"Kim Stanley Robinson - Forty Signs of Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

So now Charlie had Joe there with him in the kitchen, crawling underfoot or investigating the gate that
blocked the steep stairs to the cellar. Careening around like a human pinball. Anna had taped
bubblewrap to all the corners; it looked like the kitchen had just recently arrived and not yet been
completely unpacked.

тАЬOkay watch out now, donтАЩt. DonтАЩt! Your bottle will be ready in a second.тАЭ

тАЬBa!тАЭ

тАЬYes, bottle.тАЭ

This was satisfactory, and Joe plopped on his butt directly under CharlieтАЩs feet. Charlie worked over
him, taking some of AnnaтАЩs frozen milk out of the freezer and putting it in a pot of warming water on the
back burner. Anna had her milk stored in precise quantities of either four or ten ounces, in tall or short
permanent plastic cylinders that were filled with disposable plastic bags, capped by brown rubber nipples
that Charlie had pricked many times with a needle, and topped by snap-on plastic tops to protect the
nipples from contamination in the freezer. Contamination in the freezer? Charlie had wanted to ask Anna,
but he hadnтАЩt. There was a lab book on the kitchen counter for Charlie to fill out the times and amounts
of JoeтАЩs feedings. Anna liked to know these things, she said, to determine how much milk to pump at
work. So Charlie logged in while the water started to bubble, thinking as he always did that the main
purpose here was to fulfill AnnaтАЩs pleasure in making quantified records of any kind.

He was testing the temperature of the thawed milk by taking a quick suck on the nipple when his phone
rang. He whipped on a headset and answered.

тАЬHi Charlie, itтАЩs Roy.тАЭ

тАЬOh hi Roy, whatтАЩs up.тАЭ

тАЬWell IтАЩve got your latest draft here and IтАЩm about to read it, and I thought IтАЩd check first to see what I
should be looking for, how you solved the IPCC stuff.тАЭ

тАЬOh yeah. The new stuff that matters is all in the third section.тАЭ The bill as Charlie had drafted it for Phil
would require the U.S. to act on certain recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.

тАЬDid you kind of bury the part about us conforming to IPCC findings?тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt think thereтАЩs earth deep enough to bury that one. I tried to put it in a context that made it look
inevitable. International body that we are part of, climate change clearly real, the UN the best body to
work through global issues, support for them pretty much mandatory for us or else the whole world
cooks in our juices, that sort of thing.тАЭ

тАЬWell, but thatтАЩs never worked before, has it? Come on, Charlie, this is PhilтАЩs big pre-election bill and
youтАЩre his climate guy, if he canтАЩt get this bill out of committee then weтАЩre in big trouble.тАЭ

тАЬYeah I know. Wait just a second.тАЭ

Charlie took another test pull from the bottle. Now it was at body temperature, or almost.
тАЬA bit early to be hitting the bottle, Charlie, what you drinking there?тАЭ