"Robert F. Young - Pithecanthropus Astralis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

does not wish to be disturbed."
Blazer took a deep breath. "I have been to the stars." His exultation was such that he uttered the
words more loudly than he intended to, and they seemed to fill the whole night.
Hunter took a step backward, raised his spear. "You lie!"
Blazer did not flinch. "No, Hunter, I speak the truth. And I would speak it to Councilman."
"No one would dare go to the stars! The Master of the Mountain would not permit it!"
"I dared to go to them. And the Master of the Mountain did nothing. He did not even show himself."
"Blasphemer!"
A thin but authoritative voice came from the cave mouth. It was Councilman's. "Hunter, why do you
shout? And at whom?"
"At Blazer, father. He claims he has been to the stars."
There was a silence. Then, "Bring him to the fire."
A weakness came into Blazer's knees as he accompanied Hunter into the firelight. But his exultation
enabled him to overcome both his awe of Councilman and his physical exhaustion, and he saw the scene
into which he presently stepped with clear and objective eyes.
In the entrance of the cave, legs extended toward the fire, Councilman sat. In his hands he held a split
bone, and the marrow he had been sucking from it coated his withered lips and dripped from his bearded
chin onto his bearskin tunic. He was an old man, Councilman was, without a single tooth in his head.
Some said he had seen fifty winters, some fifty-five. His unkempt hair was long, and had the hue of snow
clouds. His eyes had receded far back beneath show-cloud brows, and glowed like embers in deep dark
caves. So emaciated was he with age that his tunic seemed too large for him.
On his right sat Lawmaker. Lawmaker was old, too, but not nearly as old as Councilman. But as
though to compensate for this, his beard was longer. It was black and curly, and fell all the way to his
groin. However, the effect was marred by the beard's resemblance in both color and texture to his
bearskin tunic, and by the fact that his arms and legs were exceedingly hairy. In the firelight, bearskin and
beard were one, and Lawmaker looked more bear than man.
The official on Councilman's left also wore a bearskin tunic, but his beard was relatively short and his
arms and legs were relatively hairless; thus, it was easy to tell where bear left off and man began. This
was Lawkeeper, the youngest member of the trio. But despite his comparative youth—or perhaps
because of it—there was a quality in his pale eyes that was as old as death.
Councilman said, "Speak, Starman—speak. Are you no more than a stick of wood come to throw
itself on the fire? And you, Hunter—go. This is not a matter for your addled mind to mull over."
Hunter departed. Sullenly.
Blazer stood alone, looking across the fading flames of the fire at his king. He found it difficult to
breathe. While this was in large part due to his excitement, it was also due to the difference between the
clean cold air he had become accustomed to on the mountain and the settlement-sullied air he had to
cope with now.
He could see the figures of Councilman's brood in the darkness beyond the mouth of the cave. He
felt their eyes upon him. He felt other eyes upon him, too, and although he could not see them he knew
that the members of the Tribe had formed a large semi-circle beyond the perimeter of the firelight and
were eagerly watching the proceedings.
Blazer felt proud. It was the first time in his young life that he had ever been the center of attention.
He stood as tall as he could, and said, "I, Blazer of Trails, have been to the stars!"
Councilman grunted. "So I have been told. You found them in good working order, I trust?"
Blazer blinked. It was not the response he had expected. Unable to think of anything else to say, he
said again, "I have been to the stars. The stars, Councilman —the stars!"
 "Did the Master of the Mountain give you permission?"
Again, Blazer was taken aback. "I—I did not ask him."
Councilman turned to Law-keeper. "Did you give him permission?"
Lawkeeper's pale eyes grew even paler. "He did not ask me, but it would have done him no good if