"Alexander Kazantsev - The Destruction of Faena" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kazantsev Alexander)

The longface, who was wearing a beard in imitation of Dictator Yar
Jupi, glanced contemptuously at Kutsi.
Ave Mar offered him his tokens.
"The athletic son of Ruler Dobr Mar is recognisable even without his
tokens," said the officer, showing off his familiarity with the old manner of
speech. "As for this contemptible roundheaded cripple, he should be
attached as if by a chain to his master while serving him, as is
preordained by nature." And the officer made for the other passengers.
Kutsi Merc ran after him, humbly begging the return of the tokens. The
officer threw them down; they landed on the deck with a jingle and nearly
rolled overboard. Kutsi Merc bent over to snatch them up and even went
down on his knees.
The officer laughed coarsely.
 "That's how to welcome the land of Superiors—in the posture of the
lizard from which you are not so distantly descended."
"May happy days last for a long time here," replied Kutsi Merc humbly.


The ocean-going ship sailed into a harbour which was surrounded on all
sides by enormous, weirdly rectangular buildings. Among them, Ave Mar
immediately recognised several famous temples which had been built in
ancient times and had towered high over all the other buildings of that
period. The city had risen since then and had blotted them from view.
So this was what it was like. Pleasure City!
Some of the gigantic blocks were linked by fantastical multi-tiered
street-bridges crossing at various levels.
Ave thought that he was looking at a forest mound, which in his
homeland was built by little insects with many feet.
This impression of the maritime city of the Superiors was strengthened
even further when he and Kutsi Merc were on dry land. They were pushed
and jostled by crowds of hurrying Faetians. In addition to the steam-cars,
there were vehicles powered by obsolete internal combustion engines.
Making an appalling din and poisoning the air, this medley of
heterogeneous vehicles surged past the half-asphyxiated Ave or thundered
overhead on the crazy bridges between the massive artificial canyons of
the buildings. Squeezed into a corner of the tiny lift-cage by other
Faetians, Ave and Kutsi were taken up to the tiny room set aside for them
in the expensive Palace of Visitors.
While Kutsi Merc unpacked, Ave stood at the lancet window and looked
out on an alien world. He could not see any of the old-time romance for
which he had yearned since childhood. Everything here was an eyesore,
beginning with the uniform of the coarse Blood Guards and ending with
the awkward angles of the cramped little room.
"Don't torture your eyes with barbarian buildings," said Kutsi Merc.
"We'll be on the Great Shore tomorrow."
A roundhead servant of low stature appeared and asked whether the
new arrivals would prefer vegetable or animal food with blood for dinner,
and whether they wanted, like all travellers, to look round the densely
populated quarters of the city, and whether they had any other orders for
him.