"John Morressy - Rimrunners Home" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

"And what's their point?" Vanderhorst asked.

"POP is a costly program, and costs keep rising. We have no way of knowing
whether or not it's effective. A lot of people think there may be a better way
of protecting ourselves."

"What do they suggest?"

"Nothing specific. It's all very tentative, you understand. It may turn out that
rimrunners are the best solution."

Vanderhorst turned to Dalton. "Has anything hit Earth since '06?"

"Nothing big enough to frighten anyone, Captain."

"Then maybe we're effective."

"Are you saying that the rimrunners deserve credit for the absence of asteroid
strikes?" Fosset said. "Well, really, Captain, I find that --"

"Who the hell else can claim credit? You? I didn't see anybody else out there,
Fosset. Not you, not the Senator, not anybody. I was alone, protecting your
ass."

Vanderhorst's eyes remained on Fosset. Others glanced at them, but kept a safe
distance. Fosset backed away and Dalton said mildly, "Jake's not trying to deny
rimrunners the recognition and gratitude they've earned, Captain. He's only
making the reasonable point that we can't be absolutely certain that our safety
is the direct result of your efforts."

"So all you want is absolute certainty, and you'll be satisfied."

"Obviously that's impossible."

"It always was, and everybody knows it. POP is cheap insurance, Senator, nothing
more. You stake a few billion a year against the chance of losing a thousand
times as much."

"It's rather more than a few billion."

"Even if we never spotted anything bigger than a snowball, we pay our way ten
times over."

"Very possibly. I must point out, though, that the country is currently
experiencing economic difficulties," Dalton said.

"Maybe that's because lobies like this one are yapping about cutting the only
government program that does what it's supposed to do."