"Bester, Alfred - Hobson's Choice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bester Alfred)

УThe way I see it,Ф the gray-haired man continued conversationally, Уwhen they come back theyТre swimming against the time current. That slows Сem down. When they come forward, theyТre swimming with the current. That speeds Сem up. Of course, in any case it doesnТt last longer than a few minutes. It wears off.Ф
УWhat?Ф Addyer said. УTime travel?Ф
УYes. Of course.Ф
УThat thing Addyer pointed to the radio. УA time machine?Ф
УThatТs the idea. Roughly.Ф
УBut itТs too small.Ф
The gray-haired man laughed.
УWhat is this place anyway? What are you up to?Ф
УItТs a funny thing,Ф the gray-haired man said. УEverybody used to speculate about time travel. How it would be used for exploration, archaeology, historical and social research and so on. Nobody ever guessed what the real use would be. . . . Therapy.Ф
УTherapy? You mean medical therapy?Ф
УThatТs right. Psychological therapy for the misfits who wonТt respond to any other cure. We let them emigrate. Escape. WeТve set up stations every quarter century. Stations like this.Ф -
УI donТt understand.Ф
УThis is an immigration office.Ф
УOh, my God!Ф Addyer shot up from the couch. УThen youТre the answer to the population increase. Yes? ThatТs how I happened to notice it. MortalityТs up so high and birthТs down so low these days that your time-addition becomes significant. Yes?Ф
УYes, Mr. Addyer.Ф
УThousands of you coming here. From where?Ф
УFrom the future, of course. Time travel wasnТt developed until C/H 127. ThatТs . . . oh, say, AD. 2505 your chronology. We didnТt set up our chain of stations until C/H 189.Ф
УBut those fast-moving ones. You said they came forward from the past.Ф
УOh, yes, but theyТre all from the future originally. They just decided they went too far back.Ф
УToo far?Ф
The gray-haired man nodded and reflected. УItТs amusing, the mistakes people will make. They become unrealistic when they read history. Lose
contact with facts. Chap I knew . . . wouldnТt be satisfied with anything less than Elizabethan times. СShakespeare,Т he said. СGood Queen Bess. Spanish Armada. Drake and Hawkins and Raleigh. Most virile period in history. The Golden Age. ThatТs for me.Т I couldnТt talk sense into him, so we sent him back. Too bad.Ф
УWell?Ф Addyer asked.
УOh, he died in three weeks. Drank a glass of water. Typhoid.Ф
УYou didnТt inoculate him? I mean, the army when it sends men overseas always .
УOf course we did. Gave him all the immunization we could. But diseases evolve and change too. New strains develop. Old strains disappear. ThatТs what causes pandemics. Evidently our shots wouldnТt take against the Elizabethan typhoid. Excuse me . .
Again the glow appeared. Another nude man appeared, chattered briefly and then whipped through the door. He almost collided with the nude girl who poked her head in, smiled and called in a curious accent, УIc vous prie de me pardonner. Quy estoit cette gentilhomme?Ф
УI was right,Ф the gray-haired man said. УThatТs Medieval French. They havenТt spoken like that since Rabelais.Ф To the girl he said, УMiddle English, please. The American dialect.Ф
УOh, IТm sorry, Mr. Jelling. I get so damned fouled up with my linguistics. Fouled? Is that right? Or do they say . .
УHey!Ф Addyer cried in anguish.
УThey say it, but only in private these years. Not before strangers.Ф
УOh, yes. I remember. Who was that gentleman who just left?Ф
УPeters.Ф
УFrom Athens?Ф
УThatТs right.Ф
УDidnТt like it, eh?Ф
УNot much. Seems the Peripatetics didnТt have plumbing.Ф
УYes. You begin to hanker for a modern bathroom after a while. Where do I get some clothes . . . or donТt they wear clothes this century?Ф
УNo, thatТs a hundred years forward. Go see my wife. SheТs in the outfitting room in the barn. ThatТs the big red building.Ф
The tall lighthouse-man Addyer had first seen in the farmyard suddenly manifested himself behind the girl. He was now dressed and moving at normal speed. He stared at the girl; she stared at him. УSplem!Ф they both cried. They embraced and kissed shoulders.
УStТu my rock-ribbering rib-rockery to heart the hearts two,Ф the man said.
УHeartТs too, argal, too heart,Ф the girl laughed.
УEh? Then you stТu too.Ф
They embraced again and left.
УWhat was that? Future talk?Ф Addyer asked. УShorthand?Ф
УShorthand?Ф Jelling exclaimed in a surprised tone. УDonТt you know rhetoric when you hear it? That was thirtieth-century rhetoric, man. We donТt talk anything else up there. Prosthesis, Diastole, Epergesis, Metabasis, Hendiadys
And weТre all born scanning.Ф
УYou donТt have to sound so stuck-up,Ф Addyer muttered enviously. УI could scan too if I tried.Ф
УYouТd find it damned inconvenient trying at your time of life.Ф
УWhat difference would that make?Ф