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

Projecting our expansion takes a little more effort, and a hell of a lot of intuitive interpretation. As I said,
you can't expect a five-hundred-year-old denizen of the Delphini system, a creature that is composed of
silicon, breathes ammonia, excretes an oxygen compound, and has a metabolism that we can't even begin
to analyze, to react to a situation quite the same way you or I would. And, that,тАЭ the Director concluded,
тАЬis what makes it interesting.тАЭ

тАЬI could spend a lifetime here,тАЭ said Nelson.
 тАЬThe hell you could,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬI didn't bring you here to join my staff. You're here for an
assignment, nothing more.тАЭ

тАЬThen why did you show me all this?тАЭ asked Nelson.

тАЬSo what I ask you to do won't seem quite so unpalatable to you,тАЭ Landon replied. тАЬAt least you'll know
that when Cartography makes an assignment, we've got a pretty dammed good reason.тАЭ

тАЬWell, let's have it,тАЭ said Nelson. тАЬHow many deities do I have to slaughter?тАЭ

Landon responded by pressing the button on the railing, picking up the microphone, and saying: тАЬLandon
here. Spin the whole damned thing around so the Gamma Leporis system is right in front of me.тАЭ

The pseudo-galaxy tilted on its axis and began spinning so quickly that Nelson felt himself being drawn
hypnotically into the vortex. Millions of stars swung by almost too fast for his eyes to follow them; and
then, as suddenly as it began, the movement stopped.

тАЬVery good,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬNow put its planets on flashing blue.тАЭ A medium-sized binary just in front of
the balcony was suddenly alight, surrounded by sixteen tiny flashing blue dots. тАЬFine,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬLet
me have every aquatic world within ten parsecs, and also the home world of the Lemm.тАЭ More tiny blue
lights flashed on, blinking wildly, and Nelson saw a pattern developing. There was a ten-parsec line of
worlds, a dozen in allтАФnot counting the Gamma Leporis systemтАФplus another that lay still five more
parsecs distant. тАЬGood,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬNow change the home world of the Lemm to green, and let me
see every aquatic world they possess.тАЭ The farthest planet became a tiny dot of unbelievably bright
green, and the other twelve worlds, plus three more worlds in the Gamma Leporis system, turned red.
тАЬOne last thing,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬShow me the five closest worlds under our control.тАЭ Five white lights
flashed on, all of them more than a dozen parsecs distant.

тАЬWell, Pioneer,тАЭ said Landon. тАЬThat's our problem.тАЭ

тАЬYourproblem,тАЭ said Nelson. тАЬIt doesn't become mine until I know what you're talking about.тАЭ

тАЬIt's very simple,тАЭ said the Director. тАЬThe fourth, fifth, and sixth planets in the Gamma Leporis system
are entirely aquatic. Which is to say that they consist of nothing but ocean. No continents, not even an
island. Same with the other twelve worlds that are flashing red.тАЭ

тАЬSo?тАЭ

тАЬThe ninth and tenth planets of Gamma Leporis are quite rich in numerous natural elements that the
Republic needs: iron, lead, gold, even a little uranium.тАЭ

тАЬWhat has one got to do with the other?тАЭ asked Nelson.