"George Alec Effinger - Posterity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Effinger George Alec)

"Forget drugs. I have futuristic techniques that from your point of view are
indistinguishable from magic. I can help you."
 Courane nodded. "But you want me to do something first," he said.

"Naturally. But you'll be glad to do what I ask. It's just what you'd be doing if you were
healed and at home. I want you to write a book."

"Here?" asked Courane. "In the hospital? Hooked up to machines? I need peace and
quiet even at home; I can't have any distractions. I can barely read here, let alone do any
writing."
"You'll do just fine, once you get used to the routine," said Eldr├зs. "You've got your
notebook and a pencil on your bedstand. What else do you need?"

Courane looked at her glumly. "I need an idea," he said.

Eldr├зs waved a hand, dismissing his objection. "You have plenty of unwritten ideas in
your notebook, you know. I want you to complete the manuscript of the sequel to Space Spy
."

"Time Spy ?" Courane looked startled. "How do you even know about it?"

"In my time, I'm sort of a literary historian. I'm doing my thesis on you and your books. I've
read everything you ever wrote, including your unpublished work, your notebooks, and your
letters. I know more about you than does anyone else in my era. It's very exciting for me to
meet you in person. I feel as if I've known you for years."

"I'm flattered, but I don't think I can help you. I have worked out a vague plot outline for
Time Spy , but it's nowhere near ready to work on. That's why I haven't written it already. I
need to do a lot more thinking. I don't know who the characters are, or where it takes place. I
don't even have subplots, just the main idea."
"I told you not to worry," said the woman from the future. "I've seen a finished manuscript
of Time Spy. I can give you a detailed synopsis."

Courane just stared for a moment. "You've seen the finished book? How?"

Eldr├зs sighed. "It would take too long to explain. It involves what seems to be a temporal
paradox. Let's just say that I will, in fact, persuade you to write the book, and so I will have
access to it in the

future."
"Then why do you have to put me through all this now, when I'm feeling so terrible?"

"Because unless you actually do write it here and now, the manuscript in the future will
cease to exist."

Courane felt he was missing something. "Then why not bring me the manuscript, and
save me all the mental anguish of trying to create it the hard way."

"I would if I could," she said. "But it can't be done. The continuum won't permit it."