"E. E. Doc Smith - Lensman 2 - First Lensman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

you if you
did." Cold black eyes stared level into icy eyes of Norwegian blue.
"Deny it? No. I am glad, however, that you used the word 'effectively'
instead of
'openly'; for we have been acting effectively against you ever since these
newly-formed
planets cooled sufficiently to permit of the development of, intelligent life."
"What? You have? How?"
"That, too, you may learn -- too late. I have now said all I intend to say.
I will give
you no more information. Since you already know that there are more adult
Arisians than
there are Eddorians, so that at least one of us can devote his full attention to
blocking the
direct effort of any one of you, it is clear to you that it makes no difference
to me
whether you elect to go or to stay. I can and I will remain here as long as you
do; I can
and I will accompany you whenever you venture out of the volume of space
protected by
Eddorian screen, wherever you go. The election is yours."
Gharlane disappeared. So did the Arisian -- instantaneously. Dr. Nels
Bergenholm,
however, remained. Turning, he resumed his work where he had left off, knowing
exactly
what he had been doing and exactly what he was going to do to finish it. He
released the
zone of compulsion, which he had been holding upon every human being within
sight or
bearing, so dextrously that no one suspected, then or ever, that anything out of
the
ordinary had happened. 'He knew these things and did these things in spite of
the fact
that the form of flesh which his fellows of the Triplanetary Service knew as
Nels
Bergenholm was then being energized, not by the stupendously powerful mind of
Drounli
the Molder, but by an Arisian child too young to be of any use in that which was
about to
occur.
Arisia was ready. Every Arisian mind capable' of adult, or of even near-
adult
thinking was poised to act when the moment of action should come. They were not,
however, tense. While not in any sense routine, that which they were about to do
had
been foreseen for many cycles of time. They knew exactly what they were going to
do,
and exactly how to do it. They waited.
"My visualization is not entirely clear concerning the succession of events
stemming from the fact that the fusion of which Drounli is a part did not