"Nancy Kress - The Rules" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

iridescent, in the shadow of her hand they looked like nothing at all. But
lying all together on the ground, they shone with reflected sunlight like ... like
... she didnтАЩt know what.

The edge of the bright-white was growing.

Even as she crouched on her heels, holding up her rough habit so
that only her boot soles touched the desert floor, the bright-white edged
visibly closer to her thickly shod toes. And overhead she heard the first of
the news helicopters, swooping in lower for a closer look.

****

тАЬTheyтАЩre excreted by genetically engineered micro-organisms that
replicate at a fantastic rate,тАЭ Tartell said. His voice had become thick, the
words forced out by sheer will. тАЬWith sufficiently strong sunlight, they pull
nutrients from rock and sand, and can manage a generative division every
fifteen minutes. Nearly all their energy not going for reproduction goes to
secrete a thin, top-side external coating. Think of nacre created by marine
animals, but much, much faster. The albedo of the coating is 10 percent
greater than ice. The area of desert land that they will cover should, in less
than six months, equal the melted ice sheets on Antarctica and Greenland.
Polar ice is so reflective that 90 percent of the sunlight that strikes it is
reflected back into space, taking its heat with it. As a counter-effect toтАФтАЭ

тАЬI know what effect it will have,тАЭ Carmody snapped. Jesus! Trapped
greenhouse gases were what was warming the planet. If enough energy
radiated back into spaceтАФsomething no one had thought possibleтАФif that
happened...

тАЬThe feds will swoop down on you like all the furies of hell,тАЭ Carmody
said. тАЬThe UN. The International Emergency Effort Alliance. The ... Good
God, Arthur! YouтАЩll cover the whole planet in mother-of-pearl!тАЭ

тАЬNo,тАЭ Tartell gasped. тАЬThereтАЩs a terminator gene built in. ItтАЩll only
cover the deserts.тАЭ

тАЬYou canтАЩt do this! Public opinion aloneтАФтАЭ

тАЬAre you sure about that?тАЭ

****

The DiSartosтАЩ guests had adjourned to the poker table. Beer, chips,
hearty camaraderie to cover the awkward moments in the living room. Ron
had even left the TV on; Maddie Lomax liked to hear Wheel of Fortune.

тАЬRaise you a quarter,тАЭ Jim said.

тАЬI fold,тАЭ from Brenda.