"Robert Reed - Night Calls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

SisterтАФa nearby world of rock and blazingly hot air that showed itself only
at dusk and dawn.

When Rabiah bent to look, Ferrum described what was known and
what was guessed.

In the earliest days of Creation, their sun was surrounded by dust and
countless half-formed worlds. Collisions and near-collisions shaped the
history of those worlds; titanic forces shattered crusts, melting each to its
core. Debris was flung this way and that. By chance, one world gathered
more than its share of the solar systemтАЩs metals. Then came the final
collision: A rogue body from one of the Sisters struck hard, ripping away fat
portions of the stony exterior while leaving the precious iron mixed swirling
inside the molten stew that remained.

That miserable world became their home, and its former crust pulled
itself into their stony moon.

тАЬWe won the iron,тАЭ he mentioned. тАЬWithout it and the other metals, we
wouldnтАЩt be here.тАЭ

She had heard his lecture before. But Rabiah could be a good
listener, even if her lover repeated what both of them knew.

тАЬAnd if we didnтАЩt have our moon,тАЭ he continued, тАЬthen the stone crust
under our feet would be too deep and stubborn for volcanoes to crack
open. Without volcanoes, minerals wouldnтАЩt be recycled. And our carbon
cycle would probably collapse. In the end, this would have become a giant
version of the Lost Sister. And I wouldnтАЩt have you begging for my
affections.тАЭ

тАЬWhat did you say?тАЭ she asked.

Rabiah was only pretending to listen to him, he assumed.

But then she laughed. тАЬYou are the beggar, my dear.тАЭ

тАЬHow can you say that?тАЭ

тАЬThis business about worlds colliding ... itтАЩs a symbolic tale about lust
and intercourse and the like...тАЭ

Maybe she was right. Soon they were making love on the soft ground
beside the stump.

Then later, as Rabiah slept and the moon rose, Ferrum focused his
telescope on the TwinsтАФruddy little suns dancing close to one another,
illuminating a few dead worlds well beyond the reach of all but the most
powerful telescopes.