"Sheri S. Tepper - Awakeners 2 - Southshore" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

She bridled. "You know we've set Laughers after her, Bossit. Including that
Awakener from Baris. Potipur knows he would give his life to get his hands on
her. His search must have been out of phase. Evidently she has been behind him
the whole time."
"Behind him, or on the River, or hidden by Rivermen, what matter which,"
Shavian sneered, annoyed with her. "The fact is, she avoided him, him and all the
others who were looking for her. She came to surface in a town where no
Laughers were, a town from which your representative had only recently
departed, a town ripe for ferment because of some damned statue the superstitious
natives had found in the River."
"The Jondarites should have stopped it," growled Gendra through her teeth,
glaring at the general. "Why have Jondarites in all the towns otherwise. ..."
"The Jondarites have no orders concerning crusades," said the general in an
expressionless voice. "They are ordered to put down insurrection. There was no
insurrection. They are ordered to punish disrespect of the Protector of Man. No
disrespect is being shown, rather the contrary. They are told to quell heresy. There
has been no heresy they could detect. The woman spoke of lies told to the
Protector, of plots against the Protector." His eyes glowed red as he spoke. Who
knew better than he of the lies that surrounded Lees Obol. Who knew better than
he of the actuality of conspiracies. Scarcely a day went by that Jondrigar did not
uncover a plot against the Protector. The mines had their share of Chancery
conspirators he had unearthed.
"Enough," rapped Shavian. "Recriminations will not help us."
"Where is the crusade now?" Tharius Don asked, knowing the answer already but
wishing to get the conversation away from those around the table and onto

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 SOUTHSHORE-Awakeners 2


something less emotionally charged. He was rigid in his chair, yet twitchy, full of
nervous energy. New adherents to the cause were being reported almost daily. For
reasons he could not admit even to himself, he had been delaying the strike for
months, and it could not be put off much longer. With every week that passed, the
fear of discovery grew more imminent and compelling. In his heart he thanked the
gods for the crusade, even though it had put Pamra Don at risk. It had drawn the
Chancery's attention, for a time. "What's the name of the town?"
"A few days ago, she was in Chirubel," Bossit answered in a weary, irritated
voice. He did not want the fliers stirred up any more than they were, and though
this matter had not yet seemed to upset them, who knew what it might mean in
the future. And with Lees Obol failing so fast . . . though he had only the
Jondarites' word for that. No one else could get nearer to him than across the
room. He shook his head and rasped, "A watchtower relay brought word. The pits
in Chirubel are full. There was a great storm there, and many of her followers
died."
"Died?" Tharius had not heard this.
"Old people, mostly. The great mob of them have no proper provision of food or
shelter. The towns have been instructed to put their own surplus foodstuffs under
guard, and the Jondarites have been ordered to prevent looting. So, there is a good
deal of hunger. Which begets a regrettable tendency to eat off the land, as it