《Periodic Table Lanthanum》作者： - Michael Swanwick【EPUB】

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Michael Swanwicks Periodic Table of Science Fiction 57 La Lanthanum138.9055 Immortality Lanthanum like many of the other so-called rare earths is not particularly rare. Unless ofcourse you live in one of the worlds of the Reachesthat attenuated region at the outermostfringes of the Milky Way Galaxy directly opposite Earth where one half the sky is rich instars and the other half almost black. Through an accident of stellar evolution lanthanum isalmost unknown in the Reaches. Most of its uses are trivial of coursein optical glassapplications as a cracking catalyst in certain lasers. But it also happens to be necessary asan intermetallic hydride in the complex process that is used to create the drug ratherimprecisely for its only good for ten thousand years known as Immortality. For centuries the worlds of the Reaches smoldered resentfully under the neglectful rule of theGalactic Technocracy. But the Technocracy controlled the flow of Immortality and cut it off at the least hint of trouble. Which is why the freighter sailing under the corporate colors of the venerable firm ofSummergarden Claimjumper Ting was given a military escort. The load of lanthanum it carriedwas enough to serve a planets needs for a century. Or a rebellions for as long as it took. The attack began with the explosion of half a dozen neutron bomb mines. That took out the crewand AIs of the ore freighter without damaging its cargo. Then Freemans Raiders popped theirships out of n-space and engaged the escorts with directed matter-disrupters. Torpedoes werelaunched. Sunbombs exploded. Ships grappled and were breached and boarders swarmed through the gaps with projectile weapons and monomolecular garottes. Sixty thousand troopers died in the Battle of Three Suns. Only seventy-three