"Timothy Zahn - Spinneret" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

type worlds and the Poms live in liquid water, why haven't your two empires

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Zahn, Timothy - Spinneret


interpenetrated? Surely each of you has planets the other could use; it seems a
perfectly reasonable deal for both sides."

"You will learn that there are only two things of value in an interstellar
community: information and resources," Beaeki said as they left the vehicle and
walked around to the ship's entry ramp. "All the solid bodies in a nation's territory,
whether useful for colonization or not, can be exploited for mineral wealth and are
thus guarded carefully."

"I would think asteroid mining would be cheaper than hauling cargo out of a
planet's gravity well, though," Meredith suggested.

"Certainly. But asteroid belts are rare."

"Oh." A stray fact clicked in Meredith's mind: the Ctencri mission to Earth had
rather offhandedly brought up the subject of mining rights. He would have to send
back a warning with the next ship to watch out for a possible swindle. "As I recall,
our lease includes the rights to this system's asteroids."

"Correct. But you may be disappointed. The belt is curiously deficient in the high-
density, heavy-metal asteroids which are most profitable for mining."

Meredith grimaced. How much of the eighty million dollars, he wondered, had
gone for those mining rights? "You people seem to have learned the principles of
cutthroat business without much trouble."

"The Ctencri are good teachers; but their lessons have been expensive."

"Thanks for the warning. We humans are supposed to be pretty good businessmen
ourselves."

"Perhaps." Beaeki paused at the edge of the ramp and made a sweeping gesture
across the torso of his spacesuit. "If you would be interested in buying metal from
us, our refinery here may be able to supply small amounts."

"We would certainly be interested in discussing the matter," Meredith nodded.

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Zahn, Timothy - Spinneret


"And you should consider buying the sulphur and other minerals we will soon be
producing."