"Asimov, Isaac - Cleon the Emperor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

УThat's good, isn't it?Ф

УIt should be. It's computerized, of course. The coming of an earthquake anywhere sets off the key controls for the opening and closing of that section of the dome, so that it opens just before the vibration becomes strong enough to do damage.Ф

УStill good.Ф

УBut in the case of the three minor earthquakes over the last two years, the dome controls failed in each case. The dome never opened, and in each case repairs were required. It took some time, it took some money, and the weather controls were less than optimum for a considerable time. Now what, Raych, are the chances that the equipment would have failed in all three cases?Ф

УNot high?Ф

УNot high at all. Less than one in a hundred. One can suppose that someone had gimmicked the controls in advance of an earthquake. Now once a century, we have a magma leak, which is far more difficult to control, and I'd hate to think of the results if it went unnoticed till it was too late. Fortunately that hasn't happened, and isn't likely to, but considerЧ Here on this map you will find the location of the breakdowns that have plagued us over the past two years and that seem to be attributable to human error, though we haven't once been able to tell to whom it might be attributed.Ф

УThat's because everyone is busy protecting his back.Ф

УI'm afraid you're right. That's a characteristic of any bureaucracy and Trantor's is the largest in history. ЧBut what do you think of the locations?Ф

The map had lit up with bright little red markings that looked like small pustules covering the land surface of Trantor.

УWell,Ф said Raych cautiously. УThey seem to be evenly spread.Ф

УExactly, and that's what's interesting. One would expect that the older sections of Trantor, the sections longest domed, would have the most decayed infrastructure and would be more liable to events requiring quick human decision and laying the groundwork for possible human error. ЧI'll superimpose the older sections of Trantor on the map in a bluish color, and you'll notice that the breakdowns don't seem to be taking place on the blue any oftener than on the white.Ф

УAnd?Ф

УAnd what I think it means, Raych, is that the breakdowns are not of natural origin, but are deliberately caused, and spread out in this fashion to affect as many people as possible, thus creating a dissatisfaction that is as wide-spread as possible.Ф

УIt don't seem likely.Ф

УNo? Then let's look at the breakdowns as spread through time rather than through space.Ф

The blue areas and the red spots disappeared and, for a time, the map of Trantor was blank, and then the markings began to appear and disappear one at a time, here and there.

УNotice,Ф said Seldon, Уthat they don't appear in clumps in time, either. One appears, then another, then another, and so on, almost like the steady ticking of a metronome.Ф

УDo ya think that's on purpose too?Ф

УIt must be. Whoever is bringing this about wants to cause as much disruption with as little effort as possible, so there's no use doing two at once, where one will partially cancel the other in the news and in the public consciousness. Each incident must stand out in full irritation.Ф

The map went out, the lights went on. Seldon returned the sphere, shrunken back to its original size, to his pocket.

Raych said, УWho would be doing all this?Ф

Seldon said thoughtfully, УA few days ago, I received a report of a murder in Wye sector.Ф

УThat's not unusual,Ф said Raych. УEven though Wye isn't one of your really lawless sectors, there must be lots of murders there every day.Ф

УHundreds,Ф said Seldon, shaking his head. УWe've had bad days when the number of deaths by violence in Trantor as a whole approaches the million-a-day mark. Generally, there's not much chance of finding every culprit, every murderer. The dead just enter the books as anonymous statistics.

УThis one, however, was unusual. The man had been knifed, but unskillfully. He was still alive when found, just barely. He had time to gasp out one word before he died, and that was, СChief.Т