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

who are not marshaled at your back."
"A pantheon has room for many, Sam. There is a niche for you, if you
choose to claim it."
"If I do not?"
"Then inquire in the Hall of Karma after your body."
"And if I elect godhood?"
"Your brains will not be probed. The Masters will be advised to serve
you quickly and well. A flying machine will be dispatched to convey you to
Heaven."
"It bears a bit of thinking," said Sam. "I'm quite fond of this world,
though it wallows in an age of darkness. On the other hand, such fondness
will not serve me to enjoy the things I desire, if it is decreed that I die
the real death or take on the form of an ape and wander about the jungles.
But I am not overly fond of artificial perfection either, such as existed in
Heaven when last I visited there. Bide with me a moment while I meditate."
"I consider such indecision presumptuous," said Brahma, "when one has
just been made such an offer."
"I know, and perhaps I should also, were our positions reversed. But if
I were God and you were me, I do believe I would extend a moment's merciful
silence while a man makes a major decision regarding his life."
"Sam, you are an impossible haggler! Who else would keep me waiting
while his immortality hangs in the balance? Surely you do not seek to
bargain with me?"
"Well, I do come from a long line of slizzard traders-- and I do very
badly want something."
"And what may that be?"
"Answers to a few questions which have plagued me for a while now."
"These being . . . ?"
"As you are aware, I stopped attending the old Council meetings over a
century ago, for they had become lengthy sessions calculated to postpone
decision-making, and were primarily an excuse for a Festival of the First.
Now, I have nothing against festivals. In fact, for a century and a half I
went to them only to drink good Earth booze once more. But, I felt that we
should be doing something about the passengers, as well as the offspring of
our many bodies, rather than letting them wander a vicious world, reverting
to savagery. I felt that we of the crew should be assisting them, granting
them the benefits of the technology we had preserved, rather than building
ourselves an impregnable paradise and treating the world as a combination
game preserve and whorehouse. So, I have wondered long why this thing was
not done. It would seem a fair and equitable way to run a world."
"I take it from this that you are an Accelerationist?"
"No," said Sam, "simply an inquirer. I am curious, that's all, as to
the reasons."
"Then, to answer your questions," said Brahma, "it is because they are
not ready for it. Had we acted immediately-- yes, this thing could have been
done. But we were indifferent at first. Then, when the question arose, we
were divided. Too much time passed. They are not ready, and will not be for
many centuries. If they were to be exposed to an advanced technology at this
point, the wars which would ensue would result in the destruction of the
beginnings they have already made. They have come far. They have begun a