"Anderson, Poul - For Love and Glory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Poul)

УGood daywatch,Ф he greeted, adding after a momentТs hesitation, Уmilady.Ф
Why suddenly so formal? she wondered. Not that theyТd been what youТd call close friends. In fact, she had confessed to herself, she didnТt quite like himЧor, at any rate, she disliked what he stood for. However, relationships all around had been amicable enough, as theyТd better be on a foreign planet.
УLikewise, Romon Kaspersson,Ф she answered carefully.
He drew alongside her and stopped, glanced at the screen, then regarded her. УAre we the only two idle ones aboard just now?Ф It sounded as though he wanted to make conversation.
УI daresay everybody else has their own activities,Ф she saidЧ science, games, sports, sleep, whatever, while the ship conned herself through space.
He did not let the curtness put him off, but smiled a bit. УAnd I daresay youТve been musing about your trailmate back yonder?Ф
It was easiest to reply, УYes. KarlТs good people.Ф Actually, Hebo had been adrift in her mind. How was he doing? How would he fare, on an Earth that had become the strangest of all the known worlds?
[44] УAgreed.Ф Romon laughed. УA little too much so perhaps. He made me feel less than saintly.Ф
Ah, well, Lissa thought, if heТs reaching for a touch of human warmth, why not? He never said much, but he must have felt rather lonely among the Windholms. Mostly he stayed with his computer and readouts, his reports from robots and landsats. She made a smile. УWhy, you were perfectly well-behaved.Ф
Jesting was not natural to him. УI tried to be.Ф He bent his lips upward. УMy thoughts, however, were often unruly.Ф
Was he probing for intimacy? She wasnТt interested, even though it had been a pretty long while. УThatТs your business.Ф
He lifted a hand. УPlease donТt get me wrong. I didnТt mean it in the usual way. I mean fromЧm-m-mЧyour standpoint, and probably your fellowsТ.Ф
УWhat, then?Ф Not to seem naive: УYou want to tell me, donТt you?Ф
УFrankly, yes. IТve been watching for a chance to talk with you like this.Ф
УWhy me?Ф
He must have rehearsed his answer. УBecause youТre Lissa Davysdaughter, and your father has the major voice in House WindholmТs space operations.Ф
She felt almost relieved. УYour House has its own.Ф
УBut weТre basically commercial. Investors, developers, and our space operations are interplanetary and minor.Ф
She turned cold. УTrue.Ф
He allowed himself a hint of anger. УYou know SeafellТs never had anything like WindholmТs landholdings. WeТre latecomers on Asborg. We canТt afford aristocratic attitudes.Ф
УYou could by now.Ф
УBut traditions, institutionsЧФ Yes, he was in earnest. УCanТt you believe we have ours, our ways of thinking and living, the same as you have yours?Ф
УOf course you do.Ф Every House does, she thought. And we [45] all live on the same planet, and share in its governance, and whatТs he leading up to?
УYou donТt like ours, do you?Ф
УI donТt hate it. A matter of taste. The communal versus the corporate style?Ф Lissa shrugged. УThey say diversity makes for a healthy society.Ф
УIs it so absolute a difference? We did help finance this expedition. We have our human share of curiosity. WeТre not Shylocks, not in any sense.Ф Romon paused a moment. УThough he too had his ideals, didnТt he? And the haughty Christians scorned them.Ф
She almost caught the reference. Something literary, wasnТt it, and ancient? Yes, sheТd noticed him screening old texts. He was not entirely a money machine. Maybe not even mostly.
It softened her mood a little. SheТd better lighten it anyway. УIТm afraid weТve all of us had our curiosity more aroused than satisfied.Ф
But he didnТt take her hint. УYes. The Forerunner artifactЧ It changes everything.Ф
УA remarkable find,Ф she parried.
His tone accused. УYou donТt seem to care that those vagabonds only intended to make money off it.Ф
Lissa lost whatever small kindliness she had begun to feel. She stiffened. ThatТs different, she almost said. TheyТre private parties, entrepreneurs of the classic sortЧadventurersЧwho had no idea of grabbing a monopoly and couldnТt have if theyТd wanted to.
Why do I think so, and so strongly?
УWell,Ф she decided to respond, Уthey found it and did the preliminary work. They deserve some reward.Ф
УYes, yes. Beside the point. Which is, what shall we do with it?Ф
УWhy, I expect thereТll be quite a swarm of investigators. Planetologists and biologists will piggyback. What else?Ф
УThatТs the obvious outcome. All too obvious. But ask yourself: To whose profit? In the long run?Ф
[46] УEverybodyТs.Ф
His gaze never left her. УThatТs not necessarily true, milady. It isnТt even likely. Look at history. Human history, and what little we know about nonhuman ones. Whatever there is to learn, science, technology, is going to give power. To do what? For whom?Ф
УScarcely overwhelming power.Ф
УAre you certain? If nothing else, more clues to the Forerunners, and everything that may meanЧФ Romon drew breath. УProfit, gain, is power in itself. Your spendthrift friends donТt seem to have understood that. Or else itТs simply that there are just the two of them. A House, though, a world, a race has to think further ahead.Ф
Taken aback by the intensity, Lissa rallied to demand, УWhat are you getting at?Ф
УMy superiors and I, we honestly thought we were joining the pure-science game. We have been venturing into it now and then, you know. Yes, I was to keep an eye out for possible commercial values, but that was a sideline. An idea absolutely absent from you Windholms.Ф
No, Lissa didnТt say, not really. WeТre human too.
УNow this,Ф Romon pursued. УMilady, it needs to be kept in responsible hands. People who wonТt recklessly let the knowledge run wild across the galaxy, but keep it under control, think hard about everything they learn, use the knowledge and the power wisely.Ф
УAnd keep the power for themselves,Ф Lissa said half automatically.
УYou believe you, you Windholms, can afford idealism. I say you canТt. Nobody can.Ф
УWhat is realism?Ф she retorted. УHow far can the races trust aЧa set of interlocking corporate directorates?Ф
Romon sighed. УLetТs not get into a quarrel, milady. ThereТs no basic secret anymore. The news has been hyperbeamed to Asborg and by now has gone everywhere.Ф He tautened. УBut [47] discretion, control of access, caution about making any findings publicЧI agree, probably the artifact in itself canТt show us the way to more than some harmless technological progress. But it may have further cluesЧas I said, even to the ForerunnersЧand what might that mean?
УItТs not too late. IТm proposing cooperation between the leaders of all our Houses. And, yes, for the time being at least, working out diplomatic ways to keep nonhumans off. TheyТre still less predictable than we are. Not so?