"Clancy, Tom - Op-Center 04 - Acts of War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clancy Tom)

Three hundred yards away was a deserted
asphalt road that rippled beneath the afternoon heat. Beyond
that, separated by three barren miles and more than five
thousand years, was the city of Sanliurfa.
Thirty-three-year-old biophysicist Dr.
Phil Katzen stood to the attorney's right. The
long-haired scientist shielded his eyes as he
looked toward the dusty outline of the ancient
metropolis.
"Did you know, Lowell," Katzen said, "that ten
thousand years ago, right where we're standing, is where
beasts of burden were first domesticated? They were
all-rochs--wild ox. They tilled the soil right
under our feet."
"That's great," Coffey said. "And you can
probably tell me what the soil
composition was then too. Right?"
"No." Katzen smiled. "Only now. All
of the nations in this region have to keep records like that
to see how long the farmlands'll hold out. I've
got the soil file on diskette. As soon as
Mike and Mary Rose are finished, I'll load
it up if you want to read it."
"No, thanks," Coffey said. "I have enough trouble
retaining all the goddamn information I'm supposed
to learn. I'm getting old, y'know."
"You're thirty-nine," Katzen said.
"Not much longer," Coffey said. "I was born
forty years ago tomorrow."
Katzen grinned. "Well, happy birthday,
counselor."
"Thanks," Coffey said, "but it won't be. Like
I said, I'm getting old, Phil."
"Don't knock it," Katzen said. He pointed
toward Sanliurfa. "When that place was young, forty
was old.
Back then most people lived to be about twenty. And not
a healthy twenty at that. They were plagued by rotten
teeth, broken bones, bad eyesight, athlete's
foot, you-name-it.
Hell, today the voting age in Turkey
is twenty-one.
Do you realize that ancient leaders in places like
Uludere, Sirnak, and Batman couldn't even have
voted for themselves?"
Coffey looked at him. "There's a place
called Batman?"
"Right on the Tigris," Katzen said. "See?
There's always something new to learn. I spent a
couple hours this morning learning about the ROC.