"Robert L. Forward - Rocheworld 02 - Return to Rocheworld" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forward Robert L)

these foods, and in many cases had personally crafted their very DNA. He had
watched as the cells first started to mature and multiply; coaxing their
growth with the mediums that they craved. He had nourished them throughout
their lives and now he had harvested and cooked them, seasoning them to
perfection. He insisted on their having the proper presentation.
Nels talked to the ship's computer through his robotic imp, riding in
its usual position on his left shoulder.
"James? Could you please send the Christmas Bush down to the galley to
help prepare for the party? Have it bring the special set of party platters I
have stored in the top deck."
Within a few minutes, the spiny, sparkling motile with its multicolored
laser lights joined him in the galley. The complete bush-shaped robot had a
six-armed main body, each of the six arms dividing again into six smaller
arms, and so on, until the motile was surrounded with a final brush of tiny
cilia. But since it was also the repair and maintenance motile for the entire
ship, and the hands for James, the ship's computer, the Christmas Bush was
rarely in its complete form. The robot structure was designed to separate into
smaller parts that were miniatures of itself. Each of these smaller Christmas
"branches" or "twigs" or "imps" or "mosquitoes" could act as separate motiles.
The smallest ones could even fly by rapidly vibrating the tiny cilia at the
ends of their limbs. These smaller motiles could do practically anything; such
as monitoring the health of each crew member, repairing equipment, picking up
microscopic bits of dust, weaving new clothing, taking dull scientific data,
compounding medicines, brewing beer, and manufacturing semiconductor chips.
The flickers of colored light that illuminated the robot and gave it
its name, were really lasers that let each segment communicate with the rest
of the motile and with the ship's computer. It was, in fact, small subsets
from the Christmas Bush that made up the multicolored twinkling imps that
accompanied each of the crew members, who had the flexible imps form whatever
shape they found most convenient.
Once in the galley, the Christmas Bush separated into dozens of small
hands that began helping Nels prepare the meal for the party. They followed
his lead as he arranged the food onto numerous plates and bowls in a myriad of
shapes, colors and sizes. The computer understood that to Nels, this was more
that just a meal ... this was art. Thin strips of beef were impaled on metal
skewers and doused with soy sauce and spices to make teriyaki beef. Chicken
chunks were breaded with algaebread crumbs and deep fried in permaoil into
golden brown nuggets. Thin strips of ham were wrapped around ripe slices of
melon.
Listening through his imp, Nels heard the exuberant greetings of the
others as the small ascent module floated in between the shrouds of
_Prometheus_ and docked at its airlock set in the ceiling of one of the
corridors of his hydroponics deck. Jinjur's deep throaty voice was audible
above the babble of the others as she greeted the leader of the away team.
"That's the last time I give you an airplane to play with, George!" she
scolded playfully. "You're too hard on your toys!"
The sounds of revelry became louder and switched to reality as the
entire crew poured down the shaft and into the lounge and dining area. Red,
George, and Thomas were being carried through the lounge, their heads bumping
against the low ceiling lightly in the fractional gravity. As Nels understood