"Charles Stross - Missile Gap" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stross Charles)

тАЬLook. The north wall.тАЭ GagarinтАЩs found another chunk of wall, this one a worn stump thatтАЩs more than a meter
high: he looks unhappy.
тАЬSir? Are you alright?тАЭ Misha stares at him. Then he notices the academician is also silent, and looking
deeply perturbed. тАЬWhatтАЩs wrong?тАЭ
Gagarin extends a finger, points at the wall. тАЬYou can just see him if you look close enough. How long would
it take to fade, Mikhail? How many years have we missed them by?тАЭ
The academician licks his lips: тАЬAt least two thousand years, sir. Concrete cures over time, but it takes a
very long time indeed to turn all the way to limestone. and then thereтАЩs the weathering process to take
account of. But the surface erosionтАжyes, that could fix the image from the flash. Perhaps. IтАЩd need to ask a
few colleagues back home.тАЭ
тАЬWhatтАЩs wrong?тАЭ the political officer repeats, puzzled.
The first cosmonaut grins humorlessly. тАЬBetter get your Geiger counter, Misha, and see if the ruins are still
hot. Looks like weтАЩre not the only people on the disk with a geopolitical problemтАжтАЭ




Chapter Ten: Been Here Before
Brundle has finally taken the time to pull Gregor aside and explain whatтАЩs going on; Gregor is not amused.
тАЬSorry you walked into it cold,тАЭ says Brundle. тАЬBut I figured it would be best for you to see for yourself.тАЭ He
speaks with a Midwestern twang, and a flatness of affect that his colleagues sometimes mistake for signs of
an underlying psychopathology.
тАЬSee what, in particular?тАЭ Gregor asks sharply. тАЬWhat, in particular?тАЭ Gregor tends to repeat himself,
changing only the intonation, when heтАЩs disturbed. HeтАЩs human enough to recognize it as a bad habit but still
finds it difficult to suppress the reflex.
Brundle pauses on the footpath, looks around to make sure thereтАЩs nobody within earshot. The Mall is nearly
empty today, and only a humid breeze stirs the waters on the pool. тАЬTell me what you think.тАЭ
Gregor thinks for a moment, then summons up his full command of the local language: itтАЩs good practice.
тАЬThe boys in the big house are asking for a CAB. It means someoneтАЩs pulled his head out of his ass for long
enough to realize theyтАЩve got worse things to worry about than being shafted by the Soviets. SomethingтАЩs
happened to make them realize they need a policy for dealing with the abductors. This is against doctrine, we
need to do something about it fast before they start asking the right questions. SomethingтАЩs shaken them up,
something secret, some HUMINT source from the wrong side of the curtain, perhaps. Could it be that man
Gordievsky? But they havenтАЩt quite figured out what being here means. SaganтАУdoes his presence mean what
I think it does?тАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ Brundle says tersely.
тАЬOh dear.тАЭ A reflex trips and Gregor takes off his spectacles and polishes them nervously on his tie before
replacing them. тАЬIs it just him, or does it go further?тАЭ He leaves the rest of the sentence unspoken by
conventionтАУis it just him you think weтАЩll have to silence?
тАЬFurther.тАЭ Brundle tends to talk out of the side of his mouth when heтАЩs agitated, and from his current
expression Gregor figures heтАЩs really upset. тАЬSagan and his friends at Cornell have been using the Arecibo
dish to listen to the neighbors. This wasnтАЩt anticipated. Now theyтАЩre asking for permission to beam a signal at
the nearest of the other disks. Straight up, more or less; тАШtalk to us.тАЩ Unfortunately Sagan is well-known,
which is why he caught the attention of our nominal superiors. Meanwhile, the Soviets have found something
that scared them. CIA didnтАЩt hear about it through the usual assetsтАУthey contacted the State Department via
the embassy, theyтАЩre that scared.тАЭ Brundle pauses a moment. тАЬSagan and his buddies donтАЩt know about that,
of course.тАЭ
тАЬWhy has nobody shot them already?тАЭ Gregor asks coldly.
Brundle shrugs. тАЬWe pulled the plug on their funding just in time. If we shot them as well someone might
notice. Everything could go nonlinear while we were trying to cover it up. You know the problem; this is a