"Mike Resnick - Birthright" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

Below him stretched the galaxy. Not a map, not a bunch of dots on a wall chart, but thegalaxy .

As far as the eye could see and farther, as deep as the eye could see and deeper, it spread out before
him in all its gargantuan vastness, all its delicate beauty. Millions upon millions of stars, worlds without
end, natural and artificial, satellites spinning crazily in their orbits, here an interstellar comet, there a
meteor storm, way over there huge clouds of opaque gaseous matter.

тАЬWhat do you think of it?тАЭ asked Landon with the air of a proud father.

тАЬI never imagined...тАЭ muttered Nelson, unable to tear his eyes away. тАЬI never guessed...тАЭ

Landon chuckled. тАЬQuite a piece of work, isn't it? It's 57.8 miles long, 6.2 miles deep, 38.1 miles wide.
It contains every star in the galaxy, bar none, as well as every other body we've charted. For example,
there are well over two million asteroids between Sirius XI and XII, though we'd have to magnify the
field to show even the bigger ones.тАЭ

тАЬIt's awesome,тАЭ said Nelson fervently.

тАЬAnd accurate,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬIt's moving far too slowly for you to perceive, but the entire galaxy is
rotating at its natural speed. So are the planets, and all the other bodies. All solar storms, ionic and
otherwise, are charted. We've even got a fix on every ship the Republic owns, plus a number of alien
vessels as well.тАЭ

Nelson only half-heard the Director. He was lost in the majesty and grandeur of the map ... thoughmap
was such an inadequate word for it. As he looked more closely, he saw that the colors of the various
stars had been maintained: There were red stars, yellow ones, white dwarfs, blue giants, binaries, even
long-dead black stars. Though he couldn't see any of them clearly, he'd have bet his last dollar that the
topography of the myriads of planets was painstakingly accurate.

тАЬThis, of course, is just a beginning,тАЭ Landon's voice came through to him. The Director pressed a small
button on the railing of the balcony and spoke into a microphone.

тАЬControl Booth, this is Landon here. Let's see Earth, and put it on high magnification.тАЭ

Immediately a light flashed far out on one of the spiral arms of the simulated galaxy. It was a good five
miles from where Nelson stood, but so bright that it immediately drew his attention.

тАЬEarth,тАЭ explained Landon, тАЬAnd now, if you'll be so good as to look above you...тАЭ

Nelson's eyes followed Landon's extended finger. Somewhere above his head, though he couldn't say
how close it really was, floated Earth, spinning serenely beneath its swirling cloud layers.

тАЬBad weather today,тАЭ apologized Landon, тАЬor you'd be able to see something more than Australia and
Antarctica. I could have them remove the clouds, but I'm sure you know what the rest of it looks like.
And here,тАЭ he added, pulling a number of cards out of a slot next to the button he had previously
pressed, тАЬis a complete hard copy readout on Earth: land area, sea area, gravity, average temperature of
all major land masses, dominant forms of life, population, political systems now in power, major religions,
economy, military potential, stellar alliances, technology, languages, varieties of the major races, aquatic
life, age of planet, life expectancy of planet, rare elements, atmospheric breakdown, and just about
anything else you need to know.тАЭ