"Steve Perry - The Man Who Never Missed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

compare to the way I feel it here." He pointed at his belly.

"You are convinced of its truth?"

Khadaji nodded.

"Good. So am I. Science, alas, for all it has done for us, is sometimes
short-sighted. A product of the monkey-brain, science is, and too concerned
with numbers and equations and limits, at times. Today's mysticism will be
tomorrow's science."

Khadaji sipped at his splash. The midly alcoholic drink did little to wash the
hot spices away.

"You have told me of your vision," Pen said. "You have glimpsed the Disk as it
spun, the largeness of it, the lightness of it. But you saw flaws."

Khadaji sighed. "Yes. It was not so much a sight as a feeling. Everything was
right, but there was a kind of... wrongness, as well. About man."

"A large painting is made up of many figures," Pen said. "You can see it at a
distance and get an impression of it, but you cannot know it until you look
closer, at the small parts which form it. The study will take some time; it
may lead you to many places. I can only guide you part of the way. Will you
allow me to show you what I can?"

This was part of it, Khadaji knew. He had a sense of mission, of purpose so
strong he had no choice but to go with it. He nodded again. "Yes," he said.

There was a flat yard of thick grass trimmed short behind the building in
which Pen had his rooms. Khadaji felt the mat sink under his dotics as he
walked on it, like a plush carpet. He turned and faced Pen, who stood two
meters away.

"Before you can properly influence others, you must control yourself," Pen
said. "Body control is the easiest but it must be mastered. You are trained as
a soldier, with weapons. And, I assume, some unarmed skills?"

"Oppugnate," Khadaji said. "Military boxing, with hands and feet."

"Good. Attack me, using your training."

Khadaji hesitated. It was hard to determine Pen's age from his hands and eyes
alone, but he was easily old enough to be Khadaji's father—maybe his
grandfather. "I am still circulating bacteria-aug," he said. "For another six
months, until the colonies die, I will be considerably faster than an
unaugmented human."

"It doesn't matter," Pen said. "Launch your attack."