"Gray, Julia - Guardian 01 - The Dark Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

'He had to. Someone made him.'
'Who?'
Alyssa thought about this for a moment. For the first time her expression became uncertain - and unhappy.
'You,' she told him quietly.

Chapter Nine

'This is madness!' Lathan bellowed, his outrage rising above the uproar in the Seers' Chamber.
'Not madness,' Kamin replied evenly. 'Indisputable fact.' He had known his announcement would create a furore, but he was surprised to see Lathan leading the opposition. There were other seers who could generally be counted on to provide a far more reactionary response to any new idea. Lathan was widely respected for his keen intellect and open-minded stance on most issues, and the fact that he had been roused to fury was an indication of just how deeply the council was divided.
'But what you claim to be true is simply impossible,'' Lathan stated bluntly, provoking several cries of agreement. 'To accept it is to throw away all that we believe, all that we trust, to discard not only our lives' work but the legacy of all the seers who have gone before us.'
'The history of science is full of so-called impossibilities that have eventually been proved correct,' Kamin countered. 'If we do not question our assumptions, we can never progress.' Like his adversary, Kamin was quite sure
of his own opinion, and the rest of the seers - an almost unheard-of gathering of the full council - grew quiet again, content to follow the debate between the champions of the two sides.
'That is mere semantics,' Lathan retorted sharply. 'Your claims make a mockery of centuries of observations, of countless volumes of empirical evidence, and of every axiom we hold dear. You are asking us to accept that everything we have ever known - every star chart . . .'He waved an arm at the incised diagrams that adorned the walls and domed ceiling of the circular chamber. '. . . every prophecy, the very essence of our science - that all this is wrong. That even the sacred symbol of our vocation is nothing but a lie!' He pointed dramatically at the orrery which stood at the centre of the room, the four coloured moons revolving slowly around the model of Nydus.
'What I am saying is that we are faced with an exceptional event,' Kamin responded. 'One which we cannot yet explain.'
'So exceptional that it is beyond reason!' Lathan exclaimed.
This outburst provoked another exchange of argument and insult from their respective supporters, and Kamin had to wait impatiently to be heard again.
'The fact remains that the orbit of the Dark Moon has altered,' he repeated doggedly, when the hubbub had abated.
'No! This is some aberration, a defect in your observations.'
'The observations have been verified independently by several of us. You've all seen the results, you've all checked the calculations. There is no mistake. Unless you would class myself and all my colleagues as incompetent charlatans, our findings are undeniable - so what is the point of trying to deny them?'
Behind his deputy, seated in the Chief Seer's ceremonial throne, Mirival nodded, his face set in an impassive mask. He had followed the debate with an increasing sense of unease, aware that what was being discussed was more than a simple matter of astrology. The whole future of the Empire was at stake.
Lathan's self-evident disgust at not being able to shake Kamin's certainty had silenced him temporarily, but one of his supporters took up the challenge.
'Is it not possible that your observations have been skewed by the unusual changes in Vadanis's own position?'
This question provoked another furious argument, because some of Lathan's followers did not accept that the islands had been diverted from their normal course.
'We have compensated for these variations,' Kamin replied eventually, when he was able to make himself heard. 'You know that.'
'That's why you're in error, then!' another dissenter cried. 'The islands have not changed course, any more than the Dark Moon has.'
'Yes, they have!' shouted a seer who had just returned from one of the coastal monitoring stations. 'I've seen the proof with my own eyes.'
'Why do you think that is?' another man asked. 'If the Dark Moon is in the wrong place, it would naturally pull us off course too.'
'Rubbish! Even if it was, the variation could not be enough to cause such a change. We have two inexplicable events here, not one.'
After that the argument grew even more fragmented and chaotic, until Mirival judged it time to intervene. He had tried to remain aloof for as long as possible - as befitted his status - leaving the main burden of presentation to his deputy, but now he felt he should exert his authority.
