Pegasus In Space
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Talents #3
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Pegasus In Space». Краткое содержание книги:
For an overpopulated Earth whose resources are strained to the breaking point, there is only one place to look for relief: straight up. With the successful completion of the Padrugoi Space Station, humanity has at last achieved its first large-scale permanent presence in space. But there are those who, for motives of their own, want Padrugoi to fail. Standing in their way are the Talented, men and women gifted with extraordinary mental powers that have made them as feared as they are respected--and utterly indispensable to the colonization effort. Now, as sabotage and attempted murder strike the Station, it's up to the Talented to save the day. Only who is going to save the Talented?
Pegasus in Space is the tale of Peter Reidinger, first Tower Prime!
They were not the only ones in the unit. Figures moved about this and the lower levels, checking the flow of nutrients into the hundreds, perhaps thousands of tanks. Rhyssa knew enough about growing things to recognize certain foliage and identify the edibles produced. Carrots and radishes were very obvious but their inclusion surprised her and she was about to comment when Amariyah pointed to the tank beside her.
"You're growing Lycopersicum esculentum in space?"
"Yes, indeed," Ping said, beaming at her. "Tomatoes are, of course, very nutritious, containing Vitamin C and being the basis for many recipes. How do you know the Latin name for them?"
"It is important to know such things if I wish to become a hydroponic gardener and work on the Station, too," Amariyah replied with as serious an expression as her tone of voice. "What varietals do you have? What does best on the Station in the tanks? Bush or cordon?"
Rhyssa had no trouble in "hearing" Ping Yung's amazement at such questions from a youngster but he was also delighted to have someone so knowledgeable to speak to, whatever her age. A nice man, in many ways as eagerly innocent as her ward.
"Amariyah is intensely interested in gardening," she said.
"That is easy to see, " Ping replied with a little bow and held out his hand to Amariyah. "We have both bush and cordon. For the most part, we cultivate Plumito and Tigarella in the bush; Mirabelle and Dombito in the cordon. But we vary them with cultigens."
"Apples?" Rhyssa asked, spotting that unmistakable fruit, trained to grow against the curving wall.
"Yes, indeed, apples contain essential potassium," Ping replied. "We'd prefer bananas but we don't have the space for such trees as they grow to a height we can't accommodate. Admittedly plantains would suit more of the resident personnel and we're trying to develop a true dwarf but without success yet. Most of what we grow here serves a dual purpose, you see: oxygen purification as well as fresh produce for minimum dietary requirements. We must have cultivars in all the ranges that do not generally exceed forty centimeters. We even have wheat, a cultigen that's only twenty to twenty-four centimeters."
"Wheat?" Dorotea exclaimed as Ping guided them around the balcony to the spiral stairs to the lower levels.
"Yes, wheat," he said almost fondly. "It's a great oxygen generator. Ten square meters grows enough for one person's oxygen-for two at full growth-and, harvested, it's made into flour, of course."
"That's Ipomoea batatas," Amariyah said as she stepped onto the lower level and pointed to the tanks of thriving club-shaped leaves.
"Indeed they are sweet potatoes," Ping said, grinning. "We eat the tubers and use the foliage the same way we do spinach."
"Which type? Ceylon Basella alba or Spinacia oleracea?" asked Amariyah.
Rhyssa and Dorotea were hanging behind the two and exchanged understanding grins.
Your student is showing off, Rhyssa said.
So long as he doesn't require me to have the same encyclopedic memory. I've forgotten most of my Latin, Dorotea replied with a wistful sigh.
"We plant both types of spinach in cut-and-cut-again tanks," Ping replied.
"I wouldn't have expected the Station to have Brassica oleracea," Dorotea commented in a casual tone, as they made their way down the steps to the next level. It's one of the few names I remember.
Good on you!
"Oh, we couldn't get along without them. We've the Greensleeves, loose leaves that don't grow too tall. Spivoy and Spitfire are within the outer height limit, but it's mainly the loose leaves," Ping went on.
"Is this unit limited to Temperate Zone planting?" Amariyah asked.
Ping glanced back up at the older women, raising his eyebrows over her intelligent queries.
"Yes. We also have tropical, twelve-hour-day-length climates that the Arachis hypogaea and Cocoyams require."
"Peanuts and taro root?" Amariyah said, with a lift of her own eyebrows.
"We try to produce the varieties that appeal to the various elements of our multiethnic population. Of course, the protein we use can be flavored and shaped to be indistinguishable from what it imitates. Chicken, beef, seafood, even the more exotic venison, ostrich, and kangaroo."
"Ahhhh," and Amariyah dropped his hand to stand in front of the quadrant sown to one crop, its lush green hiding the tank that had nourished it. "Oryza!" She could not resist touching the long stalks, carefully since the rice was close to being harvested.
Ping Yung pointed across the atrium. "And our special cultigen of Triticum."
What's that? Rhyssa asked Dorotea.
Wheat!
'Above the wheaten plain,' Rhyssa quoted.
Wrong! Dorotea replied quickly. It's fruited plain, not wheaten. It should be the fruited plane above if you're referring to Padrugoi's crop! But 'amber waves of grain' are mentioned in the song, she conceded.
I yield, Rhyssa countered.
Dorotea rolled her eyes.
During the rest of the tour, Rhyssa and Dorotea listened and watched. Both were delighted by the rapport between Amariyah and the young hydroponic specialist. Once he realized how much the girl already knew, how well read she was, he was more than willing to expand and encourage her to access additional programs on Teacher that would improve her chances of securing a hotly contested position on the Padrugoi CELSS.
He even showed her the special seedling chambers, small alcoves branching off the main facility. As was her fashion, she crooned over the young plants, stroking a tendril here, with delicate fingers righting a drooping sprout there.
"What is your success rate with seedlings?" Amariyah asked at her most scholarly.
Rhyssa sighed.
Dorotea shot her a look. You don't suppose she'll try to increase his success factor do you?
If she does, will we know? Rhyssa asked in an equally rhetorical tone. She might at that. Just look at her! She didn't touch Chester as gently when he was a baby.
Is she making a benediction or a pass of her as yet undiscovered Talent? I don't feel-wait a minute, and Dorotea held up her hand. Then she gave her head an exasperated shake. Just like my mother.
Amariyah is a micropsychic?
She is if I have any sensitivity at all. Dorotea now gave a snort of disgust. And if we put an Incident net on her while she gardens, it'd only inhibit her Your grandfather tried so hard to catch Mother at it…
Knowing what her grandfather thought Ruth Horvath did in her micro-Talented way, Rhyssa stifled her giggle. Dorotea glared at her and then grinned like a mischievous female much younger than her actual age.
Well, your grandfather really had hoped that Mother would be able to develop the therapeutic touch healing, Dorotea added.
Rhyssa was saved from an overdose of Latin, genetic selection, yield optimization, and cultivation management by the appearance of Yeoman Nicola Nizukami, coming to guide them to their luncheon appointment with the admiral.
Amariyah was loath to leave Ping Yung but he finally terminated the occasion by reminding her, ever so gently, that this was his shift and he must get back to his plants.
"I'll tell you how the seedlings do, Amariyah"' he said as a final promise to her.
No sooner were they in the lift to the Control level than Amariyah heaved a great sigh.