"Patrick Tilley - Amtrak 5 - Death - Bringer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tilley Patrick)

As non-persons, slaves were regarded as part of the brickwork, and
since no outlander was permitted to utter a word of the Iron Master's
sacred tongue, people talked in front of them without ever suspecting
their conversation was being monitored. Disguised slaves could not, of
course, penetrate the secret council chambers of high-ranking plotters
but they were the source of a surprising amount of raw intelligence.

And many of the council chambers were no longer secret thanks to the
electronic bugging devices obligingly supplied by AMEXICO.

So far it had paid off, but it was a dangerous game. A balancing act
which placed Ieyasu on a tightrope over a pool of hungry sharks. For
not only had he approved the use of devices filled with the Dark Light,
he had even sent some of his most trusted men to help perfect the
language skills of Karlstrom's agents!

His opposite number, the head of AMEXICO - who also spoke fluent
japanese - had never sought to press for an advantage. 'The emphasis
had always been on mutual cooperation but Ieyasu knew that if one of
the two copies of the secret protocol with his name and seal attached
ever reached the Shogun, his hold on the reins of power would be
abruptly severed. And so would his head. His own death in the proper
course of events did not concern him, but his precipitate departure
from office followed by the elimination of his closest aides would
leave a dangerous vacuum in the highest councils of the land.

A vacuum that a host of undesirables would rush to fill.

In the few years left to him, Ieyasu had to make the best possible use
of this unique contact with a potential enemy state without
compromising the long-term interests of Ne-Issan or betraying its most
cherished beliefs.

A lesser wrong for a greater good.

As a pragmatist, Ieyasu had no problem with that. Like all
aristocratic Iron Masters, conspiracy was in his blood.

The history of Ne-Issan was a catalogue of internecine feuds and
labyrinthine treachery. Even so, there were times when he found it
difficult to reconcile his dual roles as master spy and Court
Chamberlain of the ToYota shogunate with his blood-ties to the entire
japanese ruling class. This was a primal allegiance that went beyond
pure reason and, as such, could not be ignored. Up until now he had
been able to override this inner conflict, but in the spring of 2991,
he learned of an event which placed him in a considerable dilemma.

In the autumn of the previous year, mexicans disguised as slave workers
had -'with his tacit approval - sabotaged an'attempt to build flying
horses; a project masterminded by the Yama-Shita and Min-Orota families