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

may go. Furthermore, any Lensman can commandeer any material or assistance,
wherever and whenever required, upon any planet of any solar system adherent to
Civilization, and the Lens is so respected throughout the galaxy that any wearer
of it
may be called upon at any time to be judge, jury, and executioner. Wherever he
goes,
upon, in, or through any land, water, air, or apace anywhere within the confines
of our
Island Universe, his word is LAW.
"That explains what you have been forced to undergo. The only excuse for
its
severity is that it produces results -- no wearer of the Lens has ever disgraced
it.
"Now as to the Lens itself. Like every one else, you have known of it ever
since
you could talk, but you know nothing of its origin or its nature. Now that you
are
Lensmen, I can tell you what little I know about it. Questions?"
"We have all wondered about the Lens, sir, of course," Maitland ventured.
"The
outlaws apparently keep up with us in science. I have always supposed that what
science can build, science can duplicate. Surely more than one Lens has fallen
into the
hands of the outlaws?"
"If it had been a scientific invention or discovery it would have been
duplicated
long ago," the Commandant made surprising answer. "It is, however, not
essentially
scientific in nature. It is almost entirely philosophical, and was developed for
us by the
Arisians.
"Yes, each of you was sent to Arisia quite recently," von Hohendorff went
on, as
the newly commissioned officers stared, dumbfounded, at him and at each other.
"What
did you think of them, Murphy?"
"At first, sir, I thought that they were some new kind of dragon, but
dragons with
brains that you could actually feel. I was glad to get away, sir. They fairly
gave me the
creeps, even though I never did see one of them so much as move.,,
"They are a peculiar race," the Commandant went on. "Instead of being
mankind's worst enemies, as is generally believed, they are the sine qua non of
our
Patrol and of Civilization. I cannot understand them, I do not know of anyone
who can.
They gave us the Lens, yet Lensmen must not reveal that fact to any others. They
make a Lens to fit each candidate, yet no two candidates, apparently, have ever
seen
the same things there, nor is it believed that anyone has ever seen them as they