"Greg Egan - Glory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Egan Greg)

Basically, once they achieved material comfort, they seem to have devoted themselves to various art
forms, including mathematics.тАЭ

тАЬSo youтАЩve traveled twenty light-years just to look at Niah tablets?тАЭ Pirit was incredulous.

тАЬAny culture that spent three million years doing mathematics must have something to teach us.тАЭ

тАЬReally?тАЭ PiritтАЩs face became blue with disgust. тАЬIn the ten thousand years since we discovered the
wheel, weтАЩve already reached halfway to the Cataract. They wasted their time on useless abstractions.тАЭ

Joan said, тАЬI come from a culture of spacefarers myself, so I respect your achievements. But I donтАЩt think
anyone really knows what the Niah achieved. IтАЩd like to find out, with the help of your people.тАЭ

Pirit was silent for a while. тАЬWhat if we say no?тАЭ

тАЬThen IтАЩll leave empty-handed.тАЭ

тАЬWhat if we insist that you remain with us?тАЭ
тАЬThen IтАЩll die here, empty-handed.тАЭ On her command, this body would expire in an instant; she could not
be held and tortured.

Pirit said angrily, тАЬYou must be willing to trade something for the privilege youтАЩre demanding!тАЭ

тАЬRequesting, not demanding,тАЭ Joan insisted gently. тАЬAnd what IтАЩm will-ing to offer is my own cultureтАЩs
perspective on Niah mathematics. If you ask your archaeologists and mathematicians, IтАЩm sure theyтАЩll tell
you that there are many things written in the Niah tablets that they donтАЩt yet understand. My colleague
and IтАЭтАФneither of them had mentioned Anne before, but Joan was sure that Pirit knew all about
herтАФтАЬsimply want to shed as much light as we can on this subject.тАЭ

Pirit said bitterly, тАЬYou wonтАЩt even tell us how you came to our world. Why should we trust you to share
whatever you discover about the Niah?тАЭ

тАЬInterstellar travel is no great mystery,тАЭ Joan countered. тАЬYou know all the basic science already; making
it work is just a matter of persistence. If youтАЩre left to develop your own technology, you might even
come up with better methods than we have.тАЭ

тАЬSo weтАЩre expected to be patient, to discover these things for ourselvesтАж but you canтАЩt wait a few
centuries for us to decipher the Niah artifacts?тАЭ

Joan said bluntly, тАЬThe present Noudah culture, both here and in Tira, seems to hold the Niah in
contempt. Dozens of partially excavated sites containing Niah artifacts are under threat from irrigation
projects and other developments. ThatтАЩs the reason we couldnтАЩt wait. We needed to come here and
offer our assistance, before the last traces of the Niah disappeared for-ever.тАЭ

Pirit did not reply, but Joan hoped she knew what her interrogator was thinking: Nobody would cross
twenty light-years for a few worthless scribblings. Perhaps weтАЩve underestimated the Niah.
Perhaps our ancestors have left us a great secret, a great legacy. And perhaps the fastestтАФ
perhaps the onlyтАФway to uncover it is to give this impertinent, irritating alien exactly what she
wants.