"Robert Grossbach - Of Scorned Women and Causal Loops" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grossbach Robert)

except for a giant overhead crane suspended from a heavy steel girder.
But as they approached the far end, Lagrange suddenly saw that a huge
section of floor simply vanished into a cavernous rectangular pit. He fought
off vertigo as they stared over the edge.

тАЬSix stories deep,тАЭ said Elizabeth.

At the bottom, amidst scattered pieces of equipment, tools, and
ladders, was a structure that looked like two piggy-backed railroad cars.
Thirty-centimeter-diameter ropes of cable, numbering in the hundreds, ran
from the cars up the sides of the pit and disappeared into boxes of
electronics that lined the walls.

Lagrange pointed to a circle on the roof of the top car. тАЬThatтАЩs where
Monsieur Parino entered?тАЭ

Elizabeth nodded. тАЬA hatch. Hard to tell from up here.тАЭ

тАЬAnd youтАЩre absolutely certain thereтАЩs no other way into or out of the
experi-ment?тАЭ

She shrugged. тАЬYou should know, Inspector. Your people have been
over that structure about a thousand times.тАЭ

тАЬNot my people.тАЭ
 тАЬYouтАЩre Swiss? IтАЩm sorry, I just assumed you were French. I know
there was some sort of a jurisdictional dispute because the tunnel straddles
the border and тАФтАЭ

тАЬIтАЩm with Europol.тАЭ

Her eyes rose in feigned admiration. тАЬAh, Europol. Yes, someone
said they were sending an expert.тАЭ

тАЬHardly an expert,тАЭ said Lagrange. тАЬFar far from it. But I suppose,
relative to my local colleagues, I am perhaps ever so slightly more
educated in the area.тАЭ

тАЬWould you like to go down to make an examination?тАЭ she asked. тАЬIтАЩm
sorry, but there are no elevators, weтАЩll have to use the ladders.тАЭ

Immediately, Lagrange felt his buttock spasm in anticipation. тАЬThat
wonтАЩt be necessary, IтАЩve studied the reports.тАЭ He indicated an aperture in
the side of the pit, five stories below. тАЬThatтАЩs where the beams emerge?тАЭ

тАЬThatтАЩs the opening into the collider tunnel, yes, but тАШemergeтАЩ is
perhaps not the right word. In operation, of course, the tunnel is continuous
through the experiment. An extremely high vacuum must be maintained.тАЭ
Somehow, she seemed to sense his discomfort. тАЬWould you be more at
ease in another area?тАЭ