"Ringo, John - Council Wars 1 - There Will Be Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ringo John)

action and soon."
"So what action would you take?" Javlatanugs Cantor asked. In deference to the
conditions of the council chamber, Cantor had Changed to a near humanoform. But
he had retained the hirsute body-covering and massiveness of his normal bear
shape. It gave him an appearance somewhat like a Sasquatch. Which was why the
Sasquatch confederation considered him their spokesperson. "Each breeds as they
wish. And each child takes the form they wish. This is called freedom."
"This is called suicide," Chansa snapped. The newest member of the Council had a
fully human appearance, but his huge size virtually had to be a Change. Now he
pounded the table with a fist the size of a melon and glared at the werebear
across the table. "I suppose you would be just as glad to have the human race
die out."
"I am human, you ignorant gorilla," Cantor replied. "And, no, I don't care to
have humanity disappear. But I don't agree that it's a problem. And even if it
is, I haven't heard a suggestion how to fix it. And I can't imagine a suggestion
that wouldn't require the Council to step outside its clear authority. So I
don't understand why we're having this meeting."
"As I stated, we are the only authority left," Paul interjected. "If I may
continue? We are all aware of the fact that as quality of life improves,
birthrate declines."
"Except under conditions of cultural imprinting," Cantor interjected.
"But there are no longer any cultures that have a positive birthrate," Bowman
snapped back. "So that's a red herring. The fact is that everyone on Earth has
more than ample resources. Between the power plants and replicationЕ"
"Everyone livesss as godsss," Ungphakorn said. "Or dolphinsss or bearsss or
dragonsss. And nobody hasss children becaussse they're a pain in the asss to
take care of. Tell usss sssomething we don't know."
"The answer is to ration power," Chansa said bluntly.
"WHAT?" Cantor bellowed.
As the argument exploded, Sheida glanced around the room, looking at the faces
and trying to guess who knew about the bombshell Chansa had just dropped. She
suspected from the pained expression on Bowman's face that he had intended to
work up to the conclusion.
"It is the only way!" Paul shouted. "No! Listen for a moment! Just hear me out!"
He waited until the shouting and muttering had died then gestured around. "We
are a dying race. If we continue as we have been, the last human, of whatever
form, will close a door in a few thousand years and that will be it. I'm not
talking about shutting everything down and dropping the world into chaos, I'm
just talking aboutЕ reinstituting cultural items that will strengthen the
interest in children, in discovery and advancement! And, at the same time,
strengthen us as a species! We have descended into lotus-eating, all of our
virtue lost to the sink of endless games and delights! We must regain our virtue
as humans, so that we can take our true birthright and continue to thrive as a
species!"
"So you would end the games and delights?"
It was the first that Aikawa Gouvois had spoken and Sheida didn't know if he was
on Paul's side or not. He was fully humanoform, but also perfectly Asiatic in
features. Thousands of years of crossbreeding and genetic tinkering meant that
most humans naturally tended to be a light brown in color and have very few
noticeable features, other than striking beauty, perhaps one of the reasons that