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

This course-here, in this roomis your training for that responsibility.
"This is the opportunity." Foreman included all of us again. "What we are up to here is nothing less than
creating the future of the entire human species." Abruptly, he looked back to Dr. Chin. "Is that a game
you want to play?"
Dr. Chin looked troubled. She said slowly, "I find the whole idea preposterous. I find you, and this
group-and the conception behind it-a ridiculous joke. No, a terrifying nightmare. Who gave you the right
to make decisions for the rest of the human species? Who died and appointed you God?"
"You're right," Foreman said, nodding. "I am unfit. So are you. So are the other five hundred and eleven
people in this room. But so what? We're the ones who already have the job. I told you that you selected
yourself into this room. You-all of you in here-are already doing the job of determining the future of the
human race. Whatever it is you're doing, that's part of the future we're all creating. Some of you are
studying Chtorrans, some of you are trying to communicate with them, some of you are trying to control
them, or kill them-and at least one of you has even spent time living among them. As individuals, you have
accomplished a lot-an incredible amount. The only problem is that it's insufficient. Because it's still not
enough to stop the infestation!" And suddenly, Dr. Daniel Jeffrey Foreman looked and sounded very
angry.
He strode back to the dais so he could speak to us as a group, but again I had the sensation that he
knew who each and every one of us was-and that he was speaking to each and every one of us
individually.
"It's not the ability that's missing! We know it's there! It's the focus for the ability! We are, all of us, still
unfocused! Commitment is the focus for intention!
"If the human race is to survive, we need to start kicking asses-our own!" He spoke with incredible
intensity now. "We need to move ourselves up to the next level of commitment, and the next level after
that, and the next level after that. And this is the place where it starts. This is what this group is for. But so
far, you-the so-called movers and shakers-look like the Anarchists' football team." He paused for effect.
"The truth makes you nervous, doesn't it? But it's still the truth. You look like five hundred and twelve
hysterical assholes, each one of whom is running around with his or her own ball toward his or her own
goal, oblivious to whether or not you're even on the goddamn field! What is wanted and needed before
we can play football is the operating context of team. You need to notice where the lines are painted on
the ground and who's wearing what uniforms and playing which positions."
Foreman stopped abruptly, stepped over to his podium and took a drink of water. He looked at his
notes for a moment, then continued quietly, "The Chtorran infestation has put the human species in a
position that can only be described as precarious. Our language is insufficient to convey the magnitude of
the disaster. The scale of it is beyond our ability to comprehend. Even our largest and fastest
information-processing facilities are stumbling over the great masses of confusing and contradictory
reports. We have no referents for the invaders. We have no way to assimilate what is happening, we
have no way to quantify it or measure it-we have no scale for the management of the task ahead of us.
And yet . . . some of us on this planet, including some of you in this room, have accepted the
responsibility of the challenge anyway. "
"Because we have no choice!" interrupted a man in the opposite section.
Foreman whirled to look at him. "You think so? I say we do. I say that we have an incredible choice
before us. This whole course is about that choice."
Foreman stepped off the dias toward him. "I assert that our survival is still a possibility. That assertion is
the starting point for everything that will occur in here."
The man who had interrupted had nothing further to say. Satisfied, Foreman began circling back toward
Dorothy Chin. "If we are to make it, then over the next few years, this species is going to have to make
some incredible adaptations, many of which we will not like. But whether we like them or not, they will
be necessary to our survival. It is clear that the very definition of humanity is going to be tested."
Foreman had returned to his place in front of Dorothy Chin. She was still standing. She was as rigid as
stone. Foreman stood before her and spoke quietly and calmly, "It is this simple, Dorothy Chin. You