"Tuf Voyaging - 07 - Manna From Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

УI fail to grasp your point,Ф said Tuf.
УBlackjack has those enhanced psionic capabilities, too,Ф said Tolly Mune. УPlus a few other, ah, advantages. Implanted duralloy claws, sharp as goddamned razors, concealed in special paw sheaths. A subcutaneous net of nonallogenic plasteel mesh that makes him awfully tough to hurt. Reflexes that have been genetically accelerated to make him twice as quick and dextrous as a normal cat. A very high pain threshold. I donТt want to be puling crass about it or anything, but if he gets jumped, Blackjack will slice Dax into little bloody hairballs.Ф
Haviland Tuf blinked, and shoved the steering stick over toward Tolly Mune. УPerhaps it might be best if you drove.Ф He reached out, picked up his angry black tomcat by the ruff of the neck, and deposited him, screeching and spitting, in his lap, where he held him very still indeed. УProceed in that direction,Ф he said, pointing with a long pale finger.

УIt appears,Ф said Haviland Tuf, steepling his fingers as he regarded her from the depths of a huge wingback armchair, Уthat circumstances have altered somewhat since I last came to call upon SТuthlam.Ф
Tolly Mune studied him carefully. His paunch was larger than it had been, and his long face was just as miserly of expression, but without Dax in his lap, Haviland Tuf looked almost naked. Tuf had shut the big black tom up on a lower deck to keep him away from Blackjack. Since the ancient seedship was thirty kilometers long and several of TufТs other cats roamed the deck in question, Dax would scarcely lack for space or for companionship, but must be baffled and distraught nonetheless. The psionic tomcat had been TufТs constant and inseparable companion for years, had even ridden in TufТs ample pockets as a kitten. Tolly Mune felt a little sad about it.
But not too sad. Dax had been TufТs hole card, and sheТd trumped him. She smijed and ran her fingers through BlackjackТs thick smoke-and-silver fur, eliciting another thunderous purr. УThe more things change the more they stay the same,Ф she said in answer to TufТs comment.
УThis is one of those venerable sayings that collapses upon close logical examination,Ф Tuf said, Уbeing obviously self-contradictory on the face of it. If indeed things have changed upon SТuthlam, they obviously cannot have remained the same as well. To myself, coming as I have from a great distance, it is the changes that seem most notable. To wit, this war, and your own elevation to First Councillor, a considerable and unanticipated promotion.Ф
УAnd a puling awful job,Ф Tolly Mune said with a grimace. УIТd go back to being Portmaster in a blink, if I could.Ф
УYour job satisfaction is not the subject under discussion,Ф Tuf said. He continued. УIt must also be noted that my welcome to SТuthlam was distinctly less cordial than on the occasion of my previous visit, much to my chagrin, and notwithstanding the fact that I have twice placed myself squarely between SТuthlam and mass famine, plague, cannibalism, pestilence, social collapse, and other unpleasant and inconvenient events. Moreover, even the most venomously rude races frequently observe a certain rudimentary etiquette toward those who are bringing them eleven million standards, which you recall is the amount of principal remaining on my debt to the Port of SТuthlam. Ergo, I had every reason to expect a welcome of a somewhat different nature.Ф
УYou were wrong,Ф she said.
УIndeed,Ф Tuf said. '"Now that I have learned that you occupy the highest political office on SТuthlam, rather than a menial position upon a penal farm, I am frankly more mystified than ever as to why the Planetary Defense Flotilla felt it necessary to greet me with fierce bombastic threats, dour warnings, and exclamations of hostility.Ф
Tolly Mune scratched at BlackjackТs ear. УMy orders, Tuf.Ф
Tuf folded his hands atop his stomach. УI await your explanation.Ф
УThe more things changeЧФ she began.
УHaving already been pummeled with this cliche, I believe I grasp the small irony involved in it by now, so there is no need for you to repeat it over and over endlessly, First Councillor Mune. If you would proceed to the essence of the matter I would be deeply appreciative.Ф
She sighed. УYou know our situation.Ф
УThe broad outlines, certainly,Ф Tuf admitted. УSТuthlam suffers from an excess of humanity, and a paucity of food. Twice I have performed formidable feats of ecological engineering in order to enable the SТuthlamese to forestall the grim specter of famine. The details of your food crisis vary from year to year but I trust that the essence of the situation remains as I have outlined it.Ф
УThe latest projection is the worst yet.Ф
УIndeed,Ф said Tuf. УMy recollection is that SТuthlam stood some one hundred nine standard years from mass planetary famine and societal collapse, assuming that my recommendations and suggestions were dutifully implemented.Ф
УThey tried, damn it. They did try. The meatbeasts, the pods, the ororos, neptuneТs shawlЧeverythingТs in place. But the changeover was only partial. Too many powerful people were unwilling to give up the luxury foodstuffs they preferred, so there are still large tracts of agri-land devoted to raising herds of food animals, entire farms planted with neograss and omni-grain and nanowheatЧthat sort of thing. Meanwhile, the population curve has continued to rise, faster than ever, and the puling Church of Life Evolving preaches the sanctity of life and the golden role of reproduction in humanityТs evolution to transcendence and godhood.Ф
УWhat is the current estimate?Ф Tuf asked bluntly.
УTwelve years,Ф said Tolly Mune.
