"Роджер Желязны. Lord of Light (Лорд Света, engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

were refused renewal, or . . . well . . . simple as that. There aren't too
many Accelerationists now. But that was only the beginning. The god party
was quick to realize that therein lay the way of power. Having your brains
scanned has become a standard procedure, just prior to a transfer. The body
merchants are become the Masters of Karma, and a part of the Temple
structure. They read over your past life, weigh the karma, and determine
your life that is yet to come. It's a perfect way of maintaining the caste
system and ensuring Deicratic control. By the way, most of our old
acquaintances are in it up to their halos."
"God!" said Sam.
"Plural," Jan corrected. "They've always been considered gods, with
their Aspects and Attributes, but they've made it awfully official now. And
anyone who happens to be among the First had bloody well better be sure
whether he wants quick deification or the pyre when he walks into the Hall
of Karma these days.
"When's your appointment?" he finished.
"Tomorrow," said Sam, "in the afternoon. . . . Why are you still
walking around, if you don't have a halo or a handful of thunderbolts?"
"Because I do have a couple friends, both of whom suggested I continue
living-- quietly-- rather than face the probe. I took their sage advice to
heart and consequently am still around to mend sails and raise occasional
hell in the local bistros. Else"-- he raised a callused hand, snapped his
fingers-- "else, if not the real death, then perhaps a body shot full with
cancer, or the interesting life of a gelded water buffalo, or . . ."
"A dog?" asked Sam.
"Just so," Jan replied.
Jan filled the silence and two glasses with a splashing of alcohol.
"Thanks."
"Happy hellfire." He replaced the bottle on his workstand.
"On an empty stomach yet. . . . You make that yourself?"
"Yep. Got a still in the next room."
"Congratulations, I guess. If I had any bad karma, it should all be
dissolved by now."
"The definition of bad karma is anything our friends the gods don't
like."
"What made you think you had some?"
"I wanted to start passing out machines among our descendants here. Got
batted down at Council for it. Recanted, and hoped they'd forget. But
Accelerationism is so far out now that it'll never make it back in during my
lifetime. Pity, too. I'd like to lift sail again, head off toward another
horizon. Or lift ship. . ."
"The probe is actually sensitive enough to spot something as intangible
as an Accelerationist attitude?"
"The probe," said Jan, "is sensitive enough to tell what you had for
breakfast eleven years ago yesterday and where you cut yourself shaving that
morning, while humming the Andorran national anthem."
"They were experimental things when we left home," said Sam. "The two
we brought along were very basic brain-wave translators. When did the
breakthrough occur?"
"Hear me, country cousin," said Jan. "Do you remember a snot-nosed brat