"James P. Hogan - Giants 4 - Entoverse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

other organizations for all manner of purposes as the scope of dealings
between the two cultures grew.
"Yes, I talk to some of them," Hunt said, nodding.
"What kind of thing do you do there exactly?" Jerry asked curiously.
Hunt drew on his cigarette and stared out at the central valley between
the green, terraced slopes. A glint of metallic bronze appeared briefly as a
car rounded a bend a short distance away on the road below. "I used to be with
UNSA's Navcomms division down in Houston -- that was how I got to go on the
Jupiter Five mission. So I was out at Ganymede and mixed up with the Ganymeans
right from the start."
"Okay." Jerry nodded.
"Well, now this business with Thurien is all happening, one of the
things we need to find out is what sense we can make of their sciences, and
how much of our own needs to go in the trash can. UNSA moved me up to Goddard
to head up a team that's looking into some parts of that."
"And they do things like travel around between stars and remodel whole
planets?" Jerry thought about it for a moment. "That could be pretty hair-
raising."
Hunt nodded. "They've got power plants out in space that turn eight
lunar masses of material a day into energy and beam it instantly to wherever
you need it, light-years away. Sometimes I feel like a scribe from an old
monastery would have, trying to unravel what goes on inside IBM."
"Wasn't there a woman who used to visit sometimes, when you first moved
here?" Jerry asked. "Kinda red hair, not bad-looking...
Hunt nodded. "That's right. Lyn."
"I talked to her once or twice. Said she'd moved up from Houston, too.
So was she with UNSA as well?"
"Right."
"Haven't seen her around lately."
Hunt made a vague gesture with the can he was holding, and stubbed his
cigarette in a tin lid that he had found in the toolbox. "An old flame from
her college days breezed in out of nowhere, and the next thing I knew it was
serious and they got married. They're over in Germany now. She's still with
UNSA -- coordinating some program with the European side."
"Just like that, eh?"
"Oh, it was just as well, Jerry. She'd been sending domestication
signals my way for a while. You know how it is."
"Not really your scene, huh?"
"No...Probably a great institution, mind you, Jerry. But I don't think
I'm ready for an institution yet."
Jerry seemed more at ease, as if back on ground that he understood. He
raised his beer. "I'll drink to that."
"Never tried it?" Hunt asked.
"Once. That was enough."
"Not exactly a happy affair?"
Jerry pulled a face. "Oh, no, there's no such thing as an unhappy
marriage. They're all happy -- you only have to look at the wedding pictures.
It's the living together afterward that does it." He crumpled his empty can
and dropped it into the carton, then pulled out another, peeled back the tab,
and settled back comfortably until he was half lying against a tree standing