"Vance, Jack - Alastor 2 - Trullion-2262" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

on the world Numenes.
The current Connatic is Oman Ursht, sixteenth in the Idite succession, a man of ordinary and
undistinguished appearance. In portraits and on public occasions he wears a severe black uniform

with a black casque, in order to project an image of inflexible authority, and this is how he is
known to the folk of Alastor Cluster. In private Oman Ursht is a calm and reasonable man, who
tends to under- rather than over-administrate. He ponders all aspects of his conduct, knowing well
that his slightest act-a gesture, a word, a symbolic nuance-might start off an avalanche of
unpredictable consequences. Hence his effort to create the image of a man rigid, terse and
unemotional.
To the casual observer, Alastor Cluster is a system placid and peaceful. The Connatic knows
differently. He recognizes that wherever human beings strive for advantage, disequilibrium exists;
lacking easement, the social fabric becomes taut and sometimes rips asunder. The Connatic
conceives his function to be the identification and relief of social stresses.
Sometimes he ameliorates, sometimes he employs techniques of distraction. When harshness becomes
unavoidable he deploys his military agency, the Whelm. Oman Ursht winces to see an insect injured;
the Connatic without compunction orders a million persons to their doom. In many cases, believing
that each condition generates its own counter-condition, he stands aloof, fearing to introduce a
confusing third factor. When in doubt, do nothing: this is one of the Connatic's favorite credos.
After an ancient tradition he roams anonymously about the cluster. Occasionally, in order to
remedy an injustice, he represents himself as an important official; often he rewards kindness and
self-sacrifice. He is fascinated by the ordinary life of his subjects and listens attentively to
such dialogues as: OLD MAN (to a lazy youth}: If everybody had what they wanted, who would work?
Nobody.
YOUTH: Not I, depend on it.
OLD MAN: And you'd be the first to cry out in anguish, for it's work what keeps the lights
on. Get on with it now, put your shoulder into it. I can't bear sloth.
YOUTH (grumbling): If I were Connatic I'd arrange that everyone had their wishes. No toil! Free
seats at the hussade game! A fine space-yacht! New clothes every day! Servants to lay forth
delectable foods!
OLD MAN: The Connatic would have to be a genius to satisfy both you and the servants.
They'd live only to box your ears. Now get on with your work.
Or again:
YOUNG MAN: Never go near Lusz, I beseech you! The Connatic would take you for his own!
GIRL (mischievously): Then what would you do? YOUNG MAN: I'd rebel! I'd be the most magnificent
starmenter* ever to terrify the skies! At last I'd conquer the power of Alastor-Wilhelm, Connatic
and all-and win you back for my very own.
* starmenters: pirates and marauders, whose occasional places of refuge are the. so-called
"starments."
GIRL: You're gallant, but never never never would the Connatic choose ordinary little me;
already the most beautiful women of Alastor attend him at Lusz. YOUNG MAN: What a merry life he
must lead! To be Connatic: this is my dream! GIRL: (makes fretful sound and becomes cool.)
Lusz, the Connatic's palace, is indeed a remarkable structure, rising ten thousand feet above
the sea on five great pylons. Visitors roam the lower promenades; from every world of Alastor
Cluster they come, and from places beyond-the Darkling Regions, the Primarchic, the Erdic Sector,
the Rubrimar Cluster, and all the other parts of the galaxy which men have made their own.
Above the public promenades are governmental offices, ceremoniakhalls, a communications complex,
and somewhat higher, the famous Ring of the Worlds, with an informational chamber for each
inhabited planet of the cluster. The highest pinnacles contain the Connatic's personal quarters.
They penetrate the clouds and sometimes pierce through to the upper sky. When sunlight glistens on