"George R. R. Martin - Manna From Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

тАЬNor will the taste pall,тАЭ Tuf announced. тАЬThe secretions in the heart of each palp are mildly narcotic.
They are individual with each specimen of the manna plant, its distinct and subtle flavors a factor of the
chemical composition of the soil in which the plant has taken root and the genetic heritage of the plant
itself. The range of tastes is quite broad, and can be further expanded through cross-breeding.тАЭ
тАЬHold on,тАЭ Ratch Norren said loudly. He tugged at his cheek and frowned. тАЬSo this damned
bread-and-honey fruit tastes just swell, sure, sure. So what? So the Suthies have something tasty to
snack on after they make some more little Suthies. A nice treat to relieve the tedium of conquering
Vandeen and breeding all over it. Pardon, folks, but Ratch donтАЩt feel like applauding right now.тАЭ
Tolly Mune frowned. тАЬHeтАЩs rude,тАЭ she said, тАЬbut heтАЩs right. YouтАЩve given us miracle plants before, Tuf.
Omni-grain, remember? NeptuneтАЩs shawl. Jersee-pods. HowтАЩs manna going to be any different?тАЭ
тАЬIn several respects,тАЭ said Haviland Tuf. тАЬFirstly, my previous efforts have been directed at making your
ecology more efficient, to increasing the caloric output from the finite areas of SтАЩuthlam given over to
agriculture, to getting more from less, as it were. Unfortunately, I did not adequately account for the
perversity of the human species. As you yourself have reported, the SтАЩuthlamese food chain is still far
from maximum efficiency. Though you have meatbeasts to provide protein, you persist in raising and
feeding wasteful herd animals, simply because some of your wealthier carnivores prefer the taste of such
flesh to a slice of a meatbeast. Similarly, you continue to grow omni-grain and nanowheat for reasons of
flavor and culinary variety, where jersee-pods would yield you more calories per square meter.
Succinctly put, the SтАЩuthlamese still persist in choosing hedonism over rationality. So be it. MannaтАЩs
addictive properties and flavors are unique. Once the SтАЩuthlamese have eaten of it, you will enounter no
resistance on the grounds of taste.тАЭ
тАЬMaybe,тАЭ Tolly Mune said doubtfully, тАЬbut stillтАФтАЭ
тАЬSecondmost,тАЭ Tuf continued, тАЬmanna grows swiftly. Extreme difficulties demand extreme solutions.
Manna represents such a solution. It is an artificial hybrid, a genetic quilt sewn together with DNA
strands from a dozen worlds, its natural ancestors including the bread-bush of Hafeer, insinuating
nightweed from Noctos, Gulliverian sugarsacs, and a specially enhanced variety of kudzu, from Old Earth
itself. You will find it hardy and fast-spreading, in need of scant care, and capable of transforming an
ecosystem with astonishing swiftness.тАЭ
тАЬHow astonishing?тАЭ Tolly Mune demanded bluntly.
TufтАЩs finger moved slightly, pressed down on a glowing key set within the arm of his floater. Dax purred.
The lights came on.
Tolly Mune blinked in the sudden glare.
They sat in the center of a huge circular room a good half-kilometer across, its domed ceiling curving a
hundred meters above their heads. Behind Tuf a dozen towering plasteel ecospheres emerged from the
walls, each open at the top and full of soil. There were a dozen different types of soil, representing a
dozen different habitatsтАФpowdery white sand, rich black loam, thick red clay, blue crystalline gravel,
gray-green swamp mud, tundra frozen hard as ice. From each ecosphere a manna plant grew.
And grew.
And grew.
And grew.
The central plants were five meters high; their questing vines had long since crawled over the tops of their
habitats. The tendrils snaked halfway across the floor, to within a half-meter of Tuf, winding together,
branching and rebranching. Manna vines covered the walls three-quarters of the way around the room.
Manna vines clung precariously to the smooth white plasteel ceiling, half-eclipsing the light panels, so the
illumination drifted down to the floor in shadow patterns of incredible intricacy. The filtered light seemed
greenish. Everywhere the manna fruit bloomed, white pods the size of a manтАЩs head drooping from the
vines overhead and pushing through the tangle of growth. As they watched, one pod fell to the floor with
a soft liquid plop. Now she understood why the echoes had sounded so curiously muted.
тАЬThese particular specimens,тАЭ Haviland Tuf announced in an expressionless voice, тАЬwere begun from
spores some fourteen days ago, shortly before my first meeting with the estimable First Councillor. A