"Richard A." - читать интересную книгу автора (Lupoff Richard A)

"As you wish."
The data screen went to abstract blobs for fractions of a second, then
it
was filled with a glowing diagram of the new system: the oblate,
pulsating
planet, its scabrous surface features whirling in the center of the
screen; the smaller, rocky moons revolving rapidly about their master.
"We can land only once," Shoten purred. "We must carefully select our
touchdown point. Then later expeditions may explore further. But if we
choose poorly, the worlds may abandon this Yuggoth" -- Gomati's name
for
the great planet was spoken sardonically -- "forever." Shoten's
cyborged
head nodded in self-affirmation, then the synthesized words were
repeated,
"Yes, forever."

15032137 -- READOUT
The Asia-Pacific Co-prosperity Sphere continued to evolve.
It was, beyond question, the center of world power, economic
development,
political leadership. It was also a gigantic realm sprawling across
continents and oceans, including scores of great cities and billions of
citizens.
Its first city was Peking. Secondary centers of authority were
established
in Lhasa, Bombay, Mandalay, Quezon City, Adelaide, Christchurch, Santa
Ana.
The first great leader of the Sphere, Vo Tran Quoc, had become a figure
of
 legendary proportions within a century of his death. Schools contended
as
to his true identity. He was not Vietnamese despite his name. That much
was known. One group of scholars held that he was Maori. Another, that
he
was Ainu. A third, that he was a Bengali woman, the product of rape
during
the war of independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, posing as a man
(or
possibly having undergone a sex-change operation involving the grafting
of
a donated penis and testes).
At any rate, Vo Tran Quoc died.
In the wake of his death a struggle broke out. Some who contended for
the
power of the dead leader did so on the basis of purely personal
ambition.
Others, from ideological conviction. The great ideological dispute of
the
year 2137 dealt with the proper interpretation of an ancient political