"Wolfe, Gene - The Urth Of The New Sun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolfe Gene)

A few moments later, I realized that I had passed a
hatch, the first I had seen since reentering the ship; still not
wholly free from the fear that had gripped me when I saw
that terrible and beautiful picture, I took out my necklace
as I strode along and made certain it had not been
damaged.
The gangway turned twice and divided, then twisted like
a serpent.
A door swung open as I passed, releasing the aroma of
roast meat. A voice, the thin and mechanical voice of the
lock, said, "Welcome back, master."
I looked through the doorway and saw my own cabin.
Not, of course, the cabin I had taken in the crew's quarters,
but the stateroom I had left to launch the leaden coffer into
the great light of the new universe aborning only a watch or
two before.

Chapter V -- The Hero and the Hierodules


THE STEWARD had brought my meal and, finding me
not in my stateroom, had left it on the table. The meat was
still warm under its bell; I ate it ravenously, and with it
new bread and salt butter, celeriac and salsify, and red
wine. Afterward I undressed, washed myself, and slept.
He woke me, shaking me by my shoulder. It was odd, but
when I--the Autarch of Urth--had boarded the ship, I
had scarcely noticed him, though he brought my meals and
willingly saw to various little wants; no doubt it was that
very willingness which had unjustly wiped him from my
attention. Now that I myself had been a member of the
crew, it was as though he had turned to show another face.
It looked down at me now, blunt-featured yet intelligent,
the eyes bright with suppressed excitement. "Someone
wishes to see you, Autarch," he murmured.
I sat up. "Someone you felt you should wake me for?"
"Yes, Autarch."
"The captain, perhaps." Was I to be censured for going
on deck? The necklace had been provided for emergency
use, but it seemed unlikely.
"No, Autarch. Our captain's seen you, I'm sure. Three
Hierodules, Autarch."
"Yes?" I fenced for time. "Is that the captain's voice I
hear sometimes in the corridors? When did he see me? I
don't recall seeing him."
"I've no idea, Autarch. But our captain's seen you, I'm
sure. Often, probably. Our captain sees people."
"Indeed." I was pulling on a clean shirt as I digested the
hint that there was a secret ship within this ship, just as the
Secret House was within the House Absolute. "It must