"Vinge Vernor & William Rupp - Just Peace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

A long pause. тАЬVery well, sir, I am at your disposal. I so rarely receive visitors, IтАФYou require a
situation report, of course.тАЭ The vocoderтАЩs pleasant baritone assumed a singsong tone, as if repeating
some long-considered excuse. тАЬAfter my successful landing on delta Pavonis II, I sent Earth a favourable
report on the planetтАФ Sir, most pertinent criteria were favourable. I see now my mistakeтАж but it would
have taken a new program to avoid making it. Shortly thereafter I received an initial transmission of
fifteen hundred colonists together with enough ova and sperm to breed a colony. By 2220, the New
Canada colony had a population of 8,250,000.

тАЬThenтАж then the great planetary disturbance occurred.тАЭ

Chente held up his hand. тАЬPlease. The Hegemony received your reports through 2240. WeтАЩve
reestablished contact to find out whatтАЩs happened since then.тАЭ

тАЬYes, sir. But I must report all the truth first. I wish no one to say that I have failed. I warned of the core
collapse several weeks before it occurred. Yet still, most of the colony was destroyed. The disruption
was so great in fact, that the very continental outlines were changed.

тАЬSir, I have done my best to help the survivors, but their descendants have regressed terribly, have even
formed warring nation-states. These groups covet every fragment of surviving technology. They stole my
communication bombs so that I could no longer report to Earth. They have even attacked my own
person, and attempted to cannibalize me. Fortunately my defencesтАЩareтАФтАЭ TheтАЩcomputer broke off, and
remained silent.

==========

тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter?тАЭ

тАЬA small party is now climbing the hill I stand upon.тАЭ

тАЬDo they look hostile?тАЭ

тАШThey are always hostile toward me, but this group is not armed. I suspect they saw the coronal
discharge that accompanied your arrival. They probably drove here from Freetown.тАЬ

тАЬA city?тАЭ said Chente.

тАЬYes, a city-state which has remained neutral in the current warfare. ItтАЩs built over the ruins of
First-landing, the settlement I helped to found. Would you like to see our visitors?тАЭ

Chente leaned forward. тАЬOf course!тАЭ

A large screen lit up to show a grass-covered slope. Coming up the hill toward the ship were twelve men
and a woman. Beyond them, beyond the hill, the ocean stretched away unbroken to the horizon.

тАЬMadre de Dios!тАЭ Chente gasped. On the old maps this hilltop was 3,500 kilometers inland. The
continental outlines certainly had been changed by the catastrophe.

тАЬSay again, sir?тАЭ said the computer.

тАЬNever mind.тАЭ Chente ignored the view and concentrated on the people who would soon be questioning