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

always been tolerant, but lately thereтАЩs a hell of a lot more to be tolerant of, if you catch my float. ThereтАЩs
this growing obsession with disfigurement, death, violence. WeтАЩve had massive resistance to our attempts
to re-engineer the ecosystem according to your recommendations. Meatbeasts have been poisoned,
blown up, and fields of pods set afire. Organized thrill gangs hunt the goddamned wind-riders with
harpoons and high-altitude gliders. It makes no goddamned sense. The religious consensusтАФall kinds of
weird cults have been emerging. And the war! Life only knows how many will die, but itтАЩs as popular
asтАФhell, I donтАЩt know, itтАЩs more popular than sex, I think.тАЭ
тАЬIndeed,тАЭ said Tuf. тАЬI am unsurprised. I take it the imminence of disaster remains a closely guarded
secret of the SтАЩuthlamese High Council, as in years past.тАЭ
тАЬUnfortunately, no,тАЭ Tolly Mune said. тАЬOne of the minority councillors decided she couldnтАЩt hold her
bladder, so she called in the puling peeps and pissed the news out all over the vidnets. I think she wanted
to win a few million more votes. The hell of it is, it worked. It also kicked off another goddamned scandal
and forced yet another First Councillor out of office. By then there was no place to look for a new human
sacrifice but upstairs. Guess who got grabbed? Our favorite vidshow heroine, controversial bureaucrat,
and Ma Spider, thatтАЩs who.тАЭ
тАЬYou are obviously referring to yourself,тАЭ said Tuf.
тАЬBy then nobody hated me much any more. I had a certain reputation for efficiency, the remnants of a
popular romantic image, and I was minimally acceptable to most of the big council factions. That was
three months ago. So far itтАЩs been one hell of a term of office.тАЭ Her smile was grim. тАЬThe Vandeeni listen
to our newsfeeds, too. Simultaneous with my goddamned promotion, they decided SтАЩuthlam was, I
quote, a threat to the peace and stability of the sector, end quote, and got together their goddamned allies
to try and decide what to do about us. The bunch of them finally gave us an ultimatum: enforce immediate
rationing and compulsory birth control, or the alliance would occupy SтАЩuthlam and enforce it for us.тАЭ
тАЬA viable solution, but not a tactful one,тАЭ Tuf commented. тАЬThus your present war. Yet all this fails to
explain your attitude toward me. I have been able to offer your world succor twice before. Surely you
did not feel I would be remiss in my professional duties on this third occasion.тАЭ
тАЬI figured youтАЩd do what you could.тАЭ She pointed a finger. тАЬBut on your own terms, Tuf. Hell, youтАЩve
helped, yes, but always on your own terms, and all of your solutions have proved unfortunately
impermanent.тАЭ
тАЬI warned you repeatedly that my efforts were mere stopgaps,тАЭ Tuf replied.
тАЬThere are no calories in warnings, Tuf. IтАЩm sorry, but we have no choice. This time we canтАЩt allow you
to clap a stick-on bandage over our hemorrhage and shunt off. The next time you came back to check on
how we were faring, you wouldnтАЩt find a puling world to come back to. We need the Ark, Tuf, and we
need it permanently. WeтАЩre prepared to use it. Ten years ago you said that biotech and ecology were not
our areas of expertise, and you were right. Then. But times change. WeтАЩre one of the most advanced
worlds in human civilization, and for a decade weтАЩve been devoting most of our educational efforts to
training ecologists and biotechs. My predecessors brought in top theorists from Avalon, Newholme, and
a dozen other worlds. Brilliant people, geniuses. We even managed to lure some leading genetic wizards
off Prometheus.тАЭ She stroked her cat and smiled. тАЬThey helped with Blackjack here. A lot.тАЭ
тАЬIndeed,тАЭ said Tuf.
тАЬWeтАЩre ready to use the Ark. No matter how capable you are, Tuf, youтАЩre only one puling man. We
want to keep your seedship permanently in SтАЩuthlamese orbit, with a full-time staff of two hundred top
scientists and genetic technicians, so we can deal with the food crisis daily. This ship and its cell library
and all the lost data in its computers represents our last, best hope, you can see that. Believe me, Tuf, I
didnтАЩt give Ober orders to seize your ship without considering every other goddamned option I could
think of. I knew youтАЩd never sell, damn it. What choice did I have? We donтАЩt want to cheat you. You
would have been paid a fair price. IтАЩd have insisted.тАЭ
тАЬThis assumes I remained alive after the seizure,тАЭ pointed out Tuf. тАЬA doubtful proposition at best.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩre alive now, and IтАЩll still buy the damned ship. You could stay aboard, work with our people. IтАЩm
prepared to offer you lifetime employmentтАФname your own salary, anything you want. You want to