"Richard Wilson - The Eight Billion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Richard)

politely but his mind obviously was downtown.
"I said we can handle it," the Chairman shouted to the vizier. "All we
have to do is coordinate menus with the King of the Bronx. His people
come crowding across the line when we have parabeef mist and they only
have plankton. Our people get trampled. Then they fight. That's what
happened at the Overbuild. Near-riot."
"I hear there are people who never have plankton," the vizier said.
"They circulate around the kingdoms and know just where to be at
chowdown. There must be a leak from the Royal Kitchens."
"We'll look into it but it would be better to coordinate. Then it wouldn't
matter where they were." The Chairman asked: "Have you visited
maternity lately? They're delivering them like shad roe."
"Sounds like an enforcement-problem there," the vizier said
impatiently, with a look across to the King, who had obviously had the
word that a breakthrough was near in Project Mohole. "Holy Moly," he
had said, hadn't he?
"How do you mean, enforcement?" the Chairman asked. "You can't
legislate a pregnancy stretchout. Nine months and there they are. And the
incidence of multiple births is rising, I might add."
"I'm talking about the mating berths," the vizier said. "I know the
permits are supposed to be rigidly controlled but I think a shakeup would
be in order among the keepers of the keys."
"That's not it. The problem is I.I."
"I.I.?"
"Illegal impregnation. They tell me it's flourishing. Especially at the
compulsory sex education lectures. Jam them in like that, co-ed, and then
talk about it, and things are bound to happen."
"Shocking," said the vizier, who was unshockable.
"The younger generation seems to be taking it as a matter of course. I've
heard one youngster say to another, 'I got a standing start.'"
"Really, Mr. Chairman?" It was an old skyvision joke, actually.
"Facts are facts, Your Excellency. And people are people. Every last
mother's son of the eight billion of them."
"Eight billion? I didn't think we were anywhere near that figure." "As of
the noon census estimate," the Chairman said. "It's eight billion, one
million forty-two thousand some odd. I tell you, they're like shad roe."



The skyscraper office buildings had long since been taken over as
dwellings. This followed naturally after big business fled, driven away by
increasing taxes and traffic congestion. No one had really counted noses,
but it was considered likely that the office buildings were being utilized at
maximum efficiency—between four and eight families could fit
comfortably into a suite of offices formerly occupied by one executive and
two secretaries. Maybe even 16 or 32 families could squeeze in if you
considered the number of high-ceilinged offices which had been duplexed,
at least to the extent of stacking up the sleepers in rooms cut horizontally
in half.