"David Gerrold - Chtorr 3 - A Rage for Revenge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

didn't make it. Most of them died rather than be here." He paused to let that sink in.
"There are five hundred and twelve of you. Two hundred and eighty-two women, two hundred and thirty
men. In here, your job is to represent the entire human species. For the duration of this course, you are
the human species. At the end of this program, when you return to your previous occupations, or to your
new assignments as the case may be, you will be called upon to make choices that will affect the entire
human species. So this course is about that responsibility-and the way you handle it."
A woman stood up then. She looked Chinese, but she had an African hair style. Fourth world? "Dr.
Foreman," she said. "I protest."
Foreman looked at his watch. "Hm. We're ahead of schedule." He stepped off the podium toward the
woman. She was one of those in a plain brown jumpsuit. "Yes, Dr. Chin?"
"Isn't it presumptuous to assume that this group has the right to represent the entire human species? I
have eyes. I can see that the representation of Africans and Indians and Chinese and Arabs is well below
the global percentage. How can you justify that this group should make decisions about people they are
not qualified to represent? There are too many white faces in here." She spoke politely, but she looked
angry.
"Mm-hm," he said. "Do you want a response to that?"
"Yes, I do."
Foreman looked remarkably patient-or was it an expression of superiority? He said, "The only answer I
can give you is an unsatisfactory one. You won't like it."
"Let me be the judge of that," she said.
Foreman nodded thoughtfully. He glanced around the room, as if to confirm Dr. Chin's observation.
"Yes, it's true. There are too many white faces in here. Particularly since the Chtorran plagues were far
more devastating in their effects against members of the Caucasian and Asian races than they were
against Negroes. So you can certainly look at the proportion of skin colors in this room and see that as
evidence of discrimination-if you want to. And if that's what you want to do, then no assertions that race
was not a consideration in the selection process will satisfy you. If you're looking for discrimination, you
can always find evidence."
"Is that it?" she asked. Her tone was accusatory.
He met her gaze directly. "I told you that the answer would be unsatisfactory."
He was right. She didn't look satisfied. She said, "May I ask what justifications were used in the selection
process?"
"Yes, you may-but it's the wrong question. No justifications at all were used. We didn't select you. You
selected yourselves." Foreman returned to the podium. He looked at a page of notes. "The only criterion
that we-that is, the agency responsible for this course-established for your participation is that you speak
English and that you be willing to be here. After that, it was all up to you."
Foreman stepped off the dais on the fourth side to whisper something to an assistant. When he finished,
he turned back to Dr. Chin and spoke to her from across the formation of chairs, but he was no longer
speaking only to Dr. Chin. He was speaking to all of us. "You are here, you were invited to participate,
because you have demonstrated your commitment to excellence. In some way you have made a
contribution to your species. Whatever it was, it was sufficient to attract the attention of the agency. That
was how you earned your invitation. That you have come here to this room of your own free will is the
completion of the selection process. Everything else is irrelevant."
"Are you saying that you didn't choose who got to be here?"
"Yes, exactly. We put out five hundred and twelve chairs, Dr. Chin. And we declared that five hundred
and twelve of the best asses on the planet would sit on them. It is in the nature of chairs to attract asses.
If you'll look around, you'll see that's exactly what happened. Chairs attract asses like honey attracts flies.
Yours are the asses that got caught. And yours are the best because we say so."
There was a spattering of laughter in the room. Foreman ignored it. He said to Dr. Chin, "But I suppose
you want the four-dollar answer, right?"
"If you don't mind." She said it stiffly.