"Peter Watts - Bulk Food" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watts Peter)

Doug turns to the flatscreen. A black-and-white shape looms up
in the murky green wash of Juan de Fuca Strait. Lipless jaws open
a crack; a zigzag crescent of conical teeth reflects gray in the dim
light.
That whistle again. In one corner of the flatscreen, a flashing
green tag: Receiving. "Fellow Sister Predator. Welcome."
Doug gawks.
Clicks. Two rapid-fire squeals. A moan. More clicks.
Receiving.
"I am Second Grandmother. I trust you enjoy Aquarium and its
many award-winning educational displaysтАФ"
Bzzt. In the upper left-hand corner of the screen: Line
Interrupt. Silence.
At a panel on Finch's desk, Anna Marie Hamilton takes her
finger off a red button.
"Wow," Doug says. "It was really talking."
Anna Marie rolls her eyes. "Yeah, well, it's not like they're
going to beat us on the SAT's or anything."

***

A reporter waylays Bob Finch in a public corridor on his way to
the gift shop. She seeks a reaction in the wake of HamiltonтАЩs
demonstration. Finch considers. тАЬWe agree with the activists on
one score. Orcas have their own values and their own society, and
weтАЩre morally bound to respect their choices.тАЭ
He smiles faintly. тАЬWhere Ms. Hamilton and I part ways, of
course, is that she never bothered to find out what those values
were before leaping to defend them.тАЭ

***

The door opens. Finch the Savior stands in the doorway with a
wooden box in one hand, a plastic bag in the other.
Doug, rising with his hopes off the couch, forgets all about the
Matriarch and his ankle. "Are those my steaks?"
20 Peter Watts

Finch smiles. "Mr. Largha, it takes several days to prepare the
merchandise. Each sample has to be measured, weighed, and
studied in accordance to our mandate of conservation through
research."
"Oh, right." Doug nods. "I knew that."
"The gift shop is only taking a list of names."
"Right. "
"And unfortunately, all of today's specimen has already been
spoken for. The line-up stretches all the way back into the
Amazon gallery, in fact, so I brought a couple of items which I
thought might do instead," Finch says. He holds up the bag.
"There was quite a run on these, I was lucky to get one."