"Van Lustbader, Eric - Pearl 01 The Ring of Five Dragons(eng)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Lustbader Eric)

"I… I don't know."
"Yes, you do, regent. Think."
"Well, I… I think what happened was that being in such close proximity to her I stopped thinking of her as the defeated enemy."
"And how exactly did that come about?"
Eleusis thought a moment. "I remember. It was almost a sidereal year after I had brought Giyan back to Axis Tyr. I started awake in the middle of the night and went to slake my thirst. Down the hallway I saw her. She was standing by an open window. She was staring out at the Djenn Marre. I remember it was the night of full moons; the snow and ice on the mountains peaks shone as blue as Corpius Segundo's moon. She was weeping, the tears sliding down her cheeks, and I thought, She misses her home, just as we miss our home. And from that moment, defeated alien or no, there was no difference between us."
"But there is a difference."
"Yes, Nith Sahor."
"In fact, many differences."
"This is truth."
Light glinted off the metallic mesh as the Gyrgon rearranged his hands. "It may be anathema to say this, but that is no bad thing. I believe that it would benefit us greatly to acquaint ourselves with their differences."
Eleusis stiffened. "She trusts me, Nith Sahor."
"I trust you, Eleusis. That is why you were made regent."
"You were responsible for making me regent?"
"Your father. Others wanted Wennn Stogggul's father to assume the role."
Eleusis thought about this for a moment. "I will not betray her."
"We are your masters, regent. Do you think it wise to speak to a Gyrgon in this manner?"
"I am speaking to you, Nith Sahor."
"I am Gyrgon."
"I am speaking to you," Eleusis repeated.
The Gyrgon nodded and light played off the latticework in his skull. "Your perception is noted with especial interest."
"I believe, Nith Sahor, that there is a great deal we do not yet know about the Kundalan—that we never will know under the present situation. The establishment of Za Hara-at is the first step in a transformation I foresee."
"Do not be presumptuous, regent. It is not for you to foresee transformation."
"You do not understand, Nith Sahor. The creation of the city came to me in a dream—an astonishingly vivid dream that showed me precisely where Za Hara-at should rise, in the center of the Korrush. Subsequently, I traveled across the Korrush in the company of Hadinnn SaTrryn, who does business with the Korrush tribes, and much to my surprise we found a small, unprepossessing village in its center. The site is an ancient one, according to Kundalan lore, and when we began to dig we discovered foundations the tribesmen dated from many centuries ago."
"Za Hara-at is a word from the Kundalan Old Tongue. It means Earth Five Meetings."
"That's right. I believe this is the original site of Za Hara-at. I believe it to be a sacred place."
"Our near-defunct religion speaks of a City of One Million Jewels. Perhaps your mother was a secret worshiper of Enlil, the dead god. Perhaps she told you stories of this city when you were young; perhaps this is where your dream came from. In any event, the Gyrgon decree the V'ornn way, regent. Never forget that."
"Or perhaps Za Hara-at and the City of One Million Jewels are somehow linked."
"That would take a leap of faith precious few V'ornn could make." Green fire sparked at the tip of Nith Sahor's forefinger. "But you would be such a one, wouldn't you, regent?"
"Yes. I would be that one." Eleusis' hearts beat heavily in his chest. Was there still a trace of anger in the Gyrgon's eyes? So difficult to tell, Eleusis thought. On the verge of a headache, he thumbed his eye sockets. So much tension, so much at stake here. "We have remained on Kundala longer than on any other planet in recent memory. Why is that?"
"This is Gyrgon business."
"But it is my business as well, Nith Sahor. The accretion of Kundalan pain has become an unbearable anguish. It is a potent goad to action."
"Ah, you should know that such goads are dangerous, regent. And impatience tends to upset the delicate Balance."
He gazed directly into those star-sapphire eyes. "But that is my point, Nith Sahor. That very delicate Balance must be upset. For the good of V'ornn and Kundalan alike."
"You fool, the Balance is all!" Nith Sahor thundered. He rose to a transfiguring height. "Without the Balance nothing works: ions flare, neutrons die, electrons go berserk, the very fabric of the universe is threatened!"
The bright-plumaged teyj screamed. Nith Sahor's mailed right hand clamped into a fist, a corona of orange fire irised outward. An instant later, something cold, something invisible struck Eleusis in the chest. He was hurled violently backward, head over tender parts, until he fetched up painfully against the far wall. The bird fluttered around the top of its cage, clearly agitated. "
"Oh, is this foolish work I attempt here?" The Gyrgon shook his mailed fist. "Are the others quite correct? Are you as dangerous as they say? Will my own hubris be my downfall?"
Eleusis stared at him, terrified. Bright ribbons of pain throbbed through him. He slowly picked himself up, massaging his chest with the heel of his hand as he righted the chair Nith Sahor had overturned. Screwing up his courage, he said: "It would be a mistake to annihilate the Kundalan as we have done to so many other races—or to leave them here, drained of all natural resources." Those eerie star-sapphire eyes pounced on him, heavy as a storm-swept sky, then slid away as if he were of no import. "It is time for the paradigm that we have erected between ourselves and the so-called slave races to end here and now. The building of Za Hara-at will be proof of a new, better paradigm."
"Do not speak to me of Za Hara-at," Nith Sahor boomed. "There is no consensus among the Comradeship on this experiment of yours. And believe me when I tell you that debate is vociferous."
"The Comradeship do not yet understand about the Kundalan. If they could see how V'ornn and Kundalan architects worked together to design the city—"
"That is just the point. The repugnance they feel is in dealing with an inferior race as if they were our equals."
"But, Nith Sahor, the Kundalan—"
The Gyrgon's raised hand brought silence. "You are correct about one thing, regent. Za Hara-at has already become a symbol to the Kundalan, and therein lies our dilemma."
Nith Sahor went to the window, where he stood looking outside for a very long time. The silence built like a structure spun out of the supercharged atmosphere. Eleusis was now very frightened of Nith Sahor, but he found to his surprise that he was even more frightened of the immediate future. If the Gyrgon withdrew their support for Za Hara-at, Prime Factor Stogggul and his cabal would get their wish: whatever progress he was engineering between the races would die. No matter what, Eleusis knew that he could not allow that to happen. He could feel in his bones what he was doing here on Kundala was right.
Swallowing his intense fear, Eleusis said, "Nith Sahor, hear me. I understand how deeply ingrained is our xenophobia—"
"You are correct, regent. Even Gyrgon are subject to hubris," Nith Sahor said. "Hubris blinds us to the truth, isn't that so?"
"I believe it is, especially in this instance, because beyond anything there is one, single compelling reason why we must allow Za Hara-at its existence."
He waited, staring at the Gyrgon's back, but only silence ensued. Was that tacit approval for him to continue? Eleusis took a deep breath, all too aware that the fate of Za Hara-at and everyone involved in its planning and construction hung in the balance. He went to the section of wall decorated with the sea-green Dragon riding a stylized wave. "This is Seelin, the Sacred Dragon of Transformation. The Kundalan have a fundamental belief that social history does not evolve slowly, but rather leaps ahead during short, violent periods of transformation."
"Chaos," Nith Sahor breathed.
Eleusis' hearts leapt. "Chaos, yes, save for the fact that the Kundalan have no word in their language for Chaos." He could scarcely breathe. "Is this belief of theirs not, essentially, K'yonnno?"
"Would you now presume to vomit back to me the basic Gyrgon Theory of Chaos and Order?"