"Asimov, Isaac - The Naked Sun UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

УTheyТve requested help.Ф


УFrom us? From Earth?Ф Baley was torn between confusion and disbelief. For an Outer World to take any attitude other than contempt toward the despised mother planet or, at best, a patronizing social benevolence was unthinkable. To come for help?
СProm Earth?Ф he repeated.
УUnusual,Ф admitted Minnim, Уbut there it is. They want a Terrestrial detective assigned to the case. ItТs been handled through diplomatic channels on the highest levels.Ф
Baley sat down again. УWhy me? IТm not a young man. IТm forty-three. IТve got a wife and child. I couldnТt leave Earth.Ф
УThatТs not our choice, Plainclothesman. You were specifically asked for.Ф

УPlainclothesman Elijah Baley, C-6, of the New York City Police Force. They knew what they wanted. Surely you see why.Ф
Baley said stubbornly, УIТm not qualified.Ф
УThey think you are. The way you handled the Spacer murder has apparently reached them.Ф
УThey must have got it all mixed up. It must have seemed better than it was.Ф
Minnim shrugged. УIn any case, theyТve asked for you and we have agreed to send you. You are reassigned. The papers have all been taken care of and you must go. During your absence, your wife and child will be taken care of at a C-7 level since that will be your temporary rating during your discharge of this assignment.Ф He paused significantly. УSatisfactory completion of the assignment may make the rating permanent.Ф
It was happening too quickly for Baley. None of this could be so. He couldnТt leave Earth. DidnТt they see that?
He heard himself ask in a level voice that sounded unnatural in his own ears. СУWhat kind of a murder? What are the circumstances? Why canТt they handle it themselves?Ф
Minnim rearranged small objects on his desk with carefully kept fingers. He shook his head. УI donТt know anything about the murder. I donТt know the circumstances.Ф
УThen who does, sir? You donТt expect me to go there cold, do you?Ф And again a despairing inner voice: But I canТt leave Earth.
УNobody knows anything about it. Nobody on Earth. The Solarians didnТt tell us. That will be your job; to find out what is so


important about the murder that they must have an Earthman to solve it. Or, rather, that will be part of your job.Ф
Baley was desperate enough to say, СУWhat if I refuse?Ф He knew the answer, of course. He knew exactly what declassification would mean to himself and, more than that, to his family.
Minnim said nothing about declassification. He said softly, УYou canТt refuse, Plainclothesman. You have a job to do.Ф
УFor Solaria? The hell with them.Ф
УFor us, Baley. For us.Ф Minnim paused. Then he went on, УYou know the position of Earth with respect to the Spacers. I donТt have to go into that.Ф
Baley knew the situation and so did every man on Earth. The fifty Outer Worlds, with a far smaller population, in combination, than that of Earth alone, nevertheless maintained a military potential perhaps a hundred times greater. With their underpopulated worlds resting on a positronic robot economy, their energy production per human was thousands of times that of Earth. And it was the amount of energy a single human could produce that dictated military potential, standard of living, happiness, and all besides.
Minnim said, УOne of the factors that conspires to keep us in that position is ignorance. Just that. Ignorance. The Spacers know all about us. They send missions enough to Earth, heaven knows. We know nothing about them except what they tell us. No man on Earth has ever as much as set foot on an Outer World. You will, though.Ф
Baley began, УI canТt. - .У
But Minnim repeated, УYou will. Your position will be unique. You will be on Solaria on their invitation, doing a job to which they will assign you. When you return, you will have information useful to Earth.Ф
Baley watched the Undersecretary through somber eyes. УYou mean IТm to spy for Earth.Ф
УNo question of spying. You need do nothing they donТt ask you to do. Just keep your eyes and mind open. Observe! There will be specialists on Earth when you return to analyze and interpret your observations.Ф
Baley said, УI take it thereТs a crisis, sir.Ф
УWhy do you say that?Ф
УSending an Earthman to an Outer World is risky. The Spacers


hate us. With the best will in the world and even though IТm there on invitation, I could cause an interstellar incident. The Terrestrial Government could easily avoid sending me if they chose. They could say I was ill. The Spacers are pathologically afraid of disease. They wouldnТt want me for any reason if they thought I were ill.Ф
УDo you suggest,Ф said Minnim, Уwe try that trick?Ф
УNo. If the government had no other motive for sending me, they would think of that or something better without my help. So it follows that it is the question of spying that is the real essential. And if that is so, there must be more to it than just a see-what-you-can-see to justify the risk.Ф
Baley half expected an explosion and would have half welcomed one as a relief of pressure, but Minnim only smiled frostily and said, УYou can see past the non-essentials, it seems. But then, I expected no less.Ф
The Undersecretary leaned across his desk toward Baley. УHere is certain information which you will discuss with no one, not even with other government officials. Our sociologists have been coming to certain conclusions concerning the present Galactic situation. Fifty Outer Worlds, underpopulated, roboticized, powerful, with people that are healthy and long-lived. We ourselves, crowded, technologically underdeveloped, short-lived, under their domination. It is unstable.Ф
УEverything is in the long run.Ф
УThis is unstable in the short run. A hundred years is the most weТre allowed. The situation will last our time, to be sure, but we have children. Eventually we will become too great a danger to the Outer Worlds to be allowed to survive. There are eight billions on Earth who hate the Spacers.Ф
Baley said, УThe Spacers exclude us from the Galaxy, handle our trade to their own profit, dictate to our government, and treat us with contempt. What do they expect? Gratitude?Ф
УTrue, and yet the pattern is fixed. Revolt, suppression, revolt, suppressionЧand within a century Earth will be virtually wiped out as a populated world. So the sociologists say.Ф
Baley stirred uneasily. One didnТt question sociologists and their computers. УBut what do you expect me to accomplish if all this is so?Ф
УBring us information. The big flaw in sociological forecast is