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.Was this the way of the universe, that violence should evermore breed violence? Was the true visage ofhumanity a mask of blood? Did a grinning demon ride the back 6o The Overlords of Warof these upstart monkeys, the specter of desolation and death? Wasthere any means of getting rid of it and becoming something else,something better?Well.Dyoto.He thought of that utopia founded on thewreckage of war, of that world which knew nothing of compulsionand enjoyed a government so stable over six centuries that it did notrequire an army.That evil aspect of mankind had to be done awaywith, but not at the cost of violence.How, though, to ban violencewithout using it? How to escape the fetters of just wars ?Antonella had hunkered down in the middle of the aisle, and shewas weeping.All the suppressed anger he had felt since she playedthat trick on him aboard the floater broke away from his mind like achunk of ice falling from a roof.She was, after all, a human being likehimself.He helped her to her feet and took her in his arms, hidingfrom her the sight of those sinister cells.He heard her sob, andwordlessly thanked her for itCHAPTER 16Corson was hungry.He headed mechanically toward the door, asthough merely going outside amounted to approaching a solution.Of course, there was a solution, and he was only too well aware ofthe fact If he had been alone he might even have considered it.Sol- The Overlords of War 61diers in battle were taught to feed on anything rather than die ofhunger.If they didn t learn the lesson well, they didn t last very long.And training, rather than instinct, reminded him that they were surrounded by a vast stock of protein.But he could imagine theunspeakable horror he would see in Antonella s eyes if he explainedthe price they might have to pay for their ultimate survival.Back in legendary times there had been a name for those who devoured corpses from a graveyard.Ghouls.And it was a matter of historical record that people had done suchthings, not only during a famine.Corson wondered if the overlordsof war might not be cannibals rather than necrophiles.On occasionMongol conquerors used to dish up the most beautiful of their concubines, with their heads displayed on a golden platter, so that allmight see they were not miserly.What one man could think of doing, another might do again.The door lifted to reveal the green plain, the grass spread out likea bitter carpet, crossed by the straight blue road, and the indistinctshape of the pegasone, contentedly grazing.Corson envied the beast.Then he spotted something lying on the road, not far away.A bag.Laid on top of it, a metal plate glinted in the milky light which filtered through the clouds.In three steps he reached it.He looked itover closely, without touching it.While they were shut inside thebuilding someone had left these here, intending them to be seen.The plate bore a message.For one moment the letters danced before his eyes, and he read:CORSON, THIS BAG CONTAINS VICTUALS.EVEN EMPTY WRAPPINGS CANSTILL BE USEFUL.THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO MAKE WAR.REMEMBER THAT.YOU MUST GO TO AERGISTAL.IT IS THERE THAT CRIMES AREJUDGED AND SOMETIMES PARDONED.SHOUT AERGISTAL.THE PEGASONEWILL UNDERSTAND.Someone was playing a game with them.Escaping, being strandedhere now the bag and the message.If the unknown meddler was anally, why did he not show himself? And if he was an enemy,why hadn t he killed them?He weighed the bag in his hand, then opened it.Inside werea score of combat rations.Mechanically he slung it over his shoulderand reentered the mausoleum.Antonella was standing there with her arms slack at her sides, hercheeks hollow, her eyes dark-ringed, plainly in a state of shock.But 62 The Overlords of Warshe seemed to have recovered from her bout of misery.The tears haddried on her face. We won't die of starvation, Corson said, handing her the bag. Someone has thrown us a bit of birdseed. Before helping himself, he watched her open one of the rationpacks.Apparently she was in normal control of herself again.Shetore a water capsule at the proper place, the way he had shown her,and offered it to him.He shook his head, and when she tried to insist pointed out that there were plenty more.Finally she consented to drink, and he watched her swallow, seeing how greedily her Adam s apple rose and fell under her delicateskin.Then, sitting on the floor, he too began to eat, drinking in sipsand chewing carefully.He pondered as he did so.According to the message, I have to go to Aergistal where crimesare judged and sometimes pardoned. Could I be released, atAergistal, from the doom hanging over me?On the other hand, it had been or would become a battlefield [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Was this the way of the universe, that violence should evermore breed violence? Was the true visage ofhumanity a mask of blood? Did a grinning demon ride the back 6o The Overlords of Warof these upstart monkeys, the specter of desolation and death? Wasthere any means of getting rid of it and becoming something else,something better?Well.Dyoto.He thought of that utopia founded on thewreckage of war, of that world which knew nothing of compulsionand enjoyed a government so stable over six centuries that it did notrequire an army.That evil aspect of mankind had to be done awaywith, but not at the cost of violence.How, though, to ban violencewithout using it? How to escape the fetters of just wars ?Antonella had hunkered down in the middle of the aisle, and shewas weeping.All the suppressed anger he had felt since she playedthat trick on him aboard the floater broke away from his mind like achunk of ice falling from a roof.She was, after all, a human being likehimself.He helped her to her feet and took her in his arms, hidingfrom her the sight of those sinister cells.He heard her sob, andwordlessly thanked her for itCHAPTER 16Corson was hungry.He headed mechanically toward the door, asthough merely going outside amounted to approaching a solution.Of course, there was a solution, and he was only too well aware ofthe fact If he had been alone he might even have considered it.Sol- The Overlords of War 61diers in battle were taught to feed on anything rather than die ofhunger.If they didn t learn the lesson well, they didn t last very long.And training, rather than instinct, reminded him that they were surrounded by a vast stock of protein.But he could imagine theunspeakable horror he would see in Antonella s eyes if he explainedthe price they might have to pay for their ultimate survival.Back in legendary times there had been a name for those who devoured corpses from a graveyard.Ghouls.And it was a matter of historical record that people had done suchthings, not only during a famine.Corson wondered if the overlordsof war might not be cannibals rather than necrophiles.On occasionMongol conquerors used to dish up the most beautiful of their concubines, with their heads displayed on a golden platter, so that allmight see they were not miserly.What one man could think of doing, another might do again.The door lifted to reveal the green plain, the grass spread out likea bitter carpet, crossed by the straight blue road, and the indistinctshape of the pegasone, contentedly grazing.Corson envied the beast.Then he spotted something lying on the road, not far away.A bag.Laid on top of it, a metal plate glinted in the milky light which filtered through the clouds.In three steps he reached it.He looked itover closely, without touching it.While they were shut inside thebuilding someone had left these here, intending them to be seen.The plate bore a message.For one moment the letters danced before his eyes, and he read:CORSON, THIS BAG CONTAINS VICTUALS.EVEN EMPTY WRAPPINGS CANSTILL BE USEFUL.THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO MAKE WAR.REMEMBER THAT.YOU MUST GO TO AERGISTAL.IT IS THERE THAT CRIMES AREJUDGED AND SOMETIMES PARDONED.SHOUT AERGISTAL.THE PEGASONEWILL UNDERSTAND.Someone was playing a game with them.Escaping, being strandedhere now the bag and the message.If the unknown meddler was anally, why did he not show himself? And if he was an enemy,why hadn t he killed them?He weighed the bag in his hand, then opened it.Inside werea score of combat rations.Mechanically he slung it over his shoulderand reentered the mausoleum.Antonella was standing there with her arms slack at her sides, hercheeks hollow, her eyes dark-ringed, plainly in a state of shock.But 62 The Overlords of Warshe seemed to have recovered from her bout of misery.The tears haddried on her face. We won't die of starvation, Corson said, handing her the bag. Someone has thrown us a bit of birdseed. Before helping himself, he watched her open one of the rationpacks.Apparently she was in normal control of herself again.Shetore a water capsule at the proper place, the way he had shown her,and offered it to him.He shook his head, and when she tried to insist pointed out that there were plenty more.Finally she consented to drink, and he watched her swallow, seeing how greedily her Adam s apple rose and fell under her delicateskin.Then, sitting on the floor, he too began to eat, drinking in sipsand chewing carefully.He pondered as he did so.According to the message, I have to go to Aergistal where crimesare judged and sometimes pardoned. Could I be released, atAergistal, from the doom hanging over me?On the other hand, it had been or would become a battlefield [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]