"Herbert, Frank - Man of Two Worlds (CA by Frank Herbert)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

Ryll could not bring himself to say it. The idea was horrible beyond anything he had ever considered.

Harsh information, indeed!

"The creatures of this world pose a potential threat to every idmaged creation the Dreens have ever made."

That was worse!

Ryll began to see the extremis behind creation of this ship. Another aspect of the problem occurred to him.

"You mean I may have to decide on . . . I may have to order the . . ."

He still could not say the word.

"You are Dreen and you may have to command it. If you give the order, I must obey."

Then she gave him the full dose of harsh information.

Loneliness enfolded Ryll. Accounts from school and Storyteller assimilations had not prepared him for this. He was cut off from security, from things known and expected.

He might never return to Dreenor. That was where all Dreens conveyed their tales and replenished themselves.

"Tapping into the past," Habiba called it.

Even if he survived the . . . the . . .

Damn Habiba!

"Return or die," Habiba often said.

And she had the long history of Dreen tragedies on her side.

I have nine Dreenyears at most.

Dreens who failed to return within that limit had been found dead in distant places. Folk wisdom said all Dreens must share their story experiences to survive, that Dreenor was a storehouse of mystical regeneration, enabling Dreens to live forever. This was believed despite infrequent accidental deaths on Dreenor and elsewhere.

Return or die.

Ryll thought he might rather die than take this kind of story home to Dreenor. Who could possibly admit him into the Junior Storytellers after he had . . . had . . . had . . . done what Patricia said?

That might be a useless fear, too. Even though disguised as an Earther, he was now another Dreen captive in the hands of the dreaded Zone Patrol.