"Nancy Kress - Beggars 1 - Beggars in Spain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

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Beggars in Spain
by Nancy Kress
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Copyright (c)1991 Nancy Kress
First published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1991

Fictionwise Contemporary
Science Fiction
Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards

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ONE
THEY SAT STIFFLY on his antique Eames chairs, two people who didn't want to be here, or one
person who didn't want to and one who resented the other's reluctance. Dr. Ong had seen this
before. Within two minutes he was sure: the woman was the silently furious resister. She would
lose. The man would pay for it later, in little ways, for a long time.
"I presume you've performed the necessary credit checks already," Roger Camden said
pleasantly, "so let's get right on to details, shall we, Doctor?"
"Certainly," Ong said. "Why don't we start by your telling me all the genetic modifications
you're interested in for the baby."
The woman shifted suddenly on her chair. She was in her late twenties -- clearly a second
wife -- but already had a faded look, as if keeping up with Roger Camden was wearing her out. Ong
could easily believe that. Mrs. Camden's hair was brown, her eyes were brown, her skin had a brown
tinge that might have been pretty if her cheeks had had any color. She wore a brown coat, neither
fashionable nor cheap, and shoes that looked vaguely orthopedic. Ong glanced at his records for
her name: Elizabeth. He would bet people forgot it often.
Next to her, Roger Camden radiated nervous vitality, a man in late middle age whose bullet-
shaped head did not match his careful haircut and Italian-silk business suit. Ong did not need to
consult his file to recall anything about Camden. A caricature of the bullet-shaped head had been
the leading graphic for yesterday's online edition of the Wall Street journal: Camden had led a
major coup in cross-border data-atoll investment. Ong was not sure what cross-border data-atoll
investment was.
"A girl," Elizabeth Camden said. Ong hadn't expected her to speak first. Her voice was
another surprise: upper-class British. "Blonde. Green eyes. Tall. Slender."
Ong smiled. "Appearance factors are the easiest to achieve, as I'm sure you already know.
But all we can do about slenderness is give her a genetic disposition in that direction. How you
feed the child will naturally -- "
"Yes, yes," Roger Camden said, "that's obvious. Now: intelligence. _High_ intelligence. And