标题: 《A Day In The Life Of A Galactic Empire》作者： - Brian W. Aldiss【EPUB】 [打印本页] 作者: zaq 时间: 2013-3-25 19:51 标题: 《A Day In The Life Of A Galactic Empire》作者： - Brian W. Aldiss【EPUB】 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GALACTIC EMPIRE By Brian Aldiss Ibrox Villiers Cley remained entirely within his chambers while the Second Galactic War was waged. He saw few people. His leisure time, which was ample, was spent mainly in aesthetic contemplation of the moral and social degeneration of which he considered himself a part, if apart. Cley was ill, subtle, devious, sardonic, and a servant. His manner was cheerful, even metallic, to cover his deep-rooted depression. Cley served the Emperor of the Eternal Galaxy under the Banner of a Thousand Stars. He served him well by telling him the truth and by refusing to scheme against him. His distaste for other people kept him aloof from plots and treacheries. The Emperor ruled over a million suns and three and a half million planets. Most of the planets were inhabited, by robot task forces if not by human beings. The Emperor was himself a prisoner. The Emperor had been born and would die in what was called the Galactic Paradise. Guards never left his presence. Every man and woman was his slave. And he was theirs. The Conventional Rules of Duty bound him as they bound his subjects. The Conventional Rules of Duty constituted, or rather replaced, all metaphysical systems within the Eternal Galaxy. Ibrox Villiers Cley was almost as respected as the Emperor. His chambers were in the Galactic Paradise on the planet Voltai. His official title was Adviser of the Computers. He saw the Emperor in person every third day. Those meetings were enclosed within a Fifth Force Field, so that no one ever knew what passed between the Emperor