"Robert Reed - Night Calls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

“The core is iron,” he agreed, laughing without much heart. “Those
old fools happened to get one puzzle right.”

“‘Ferrum’ comes from the Fifth Day.” She looked past her newest
lover, concentrating with her usual intensity. “That was when the Boy
Emperor conquered half of the world’s land. Then the Sixth Day began, and
an obscure tribe marched across a slightly different half of everything. And
then the Seventh Day emerged from the darkness, and the Pale Prophet
appeared, claiming to have walked with the True God who told Him to
subjugate the world.”

“Which those zealots nearly did,” Ferrum interjected.

“And then that Day came to its end, and my ancestor stumbled out of
the desert, inspiring a holy war that set the scene for our very long Day.”

The young woman had a temper. While it was popular to deny the
value of stereotypes, Rabiah nonetheless fit the model of her people: She
was passionate with a preference for strong opinions. Suggesting she was
wrong, even in the most minimal fashion, brought the risk that she would
explode with hard words or even a few defiant slaps delivered to her lover’s
bare chest.

Ferrum managed to restrain his mouth.

“Of course neither of us Believes,” she continued. “Yet don’t we
assume that people should be good to one another, even if it serves their
own selfish interests? Don’t you hunger for a world where ethics have teeth
and decent, generous citizens are called godly?”

He continued to say nothing.

“And now look at the rules and rituals embedded in our major faiths.
What do you find waiting there? Codes and commandments—a set of
principles that pave the path to excellence.”
 Ferrum was breathing deeply, staring at the bland, water-stained
ceiling above his bed.

“You and I are creatures of science,” she continued. “But what is
science? And by that, I am asking what it is that our discipline assumes,
first and before anything else?”

“Evidence,” he offered. “Science demands evidence.”

“It needs evidence to live, but that’s not what it assumes.” She
paused for a moment, carefully considering her next words. “The universe
has order and meaning. Before anything, science must believe in that. What
is true here, on our tiny patch of ground, has to apply everywhere. Scientific
principles must be uniform and fair. Because if they are not fair, where’s the