"Robert Reed - A Place With Shade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

"I expected . . . well, more energy. More inspiration." She rose to her feet,
gesturing at our half-born creation. "I really hoped an NT would come up with
bizarre wonders --"

"Like an eight-legged terror?"

"Exactly."

It had been her odd idea, and I'd dismissed it twenty times before I realized
it
was a game with her. She wanted an organism wholly unique, and I kept telling
her that radical tailoring took too much time and too frequently failed. And
besides, I added, our little patch of jungle wasn't large enough for the kind
of
predator she had in mind.

"I wish we could have one or two of them," she joked.

I ignored her. I'd learned that was best.

"But don't you agree? Nothing we've planned is that new or spectacular."

Yet I was proud of everything. What did she want? Our top three camivores were
being tailored at that moment -- a new species of fire-eagle; a variation on
black nightcats; and an intelligent, vicious species of monkey. Computer
models
showed that only two of them would survive after the first century. Which two
depended on subtle, hard-to-model factors. That was one of the more radical,
unpopular NT principles. "The fit survive." We build worlds with too much
diversity, knowing that some of our creations are temporary. And unworthy.
Then
we stand aside, letting our worlds decide for themselves.
"I wish we could have rainstorms," she added. It was another game, and she
waved
her arms while saying "Big winds. Lightning. I've always wanted to see
lightning."

"There's not enough energy to drive storms," I responded. The rains were going
to be mild events that came in the night. When we had nights, in a year. "I
don't want to risk -- "

"-- damaging the ice. I know." She sat again, closer now, smiling as she said,
"No, I don't care. It's coming along perfectly."

I nodded, gazing up at the brilliant white sky. The mining robots had left the
ice gouged and sharp, and somehow that was appropriate. An old violence was
set
against a rich new order, violent in different ways. A steamy jungle cloaked
in
ice; an appealing even poetic dichotomy. And while I looked into the distance,