"James Tiptree Jr. - Your Haploid Heart" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tiptree James Jr)

little race has survived so far. Remember, our species tolerated no living
relatives." "But... if they could be given a place of their own..." "Provided
the mutation isn't a recurrent one. If it is recurrent, the situation will
only repeat. And it looks as if it is ... why does each species have a
tetraploid companion? If there had been only one mutation 'way back, the
separate evolutions would have diverged. Now I suggest we quit talking and
play something. How about 'Hold That Tiger'?" But our hearts weren't in it.
When we turned in I took a look at the note which had been burning a hole in
my pocket. Doctor from the stars come to us! Help us dying we pray. I slept
badly. In the morning we found a sheaf of the vivid orange flowers had been
thrown over the wall by our table. Ovancha joined us after breakfast. With him
was a muscular young Esthaan wearing high boots and imported dark
glasses. "Reshvid Goffafa!" Ovancha announced. "He is ready to guide Reshvid
Pax to the volcanic mountains. Perhaps this is too short notice? But Reshvid
Goffafa has classes beginning just after the rest days and he has returned
specially for you!" With Pax gone I concentrated better and in a few days
steady drudging I had turned up three Harkness slides marked Fl. In a
collection of waterplant tissues I found a firmly stained section marked Fl.
Inf., vascular marrow which gave me what I needed. There were karyokinetic
anomalies, but the chromosome count was clearly half of that on my Esthaan
samples. My involuntary satisfaction gave me a pang of shame; the thing was a
tragic trap for the Flenni. And mixed with the pang was something like a faint
voice saying "Tilt" over the whole beautiful structure. But surely
Harkness- "You study in a trance!" laughed Ovancha, who had entered
quietly. "It is our way," I returned absently. It had just struck me that
Ovancha was unusual in another way. He had gray eyes, the norm was
olive-brown. And the old Flenn also had gray eyes. "I wonder what you see."
There was a hint of seriousness under his light tone. Was it possible that
Ovancha was different enough to be of use to me? "I see something of great
scientific interest on your delightful planet," I began hopefully. He seemed
to follow, but when I tried to show him a chromosome his aristocratic eyelids
drooped, and he barely glanced through the scope. When I spoke cautiously of a
possible genetic difference between himself and unnamed "others" his mouth
twisted. "But one can see the difference, Reshvid lan!" he reproved me. "There
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is no need to go further. We are not interested in such things in our
science." No help here. I began chewing on the problem of obtaining Esthaan
gametes, while Ovancha chatted on about a Reshvid doctor who perhaps had some
slides, and a Reshvid somebody else who would be delighted to show me his
preserving technique-after, the rest days, of course. Meanwhile, since no one
was really working now, why not come to dinner and view the museum president's
collection of luminous sea bats? The -next day the university blimp-flier went
out to pick up Pax and Goffafa, but they were not there. No one was concerned,
since they had ample supplies. It was decided to try again in three days. The
second try was also unsuccessful, and the third. Ovancha told me tensely that
Goffafa was now late for classes. The orange flowers came over the wall again
that night. At noon next day a uniformed Esthaan appeared in my lab and told