"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 05 - The Nautilus Sanction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

science of temporal conflict. Rapid improvement in international economic climate follows, with significant
growth in productivity and rapid decline in unemployment and inflation rate. There is a gradual escalation
of the Time Wars with the majority of the worldтАЩs armed services converting to temporal duty status.
Growth of the Temporal Preservation League as a peace movement with an intensive lobby effort
and mass demonstrations against the Time Wars. Mensinger cautions against an imbalance in temporal
continuity due to the increasing activity of the Time Wars.
September 2, 2514: Mensinger publishes his тАЬTheories of Temporal Relativity,тАЭ incorporating his
solution to the Grandfather Paradox and calling once again for a ceasefire in the Time Wars. The result is
an upheaval in the scientific community and a hastily reconvened Council of Nations to discuss his
findings, leading to the Temporal Strategic Arms Limitations Talks of 2515.
March 15, 2515тАУ June 1, 2515: T-SALT held in New York City. Mensinger appears before the
representatives at the sessions and petitions for an end to the Time Wars. A ceasefire resolution is
framed, but tabled due to lack of agreement among the members of the Council of Nations. Mensinger
leaves the T-SALT a broken man.
November 18, 2516: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger experiences total nervous collapse shortly after being
awarded the Benford Prize.
December 25, 2516: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger commits suicide. Violent demonstrations by members
of the Temporal Preservation League.
January 1, 2517: Militant members of the Temporal Preservation League band together to form the
Timekeepers, a terrorist offshoot of the League, dedicated to the complete destruction of the war
machine. They announce their presence to the world by assassinating three members of the Referee
Corps and bombing the Council of Nations meeting in Buenos Aires, killing several heads of state and
injuring many others.
September 17, 2613: Formation of the First Division of the U.S. Army Temporal Corps as a crack
commando unit following the successful completion of a тАЬtemporal adjustmentтАЭ involving the first serious
threat of a timestream split. The First Division, assigned exclusively to deal with threats to temporal
continuity, is designated as тАЬthe Time Commandos.тАЭ

PROLOGUE

The lookout in the crowтАЩs nest of the H.M.S. Avenger had been the first to spot him, clinging to a
floating piece of wreckage off the port bow. They sent a boat out and discovered he had lashed himself
to a large section of what had once been the mainmast of a ship. He was half dead from thirst and badly
burned, both by fire and by the sun. His lips were cracked and parched and his skin, where it had not
been blackened by flames, was red and blistered, oozing with infection. They feared they would lose him.
Admiral Lord Hood, anxious to learn the fate of whichever ship it was the poor devil had come from,
gave strict orders to the AvengerтАЩs surgeon to call him at once should the man regain the power of
speech. No such summons proved necessary. The entire shipтАЩs company heard it when, on the second
day following his rescue, the man began to scream.
They had managed to calm him down somewhat by the time Hood arrived in the sick bay. The man
was thrashing on the surgeonтАЩs table, and for all that he was little more than skin and bones, it took two
men to hold him down. He was struggling against them, his eyes rolling wildly, while Dr. Graves
attempted to administer some laudanum.
тАЬBelay that!тАЭ Hood said firmly, though without raising his voice. тАЬThe man is of no use to me
drugged.тАЭ
Something in HoodтАЩs voice penetrated through the shipwreck victimтАЩs terror and he ceased to
struggle against the two sailors. His eyes became fixed upon Hood, who met his gaze steadily and
nodded reassuringly.
тАЬYouтАЩre safe, man,тАЭ he told the shipwreck victim. тАЬYouтАЩre aboard the Avenger, bound for Bristol.тАЭ
тАЬThank God,тАЭ the man whispered, his voice now barely audible. тАЬThank the Almighty God!тАЭ