"Jack Vance - The Last Castle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

all directions, with new eyes. The vision was Earth re-
populated with men, the land cultivated. Nomads driven back
into the wilderness.
At the moment the image was far-fetched. And Xanten,
watching the soft contours of old Earth slide below, pondered
the Mek revolt which had altered his life with such startling
abruptness.
Claghom had long insisted that no human condition en-
dured forever, with the corollary that the more complicated
such a condition, the greater its susceptibility to change.
In that case the seven hundred year continuity at Castle
Hagedomas artificial, extravagant and intricate as life could
bebecame an astonishing circumstance in itself. Claghom
had pushed his thesis further. Since change was inevitable, he
argued that the gentlefolk should soften the impact by antici-
pating and controlling the changesa doctrine which had
been attacked with great fervor. The traditionalists labeled all
of Claghorn's ideas demonstrable fallacy, and cited the very
stability of castle life as proof of its viability. Xanten had
inclined first one way, then the other, emotionally involved
with neither cause. If anything, the fact of 0. Z. Garr's
traditionalism had nudged him toward Claghorn's views.
Now it seemed as if events had vindicated Claghom.
Change had come, with an impact of the maximum harshness
and violence.
There were still questions to be answered, of course. Why
had the Meks chosen this particular time to revolt? Conditions
had not altered appreciably for five hundred years, and the
Meks had never previously hinted dissatisfaction. In fact, they
had revealed nothing of their feelingsthough no one had
ever troubled to ask themsave Claghorn.
The Birds were veering east to avoid the Ballarat Moun-
tains, to the west of which were the ruins of a great city,
never satisfactorily identified. Below lay the Lucerne Valley,
at one time a fertile farm land. If one looked with great
concentration the outline of the various holdings could some-
times be distinguished. Ahead, the spaceship hangars were
visible, where Mek technicians maintained four spaceships
that were jointly the property of Hagedorn, Janeil, Tuang,
Mominglight and Maraval, though, for a variety of reasons,
the ships were never used.
The sun was setting. Orange light twinkled and flickered on
the metal walls. Xanten called instructions up to the Birds:
"Circle down; alight behind that line of trees, but fly low so
that none will see."
Down on stiff wings curved the Birds, six ungainly necks
stretched toward the ground. Xanten was ready for the
impact. The Birds never seemed able to alight easily when
they carried a gentleman. When the cargo was something in
which they felt a personal concern, dandelion fluff would