"Paul Mcauley - Red Dust" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcauley Paul J)

"Wei Lee's genotype is expressing itself again," Xiao Bing
said, when Lee paused for breath, and Guoquiang laughed.
They'd both heard all this Sky Roader propaganda many
times; Lee had told them about his education and keep, the
obligation to his great-grandfather he could not forget. Xiao
Bing, even though he had written the librarian for Lee,
thought his flight from privilege was romantic; Guoquiang
was more scornful, but his scorn was tempered with deference
to Lee's upbringing. Once a relation of one of the Ten
Thousand Years, always a relation. Despite the danwei's
ethos of democratic capitalism, its shareholders retained a
respect for lineage.

Lee sighed. He said, "I was brought up to believe that the
task will be completed, but that does not mean that it will
come true." He had almost forgotten the angry uncertainty
that the librarian's questions had tapped. How little his own
fate mattered, compared to the fate of the world!

Guoquiang said seriously, "It is Sky Roader talk, Wei Lee.
You know that. After what happened to your parents you
must know that. Your great-grandfather can believe what he
wants. That is the privilege of the Ten Thousand Years. But
you...

"I can talk with you fellows, at least."

"Better not to talk about it," Guoquiang said. "In a hundred
years perhaps we will all be Sky Roaders singing the
songs of the King of the Cats day and night. But it is not
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15
likely. You know what happened to the last board of directors,
ten years ago. Thanks to Yi Shihung we're all committed
to the Golden Path. And so must you be, even as an
employee."
Lee said, "Perhaps. But I can still speak of these matters
amongst friends, eh?"
Guoquiang said, "Mars is for the Martians. I don't care for
the conchies, but I have no special interest in the anarchists
either. Keep them all out, I say."
Xiao Bing, who was always anxious to stop arguments
developing, said, "Some people insist the King is an alien.
We listen to him, and he studies us."
Lee said, "We made the world what it is. We should finish
the making. Mars for the Martians, Guoquiang. So perhaps
we agree after all."
Guoquiang said, "That's over. We live as we must. At least
Earth helps us defend ourselves from anarchists who would
turn this world into an ecological laboratory, if they could.