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

the seventeenth century - the entire balance of power in the First System

had altered. The economies of the inner worlds had found it hard to

adjust; agriculture and power-generation handicapped, with concomitant

social upheaval. But the outer planets had never had the luxury of solar

energy in the first place. Now Circum-Jove was the benchmark of First

System economic power, with Circum-Saturn trailing behind. Because of

this, the two primary Circum-Jove superpowers - the Demarchy, which

controlled Europa and Io - and Gilgamesh Isis - which controlled Ganymede,

and parts of Callisto - were vying for dominance.

The man smiled keenly. "Here for anything special?"

"Surgery," Vargovic said, hoping to curtail the conversation at the

earliest juncture. "Very extensive anatomical surgery."



They hadn't told him much.

"Her name is Cholok," Control had said, after Vargovic had skimmed the

dossiers back in the caverns which housed the Covert Operations section of

Gilgamesh Isis security, deep in Ganymede. "We recruited her ten years

ago, when she was on Phobos."

"And now she's Demarchy?"

Control had nodded. "She was swept up in the brain-drain, once Maunder II

began to bite. The smartest got out while they could. The Demarchy - and

us, of course - snapped up the brightest."

"And also one of our sleepers." Vargovic glanced down at the portrait of

the woman, striped by video lines. She looked mousey to him, with a
permanent bone-deep severity of expression.

"Cheer up," Control said. "I'm asking you to contact her, not sleep with