'Gentlemen!' He held up a hand for quiet, and was soon rewarded with the council's undivided attention. 'I am satisfied that the reports of the alteration to the Dark Moon's orbit, which Kamin has explained so succinctly, are indeed true. I expect no man to accept this on trust,' he added, glancing at Lathan, 'but ask only that each of you repeat the experiments for yourselves. There is no denying the proof of one's own eyes. I hope then that we may reach a consensus, for there is much work to be done. Even though our opinions do not coincide at present, my colleague Lathan has made several very important points. The first is that this is an aberration. Nothing in the past could have prepared us for what is happening now. Our challenge therefore is to determine the cause of this anomaly. If something has happened, it cannot be impossible. That is self-evident. What is crucial now is that we must discover why and how it happened. But this is only the first part of our task. The second is to evaluate the consequences of these changes. Lathan stated that we must now doubt everything we have previously taken for granted - and he is right.' He was deliberately twisting the other man's words and everyone knew it, but no one challenged him. 'All our predictions of earth tremors, all our assumptions concerning seasonal and meteorological conditions and the variations in the course of the Empire itself must be examined anew. I don't need to remind you that the movements of the Dark Moon are woven into the very fabric of our society. Moon-lore does not just affect the people in this room. The laws, taboos and traditions of our land depend upon it. If we are to avoid legal and constitutional chaos, then we need to act quickly.'
He paused, letting them think about that for a few moments. The Dark Moon did not wax and wane in the sense that the other moons did - it was always black - but its unseen cycles were still included in the astrological calculations that ruled the people of Vadanis and the outer islands. If this were suddenly to become ambiguous, chaos did indeed threaten.
'I am certain,' he went on, 'that by working together we can soon clarify the position and give a clear lead to every magistrate, every farmer, every physician - in fact to every person in the land. The changes to the orbit are currently small, but they are significant, and if you project them over the next sixty-one years, their significance becomes both critical and dramatic'
He had no need to tell any of the seers what he was referring to. In sixty-one years from now, the four moons had been due to align once more - and the Guardian was supposed to fulfil his heroic destiny.
'You're surely not questioning the validity of the Code?' Lathan asked incredulously.
'Of course not,' Mirival replied. 'Only our interpretation of it. It is now possible that the four moons will not line up every seventy-five years. Indeed, another conjunction may never take place. Or if it does,' he continued, raising his voice over the howls of protest, 'we do not yet know when it will be.'
'We must all return to our studies of the Code!' Kamin cried, re-entering the debate now that Mirival had made its outcome inevitable. 'There is much that could stand to be re-evaluated if we are to help the Guardian achieve his purpose.'
'We are privileged to live in interesting times,' Mirival declared. 'Great events are upon us, gentlemen. Let us not shirk our duty to the Empire, to Nydus and to the future!'
That, he thought, should end the gathering on a suitably rousing note. He stood up, hoping that the time for words was over and the time for action had begun. Moments later his hopes were dashed when one of the elderly seers, a man named Batou, rose unsteadily to his feet and waved his scarecrow-like arms.
'It's worse than you all think!' he shouted in a wavering but piercing voice. 'The Dark Moon has not only speeded up - it's got bigger!'
As most of his colleagues rounded on him, pouring scorn on his absurd ideas, a few began to voice their tentative agreement - and the chamber filled with noise again.
'That was all we needed,' Mirival groaned. 'What did that old fool think he was up to?'
'Actually, he may be right,' Fauria said resignedly. 'Batou's not the only one to note an apparent increase in the size of the sky shadow.'
'But why did he have to raise it when he did?' Kamin complained.
The three men had retired to the Chief Seer's quarters to discuss the situation in quieter, more private surroundings.
'It doesn't really matter,' Mirival sighed. 'Sooner or later everyone will have to accept that changes are happening, whatever they are. What we have to do is decide what practical measures to take in order to deal with them.'
'And what to do about Jax,' Kamin added.
Mirival nodded. In his position as leading contender for the title of Mentor, it had fallen to him to act as the boy's principal tutor. However, it was common knowledge that the prince's education was not proceeding as well as it might.
'He's been even more obtuse than usual recently,' he admitted wearily. 'I can't imagine what he'll make of all this.'
'I suppose we've no doubts that Jax is the Guardian?' Fauria said tentatively.
'He has to be,' Mirival stated firmly. Allowing himself to think otherwise was out of the question. Like all of his colleagues he was aware that the Code referred to the Guardian variously as a king, a prophet and even - apparently - as a god, but other passages seemed to describe 'him' as some sort of creature. This inconvenient detail had been ignored by most of the seers, and the timing of Jax's birth had removed such doubts as were left.