Tuf raised a finger. УTo dramatize your plight, perhaps you ought to assign Commander Wald Ober to count down the remaining time over the vidnets. Such a demonstration would have a certain grim urgency that might inspire the SТuthlamese to mend their ways.Ф
Tolly Mune winced. УSpare me your levity, Tuf. IТm First Councillor now, goddamn it, and IТm staring right into the pimpled ugly face of catastrophe. The war and the food shortages are only part of it. You canТt imagine the problems IТm facing.Ф
УPerhaps not the fine detail,Ф said Tuf, Уyet the broad outlines are readily discerned. I make no claim to omniscience, but any reasonably intelligent person could observe certain facts and from them draw certain inferences. Perhaps these deductions thus arrived at are wrong. Without Dax, I cannot ascertain the truth of that. Yet somehow I think not.Ф
УWhat puling facts? What inferences?Ф
УFirstly,Ф said Tuf, УSТuthlam is at war with Vandeen and its allies. Ergo, I can infer that the technocratic faction that once dominated SТuthlamese politics has yielded up power to their rivals, the expansionists.Ф
УNot quite,Ф said Tolly Mune, Уbut youТve got the right puling idea. The expansionists have gained seats in every election since you left, but weТve kept them out of power with a series of coalition governments. The allies made it clear years ago that an expansionist government meant war. Hell of it is, we still donТt have an expansionist government, but we got the damned war anyway.Ф She shook her head. УIn the last five years weТve had nine First Councillors. IТm the latest, probably not the last.Ф
УThe grimness of your current projections suggests that this war has not yet actually touched your populace,Ф Tuf said.
УThank life, no,Ф said Tolly Mune. УWe were ready when the allied war fleet came calling. New ships, new weapons systems, everything built in secret. When the allies saw what was waiting for them, they backed off without firing a blast. But theyТll be back, damn it. ItТs only a matter of time. WeТve got reports that theyТre preparing for a major strike.Ф
УI might also infer,Ф said Tuf, Уfrom your general attitude and sense of desperation, that conditions upon SТuthlam itself are already deteriorating rapidly.Ф
УHow the hell do you know that?Ф
УIt is obvious,Ф said Tuf. УYour projection may indeed indicate mass famine and collapse to be some twelve standard years in the future, but this is hardly to say that SТuthlamese life will remain pleasant and tranquil until that moment, whereupon a bell will ring loudly and your world will fall to pieces. Such an idea is ludicrous. As you are now so close to the brink, it is only to be expected that many of the woes symptomatic of a disintegrating culture will already be upon you.Ф
УThings are-puling hell, where do I begin?Ф
УThe beginning is frequently a good place,Ф said Tuf.
УTheyТre my people, Tuf. ThatТs my world turning down there. ItТs a good world. But lately-if I didnТt know better, IТd think insanity was contagious. Crime is up some two hundred percent since your last call. Murder is up five hundred percent, suicide more than two thousand percent. Service breakdowns become more common daily-blackouts, systems failure, random strikes, vandalism. WeТve had reports of cannibalism deep in the undercities-not isolated instances, but entire puling cannibal gangs. Secret societies of all kinds, in fact. One group seized a food factory, held it for two weeks, and fought a pitched battle with world police.
УAnother bunch of crazies have taken to kidnapping pregnant women andа.а.а.Ф Tolly Mune scowled; Blackjack hissed. УThis is hard to talk about. A woman with child has always been something special to the SТuthlamese, but theseа.а.а. I can hardly even call them people, Tuf. These creatures have cultivated a taste forЧФ
Haviland Tuf raised a hand, palm outward. УSay no more,Ф he said. УI have grasped the inference. Continue.Ф
УLots of solitary maniacs, too,Ф she said. УSomeone dumped highly toxic waste into a food factory holding tank eighteen months ago. More than twelve hundred fatalities. Mass cultureЧSТuthlam has always been tolerant, but lately thereТs a hell of a lot more to be tolerant of, if you catch my float. ThereТs this growing obsession with disfigurement, death, violence. WeТve 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 consensusЧall kinds of weird cults have been emerging. And the war! Life only knows how many will die, but itТs as popular asЧhell, I donТt know, itТs more popular than sex, I think.Ф
УIndeed,Ф said Tuf. УI am unsurprised. I take it the imminence of disaster remains a closely guarded secret of the SТuthlamese High Council, as in years past.Ф
УUnfortunately, no,Ф Tolly Mune said. УOne of the minority councillors decided she couldnТt 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, thatТs who.Ф
УYou are obviously referring to yourself,Ф said Tuf.
УBy 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 itТs been one hell of a term of office.Ф Her smile was grim. УThe Vandeeni listen to our newsfeeds, too. Simultaneous with my goddamned promotion, they decided SТuthlam 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 SТuthlam and enforce it for us.Ф
УA viable solution, but not a tactful one,Ф Tuf commented. УThus 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.Ф
УI figured youТd do what you could.Ф She pointed a finger. УBut on your own terms, Tuf. Hell, youТve helped, yes, but always on your own terms, and all of your solutions have proved unfortunately impermanent.Ф
УI warned you repeatedly that my efforts were mere stopgaps,Ф Tuf replied.
УThere are no calories in warnings, Tuf. IТm sorry, but we have no choice. This time we canТt 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 wouldnТt find a puling world to come back to. We need the Ark, Tuf, and we need it permanently. WeТre 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. WeТre one of the most advanced worlds in human civilization, and for a decade weТve 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.Ф She stroked her cat and smiled. УThey helped with Blackjack here. A lot.Ф
УIndeed,Ф said Tuf.
УWeТre ready to use the Ark. No matter how capable you are, Tuf, youТre only one puling man. We want to keep your seedship permanently in SТuthlamese 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 didnТt give Ober orders to seize your ship without considering every other goddamned option I could think of. I knew youТd never sell, damn it. What choice did I have? We donТt want to cheat you. You would have been paid a fair price. IТd have insisted.Ф