"Thomas A. Easton - Alien Resonance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Easton Thomas A)

that Franklin could not see how thoroughly he had lost all hope of Ellen.



The campus pub had been created when the state university had deemphasized
agriculture in favor of more technological research. Most of the large cowbarn
had been converted into classrooms and offices, but one end had been left almost
alone. The stanchions that had once immobilized cows for milking now formed the
walls of booths.
It was not the faint effluvium of cow manure, drawn from the woodwork on any
damp day, that shattered Alec's anticipatory mood almost as soon as he entered.
Di was there, holding a stall for him, but with her was Franklin, too full of
something to let them have a word. Alec wondered if somehow their new
involvement with each other did not show.
Franklin almost bounced in his seat as he opened one hand to reveal the pinkish
worrystone he had been stroking. "Hey!" he cried. "I got one!
"Right in my front yard! The egg had busted, but the shards were there, and
this. Under a bush, first thing this morning. I was heading out for my run, you
know..." And he was off. Alec tuned him out, focussing instead on Di, glorying
when she seemed to aim her eyes and thoughts his way in return. Had last night
been a one-time thing? Or would they be a pair from now on, for at least a
while?
With a start, he played back the last few words that had washed over him.
"Psychic activity?" he asked.
"Yeah. The eggs are unbreakable, according to the news. At least until they
decide to break. I've been wondering how that could be, and I think there must


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be some kind of psychic force that stabilizes the intact egg shell..."
Alec interrupted the flow with a snort. Di stiffened her face to keep from
smiling. "I'm sure there's a more reasonable explanation, and Ybarra and Ellen
will find it."
"Ellen?"
"They're working together." He suppressed a malicious urge to say it was more
than that. Franklin's face had fallen low enough as it was.
Di kept the subject on a safer track. "It could be electrical, or magnetic. But
whatever the explanation, the first thing we have to do is figure out how to
cope with the stones. They are going to be very disruptive."
Alec wondered what she meant, and he said so.
"Fred Altman made the mistake of starting his botany class this morning by
knocking with his students. Only six in the class had stones, but he got a
Rringg!!, and he never did get around to lecturing. One of my advisees--Oh! She
was ripped!--told me about it."
"I'll bet she doesn't have a stone," said Franklin.
"That isn't what matters!" Di frowned at her fellow biologist. "We don't need
these things interfering with our jobs."
Alec sighed. "There's a Senate meeting next week. We could mention the problem