eaters, with Flewelling when the Ganymede-Venus thionite smugglers tried
to
bribe him with ten million in gold . . . . .
"Good Heavens, Commandant!" broke in one outraged youth. "Do you -- did you
-- know everything that happened?"
"Not quite everything, perhaps, but it is my business to know enough. No
man
who can be cracked has ever worn, or ever will wear, the . Lens.. And none of
you need
be ashamed, for you have passed every test. Those who did not pass them were
those
who were dropped.
"Nor is it any disgrace to have been dismissed from the Cadet Corps. The
million
who started with you were the pick of the planet, yet we knew in advance that of
that
selected million scarcely one in ten thousand would measure up in every
essential.
Therefore it would be manifestly unfair to stigmatize the rest of them because
they were
not born with that extra something, that ultimate quality of fiber which does,
and of
necessity must, characterize the wearers of the Lens. For that reason not even
the man
himself knows why he was dismissed, and no one save those who wear the Lens
knows why they were selected -- and a Lensman does not talk.
"It is necessary to consider the history and background of the Patrol in
order to
bring out clearly the necessity for such care in the selection of its personnel.
You are all
familiar with it, but probably very few of you have thought of it in that
connection. The
Patrol is of course an outgrowth of the old Planetary Police systems, and, until
its
development, law enforcement always lagged behind law violation. Thus, in the
old
days following the invention of the automobile, state troopers could not cross
state
lines. Then when the National Police finally took charge, they could not follow
the
rocket-equipped criminals across the national boundaries.
"Still later, when interplanetary flight became a commonplace, the
Planetary
Police were at the same old disadvantage. They had no authority off their own
worlds,
while the public enemies flitted unhampered from planet to planet. And finally,