"Alastair Reynolds - A Spy In Europa" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Alastair)

hundred-metre wide molecule, in fact, since each sphere is composed of one

endless strand of tubular fullerene. Think of that, Marius: a molecule you

could park a ship inside."

While he absorbed that, another part of his mind continued to read the

ventling caption; how their biochemistry had many similarities with the

gutless tube worms which lived around Earth's ocean vents. The ventlings

drank hydrogen sulphide through their funnels, circulating via a modified

form of haemoglobin, passing through a bacteria-saturated organ in the

lower part of their bags. The bacteria split and oxidised the hydrogen

sulphide, manufacturing a molecule similar to glucose. The

glucose-analogue nourished the ventling, enabling it to keep living and

occasionally make slow perambulations to other parts of the vent, or even

to swim between vents, until the adult phase rooted it to the ground.

Vargovic read this, and then read it again, because he had just remembered

something; a puzzling intercept passed to him from cryptanalysis several

months earlier; something about Demarchy plans to incorporate ventling

biochemistry into a larger animal. For a moment he was tempted to ask

Cholok about it directly, but he decided to force the subject from his

mind until a more suitable time.

"Any other propaganda to share with me?"

"There are two hundred of these spheres. They inflate and deflate like

bladders, maintaining C-As equilibrium. I'm not sure how the deflation

happens, except that its something to do with changing the piezo-electric

current in the tubes."
"I still don't see why Gilgamesh needs it."

"Think. If you can get a sample of this to Ganymede, they might be able to