"Alan Dean Foster - Humanx 5 - Sentenced To Prism" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

affectionate
finger over the crystalline surface, which did not stir. "It pos-sesses its
own
little photovoltaic system. Instead of con-verting sunlight into chemical
energy, as plants do, it converts light directly into electricity. That's fine
for a machine, but not for a living creature, and the principles are driving
our
research people crazy. Mathematically it's all possible, but applying the math
to a living thing is something else again."
"Where did it come from? What's the world like?"
"Easy. One miracle at a time, Orgell." Machoka resumed his seat. "As to what
its
home world is like, we don't know yet. Rut we do know where it is. Prism."
Evan's expression twisted. " fire we talking physics, philosophy, or the
beautiful eyes of the new Records Department Comptroller?"
"It's a world. A new world."
"Sure is. First I've heard of it, and I don't miss much."
"It was intended that you and everyone else miss this. One of the company's
hunters stumbled across it. Very few people within the organization know about
it, and we've worked hard to keep the discovery out of the media. Now one more
person knows about it."
Conscious of the small honor just received, Evan proceeded cautiously. "I can
see why you're trying to keep it a secret." He nodded toward Machoka's wrist.
"if that's an example of the commercial possibilities‑imagine Jew-elry
that
defends itself against thieves."
Again the president gestured with his wrist. "This is nothing, nothing. A
bauble, a toy. According to what little we've learned about this place thus
far,
the possibilities there are..." He swallowed, started again. "We can't even
begin to imagine the possibilities. I certainly can't. Scientifically I'm
little
more than a layman. I'm an admin-istrator, not a chemist, not a products
analyst." He rose abruptly and began pacing back and forth in front of his
visitor.
"Orgell, we don't know what we've got here except that it's big. Bigger than
anything anybody's dreamed of. Bigger than any single project the company's
ever
tackled before. This world is not just new; it's radical. It's so strange my
people are still arguing over whether biologists or geologists should be in
charge of exploration and initial development. This business of organosilicate
lifeforms is not unique. Some exist here on Samstead, some on Earth. But not
on
this scale. And the whole class of photovores is brand‑new."
Evan eyed the Spanset again. "It exists solely on sun-light?"
"No. It does ingest modest doses of certain minerals and salts. Call it a kind
of food." He hesitated. "You'll get a full briefing before you go."
"Before I go where, sir?" Evan asked quietly, even though he'd already pretty
well divined the answer.
"Prism, of course."