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

There was a small pause while the regent led Kinnnus Morcha to the far side of the antechamber, where they arranged themselves before the Kundalan shrine to the Goddess Mьna. It was composed of a plinth ornately carved out of a block of solid carnelian heavily striated with gold ore. Above it, on the wall were high-relief carvings of the Five Sacred Dragons of Mьna. Nowadays, the plinth served as base for a selection of Eleusis' favorite objects: a copy of The Book of Mnemonics bound between incised copper covers; a thorn-gem he had secured from the perilous underworlds of Corpius Segundus; the preserved birth-caul of his son; the skeleton of his original okummmon, which had been replaced by the singular purple germanium one, which was his right as regent; a white rose, caught at the peak moment of its life and kept in that state of perfection by the enigmas of Gyrgon science. This last was a gift from the technomages on the day of his Ascension.
In being brought before the plinth, Kinnnus Morcha knew he was being given a signal. This was the place where the regent conducted his most private interviews.
Eleusis cleared his throat. "Kinnnus, let me be frank. I know what a difficult assignment I gave you. Prime Factor Stogggul is a most difficult personage to deal with in the best of circumstances. Keeping an eye on him could not have been fun."
"I will match the regent's frankness," Kinnnus Morcha replied. "Being a spy comes naturally to me. The helm of battle, the mask of a spy, they are interchangeable to me. It is well you had me keep an eye on Wennn Stogggul. He still chafes under your kindness toward the conquered."
"But you do not."
"As I say, the regent chose wisely."
"I am gratified." Eleusis sighed. "I don't mind telling you that Wennn Stogggul concerns me."
Kinnnus Morcha sat forward. "In what way, regent?"
"Ah, ever the loyal hunting dog!" Eleusis laughed at the Line-General's dark expression and shrugged. "Well, one hears things. One employs people to watch and to listen and to report." The regent paused for a moment, staring into the darkness of the smoke-blackened fireplace. "So, then, it has come to me that Stogggul is gathering support to petition the Gyrgon for my ouster."
Kinnnus Morcha frowned. "I have heard nothing of this, regent, and I believe I would have. Are you certain of this?"
"My source is."
The Line-General shook his head. "But that is monstrous, regent! It is unprecedented! He must be stopped before—"
"Which is why we are having this conversation."
"We must never forget that it was Wennn Stogggul who was your competitor for the regent's mantle. By all he says and does it seems clear that he will never forget nor forgive the sting of his defeat. His animosity—"
"Is of a somewhat more personal nature than that."
"Well, yes, of course, regent. Who does not know of the intense rivalry between your Consortium and his? On Nieobus Three, the planet we conquered before we arrived here, our fathers were always at each other's throats, always seeking ways in which to take business out of the other's pockets. The Prime Factor's father finally prevailed, driving your father's Consortium to the brink of bankruptcy. Until you stepped in, regent, and made the deal for sole mining and export rights to salamuuun, the so-called plant of the tomb."
"Tell me, Kinnnus, have you ever tried salamuuun?"
"Once." Despite himself, the Line-General shuddered. "I felt as if this life I was living was but an illusion, and the Truth was…"
"Was what, my friend?" There was an odd intensity in Eleusis' eyes that the Line-General did not catch.
"I don't know." Kinnnus Morcha's huge head swiveled, he looked away for a moment as he struggled with disturbing thoughts. "It made me think that the Truth was something I could not fathom."
"Or did not want to see?"
Kinnnus Morcha nodded. "Perhaps."
"Something terrible, then."
The Line-General shook his head. "Something different." His huge shoulders shrugged. "In any event, it was an experience I have no wish to repeat."
"It is fortunate for my Consortium that you are in the minority, Kinn- nus."
Kinnnus Morcha looked up. "Ah, yes. The Ashera fortune lies in salamuuun."
"And, ultimately, its power." The regent's eyes swept around the room. "That is what Wennn Stogggul truly desires: the secret to salamuuun—where it is mined, who I forged my deal with, how he can wrest it from my Consortium." He paused. "But there is something more."
