"Charles L. Harness-The Tetrahedron" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

"I think we can nail it down, one way or the other," declared Elizabeth.
 Wright swiveled his chair to face her. "How?"
"Go back. Ask him."
"Him?" said Pellar blankly. "Who?"
"Leonardo," explained Wright dryly. "Take his deposition."
Pellar was now totally bewildered. "I thought he was dead!"
"She means," Wright explained patiently, "use the TM. Go back to Leonardo's time. Find him. Take
his deposition. Ask him to explain his sketch. Is that it, Ms. Gerard?"
"Yes, sir."
"Fascinating," mused Wright. "It might give us the exact art we need to dissolve the interference. When
did Leonardo make this sketch, Ms. Gerard? Any way to tell?"
"The date can be fixed only roughly. It was almost certainly after he finished The Last Supper, in
Milan, in 1498, but probably before he started the Mona Lisa in Florence, which we think was 1503."
"So, where would we find Leonardo in 1503?"
"From March to June, 1503, he was in Florence. He had a studio in the house of an affluent friend."
Wright regarded her with interest. "What would the locals think about the machine? And its crew, for
that matter. Could you get in and out again safely?"
"There's some risk, but it could be minimized. Our Italian associates could provide a list of alberghi--
inns-- complete with piazzas, that have been in existence in Florence since 1500. We would come in on
the piazza, just before dawn. It would be dark for a few more minutes. We dismantle the TM, pack it
away, and present ourselves, properly dressed, to the innkeeper."
"So we check in," demanded Pellar. "Then what?"
"We locate Leonardo, find a local lawyer to swear him in, and proceed with the deposition."
Wright studied the ceiling. "It just might work." His eyes dropped back to her. "Ms. Gerard, just how
did you become interested in medieval manuscripts?"
"Well, sir, to sort of sum it up and cut some corners, at American U. Two of my Professors were
international authorities in the Renaissance and its incunabula. It seemed the natural thing to do."
Wright nodded. "Yes. Undoubtedly a wise decision. Still, quite a coincidence that it should offer such
possibilities in a patent interference." He leaned forward, and now his tone and manner were all business.
"I'd like you to prepare a memorandum stating the essentials we'll need to consider for this deposition. I'll
go over it with Mr. Pellar and Colonel Inman, our contact at Defense. Further, would you please prepare
the necessary deposition notices."
"Yes, sir." As she closed the door behind her, she heard:
"Mr. Pellar, if you could stay a moment..." The syllables were harsh, clipped.
As she walked away she visualized the probable tableau now going on behind her. Wright wouldn't
even raise his voice, but Pellar would perspire and wonder if he could still make partner. Finally, Wright
would suggest to Pellar that he prepare a suitable memo to Colonel Inman of the DOD, explaining why
he, Pellar, had wasted three million dollars before getting around to the Leonardo proposal. It made
absolutely no difference that Pellar was essentially blameless; it was simply the way things worked.
Anyhow, she was too exhilarated by her new assignment to feel very sorry for Pellar. All that effort in
the Renaissance was finally paying off. She knew medieval Florence backwards and forwards. She knew
how to dress, what to wear. She could walk across the Piazza del Signoria in 1500 and be taken for an
average housewife on her way to the panetteria. And the way things were going, it seemed quite likely
that something like that was going to happen.
She floated all the way back to her minuscule office. "Office" by courtesy, that is. It lay between the
copier room and the men's washroom, but it had been remodeled for her, because there was nowhere
else to put her. The male associates had to walk behind her desk to get to the washroom door.
There were two pictures on her desk. One was a good miniature of the Mona Lisa, the other a photo
of the house where she had been born and raised, back in Naples, Texas. She required the first because
in her estimation of the lady Lisa was the most beautiful woman in history. She kept the second as a