"Walter Jon Williams - Prayers On The Wind (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

"We are pleased to participate in your festivals, Omniscient," said !urq. "The spring flowers are lovely, are they not? It's worthwhile to take a whole week to enjoy them. In so doing, we remember the words of Shakyamuni, who tells us to enjoy the blossoms of Enlightenment in their season and harvest the fruit of the right path."
"Is there a season, Omniscient, for discussing the matter of Gyangtse?"
Right to the point, Jigme thought. !urq might never learn the oblique manner of speech that predominated at the high ministerial levels.
The Incarnation was not disturbed, "Surely matters may be discussed in any season," he said.
"The planet is desirable, Omniscient. Your settlement violates our border. My government demands your immediate evacuation."
Dr. O'Neill's breath hissed out at the word demand. Jigme could see her ears redden with fury.
"The first humans reached the planet before the border negotiations were completed," the Incarnation said equably. "They did not realize they were setting in violation of the agreement."
"That does not invalidate the agreement."
"Conceded, Ambassador. Still, would it not be unjust, after all their hard labor, to ask them to move?"
!urq's antennae bobbed politely. "Does not your Blessed One admit that life is composed of suffering? Does the Buddha not condemn the demon of worldly desires? What desire could be more worldly than a desire to possess a world?"
Jigme was impressed. Definitely, he thought, she was getting better at this sort of thing.
"In the same text," said Jigme, "Shakyamuni tells us to refrain from disputes, and not repel one another like water and oil, but like milk and water mingle together." He opened his hands in an offering gesture. "Will your government not accept a new planet in exchange? Or better yet, will they not dispose of this border altogether, and allow a free commerce between our races?"
"What new planet?" !urq's arms formed a querying posture.
"We explore constantly in order to fulfill the mandate of the Library and provide it with more data. Our survey records are available through your Library access. Choose any planet that has not yet been inhabited by huнmans."
"Any planet chosen will be outside of our zone of influence, far from our own frontiers and easily cut off from our home sphere."
"Why would we cut you off, Ambassador?"
"Gyangtse is of strategic significance. It is a penetration of our border."
"Let us then dispose of the border entirely."
!urq's antennae stood erect. Her arms took a martial position. "You huнmans are larger, more populous. You would overwhelm us by sheer numbers. The border must remain inviolate."
"Let us then have greater commerce across the border than before. With increased knowledge, distrust will diminish."
"You would send missionaries. I know there are Jesuits and Gelugspa who have been training for years in hopes of obtaining converts or martyrdom in the Sang dominions."
"In would be a shame to disappoint them." There was a slight smile on the Incarnation's face.
!urq's arms formed an obstinate pattern. "They would stir up trouble among the Maskers. They would preach to the credulous among my own race. My government must protect its own people."
"The message of Shakyamuni is not a political message, Ambassador."
"That is a matter of interpretation, Omniscient."
"Will you transmit my offer to your government?" !urq held her stance for a long moment. Jigme could sense Dr. O'Neill's fury in the alien's obstinacy. "I will do so, Omniscient," said the Ambassador. "Though I have no confidence that it will be accepted."
"I think the offer will be accepted," said Miss Taisuke. She sat on the grass in Jigme's tent. She was in the butterfly position, the soles of her feet pressed together and her knees on the ground. Jigme sat beside her. One of Jigme's students, a clean-limbed lad named Rabjoms, gracefully served them tea and cakes, then withdrew.
"The Sang are obdurate," said Jigme. "Why do you think there is hope?"
"Sooner or later the Sang will realize they may choose any one of hundreds of unoccupied planets. It will dawn on them that they can pick one on the far side of our sphere, and their spy ships can travel the length of human occupied space on quite legitimate missions, and gather whatever information they desire."
"Ah."
"All this in exchange for one minor border penetration."
Jigme thought about this for a moment. "We've held onto Gyangtse in order to test the Sangs' rationality and their willingness to fight. There has been no war in twelve years. This shows that the Sang are susceptible to reason. Where there is reason, there is capability for Enlightenment."
"Amen," said Miss Taisuke. She finished her tea and put down the glass. "Would you like more? Shall I summon Rabjoms?"
"Thank you, no." She cast a glance back to the door of the tent. "He has lovely brown eyes, your Rabjoms."
"Yes."
Miss Taisuke looked at him. "Is he your consort?"
Jigme put down his glass. "No. I try to forsake worldly passions."
"You are of the Red Hat order. You have taken no vow of celibacy."
Agitation fluttered in Jigme's belly. "The Mahaparinirvana-sutra says that lust is the soil in which other passions flourish. I avoid it."
"I wondered. It has been remarked that all your pages are such pretty boys."
Jigme tried to calm himself. " I choose them for other qualities, Miss Taisuke. I assure you."
She laughed merrily. "Of course. I merely wondered." She leaned forward from out of her butterfly position, reached out, and touched his cheek. "I have a sense this may be a randy incarnation for me. You have no desire for young girls?"
Jigme did not move. "I cannot help you, Minister."
"Poor Jigme." She drew her hand back. "I will offer prayers for you."
"Prayers are always accepted, Miss Taisuke."
"But not passes. Very well." She rose to her feet, and Jigme rose with her. "I must be off to the Kagyupas' party. Will you be there?"
"I have scheduled this hour for meditation. Perhaps later."
"Later, then." She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand, then slipped out of the tent. Jigme sat in the lotus posture and called for Rabjoms to take away the tea things. As he watched the boy's graceful movements, he gave an inward sigh. His weakness had been noticed, and, even worse, remarked on. His next student would have to be ugly. The ugliest one he could find. He sighed again.
A shriek rang out. Jigme looked up, heart hammering, and saw a demon at the back of the tent. Its flesh was bright red, and its eyes seemed to bulge out of its head. Rabjoms yelled and flung the tea service at it; a glass bounced off its head and shattered.
The demon charged forward, Rabjoms falling under its clawed feet. The overwhelming smell of decay filled the tent. The demon burst through the tent flap into the outdoors. Jigme heard more shrieks and cries of alarm from outside. The demon roared like a bull, then laughed like a madman. Jigme crawled forward to gather up Rabjoms, holding the terrified boy in his arms, chanting the Horse of the Air to calm himself until he heard the teakettle hissing of a thousand snakes followed by a rush of wind, the sign that the entity had dispersed. Jigme soothed his page and tried to think what the meaning of this sudden burst of psychic energy might be.