Звездный десант
Chapter 11
Aslongastheyjustcompetedwitheachother,thisdidn’tmattertoomuch—moronsamongmorons,sotospeak.Butwhentypesthathadevolvedonaplanetenjoyinghighradiationandfiercecompetitionwereintroduced,thenativestuffwasoutclassed.
Nowalltheaboveisperfectlyobviousfromhighschoolbiology...butthehighforeheadfromtheresearchstationtherewhowastellingmeaboutthisbroughtupapointIwouldneverhavethoughtof.
WhataboutthehumanbeingswhohavecolonizedSanctuary?
Nottransientslikeme,butthecolonistswholivethere,manyofwhomwerebornthere,andwhosedescendantswilllivethere,evenintotheumpteenthgeneration—whataboutthosedescendants?Itdoesn’tdoapersonanyharmnottoberadiated;infactit’sabitsafer--leukemiaandsometypesofcancerarealmostunknownthere.Besidesthat,theeconomicsituationisatpresentallintheirfavor;whentheyplantafieldof(Terran)wheat,theydon’tevenhavetoclearouttheweeds.Terranwheatdisplacesanythingnative.
Butthedescendantsofthosecolonistswon’tevolve.Notmuch,anyhow.Thischaptoldmethattheycouldimprovealittlethroughmutationfromothercauses,fromnewbloodaddedbyimmigration,andfromnaturalselectionamongthegenepatternstheyalreadyown—butthatisallveryminorcomparedwiththeevolutionaryrateonTerraandonanyusualplanet.
