"RESNICK, Mike - The Land of Nod" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

left before I was washed away."
"Have they another _mundumugu_ to replace you?" he asked.
"I am told that they have a doctor to cure the sick, and a
Christian minister to tell them how to worship the god of the
Europeans, and a computer to tell them how to react to any
situation that might arise," I said. "They no longer need a
_mundumugu_."
"Then Ngai has forsaken them," he stated.
"No," I corrected him. "_They_ have forsaken Ngai."
"I apologize, _mundumugu_," he said with deference. "You are
right, of course."
He began walking again, and soon a strong, pungent odor came
to my nostrils, a scent I had never encountered before, but which
stirred some memory deep within my soul.
"We are almost there," said Kamau.
I heard a low rumbling sound, not like a predator growling,
but rather like a vast machine purring with power.
"He is very nervous," continued Kamau, speaking in a soft
monotone. "Make no sudden movements. He has already tried to kill
two of his daytime attendants."
And then we were there, just as the moon emerged from its
cloud cover and shone down on the awesome creature that stood
facing us.
"He is magnificent!" I whispered.
"A perfect replication," agreed Kamau. "Height, ten feet
eight inches at the shoulder, weight seven tons -- and each tusk
is exactly 148 pounds."
The huge animal stared at me through the flickering force
field that surrounded it and tested the cool night breeze,
striving to pick up my scent.
"Remarkable!" I said.
"You understand the cloning process, do you not?" asked
Kamau.
"I understand what cloning _is_," I answered. "I know nothing
of the exact process."
"In this case, they took some cells from his tusks, which
have been on display in the museum for more than two centuries,
created the proper nutrient solution, and this is the result:
Ahmed of Marsabit, the only elephant ever protected by
Presidential Decree, lives again."
"I read that he was always accompanied by two guards no
matter where he roamed on Mount Marsabit," I said. "Have they also
ignored tradition? I see no one but you. Where is the other
guard?"
"There are no guards. The entire complex is protected by a
sophisticated electronic security system."
"Are you not a guard?" I asked.
He kept the shame from his voice, but he could not banish it
from his face: even in the moonlight I could see it. "I am a paid
companion."