"George Zebrowski - Brute orbits" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zebrowski George)

But it had begun unexpectedly and with different ends in mind, this use of
distance as a better prison wall. The asteroid later called "the Iron Mile"
came in from the outer solar system as both a surprise and a harbinger. It
crossed Earth's orbit, swung around the Sun in a flat ellipse, rushed out, and
was captured by the Earth as a second companion. That portion of humankind
that knew enough to understand what had been averted was relieved, but worried
about future threats. Many others, when they heard of the danger that had
passed them by, felt vaguely that it was only a reprieve; too many
transgressions still waited to be punished.
The lessons and opportunities became clear: A loaded gun pointed at the labors
of human history was intolerable. The terrifying vision of what might have
been had the nickel-iron mass struck the Earth spurred the finding of a
foothold on the intruder.
Humanity mined the Mile and grew its permanent base. Near-Earth outposts
became easier to build with these resources. The heavens had spared the Earth
from being hit, and had also saved it the political bickering and economic
cost of bringing an asteroid close. An uneasy gift of ground both quickened
the industrial expansion into the solar system and prevented disastrous
surprises.
A dozen Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids tl^at
IratoMtts 3
might have one day struck the planet were, one by one, brought into orbits
around the Earth and Moon, and mined by a metal-hungry world using machines
manned by small groups of specialists and convicts. Later, when these first
twelve asteroids had been exhausted, they became way stations and habitats,
useful for scientific research and human colonies.
As the number of mined-out rocks grew, they began to be used as prisons by a
world that was running out of patience with criminal behavior. The
consequences of Earthside prison building from violence and the threat of
violence, together with high start-up costs and endless budget increases,
finally outweighed the economic benefits to host communities. Beguiling
alternatives beckoned in the mined-out rocks, offering irresistible parallel
benefits; and the rocks were immediately available.
"We can make the criminals disappear from the face of the Earth," whispered
the wishful, "тАФand we can start tomorrow!"
"Lock them up and throw away the key!"
"Recycle the scum in the fusion torches! It's cheaper."
"Make them disappear, but don't trouble us with how you do it."
"Judge Overton, do you consider the Rocks to be cruel and unusual punishment?"
"Not at all," replied the Chief Justice of the
Orbits. "Think of them as sheltered islands, where life goes on."
"But the isolation from humankind ..."
"They have enough humankind with them."
The more sophisticated said, "We must create a generational firebreak between
the socially damaged and the newborn, and we must do this worldwide. We must
start over by raising people not to be criminalsтАФbut first we must gather all
the serious threats and separate them from us."
The inmates in the Orbits would need fewer guards, and this would minimize
abuse. As much as possible, the prison colony would police itself. But this
model quickly went astray, even as architectural grace was achieved.