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

perhaps an archaeology experiment?тАЭ
Gregor shrugs. тАЬHumans are time-binding animals,тАЭ he explains. тАЬSo are all the other tool-using sentient
species we have been able to characterize; it appears to be the one common factor, they like to understand
their past as a guide to their future. We have sources that haveтАжthink of a game of Chinese whispers? The
belief that is most widely held is that the disk was made by the agencies we see at work restructuring the
galaxy, to house their, ah, experiments in ontology. To view their own deep past, before they became
whatever they are, and to decide whether the path through which they emerged was inevitable or a low
probability outcome. The reverse face of the Drake equation, if you like.тАЭ
Sagan shivers. тАЬAre you telling me weтАЩre just тАж memories? Echoes from the past, reconstituted and replayed
some unimaginable time in the future? That this entire monstrous joke of a cosmological experiment is just a
sideshow?тАЭ
тАЬYes, Dr. Sagan,тАЭ Gregor says soothingly. тАЬAfter all, the disk is not so large compared to an entire galaxy,
donтАЩt you think? And I would not say the sideshow is unimportant. Do you ever think about your own
childhood? And wonder whether the you that sits here in front of me today was the inevitable product of your
upbringing? Or could you have become someone completely differentтАУan airline pilot, for example, or a
banker? Alternatively, could someone else have become you? What set of circumstances combine to
produce an astronomer and exobiologist? Why should a God not harbour the same curiosity?тАЭ
тАЬSo youтАЩre saying itтАЩs introspection, with a purpose. The galactic civilization wants to see its own birth.тАЭ
тАЬThe galactic hive mind,тАЭ Gregor soothes, amused at how easy it is to deal with Sagan. тАЬRemember,
information is key. Why should human-level intelligences be the highest level?тАЭ All the while he continues to
breathe oxytocin and other peptide neurotransmitters across the table towards Sagan. тАЬDonтАЩt let such
speculations ruin your meal,тАЭ he adds, phrasing it as an observation rather than an implicit command.
Sagan nods and returns to using his utensils. тАЬThatтАЩs very thought-provoking,тАЭ he says, as he gratefully raises
the first mouthful to his lips. тАЬIf this is based on hard intelligence itтАжwell, IтАЩm worried. Even if itтАЩs inference, I
have to do some thinking about this. I hadnтАЩt really been thinking along these lines.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm sure if thereтАЩs an alien menace weтАЩll defeat it,тАЭ Gregor assures him as he masticates and swallows the
neurotoxin-laced meatball in tomato sauce. And just for the moment, he is content to relax in the luxury of
truth: тАЬJust leave everything to me and IтАЩll see that your concerns are communicated to the right people. Then
weтАЩll do something about your dish and everything will work out for the best.тАЭ




Chapter Fourteen: Poor prognosis
Maddy visits John regularly in hospital. At first itтАЩs a combination of natural compassion and edgy guilt; John
is pretty much alone on this continent of lies, being both socially and occupationally isolated, and Maddy can
convince herself that sheтАЩs helping him feel in touch, motivating him to recover. Later on itтАЩs a necessity of
workтАУsheтАЩs keeping the lab going, even feeding the squirming white horror in the earth-filled glass jar, in
JohnтАЩs absenceтАУand partly boredom. ItтАЩs not as if BobтАЩs at home much. His work assignments frequently
take him to new construction sites up and down the coast. When he is home they frequently argue into the
small hours, picking at the scabs on their relationship with the sullen pinch-faced resentment of a couple fifty
years gone in despair at the wrongness of their shared direction. So she escapes by visiting John and tells
herself that sheтАЩs doing it to keep his spirits up as he learns to use his prostheses.
тАЬYou shouldnтАЩt blame yourself,тАЭ he tells her one afternoon when he notices her staring. тАЬIf you hadnтАЩt been
around IтАЩd be dead. Neither of us was to know.тАЭ
тАЬWell.тАЭ Maddy winces as he sits up, then raises the tongs to his face to nudge the grippers apart before
reaching for the water-glass. тАЬThat wonтАЩtтАУтАЭ She changes direction in mid sentenceтАУтАЬmake it easier to cope.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩre all going to have to cope,тАЭ he says gnomically, before relaxing back against the stack of pillows. HeтАЩs
a lot better now than he was when he first arrived, delirious with his hand swollen and blackening, but the
after-effects of the mock termite venom have weakened him in other ways. тАЬI want to know why those things