"Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

G├╝nberk gave a weary shrug. "Perhaps. What a disgusting twit. His kind of dilettante is a cliche a century
old, reborn with each new technology. I wager he's fourteen years old and desperately eager to show
off." He glanced at Vaz. "Is this the best you could come up with, Alfred?"

"His reputation is not a fraud, G├╝nberk. He has managed projects almost as complex as what we have in
mind for him."

"Those were research projects. Perhaps he is a good тАФ what's the term? тАФ 'weaver of geniuses.' What
we want is more operational."

"Well, he correctly picked up on all of the clues we gave him." There had been Alfred's accent, and the
network evidence they had planted about Keiko's origin.
"Ach ja," said G├╝nberk, and a sudden smile crossed his face. "It's a bit humiliating that when I am simply
myself, I'm accused of overacting! Yes, so now Mr. Rabbit thinks we are South American drug lords."

The shifting crystal mists that were Keiko's image seemed to smile. "In a way, that's more plausible than
what we really are." The heirs of drug wars past had been in eclipse this last decade; access to "ecstasy
and enhancement" was so widespread that competition had done what enforcement could never
accomplish. But the drug lords were still rich beyond the dreams of most small countries. The ones
lurking in failed states might be crazy enough to do what they three had hinted at today.

G├╝nberk said, "The rabbit is manageable, I grant that. Competent for our needs? Much less likely."

"Having second thoughts about our little project, G├╝nberk?" This was Keiko's real voice. Her tone was
light, but Alfred knew she had her own very serious misgivings.

"Of course," said G├╝nberk. He fidgeted for a moment. "Look. Terror via technical surprise is the greatest
threat to the survival of the human race. The Great Powers тАФ ourselves, China, the U.S. тАФ have been
at peace for some years, mostly because we recognize that danger and we keep the rest of the world in
line. And now we discover that the Americans тАФ "

Keiko: "We don't know it's the Americans, G├╝nberk. The San Diego labs support researchers all over
the world."

"That is so. And a week ago I was as dubious as you. But now... consider: The weapons test was a
masterpiece of cloaking. We were incredibly lucky to notice it. The test was a work of patience and
professionalism, at the level of a Great Power. Great Powers have their own inertia and bureaucratic
caution. Field testing must necessarily be done in the outside world, but they do not run their weapons
development in labs they do not own."

Keiko made a sound like faraway chimes. "But why would a Great Power plot a revolution in plague
delivery? What profit is there in that?"

G├╝nberk nodded. "Yes, such destruction would make sense for a cult, but not for a superpower. At first,
my conclusion was a nightmare without logic. But my analysts have been over this again and again.
They've concluded that the 'honeyed-nougat symptom' was not simply a stand-in for lethal disease. In
fact, it was an essential feature of the test. This enemy is aiming at something greater than instant
biowarfare strikes. This enemy is close to having an effective YGBM technology."