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

'I thought that everything was right on schedule.'

'It is - unfortunately. There's nothing we can do to advance it; even the highest priority would make only a few weeks' difference. And that means we'll be too late.'

'I don't understand,' said Floyd innocently. 'Though we don't want to waste time, of course, there's no real deadline.'

'Now there is - and two of them.'

'You amaze me.'

If Victor noticed any irony, he ignored it. 'Yes, there are two deadlines - one man-made, one not. It now turns out that we won't be the first to get back to the - er, scene of the action. Our old rivals will beat us by at least a year.'

'Too bad.'

'That's not the worst. Even if there were no competition, we'd be too late. There wouldn't be anything there when we arrive.'

'That's ridiculous. I'm sure I'd have heard if Congress had repealed the law of gravitation.'

'I'm serious. The situation isn't stable - I can't give details now. Will you be in for the rest of the evening?'

'Yes,' Floyd answered, realizing with some pleasure that it must now be well after midnight in Washington.

'Good. You'll have a package delivered within the hour. Call me back as soon as you've had the time to study it.'

'Won't it be rather late by then?'

'Yes, it will be. But we've wasted too much time already. I don't want to lose any more.'

Millson was true to his word. Exactly an hour later a large sealed envelope was delivered by an Air Force colonel, no less, who sat patiently chatting with Caroline while Floyd read its contents. 'I'm afraid I'll have to take it away when you've finished,' the high-ranking messenger boy said apologetically.

'I'm glad to hear it,' Floyd answered, as he settled down in his favourite reading hammock.

There were two documents, the first very short. It was stamped TOP SECRET, though the TOP had been crossed out and the modification endorsed by three signatures, all completely illegible. Obviously an extract from some much longer report, it had been heavily censored and was full of blanks, which made it most annoying to read. Fortunately, its conclusions could be summed up in one sentence: The Russians would reach Discovery long before its rightful owners could do so. As Floyd already knew this, he turned quickly to the second document - though not before noticing with satisfaction that this time they'd managed to get the name right. As usual, Dimitri had been perfectly accurate. The next manned expedition to Jupiter would travel aboard spacecraft Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

The second document was much longer and was merely confidential; indeed, it was in the form of a draft letter to Science, awaiting final approval before publication. Its snappy title was 'Space Vehicle Discovery: Anomalous Orbital Behavior'.

Then followed a dozen pages of mathematics and astronomical tables. Floyd skimmed through these, picking out the words from the music, and trying to detect any note of apology or even embarrassment. When he had finished, he was compelled to give a smile of wry admiration. No one could possibly guess that the tracking stations and ephemeris calculators had been caught by surprise, and that a frantic cover-up was in progress. Heads would doubtless roll, and he knew that Victor Millson would enjoy rolling them - if his was not one of the first to go. Though to do him justice, Victor had complained when Congress had cut funds for the tracking network. Maybe that would get him off the hook.

'Thank you, Colonel,' said Floyd when he had finished skimming the papers. 'Quite like old times, having classified documents. That's one thing I don't miss.'

The colonel placed the envelope carefully back in his briefcase, and activated the locks.

'Dr Millson would like you to return his call as soon as possible.'

'I know. But I don't have a secure circuit, I've some important visitors coming shortly, and I'm damned if I'm driving down to your office in Hilo just to say I've read two documents. Tell him that I've studied them carefully and await any further communication with interest.'

For a moment it looked as if the colonel was going to argue. Then he thought better of it, made a stiff farewell, and departed morosely into the night.

'Now, what was all that about?' asked Caroline. 'We're not expecting any visitors tonight, important or otherwise.'