Portents, Secrets, and Lies
Kinnnus Morcha sat ramrod-straight. In the light falling from the fusion lamps the scars on his skull appeared deeper, more grievous. Despite being all ears now he had the good sense not to prompt the regent. The Line-General was a patient V'ornfi—a patience born and bred in the intense cauldron of interplanetary warfare. He was a V'ornn who could sense victory when those around him were stumbling in starless night.
"We were friends, once, Prime Factor Stogggul and I. Did you know that?"
"I did not, regent."
"Well, it's true." The regent rose and stood before the mantle. He picked up The Book of Mnemonics, turned it over and back again. "He gave me this, a long time ago, when we were still striplings on Kraelia. Had it made for me. For the day of my Channeling." He was speaking of the rite whereby every V'ornn male becomes an adult. "Yes, we were good friends—until we locked skulls over salamuuun." He put the book back. "Then a bitter rivalry that had lain unacknowledged between us rose up and raged out of control. His father died attempting to find the source of salamuuun."
"His spacecraft was sabotaged, so the story goes."
"Well, that is the Prime Factor's version, anyway." The regent's gaze locked on to the Line-General's. "Another is that the elder Stogggul's greed made him imprudent. His craft got caught in a gravity well and imploded."
"Do you know the truth, regent?"
"It is my experience that people define their own truths. Which, I surmise, is behind the overwhelming popularity of salamuuun. However, I will tell you this: there was no need to sabotage the craft because the old man was on a fool's errand."
Though he longed to ask the regent what he meant, Kinnnus Morcha held his tongue, knowing that Eleusis would answer no questions on that subject. As a high-ranking Khagggun, he well knew the power of knowledge. In battle against any enemy, knowledge was everything.
Eleusis turned his back to the plinth, broke into the other's thoughts. "I have told you this history for a reason. I want you to understand that while Wennn Stogggul and I are business rivals, I am certain that his bitter and unrelenting vocal opposition to my policies is personal in nature."
"I understand completely, regent."
"I doubt that you do." Eleusis smiled wanly, reached up, and touched one of the sculpted Five Dragons on the wall. "You see the niche here in this dragon's mouth? When Annon was young I would find him here, teetering on the top rung of a ladder with his hand in the dragon's mouth. What did he find so fascinating, I asked myself. What did he expect to find?" The regent looked at Kinnnus Morcha for a long time; then he looked past him. "I have ordered Giyan to bring my son here tonight."
"Do you fear for him?"
The regent's gaze locked with the Khagggun's. "I fear nothing, Kinnnus. Our fate is our fate; it is already written. If you had tried salamuuun again, you would know that. No, I am merely being prudent. For the time being, at least, I want my entire family under the protection of the Haaar-kyut."
"Absolutely, regent."
"You will see to my family personally. My wife, though she shamed herself, is dead, but I still care about the children."
"It will be done."
Eleusis nodded. "I know it will." He downed the last of his drink. He guided the commandant through a discreetly narrow-arched doorway. They emerged onto a wide veranda banded in gold marble, which overlooked the regent's star-rose garden. The cerulean sky had taken on a golden hue down near the horizon and just a hint of fair-weather cloud rode overhead. For some time, Eleusis stood against the fret-worked balustrade, gazing downward, breathing deeply. His hands were clasped loosely behind his back, but he stood ramrod-straight as if he were more Khagggun than Bashkir. His cool, appraising eyes swept over every corner of his garden: the varieties of climbing star-rose with their luscious blooms, glossy leaves, and woody, thornless vines.
"How peaceful it is here, Kinnnus. How deeply satisfying that peace-fulness is."
Kinnnus Morcha, standing beside him, had nothing useful to say, so he said nothing.
The regent went on: "It used to be that our only danger came from other races, unknown encounters. Now I see that unless we are very careful, our own history may very well take a chunk out of our tender parts. Times are changing. I feel it in my bones. There are stirrings and portents—"
"Portents!" Kinnnus Morcha fairly spat. "That is Kundalan talk. I do not believe in portents. I believe in war, in statistics. Since you have succeeded your father, resistance activity within Axis Tyr has dropped eighty percent."