"Van Lustbader, Eric - Pearl 02 The Veil Of A Thousand Tears(eng)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Lustbader Eric)
"Absolutely, regent. This is one of the reasons their Resistance is virtually ineffective. You cannot have a properly functioning military without support from a viable political system. The adults are too busy wondering who the next victim will be to produce a leader with real vision, and because we have ensured that their children are systematically losing touch with their religion and their past, because we have left them with nothing, they have lost the ability to fight for what is theirs."
Kurgan, seeing the self-satisfied expression on Olnnn Rydddlin's face, immediately felt an urge to wipe it off.
"What good is all that when these thefts continue?" he said shortly. "Disturbing enough that you are losing ion cannons to the Kundalan Resistance but your inability to apprehend the criminals is undermining our air of invincibility."
Olnnn Rydddlin stiffened at the rebuke. "Regent, I have studied the reports of these thefts at length and have come to the inescapable conclusion that the Kundalan Resistance is being aided by a V'ornn traitor. There is simply no other plausible explanation for the continued success of these thefts. On their own, the Kundalan are incapable of circumventing the increasing levels of security Line-General Lokck Werrrent and I have put in place."
"We are both but newly placed in high office," Kurgan said. "We need to show the Gyrgon that he was correct in putting his faith in us. We need results, not excuses."
"Yes, regent."
Kurgan rose from the regent's chair, beckoned Olnnn to come closer still. "There is a matter about which you must be informed," he said softly. He knew he had to word this in just the right way. "The Gyrgon Comradeship has been closely monitoring the embedding of okum-mmon in Khagggun, due them on their ascendance to Great Caste status and, to be honest, they are troubled."
"What by, regent?"
"There appears to be a greater degree of difficulty among your caste in adjusting to the implant." This was an outright lie, part of his plan to keep the Khagggun-and especially Olnnn Rydddlin himself-from gaming too much power.
"I confess that I had not heard this, regent."
"Of course not. It is Comradeship business."
"But it directly affects us!" Olnnn said.
"That is why you must trust in the wisdom of the Comradeship, Star-Admiral," he went on soothingly. "Of course they have your best interests at hearts. All officers of the rank of General and higher have already received the okummmon. That being the case, the Comradeship has decided to suspend further implantation. But the Gyrgon assure me that will be only until they can assess the ramifications of the period of adjustment."
"This sounds suspiciously like discrimination to me."
"Keep your voice down." The conversation was not going the way Kurgan had planned it. He had meant for Olnnn Rydddlin to believe he was being taken into the regent's confidence. Instead, he had become defensive. "Star-Admiral, there is Nith Batoxxx not ten paces away," Kurgan said with what he felt was just the right amount of persuasion. "If he even suspected that I had confided this to you, I guarantee you he would be thoroughly displeased."
"You do not subscribe to this point of view, regent, do you?" Olnnn said, somewhat alarmed.
"Certainly not," Kurgan lied. "Have you forgotten that it was I who sponsored you as my Star-Admiral? Rest assured that at the Summon-ings I am your greatest advocate. But even I cannot gainsay the Comradeship. And besides, according to the Genomatekks at Receiving Spirit, there is cause for concern. You would not want to put your Khagggun in any precipitate danger, would you?"
"I will be candid, regent. I do not like this sudden turn of events."
"Nor do I, my friend. I counsel you to be patient. Their concern will pass; I myself will see to it. In any event, one thing you must learn. It never pays to second-guess the Gyrgon."
The Ancestor Tent was huge, covering one square hectare in the center of Axis Tyr. It was made of a neural-net monofilament the color of dried V'ornn blood, indigo, the color of mourning. Inside, at its center, on a draped tertium podium, floating in a stasis field of hyper-excited ions, were the two hearts-one large, one small-of the dead regent, Wennn Stogggul. Before that, the body had been prepared by a sect of Genomatekks known as Deirus. By Gyrgon decree, the dead regent lay in state in the forecourt of the regent's palace so that all V'ornn could pay their respect. The mourning period lasted six weeks, after which the preparations for the Rescendance could begin. Tonight, nine weeks after his death, the hearts of Wennn Stogggul would be transmuted in the rite of Rescendance.
