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

тАЬAnd you can do this with every planet in the galaxy?тАЭ asked Nelson.

тАЬTo greater or lesser extents, yes,тАЭ said the Director. тАЬIt all depends on how much information we have
about the stellar body in question. If paper's not to your liking, you can get the information on tapes,
microfilm or voiceprints.тАЭ

тАЬIt's fantastic!тАЭ said Nelson.

тАЬIt has its uses,тАЭ agreed Landon, placing the paper back into the same slot. тАЬI'm about to show you its
major purpose.тАЭ He pressed the button once more. тАЬLandon again,тАЭ he announced. тАЬPut the whole map
on dim.тАЭ

The galaxy dimmed until the nearer and larger stars were barely visible, and the planets and more distant
stars were not to be seen at all. It looked, thought Nelson, like the death throes of the universe.

тАЬOkay,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬGive me Earth again, on bright.тАЭ Five miles away a tiny light flashed on, brighter
than the brightest sun. тАЬFine. Now, starting with Sirius V, flash every planet we control, put them on
bright yellow, and leave them on. Give me a rate of five a second.тАЭ

Nelson watched for almost seven minutes as a cascade of brilliant yellow dots rippled forth from Earth
to Deluros VIII, then spread radially throughout the main body of the galaxy. And all had originated from
Earth. A thrill of pride ran through him as he watched a two-millennium history of human endeavor take
place before his eyes.

тАЬVery good,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬNow pinpoint every Republic ship that bears arms, put them in green, and
keep them flashing at half-second intervals.тАЭ

Suddenly the pseudo-galaxy was alive with green. More than twenty million lights blinked on and off
hypnotically, most of them within the periphery of yellow lights, but someтАФa million or soтАФwell in
advance of Man's frontiers.

тАЬFine,тАЭ announced Landon. тАЬNow, in blue, give me every planet capable of supporting human life, but
not yet colonized by Man.тАЭ He paused a second, then added: тАЬFlash all those that are currently inhabited
by intelligent alien races on a quarter-second blink.тАЭ

In total silence, another forty thousand lights flashed on brightly, and now the hue of the galactic scheme
took on a bluish tint. Nelson was overwhelmed by the scope of the blue worlds, and hazarded a guess
that about a tenth of them were blinking on and off, while the rest remained constant.

тАЬOne last request,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬIn very bright red, let me see every world possessed of sentient
nonhumans that might have the potential to resist us militarily.тАЭ

Another plethora of lights went on, well over three thousand of them, red and blinding.

Individually, except for the initial steps of Man's expansion into the galaxy, there was no pattern. But
now, as Nelson stood back and let his eyes pour over the brilliant-hued panorama before him, he began
to see channels of force and expansion, paths of greater and lesser resistance through which Man could
thread his way.