"Charles L. Harness-George Washington Slept Here" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

effect of pressure on minerals."
"Yes, sir."
"You did the experiments yourself?"
"Experiments? I don't understand."
"Well, for example, did you go into a laboratory, take a piece of coal, and apply pressure to it, say in a
diamond anvil, whereby you noted that at a certain pressure the coal changed to graphite? Is that the kind
of thing you did?"
"Oh, no. I just copied some data out of an engineering handbook."
Potts addressed the judge. "All of Dr. Davis's testimony is obviously hearsay, Your Honor. I move it
be stricken."
Roule pointed to the computer screen on the comer of his bench. "You see the green light, Mr. Potts.
Motion denied."
Potts showed amazement. "But, Your Honor, there's a long line of cases-- "
"The computer has spoken, Mr. Potts. In this court admissibility is determined by computer. Our
computer accesses all relevant cases, and it is infallible. Error is inconceivable; hence no appeal lies to
the state supreme court. And certainly in this case it is in the public interest that our decision be final as
well as prompt. Do you understand, Mr. Potts?"
"Yes, Your Honor."
"Any further cross?"
"I'd like to pose a hypothetical to Dr. Davis."
"Involving what?"
"Plate tectonics."
Badging cried out, "Objection! Irrelevant."
Roule hesitated. He said, "Let's hear it, then I'll decide."
"Doctor," said Potts, "isn't it true that the Atlantic plate is subject to internal strains?"
"That's the current theory," admitted Dr. Davis.
"Such intra-plate strains, in fact, caused the great Charleston earthquake of 1886?"
"Yes, we think so."
"Now, if 'George' falls, mightn't the collapse trigger plate vibrations that will bring 'Martha' down, too?"
"I repeat my objection!" Badging was on his feet and waving his arms. "This hypothetical is highly
improper. Your Honor, there has been no credible testimony that the George tower is any danger
whatsoever."
"Ms. Sena has so testified!" insisted Potts.
"No credible, I said," reiterated Badging.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen, calm yourselves," rumbled Roule. "I agree with you, Mr. Badging. We'll strike
the hypothetical question and answer." The dark eyes gleamed down at the visiting lawyer. "Mr. Potts,
the court will take judicial notice that strong ties of love and affection existed between George and
Martha Washington, and indeed that, when he died, she soon followed. However, these bonds and
identities to not carry over into modern cantilever design, however named."
Potts sighed. "Nothing further, Your Honor."
As he sat down, the woman passed him a scribbled note: "The computer panel is rigged. The judge
controls it by buttons under the bench."
Probably true, thought Potts, but how did she know? Did she have strange electronic sensors in her
brain and/or body? He nodded to her, then wadded up the note. And there was another puzzle. Since
they were going to lose on the merits, why did the judge have to resort to dirty tricks?
After a lunch break Badging put on several more witnesses: a real estate appraiser who testified to the
value of the condemned parcel; a bridge engineer who swore the structure design met all codes and was
absolutely safe; a gentleman from the U.S. State Department who explained the protocol for selection of
sites for embassies and consulates and who denied that the Department had any record of a foreign
embassy on Sena Rock; a psychiatrist who refused to look at Sena while he testified that she was ruled