"Michael Stackpole "I, Jedi"" - читать интересную книгу автора

УGood.Ф I glanced back at the house. УWhat happened to your house?Ф
УYou may recall I had something of a reputation for main-taining all sorts of files on local politicians, Imperial liaisons and the like? When CorSec became the Public Safety Service it was determined that my files would be an embarrassment. It was further assumed that I had them in the house. A mysteri-ous fire consumed the house, and then the house you grew up in.Ф
He kept his voice low, but full of curious tones that suggested he found the fires somewhat funny. УWhat they discovered was that there were multiple copies of my files all over, in computer systems new and old. The encryption keys were what they lacked. A few people suddenly found interesting files on activi-ties they would have preferred to keep hidden arriving on data-cards in their homes, usually accompanied by a flower or two that were easily identified as a hybrid I'd created. The implica-tions were clear, so, in recompense for my long years of service to CorSec, and to protect me-since now I am considered a treasure for my horticultural skills-the government bought up and ceded to me all this land. They built my new home and filled it with all sorts of interesting mechanical listening devices and scanners. Tosruk and the rest of the staff report regularly to petty officials-though those officials don't realize that the staff's loyalty is to me. The very files used by the officials to choose staffers who could be manipulated were files I created.Ф
I laughed aloud. УI thought, when you retired, you wanted to leave all this sort of thing behind.Ф
He nodded. УI would have been more than happy to, but others who want power were not content to leave me alone. Unfortunately, they have neither the grace nor sense for me to leave them alone, either.Ф He reached out and caressed the leaves of a small plant. УNow I can send a seedling to someone with a note suggesting I had read of this opinion or that which he holds. If I say I am disappointed, their thinking tends to be modified. If I say I support them, they move more strongly in that direction. I choose my targets and my issues carefully. I seek to curb the excesses of the young and foolish, or old and foolish. There's even talk among the shadowy cabal of pundits who advise leaders about what it means for me to send a live plant versus a cut bouquet, or the true significance of a night blooming flower versus something that blooms once and dies.Ф
My grandfather smiled at me. УBut you didn't come here to ask after my gardens or to listen to me natter on about warping the small minds of politicians, did you?Ф
УI'm happy to see you, of course, and I do want to hear about your life, and tell you about mine.Ф
His smile broadened indulgently. УThe name you chose to greet me and what you did out there tells me why you are here. You want to know what your father left behind for you, don't you?Ф
I nodded slowly. УYou don't mind'?Ф
My grandfather looked at me with surprise, then laughed. УMind'? My dear boy, I've spent nearly the last half century preserving your heritage for you and for your father. I would have been disappointed if this day had never come.Ф
I smiled. УWould you have sent me a flower to let me know how disappointed you were?Ф
УI would have sent you many, many flowers.Ф He opened his arms to take in the greenhouse and the gardens. УThese flow-ers, Corran, are the Halcyon heritage. Where better to store knowledge of the Jedi and the Force, than in things that live?Ф
J watched my grandfather closely because I didn't quite understand what he'd said. He was old and could be losing it, though I'd seen no evidence of that so far. УYour comments are sailing right past me.Ф
He laughed delightedly, a deep, rich sound I remembered very well. УDon't feel disappointed, Corran. I had to come up with a storage system that would befuddle even the most dili-gent of investigators. Come with me.Ф
I followed him toward the rear of the greenhouse to the computers and genetic manipulation processors. УYou probably do not recall this from your schooling, but the genetic code in many lifeforms consists of four nucleotides arranged in pairs. They provide a genetic blueprint that produces what we are.Ф
I nodded. УI know. Imps messed around with genetics to produce the Krytos Virus.Ф
УYes, a nasty piece of work, that.Ф My grandfather keyed something into the computer and the attached holopad showed me a double-helix slowly revolving in the air. It looked like two twisting ladders spiraling around each other. УWhat most peo-ple fail to realize is that while genes are very small, they consist of a vast number of these base pairs of nucleotides. What they also don't know is that much of the coding for any gene is redundant and genes are often filled with pieces of nonsense coding, or bits of coding left over by evolution. These inconse-quential bits of code are essentially inert and useless. What I've done is to manufacture replacement strings of base pairs to put in their place. These replacement strings use one pair to repre-sent zero and another to represent one.Ф
I stared at him gap-mouthed. УYou digitized data and in-serted it into the genetic material of a plant, allowing the plants to duplicate the code with every cell division.Ф
УCorrect. While random mutations might destroy little bits of the data, there are so many samples out there that comparing them will fill in any gaps.Ф He smiled broadly. УI recall at least one Jedi-hunter coming here and asking for some basic plant stock for his garden back on Imperial Center. I gave him as much as he wanted of my Jedi line.Ф
My eyes narrowed. УThe flowers you send to politicians . . . they contain the decryption keys to the files that concern them, don't they?Ф
УI must amuse myself, mustn't I?Ф He rolled up his sleeves.
