"Frankowski, Leo - Stargard 1 - The Cross Time Engineer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frankowski Leo)

The Crosstime Engineer
Book 1 of the Adventures of Conrad Starguard
By Leo Frankowski

ISBN: 0-345-32762-4






Prologue


УDAMN IT! I have five doctorates!Ф she shouted.

He looked up from the pile of Polish government forms on his desk and surveyed the dumpy, middle-aged waitress in front of him. Why me, Lord?

УSo?Ф he said dryly. УIt happens that, academically, you are below average at this installation. I have nine. I am also your boss, and you are screaming at me.Ф

УBut it isnТt fair!Ф

УRight. But then nobody ever claimed that the Service was fair-or that the universe was either, for that matter. This is your first day here. If you have a problem, you may tell me about it. But if you raise your voice one more time, I will bounce you off three of these walls before you hit the floor. One of my doctorates is in martial arts. Clear?Ф

УYes, sir.Ф

УNow, what precisely is your problem?Ф He leaned back, his fingertips touching to form an arch.

УEverything!Ф she shouted, and then remembered her situation and started again quietly. УThis is all a mistake. I shouldnТt be in twentieth-century Poland. My field is ancient Greece. And this fat forty-year-old body! Doctrine is that one should start out a tour of duty as a teenager! And having to tend tables at a bar! And-Ф

УHold it and keep your voice down! Now, you say thereТs been a mistake. Let's check the record.Ф He touched four nondescript spots on his battered wooden desk, and a display appeared in front of him, individual letters glowing white in the air.

УHmmmЕ born in North America, 62,218 B.CЕ approved for child rearing; eleven childrenЕ retired at forty-five, attended Museum University 62,219 B.C. to 62,192 B.CЕ doctorates in medicine, Slavic languages, psychology, and Greek literatureЕ accepted into the Historical CorpsЕФ

УFirst assignment, Periclean Athens! God, what luck! Do you realize that I have twice petitioned to vacation in Periclean Athens and have been turned down both times? More people want to visit than there are natives in the city. And you get it as a first assignment!Ф

УWell, sir, my usual body isnТt this flabby mess. And if you know the right people-Ф

УHumph. Then I recommend a program of diet and exercise. In any event, your record there was less than outstandingЕ meddling in local politics, interfering with an assassination.Ф

УBut a hetaera was supposed to be interested in politics. Ф

УYour examiners felt otherwise. Well, letТs seeЕ After fortyone years in Athens, you returned to the university and obtained a doctorate in ancient Egyptian languages, were turned down four times on assignments in the ninth through thirteenth dynasties, respectivelyЕ eleven other requests deniedЕ eventually you volunteered for an open assignment and got twentieth-century Poland.Ф

УFaced with this assignment, you requested the shortest possible tour of duty. It happens that your predecessor served twenty-seven years of a fifty-one-year tour, then quit.Ф

УShe quit? But that meansЧФ

УRight. She was dismissed from the corps. What she does with the rest of her life is up to her. Most quitters end up drinking themselves to death out of boredom, although I hear the anthropology people are always looking for folks to track the migration patterns of Homo erectus.Ф