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

hat.тАЭ
Gagarin frowns. тАЬExcuse me?тАЭ He points to the bottle of pear schnapps.
тАЬYou are my guest.тАЭ Misha pours the First Cosmonaut a glass then tops up his own. тАЬIt opens certain
ideological conflicts, Yuri. And nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news.тАЭ
тАЬIdeologicalтАУsuch as?тАЭ
тАЬAh.тАЭ Misha takes a mouthful. тАЬWell, we have so far avoided nuclear annihilation and invasion by the forces of
reactionary terror during the Great Patriotic War, but only by the skin of our teeth. Now, doctrine has it that
any alien species advanced enough to travel in space is almost certain to have discovered socialism, if not
true communism, no? And that the enemies of socialism wish to destroy socialism, and take its resources
for themselves. But what weтАЩve seen here is evidence of a different sort. This was America. It follows that
somewhere nearby there is a continent that was home to another Soviet UnionтАУtwo thousand years ago. But
this America has been wiped out, and our elder Soviet brethren are not in evidence and they have not
colonized this other-AmericaтАУwhat can this mean?тАЭ
GagarinтАЩs brow wrinkled. тАЬTheyтАЩre dead too? I mean, that the alternate-Americans wiped them out in an act of
colonialist imperialist aggression but did not survive their treachery,тАЭ he adds hastily.
MishaтАЩs lips quirk in something approaching a grin: тАЬBetter work on getting your terminology right first time
before you see Brezhnev, comrade,тАЭ he says. тАЬYes, you are correct on the facts, but there are matters of
interpretation to consider. No colonial exploitation has occurred. So either the perpetrators were also wiped
out, or perhapsтАжwell, it opens up several very dangerous avenues of thought. Because if New Soviet Man
isnтАЩt home hereabouts, it implies that something happened to them, doesnтАЩt it? Where are all the true
Communists? If it turns out that they ran into hostile aliens, thenтАжwell, theory says that aliens should be
good brother socialists. Theory and ten rubles will buy you a bottle of vodka on this one. Something is badly
wrong with our understanding of the direction of history.тАЭ
тАЬI suppose thereтАЩs no question that thereтАЩs something we donтАЩt know about,тАЭ Gagarin adds in the ensuing
silence, almost as an afterthought.
тАЬYes. And thatтАЩs a fig-leaf of uncertainty we can hide behind, I hope.тАЭ Misha puts his glass down and
stretches his arms behind his head, fingers interlaced until his knuckles crackle. тАЬBefore we left, our agents
reported signals picked up in America fromтАУdamn, I should not be telling you this without authorization.
Pretend I said nothing.тАЭ His frown returns.
тАЬYou sound as if youтАЩre having dismal thoughts,тАЭ Gagarin prods.
тАЬI am having dismal thoughts, comrade colonel-general, very dismal thoughts indeed. We have been behaving
as if this world we occupy is merely a new geopolitical game board, have we not? Secure in the knowledge
that brother socialists from beyond the stars brought us here to save us from the folly of the imperialist
aggressors, or that anyone else we meet will be either barbarians or good communists, we have fallen into
the pattern of an earlier ageтАУexpanding in all directions, recognizing no limits, assuming our manifest destiny.
But what if there are limits? Not a barbed wire fence or a line in the sand, but something more subtle. Why
does history demand success of us? What we know is the right way for humans on a human world, with an
industrial society, to live. But this is not a human world. And what if itтАЩs a world weтАЩre not destined to
succeed? Or what if the very circumstances which gave rise to Marxism are themselves transient, in the
broader scale? What if there is aтАУyouтАЩll pardon meтАУa materialist God? We know this is our own far future we
are living in. Why would any power vast enough to build this disk bring us here?тАЭ
Gagarin shakes his head. тАЬThere are no limits, my friend,тАЭ he says, a trifle condescendingly: тАЬIf there were, do
you think we would have gotten this far?тАЭ
Misha thumps his desk angrily. тАЬWhy do you think they put us somewhere where your precious rockets donтАЩt
work?тАЭ he demands. тАЬGet up on high, one push of rocket exhaust and you could be halfway to anywhere! But
down here we have to slog through the atmosphere. We canтАЩt get away! Does that sound like a gift from one
friend to another?тАЭ
тАЬThe way you are thinking sounds paranoid to me,тАЭ Gagarin insists. тАЬIтАЩm not saying youтАЩre wrong, mind you:
onlyтАУcould you be overwrought? Finding those bombed cities affected us all, I think.тАЭ
Misha glances out of his airliner-sized porthole: тАЬI fear thereтАЩs more to it than that. WeтАЩre not unique,