"C M Kornbluth & Judith Merril - Gunner Cade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

Guiltily he brought his attention back to the bare room, and saw with dismay that Gunner Harrow still lay
in his bag, yawning and stretching.

The indecent gaping was infectious; Cade’s mouth opened first with amazement, then to say sharply:
“Battle Morn, Brother!”

“How does it find you?”Harrow replied courteously, unashamed.

“Awake,” Cade answered coolly, “and ready for a good death if that is fitting—or a decorous life if I am
spared today.”

The Marsman seemed to miss the reprimand entirely, but he climbed out of his bag and began to deflate
it. What kind of Chapter House did they have on Mars?

“How long till shower?” he asked, unconcerned.

“Seconds,” was Cade’s contemptuous answer. “Perhaps twenty or thirty:”

The Marsman sprang to life with a speed that would have done him credit under other circumstances.
Cade watched with disgust as the other Gunner rushed for the wall cabinet and stuffed away his
sleepbag, still unfolded, not yet fully drained of last night’s air. The gunbelt was thrown in on top, and the
cabinet door slammed shut, with only an instant left to seal the waterclosures of the gun. Then the ceiling
vents opened, and the needle spray showered down and around the room. A cool invigorating stream of
water splattered against the naked bodies of the men, cascaded down the three walls of the roam, and
drained out through the floor vent, leaving just enough dampness for the scouring by novices when the
Gunners had left the room.

Cade took his eyes from the Marsman and tried to tear away his thoughts as well. He watched devoutly
while the swirling waters struck each wall in turn, touching his gun to his lips, For the Teacher, at the first
impact; to his chest, For the Healer, at the next; and at the last, the long wall, to his brow, with awe, For
the Ruler, the Emperor.

He tried not to think ofHarrow in the room beside him, saluting the cleansing waters with an unchecked
charge in his gun. It was true, then, what they said about conditions on Mars. Laxity at any time was bad
enough, but to let the peril of sloth pass from the previous day through the purifying waters of a Battle
Morn was more than Cade could understand. A novice might meet the shower unprepared; an armiger
might fail to check his charge beforehand; but how didHarrow ever rise to the rank of Gunner? And why
was such a one sent to Cade on the eve of battle? Even now, his own Battle Morn meditations were
disturbed.

Anger is a peril at all times. And anger is acutely unfitting on Battle Morn before the Klin teacher’s
lesson. Cade refused to think of it further. The water vents closed, and he dressed without regard for the
Marsman.

Each garment had its thought, soothing and enfolding: they brought peace.

UNDERSUIT: Like this the Order embraces the Realm.
SHIRT: The Order protects the Power Master, slave of the brain, loyal heart of the Realm.
HOSE: Armsmen are sturdy pillars; without them the
Realm cannot stand, but without the Realm the Order can not live.