"Janet Kagan - Mirabile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

sunflowers.тАЭ
She leaned closer, all earnestness. тАЬAnd one one-hundredth of the sunflowers,
given the right EC, will seed bumblebees, and so on and so forth. ThatтАЩs what Mama
Jason calls тАШchaining up.тАЩ Eventually you might get red deer.тАЭ
Leo frowned. тАЬI donтАЩt see how you can go from plant to animalтАжтАЭ
тАЬThereтАЩs usually an intermediate stageтАФa plant that comes out all wrong for that
plant but perfect for an incubator for whateverтАЩs in the next twist.тАЭ She paused
dramatically, then finished, тАЬAs you can see, it was a perfectly dumb idea.тАЭ
I decided to add my two bits here. тАЬThe idea wasnтАЩt as dumb as you make out,
kiddo. They just hadnтАЩt worked the bugs out before they stuck us with it.тАЭ
тАЬWhen she says bugs,тАЭ Susan confided grimly to Leo, тАЬshe means DragonтАЩs
Teeth.тАЭ
I stepped in again. тАЬTwo things went wrong, Leo. First, there was supposed to be
an easy way to turn anything other than the primary helix off and on at will. The
problem is that information was in the chunk of shipsтАЩ records we lost, and it was
such new knowledge at the time that it didnтАЩt get passed to anyone on the ship.
тАЬThe second problem was the result of pure goof. They forgot that, in the long
run, all plants and animals change to suit their environment. A new mutation may be
just the thing for our wheat, but who knows what itтАЩs done to those hidden
sunflowers? ThoseтАФand the chimeraeтАФare the real DragonтАЩs Teeth.тАЭ
Leo turned to Susan. тАЬWant to explain the chimerae as long as youтАЩre at it?тАЭ
тАЬA chimera is something thatтАЩs, well, sort of patched together from two, maybe
three, different genetic sources. Ordinarily itтАЩs nothing strikingтАФyouтАЩd probably
only notice if you did a full gene-read. But with all those hidden sets of genes, just
about anything can happen.тАЭ
тАЬKangaroo rex, for example,тАЭ I said. тАЬThat one was a true chimera: a wolf in
kangarooтАЩs clothing.тАЭ
тАЬI remember the news films,тАЭ Leo said. тАЬNasty.тАЭ
тАЬViable, too,тАЭ I said. тАЬThat was a tough fight. IтАЩm still sorry I lost.тАЭ It still
rankled, I discovered.
Leo looked startled.
тАЬI wanted to save тАЩem, Leo, but I got voted down. We really couldnтАЩt afford a
new predator in that area.тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt look so shocked, Noisy,тАЭ Susan said. тАЬYou never know what might be
useful some day. Just suppose we get an overpopulation of rabbits or something and
we need a predator to balance them out before they eat all our crops. ThatтАЩs why
Mama Jason wanted to keep them.тАЭ
Leo looked unconvinced, Susan looked hurt suddenly. тАЬJust because itтАЩs ugly,
Leo,тАЭ she said, тАЬdoesnтАЩt mean you wipe it out. ThereтАЩs nothing pretty about a rock
lobster but it sure as hell tastes good.тАЭ
тАЬI grant you that. IтАЩm just not as sure about things that think I taste good.тАЭ
Susan folded her arms across her chest and heaved another of those dramatic
sighs. тАЬNow I know what youтАЩre up against, Mama Jason,тАЭ she said. тАЬPure
ignorance.тАЭ
That surprised me. I held my tongue for once, waiting to see how Leo would take
that.
тАЬNothing pure about it,тАЭ he said. тАЬDonтАЩt insult a man whoтАЩs trying to enlighten
himself. That never furthered a cause.тАЭ He paused, then added, тАЬYou sound like you
take it very personally.тАЭ
Susan dropped her eyes. There was something in that evasion that wasnтАЩt simple