УI spent enough time with Nejaa to know that the Jedi consid-
ered nothing coincidental. I knew if I put the Jedi information
into these plants and ensured their distribution, the informa-
tion would be discovered again. At the time I started I thought
the discovery would not happen in my lifetime, but I wanted it
available.Ф
I smiled. УI want you to tell me about him, about Nejaa.Ф УI will.Ф He looked at me and shook his head again. УYour appearance, I didn't know you at first. Your father had a saying, one he picked up from his father. Do you recall it? 'If you cannot recognize the man in the mirror, it is time to step back and see when you stopped being yourself.'Ф I nodded. УI remember.Ф
УWell, seeing you now, I must have you tell me who you have become.Ф He pointed back at the house. УFirst, however, we will have something to eat. Then you'll join me turning the compost pile.Ф
УMore data hidden in there?Ф
He winked at me. УI think you will find the work rewarding.Ф
We talked mostly of his flowers and the way the neighborhood had been in the old days. Because his household staff bustled in and out, Corran Horn was referred to in third person, as if Keiran Halcyon had been a playmate of his. By rights I guess I should have found the subterfuge awkward, but I slipped into the Halcyon role the way I would have slipped into any under-cover identity. It was a game we shared and both took great delight in it.
Grandfather dispatched Tosruk to my hotel to pick up my things while the two of us went out to the compost heap armed with shovels. My grandfather directed me toward a pile of bantha dung that he used for fertilizer. He'd been getting it from the Coronet City Zoological and Botanical Gardens for longer than I could remember, in exchange for providing them with his latest hybrids.
УDig deep and shift the pile over this way about three me-ters.Ф Leaning on a shovel, wearing bibbed splatter-slacks and knee-high rubber boots, he smiled at me. УIf you can shift it any other way, feel free.Ф
I shook my head. УI could make you think it had moved.Ф УHalcyons always have been notoriously weak in the teleki-netic skill area.Ф He laughed. УDice were the only game of chance in which I felt safe playing against Nejaa.Ф
УSomeday I aspire to making dice move with the Force.Ф
My grandfather smiled. УThe Halcyons have their strengths. The mental projection you allude to was something Nejaa did very well. He also could absorb energy. I was told this was a very rare ability among Jedi.Ф
I nodded. УThat's what I've heard as well. Well, without tele-kinesis, I guess I'll have to use this shovel and elbow grease to move that pile.Ф
As I dug, my grandfather told me tales of Nejaa Halcyon. УWe worked together for a good long time, or so it seemed, before he was called away to the Clone Wars. Our partnership was only ten years or so, as I recall. I guess I was seven years older than you are when he left. He was a bit older than me and his wife-I'd grown up living near Scerra, so I knew her quite well before they ever met. Your father was only ten at the time Nejaa left, but had been working with Nejaa for years to de-velop his skills.Ф
I swiped at the sweat on my brow. УNejaa died in the Clone Wars, right?Ф
УActually, he died shortly thereafter, before he could ever return home. He and I had joked about his going off to the Clone Wars, for it was said that a Corellian Jedi who leaves the system does so at his own peril.Ф My grandfather's eyes clouded over. УNejaa promised his wife and me that the Clone Wars would not kill him. He was right, but still suffered the fate of those Corellian Jedi who go away.
УA friend of his, a Caamasi Jedi named Ylenic It'kla, came here, bringing Nejaa's effects home. He apologized for not bringing Nejaa's body, but the bodies of Jedi Masters fade away upon death. He also didn't have Nejaa's lightsaber. He said the Galactic Museum had asked for it for their Jedi collection.Ф He smiled slightly. УI suppose it is still there.Ф
I shook my head. УNope. It has served me well on a couple of occasions. Saved my life.Ф
He clapped his hands. УAnd mine as well. 'Thieves run in fright from its silvery light.' I used to kid Nejaa about that.Ф
I smiled, but kept digging. УHe used to go out with you when you worked cases?Ф
УAll the time. Most often he would be dressed in street clothes, just like me. He found a lot of people were wary of the Jedi and afraid of them. Without them knowing who he was, he could help victims. When it came time for us to go after crimi-nals, he'd don his cloak and more traditional Jedi garb. Scerra used to refer to it as his hunting clothes. Criminals learned it didn't hurt as much if they didn't resist, so we were able to defuse many a tense situation just by having him show up as a Jedi. Of course, stories of what he had done spread throughout the underworld and became quickly exaggerated, so people re-acted to his image and reputation, not reality.Ф
I cleared the area my grandfather had indicated and peeled back the plasticized tarpaulin that had been beneath the dung heap. I noticed, on the underside, a metallic sheen. УThis is a diffuser pad?Ф
УIs it? I hadn't noticed.Ф
I frowned. Diffusers came in all different shapes and sizes and simply channeled the energy from scanners away so return signals from scanners would not reveal whatever was hidden by the diffuser. Smugglers regularly used them to prevent cursory searches from uncovering contraband, but a little time and a little effort made finding the diffusers easy, and finding one of them meant finding whatever they covered.
In this case, the diffuser covered a bare patch of ground. УLet me guess: a buried door that no one has found because they didn't want to dig through bantha dung?Ф