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

comrade; weтАЩve been here before. And we all died. WeтАЩre a fucking duplicate, Yuri Alexeyevich, thereтАЩs a
larger context to all this. And IтАЩm scared by what the politburo will decide to do when they see the evidence.
Or what the Americans will doтАжтАЭ
Chapter Thirteen: Last Supper
Returning to Manhattan is a comfort of sorts for Gregor, after the exposed plazas and paranoid open vistas of
the capital. Unfortunately he wonтАЩt be here for longтАУhe is, after all, on an assignment from BrundleтАУbut heтАЩll
take what comfort he can from the deep stone canyons, the teeming millions scurrying purposefully about at
ground level. The Big Apple is a hive of activity, as always, teeming purposeful trails of information leading the
busy workers about their tasks. GregorтАЩs nostrils flare as he stands on the sidewalk on Lexington and East
100th. ThereтАЩs an Italian restaurant Brundle recommended when he gave Gregor his briefing papers. тАЬTheir
spaghetti alтАЩ polpette is to die for,тАЭ Brundle told him. ThatтАЩs probably true, but whatтАЩs inarguable is that itтАЩs
only a couple of blocks away from the offices of the Exobiology Annex to CornellтАЩs New York Campus, where
Sagan is head of department.
Gregor opens the door and glances around. A waiter makes eye contact. тАЬTable for one?тАЭ
тАЬTwo. IтАЩm meetingтАУah.тАЭ Gregor sees Sagan sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant and waves
hesitantly. тАЬHeтАЩs already here.тАЭ
Gregor nods and smiles at Sagan as he sits down opposite the professor. The waiter drifts over and hands
him a menu. тАЬHave you ordered?тАЭ
тАЬI just got here.тАЭ Sagan smiles guardedly. тАЬIтАЩm not sure why you wanted this meeting, Mr., uh, Samsa, isnтАЩt
it?тАЭ Clearly he thinks he gets the jokeтАУa typical mistake for a brilliant man to make.
Gregor allows his lower lip to twitch. тАЬBelieve me, IтАЩd rather it wasnтАЩt necessary,тАЭ he says, entirely truthfully.
тАЬBut the climate in DC isnтАЩt really conducive to clear thought or long-range planningтАУI mean, we operate under
constraints established by the political process. WeтАЩre given questions to answer, weтАЩre not encouraged to
come up with new questions. So what IтАЩd like to do is just have an open-ended informal chat about anything
that you think is worth considering. About our situation, I mean. In case you can open up any avenues we
ought to be investigating that arenтАЩt on the map right now.тАЭ
Sagan leans forward. тАЬThatтАЩs all very well,тАЭ he says agreeably, тАЬbut IтАЩm a bit puzzled by the policy process
itself. We havenтАЩt yet made contact with any nonhuman sapients. I thought your committee was supposed to
be assessing our policy options for when contact finally occurs. It sounds to me as if youтАЩre telling me that
we already have a policy, and youтАЩre looking to find out if itтАЩs actually a viable one. Is that right?тАЭ
Gregor stares at him. тАЬI can neither confirm nor deny that,тАЭ he says evenly. Which is the truth. тАЬBut if you
want to take some guesses I can either discuss things or clam up when you get too close,тАЭ he adds, the
muscles around his eyes crinkling conspiratorially.
тАЬAha.тАЭ Sagan grins back at him boyishly. тАЬI get it.тАЭ His smile vanishes abruptly. тАЬLet me guess. The policy is
predicated on MAD, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ
Gregor shrugs then glances sideways, warningly: the waiter is approaching. тАЬIтАЩll have a glass of the house
red,тАЭ he says, sending the fellow away as fast as possible. тАЬDeterrence presupposes communication, donтАЩt
you think?тАЭ Gregor asks.
тАЬTrue.тАЭ Sagan picks up his bread knife and absent-mindedly twirls it between finger and thumb. тАЬBut itтАЩs how
the idiotsтАУexcuse me, our elected leadersтАУtreat threats, and I canтАЩt see them responding to tool-using
non-humans as anything else.тАЭ He stares at Gregor. тАЬLet me see if IтАЩve got this right. Your committee pulled
me in because there has, in fact, been a contact between humans and non-human intelligencesтАУor at least
some sign that there are NHIs out there. The existing policy for dealing with it was drafted some time in the
sixties under the influence of the hangover left by the Cuban war, and it basically makes the conservative
assumption that any aliens are green-skinned Soviets and the only language they talk is nuclear annihilation.
This policy is now seen to be every bit as bankrupt as it sounds but nobody knows what to replace it with
because thereтАЩs no data on the NHIs. Am I right?тАЭ
тАЬI can neither confirm nor deny that,тАЭ says Gregor.
Sagan sighs. тАЬOkay, play it your way.тАЭ He closes his menu. тАЬReady to order?тАЭ
тАЬI believe so.тАЭ Gregor looks at him. тАЬThe spaghetti alтАЩ polpette is really good here,тАЭ he adds.