"Walter Jon Williams - Prayers on the Wind" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

"As you wish, Colonel." He returned to his speech. "The Library Palace is the site of no less than
twenty-one tombs of various bodhisattvas, including many incarnations of the Gyalpo Rinpoche. The
Palace also contains over eight thousand data terminals and sixty shrines."
As he rattled through the prepared speech, Jigme wondered about the scene he had just witnessed.
He suspected that "I will not kill you today" was less alarming than it sounded, was instead an idiomatic
way of saying "Go about your business."
Then again, knowing the Sang, maybe not.
The Cabinet had gathered in one of the many other reception rooms of the Library Palace. This one
was small, the walls and ceiling hidden behind tapestry covered with applique, the room's sole ornament
a black stone statue of a dancing demon that served tea on command.
The Gyalpo Rinpoche, to emphasize his once-humble origins, was seated on the floor. White stubble
prickled from his scalp.
Jigme sat cross-legged on a pillow. Across from him was Dr. O'Neill. A lay official, her status was
marked by the long turquoise earring that hung from her left ear to her collarbone, that and the long hair
piled high on her head. The rosary she held was made of 108 antique microprocessors pierced and
strung on a length of fiberoptic cable. Beside her sat the cheerful Miss Taisuke, the Minister of State.
Although only fifteen years old, she was Jigme's immediate superior, her authority derived from being the
certified reincarnation of a famous hermit nun of the Yellow Hat Gelugspa order. Beside her, the Minister
of Magic, a tantric sorcerer of the Gyud School named Daddy Carbajal, toyed with a trumpet made from
a human thighbone. Behind him in a semireclined position was the elderly, frail, toothless State Oracle --
his was a high-ranking position, but it was a largely symbolic one as long as the Treasured King was in
his majority. Other ministers, lay or clerical, sipped tea or gossiped as they waited for the Incarnation to
begin the meeting.
The Treasured King scratched one bony shoulder, grinned, then assumed in an eyeblink a posture of
deep meditation, placing hands in his lap with his skull-rosary wrapped around them. "Aum," he intoned.
The others straightened and joined in the holy syllable, the Pranava, the creative sound whose vibrations
built the universe. Then the Horse of the Air rose from the throat of the Gyalpo Rinpoche, the syllables
Aum mane padme hum, and the others reached for their rosaries.
As he recited the rosary, Jigme tried to meditate on each syllable as it went by, comprehend the full
meaning of each, the color, the importance, the significance. Aum, which was white and connected with
the gods. Ma, which was blue and connected with the titans. Ne, which was yellow and connected with
men. Pad, which was green and connected with animals. Me, which was red and connected with giants
and demigods. Hum, which was black and connected with dwellers in purgatory. Each syllable a
separate realm, each belonging to a separate species, together forming the visible and invisible universe.
"Hri!" called everyone in unison, signifying the end of the 108th repetition. The Incarnation smiled and
asked the black statue for some tea. The stone demon scuttled across the thick carpet and poured tea
into his golden bowl.
 The demon looked up into the Incarnation's face. "Free me!" said the statue.
The Gyalpo Rinpoche looked at the statue. "Tell me truthfully. Have you achieved Enlightenment?"
The demon said nothing.
The Treasured King smiled again. "Then you had better give Dr. O'Neill some tea."
O'Neill accepted her tea, sipped, and dismissed the demon. It scuttled back to its pedestal.
"We should consider the matter of Ambassador !urq," said the Incarnation.
O'Neill put down her teacup. "I am opposed to her presence here. The Sang are an unenlightened
and violent race. They conceive of life as a struggle against nature rather than search for Enlightenment.
They have already conquered an entire species, and would subdue us if they could."
"That is why I have consented to the building of warships," said the Incarnation.
"From their apartments in the Nyingmapa monastery, the Sang now have access to the Library," said
O'Neill. "All our strategic information is present there. They will use the knowledge against us."
"Truth can do no harm," said Miss Taisuke.