"Harry Harrison - Planet Of The Damned (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

"But what can I do--as an individual? The day is long past when a single man,
like Caesar or Alexander, could bring about world-shaking changes."

"True--but not true," Hijel said. "There are key men in every conflict of
forces, men who act like catalysts applied at the right instant to start a
chemical reaction. You might be one of these men, but I must be honest and say
that I can't prove it yet. So in order to save time and endless discussion, I
think I will have to spark your personal sense of obligation."

"Obligation to whom?"

"To mankind, of course, to the countless billions of dead who kept the whole
machine rolling along that allows you the full, long and happy life you enjoy

today. What they gave to you, you must pass on to others. This is the keystone
of humanistic morals."

"Agreed. And a very good argument in the long run. But not one that is going
to tempt me out of this bed within the next three hours."

"A point of success," Ihjel said. "You agree with the general argument. Now I
apply it specifically to you. Here is the statement I intend to prove. There
exists a planet with a population of seven million people. Unless I can
prevent it, this planet will be completely destroyed. It is my job to stop
that destruction, so that is where I am going now. I won't be able to do the
job alone. In addition to others, I need you. Not anyone like you--but you,
and you alone."

"You have precious little time left to convince me of all that," Brion told
him, "so let me make the job easier for you. The work you do, this planet, the
imminent danger of the people there--these are all facts that you can
undoubtedly supply. Ill take a chance that this whole thing is not a colossal
bluff, and admit that given time, you could verify them all. This brings the
argument back to me again. How can you possibly prove that I am the only
person in the galaxy who can help you?"

"I can prove it by your singular ability, the thing I came here to find."

"Ability? I am different in no way from the other men on my planet."
"You're wrong," Ihjel said. "You are the embodied proof of evolution. Rare
individuals with specific talents occur constantly in any species, man
included. It has been two generations since an empathetic was last born on
Anvhar, and I have been watching carefully most of that time."

"What in blazes is an empathetic--and how do you recognize it when you have
found it?" Brion chuckled, this talk was getting preposterous.

"I can recognize one because I'm one myself-- there is no other way. As to how
projective empathy works, you had a demonstration of that a little earlier,