"09 - Synthetic Men of Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

transferred to the body of a hormad."
"You were right. Let them think that I am all hormad."
"Carry Tor-dur-bar into my study. Let him come to there, but before he does you
must be out of sight. Go out into the laboratory and help with the emergence of
the new hormads. Tell the officer there that I sent you."
"But won't Tor-dur-bar recognize me when he sees me later?"
"I think not. He never saw his own face often enough to become familiar with it.
There are few mirrors in Morbus, and his new body was such. a recent acquisition
that there is little likelihood that he will recognize it. If he does, we'll
have to tell him."
The next several days were extremely unpleasant. I was a hormad. I had to
consort with hormads and eat raw animal tissue. Ras Thavas armed me, and I had
to destroy the terrible travesties on humanity that wriggled out of his
abominable tanks so malformed that they were useless even as hormads. One day I
met Teeaytan-ov, with whom I had flown to Morbus on the back of a malagor. He
recognized me, or at least he thought he did.
"Kaor, Tor-dur-bar!" he greeted me. "So you have a new body. What has become of
my friend, Vor Daj?"
"I do not know," I said. "Perhaps he went into the vats. He spoke of you often
before I lost track of him. He was very anxious that you and I be friends."
"Why not?" asked Teeaytan-ov.
"I think it an excellent idea," I said, for I wanted all the friends I could
get. "What are you doing now?"
"I am a member of the Third Jed's bodyguard. I live in the palace."
"That is fine," I said, "and I suppose you see everything that goes on there."
"I see a great deal. It makes me want to be a jed. I should like a new body such
as they have."
"I wonder what became of the girl who was brought to the palace at the same time
Vor Daj was," I ventured.
"What girl?" he asked.
"She was called Janai."
"Oh, Janai. She is still there. Two of the jeds want her, and the others won't
let either have her. At least not so far. They are going to take a vote on it
soon. I think every one of them wants her. She is the best looking woman they
have captured for a long time."
"She is safe for the time being, then?" I asked.
"What do you mean, safe?" he demanded. "She will be very lucky if one of the
jeds acquires her. She will have the best of everything and won't have to go to
the vats of Ras Thavas. But why are you so interested in her? Perhaps you want
her for yourself," and he burst into laughter. He would have been surprised
indeed had he known that he had scored a bull's-eye.
"How do you like being a member of a jed's bodyguard?" I asked.
"It is very fine. I am treated well, have plenty to eat and a nice place to
sleep, and I do not have to work hard. Also, I have a great deal of freedom. I
can go wherever I please on the island of Morbus except into the private
quarters of the jeds. You cannot leave this laboratory." He touched a medal
hanging from a chain about his neck. "It is this," he said, "that gives me so
much freedom. It shows that I am in the service of the Third Jed. No one dares
interfere with me. I am a very important person, Tor-dur-bar. I feel quite sorry
for you who are only a piece of animal tissue that can walk around and talk."