"C. Sanford Lowe & G. David Nordley - Loki's Realm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowe C Sanford)

тАЬThe AIs wonтАЩt? I thought these systems were fairly creative,тАЭ he said.
тАЬWe constrained their creativity,тАЭ Davra responded. тАЬWe didnтАЩt want them
thinking up new purposes in a thirty-year management control loop....тАЭ
тАЬOh, of course not,тАЭ Dickson agreed. тАЬIf we donтАЩt watch out they might
invent sex....тАЭ
тАЬHumpf,тАЭ Weaver interjected. тАЬWell, our starship isnтАЩt under any such
constraints ... on creativity that is. Admiral, do you have any ideas?тАЭ
тАЬThe current system is already at an optimum factory-array production
balance. It would lose ground under any change in allocation of manufacturing
effort. Therefore, to complete the project with the planned performance margins, the
current system will need to be changed.
тАЬThere are three things being produced: factories, array panels, and beam
drivers. One change would be to add something else to the system. That additional
thing would need to attenuate the debris flux. One could build spacecraft to find and
divert collision fragments before they come into range of the impact-protection
systems of the arrays. This would enable the array system to grow again, but not fast
enough. However, you asked for ideas, not solutions.тАЭ
Dickson chuckled. тАЬThanks, Admiral.тАЭ He turned to Lewis and frowned.
тАЬLook, the composition of the collision debris appears to be mainly SтАФand C-type
asteroidal material, right?тАЭ
тАЬCarbonaceous chondrites. True.тАЭ
тАЬOkay. TheyтАЩre rocks, like the raw material weтАЩre using for manufacturing.
Admiral, what if we collect that, instead of going after more inner-belt asteroids?
That takes more propulsion, but weтАЩd be able to put less effort into mining and get
kind of a two-fer.тАЭ
тАЬThat was a good idea, Dr. Dickson,тАЭ the ship said.
I frowned. AIs are programmed to praise humans because it makes them seem
more human themselves. However, in practice, IтАЩve always found the effect a bit
cloying.
Lewis sighed. тАЬOf course it was, Admiral. And so was yours. I liked that.тАЭ
тАЬWhy donтАЩt you ask him what heтАЩs doing tonight?тАЭ Dickson quipped.
Everyone laughed except Lewis, who simply pursed her lips and waited for it
to stop.
Weaver held up a hand. тАЬOkay, Davra and Dagger, can you get together and
polish this off? Give us a look tomorrow morning?тАЭ
Lewis looked as if she wanted to say something, but held off when Weaver
turned to her.
тАЬAnd now,тАЭ Weaver said, тАЬfor those who havenтАЩt met him yet, IтАЩd like to
introduce our captive historian, Dr. Bruce Macready, late of Broadford College, Isle
of Skye, in Scotland.тАЭ
 Davra sat up and looked right at me and smiled so come hither she might have
been a sophomore in danger of flunking a course she needed very, very badly. IтАЩm
not sure what my facial response looked like to her, but, so help me, she giggled. I
took it to be a friendly giggle.
Lewis also looked my way, expressionless except for a slightly raised
eyebrow.
Dickson shrugged and said, тАЬHi, Bruce, call me Dagger.тАЭ
тАЬGreetings, everyone.тАЭ
And that was that. We all stood up and chatted with each other for a while.
Whether by chance, natural reticence, or intent, Emma Lewis was the last to greet