All around the perimeter of the tent-in the light of many fusion lamps-the new regent's Haaar-kyut, his personal bodyguards clad in horned battle armor, ranged at regular intervals. They scrutinized the somber crowds with a restless energy, an inbred contempt, as if wishing for some unexplained or unruly behavior so they could tear someone limb from limb. As Sornnn SaTrryn watched, he was reminded of the lymmnals, the furred, six-legged animals used as guards by the tribes of the Korrush, the Great Northern Plain of Kundala's north continent. The lymmnals were pulled prematurely from their mother's teats, fed warm blood until their lust for it was all-consuming, and then were half-starved. They were trained as attack animals. As such, they were fiercely loyal, and when they were loosed their aggression was complete, terrible to behold. Like the lymmnals, these Haaar-kyut, in their distinctive purple armor, were edgy, itching for combat.
"Ten days I have been at this," one Haaar-Kyut whispered to another.
"Bashkir custom," said the other out of the side of his mouth. "We performed the rite of Rescendance on Star-Admiral Kinnnus Morcha within an hour of his death."
"We Khagggun have no time to waste on prolonged mourning rituals," the first one rejoined.
Sornnn SaTrryn, smiling, continued past more Khagggun arrogantly shouldering their way through the throng. Their sudden proliferation, like poisonous mushrooms after a prolonged rain, was an evil sign, one of many he had observed as he had made his way into the capital city. He entered the tent now, wearing his wariness like a mantle of subdued sorrow and respect, and made his way toward the new regent.
Kurgan was standing near the baein, the hearts receptacle. Sornnn was somewhat taken aback to see a particularly sinister-looking Gyrgon standing not too far away. There was a zone of emptiness around the Gyrgon. He was being given a wide berth even by the Haaar-kyut, who averted their gazes, glaring even more darkly at the assembled mourners the better to cover their fear. Every V'ornn, it seemed, whether Great Caste or Lesser Caste, was frightened of the Gyrgon.
They were V'ornn of another hue-reclusive technomages who spent their time in their vast laboratories trying to unlock the mysteries of the Cosmos. All V'ornn technology flowed from them. They guarded their discoveries with a zeal that bordered on obsession, and they were the sole pipeline, feeding the new technologies to the others only when and where they saw fit. Though the regent ruled Kundala, he served at the pleasure of the Gyrgon. He, like every other Great Caste V'ornn, had an okummmon, a quasi-organic neural net designed by the Gyrgon, implanted into the inside of his left forearm. Using the okummmon, the Gyrgon would periodically Summon the regent to their presence, there to feed him his own worst fears, the better to bend him to their will, there to order him to carry out their edicts, continuing their rule by proxy.
Sornnn lifted a slender goblet of fire-grade numaaadis from the tray of a passing Mesagggun and slowly sipped it, using the gesture to cover his scrutiny of the new players with whom he was sharing this fresh playing field. Kurgan Stogggul, scion of the powerful but troubled Stogggul Consortium, took up most of his attention. He was no more than a child, and yet he had with breathtaking swiftness ascended to a heady office. There were among the ranks of Bashkir those who were prone to dismiss the new regent as a temporary aberration who would sooner rather than later be swept away on the tide of history. Seeing him now, Sornnn disagreed. There were arrogance and ambition in abundance here, no doubt of that, but in the sharp, angular features Sornnn recognized a keen intelligence. Besides, he could not have been named regent without the consent of the Gyrgon. Obviously, they saw in him something the Bashkir naysayers did not.
