"Robert F. Young - The Quality of Mercy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

"And they found one," the captain said. "They found ours. That's something we never did. They
interpreted him differently, of course, but that was because they were an alien race, a relatively mature
race. They worshipped him as men. We worship him as children."
"Sounds like a gruesome religion to me," Tanner said. "Let's get out of here!"
The captain looked at him. Then he raised his eyes to the immobile face on the cross. "All right," he
said finally. "We really don't belong here after all."

They walked up the aisle in the deep dead silence. The rainbow light was paler now, and they knew
that the long Martian afternoon had nearly ended. The captain paused before the mural nearest the
entrance, gazing at the ancient lifelike figures. Tanner and Binns joined him.
The mural showed an old man in a white robe standing on an eroded hill. To his right was an oval
screen depicting the crucifixion. People covered the slopes of the hill, their faces rapt as they stared at the
screen. They were unquestionably Martians, but except for an intangible alienage of feature they could
have passed for Caucasian anywhere on Earth.
Beneath the mural was an inscription etched into the marble wall. The captain pointed to it with his
torch. "Can you read it, Binns?" he asked.
Binns leaned forward. "Yes, sir," he said presently. "It's in Aramaic too. 'Saint Orlinne teaching the
New Maturity.' "
"What in hell difference does it make!" Tanner shouted suddenly, "So they died! So what?"
"I was just wondering how they did it," the captain said softly, "We're going to need to know."
Outside the pallor of late after. noon filled the plaza. Tanner built a fire in the lee of the life raft and the
three of them sat around it while the stars came brightly out. The wind sprang up in the streets and played
sad songs in the crystal trees.
After a while Tanner got up and entered the life raft. He returned with a bottle. "I've been saving this
for a long time," he said.
The captain got up and walked around the fire. He took the bottle out of Tanner's hands and threw it
into the darkness. There was a lonely sound of glass shattering. The captain returned to his place by the
fire and sat down.
"We too shall die with quiet dignity," he said.