《An Oblique Approach》作者： - David Drake & Eric Flint【EPUB】

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An Oblique Approach by David Drake and Eric Flint This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictionaland any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copyright ?? 1998 by David Drake and Eric Flint All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in anyform. A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises P.O. Box 1403 Riverdale NY 10471 www.baen.com ISBN: 0-671-87865-4 Cover art by Keith Parkinson First printing March 1998 Distributed by Simon amp Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10020 Production by Windhaven Press Auburn NHPrinted in the United States of America To Lucille PROLOGUE The first facet was purpose . It was the only facet. And because it was the only facet purpose had neither meaning norcontent. It simply was. Was. Nothing more. purpose . Alone and unknowing. Yet that thing which purpose would become had not come to be haphazardly. purpose thatfirst and isolated facet had been drawn into existence by the nature of the man who squattedin the cave staring at it. ?? Another man—almost any other man—would have gasped or drawn back or fled or seized afutile weapon. Some men—some few rare men—would have tried to comprehend what they wereseeing. But the man in the cave simply stared. He did not try to comprehend purpose for he despised comprehension. But it can be said thathe considered what he was seeing and considered it moreover with a focused concentrationthat was quite beyond the capacity of almost any other man in the world. purpose had come to be in that cave at that time because the man who sat thereconsidering purpose had stripped himself over long years of everything except his ownoverriding urgent all-consuming sense of purpose. ?? ?? His name was Michael of Macedonia. He was a Stylite monk one of those holy men who pursuedtheir faith through isolation and contemplation perched atop pillars or nestled within caves. Michael of Macedonia fearless in the certainty of his faith stretched forth a withered armand laid a bony finger on purpose