"S. M. Stirling & David Drake - The General 01 - The Forge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stirling S. M)

Heresy, will you?тАФI'd say that the Brigade and the Squadron and
the others were pretty low-echelon units, out in the wilds when
the Fall came. They didn't cause the breakup of the Holy
Federation, they just seized power where they could when we
were cut off from the Stars."

Raj felt a slight discomfort; that was not outside the canons of
interpretation, but it was dangerously free-thinking. "Come on,"
he said. "Two more levels, then we go back."
 ***

"That's a light," Thom said in a hiss as they turned the corner.
His foot brushed aside a crumbling human femur; they had seen
enough skeletons on this level to grow blas├й. A brittle pile of
brown-gray bone, hardly marked by the teeth of the rats, bits of
rope and stiff leather and rusted metal scattered about it.

Raj squinted, then turned off his lamp. His friend followed
suit, and they waited for their eyes to adjust. He could feel the
darkness fading in around him, and with it the enormous weight
of the catacombs. His mouth felt dry. That is a light, he thought.
A soft white light that was unlike anything he had ever seen; not
like sunlight, stars, fire, or even the harsh actinic arclights that
you sometimes saw in the Governor's Palace or the mansions of
the very rich. This was the light of the Ancients; the light of the
Spirit of Man of the Stars.

"Live equipment," he whispered, genuflecting again.
Blasphemy. Fallen Man's eyes are blind to the Light of the
Spirit. I am not worthy. With an effort of will he relaxed the
rock-tense muscles of his neck and shoulders.

"Thom, we shouldn't be here. This is something for a
Patriarchal Council, or the Governor." There was a slight tremor
in his hands as he drew his pistol, swinging the cylinder out and
checking the load. The unnatural gleam shone off the polished
brass of the cartridges. He was conscious of the uselessness of
the gesture; what good would a revolver be against the powers of
the unFallen? Of course, it was no more useless than anything
else he might doтАж

"PriestsтАж " Thom visibly reconsidered. "Priests aren't notably
more virtuous than you or I, Raj," he said reasonably. His eyes
stayed fixed on the unwinking glimmer, shining slightly with an
expression of primal hunger. "Of course, if you'reтАж uncertainтАж
you can wait here while I check. I wouldn't think less of you for
it."

Raj flushed. I'm too old to be pushed into something stupid
by a dare, he thought angrily, even as he felt his mouth open.