"Clarke, Arthur C - Odissey Two" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clarke Arthur C)

Floyd took his wife's hand; she did not respond, but neither did she resist.

'Well, I don't feel at all like a Viking. I'm not after loot, and adventure is the very last thing I want.'

'Then why - no, I don't intend to start another fight. But it would help us both, if you know exactly what your motives are.'

'I wish I could give you one single good reason. Instead, I've a whole host of little ones. But they add up to a final answer I can't argue with - believe me.'

'I believe you. But are you sure you're not fooling yourself?'

'If I am, then so are a lot of other people. Including, may I remind you, the President of the United States.'

'I'm not likely to forget. But suppose - just suppose - that he hadn't asked you. Would you have volunteered?'

'I can answer that truthfully: No. It would never have occurred to me. President Mordecai's call was the biggest shock of my life. But when I thought it over, I realized he was perfectly right. You know I don't go in for false modesty. I am the best-qualified man for the job - when the space docs give their final okay. And you should know that I'm still in pretty good shape.'

That brought the smile he had intended.

'Sometimes I wonder if you'd suggested it yourself.'

The thought had indeed occurred to him; but he could answer honestly.

'I would never have done so without consulting you.'

'I'm glad you didn't. I don't know what I'd have said.'

'I could still turn it down.'

'Now you're talking nonsense, and you know it. Even if you did, you'd hate me for the rest of your life - and you'd never forgive yourself. You have too strong a sense of duty. Maybe that's one of the reasons I married you.'

Duty! Yes, that was the key word, and what multitudes it contained. He had a duty to himself, to his family, to the University, to his past job (even though he had left it under a cloud), to his country - and to the human race. It was not easy to establish the priorities; and sometimes they conflicted with one another.

There were perfectly logical reasons why he should go on the mission - and equally logical reasons, as many of his colleagues had already pointed out, why he should not. But perhaps in the final analysis, the choice had been made by his heart, not his brain. And even here, emotion urged him in two opposite directions.

Curiosity, guilt, the determination to finish a job that had been badly botched - they all combined to drive him toward Jupiter and whatever might be waiting there. On the other hand, fear - he was honest enough to admit that - united with love of his family to keep him on Earth. Yet he had never had any real doubts; he had made his decision almost instantly, and had deflected all of Caroline's arguments as gently as he could.

And there was one other consoling thought that he had not yet risked sharing with his wife. Though he would be gone two and a half years, all but the fifty days at Jupiter would be spent in timeless hibernation. When he returned, the gap between their ages would have narrowed by more than two years.

He would have sacrificed the present so that they could share a longer future together.



5

Leonov



The months contracted to weeks, the weeks dwindled to days, the days shrivelled to hours; and suddenly Heywood Floyd was once more at the Cape - spaceward-bound for the first time since that trip to Clavius Base and the Tycho monolith, so many years ago.