As he continued to approach the new regent, he observed that the Gyrgon's black eyes had pupils the color of rubies. They met his for a moment, then passed on. He felt a chill sweep through him, as if he had been stripped not only of his robes but his skin and flesh as well. With an inward shudder, he turned his attention back to the young regent. In truth, he had been preparing himself for this encounter for some time, hoping, on the one hand, that this day would not come for many years, suspecting, on the other hand, that it would come sooner than anyone imagined. As a direct consequence of his foresight, he had spent weeks analyzing the intelligence his Consortium had compiled on Kurgan. He had known almost instantly that he would have a far more difficult time with the son than he had with the father. It could not be helped. Koura, as they said in the Korrush. It is written.
Kurgan saw Sornnn SaTrryn when he was still a few meters away. Sornnn SaTrryn was tall, lean, with a vaguely dangerous air. He had pale blue eyes that, like all the SaTrryn, were almost almond in shape, and the agile, long-fingered hands of a professional conjurer. Kurgan saw with ill-concealed distaste that he was wearing a wide-striped robe of the kind worn by the tribes of the Korrush. The bright colors were dull with the dust of hard travel.
"Forgive my appearance on the night of your father's Rescendance, Kurgan Stogggul," Sornnn said in his deep, commanding voice. "As you can plainly see, I hastened here directly from the Korrush so that I could pay my respects." He appeared to have absorbed the absolute stillness of the wild and primitive Korrush tribes from whom his Consortium bought the spices they sold.
Kurgan inclined his head, his night-black eyes ever avid, ever watchful, a pair of midnight pillagers. He was dressed in a formal robe of deepest indigo. He disliked the color, was uncomfortable wearing it now. He burned to don the regent's royal purple. "At a time like this, it is good to have my Prime Factor close at hand once more."
"I have heard that Wennn Stogggul's death was sudden and tragic," Sornnn SaTrryn said, breaking into Kurgan's thoughts. "You and I have something in common, regent."
"Indeed. Your own father died some months ago, yes?"
Sornnn inclined his head in sad assent.
Kurgan glanced fleetingly to his left, saw Star-Admiral Olnnn Ry-dddlin sizing up the young Prime Factor, compiling a mental list as one does with an enemy, trying to divine his strengths and his weaknesses.
He turned back and to cover his brief inattention signed to one of the nearby servants to bring them drinks. They were delivered a moment later on a chased-copper tray. Sornnn SaTrryn exchanged his empty goblet for a full one. When the Soul Departure Toast had been gravely made, the fire-grade numaaadis consumed, Kurgan asked, "Where in the Korrush have your travels taken you?"
"I was for the past weeks in the area of Okkamchire."
"Those names sound alike to me," he said. "By all reports the Korrush is a primitive place, so I hear. Dust, kuomeshal dung. An altogether unpleasant way, it seems to me, to make a living."
"Exquisitely woven rugs, a drink that makes even fire-grade numaaadis taste like water." Sornnn SaTrryn's smile was gentle, disarming. "An enchanting village of tents that moves about at the will of the chieftain, or on a whim of the weather." He paused. "Then, again, the spice trade has proved enormously lucrative."
Kurgan grinned, on firm ground again. "Well worth the buzz of bloodflies and the stink of kuomeshal dung, I imagine."
"Absolutely, regent."
"Well, then, I daresay I won't admonish you for spending so much time there. On the other hand . . ." He paused, having seen his sister Marethyn making her way through the throng. She was certain to make a scene as she had done on the day of his father's death; it remained only to discover what sort of scene.
"Yes, regent," Sornnn SaTrryn said expectantly. "On the other hand?"
Kurgan returned his attention to his Prime Factor. "On the other hand, it is my wish to resurrect Eleusis Ashera's plan to rebuild Za Hara-at."
Sornnn's smile was a kilometer wide. "Why this is magnificent news, regent! Truly magnificent!"
"The ruins are currently being excavated, are they not?"
"Yes. For years now, the Beyy Das, one of the Five Tribes of the Korrush, have been carefully unearthing the bones of the ancient city. But the work is both difficult and dangerous. There have been a number of cave-ins because of old silicate mines that were buried for centuries as well as devastating raids by the Jeni Cerii, a rival tribe."
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