"Frank Herbert - The Santaroga Barrier" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

the Co-op.

He swallowed, thinking that the yellow windows suddenly were like baleful eyes
peering into the valley's darker depths.

Dasein shook his head, smiled. That was no way to think. Unprofessional.
All the ominous nonsense muttered about Santaroga had to be put aside. A
scientific investigation could not operate in that atmosphere. He turned on
the cab's dome light, took his briefcase from the seat beside him. Gold
lettering on the brown leather identified it: "Gilbert Dasein -- Department
of Psychology -- University of California -- Berkeley."

In a battered folder from the case he began writing: "Arrived Santaroga
Valley approximately 6:45 p.m. Setting is that of a prosperous farm community
. . ." Presently, he put case and folder aside. Prosperous farm community,
he thought. How could he know it was prosperous? No-prosperity wasn't what
he saw. That was something he knew from the reports.

The real valley in front of him now conveyed a sense of waiting, of quietness
punctuated by occasional tinklings of cowbells. He imagined husbands and
wives down there after a day of work. What did they discuss now in their
waiting darkness?

What did Jenny Sorge discuss with her husband -- provided she had a husband?
It seemed impossible she'd still be single -- lovely, nubile Jenny. It was
more than a year since they'd last seen each other at the University.

Dasein sighed. No escaping thoughts of Jenny -- not here in Santaroga. Jenny
contained part of Santaroga's mystery. She was an element of the Santaroga
Barrier and a prime subject for his present investigation.

Again, Dasein sighed. He wasn't fooling himself. He knew why he'd accepted
this project. It wasn't the munificent sum those chain stores were paying the
university for this study, nor the generous salary provided for himself.

He had come because this was where Jenny lived.

Dasein told himself he'd smile and act normal, perfectly normal, when he met
her. He was here on business, a psychologist detached from his usual teaching
duties to make a market study in Santaroga Valley.

What was a perfectly normal way to act with Jenny, though? How did one
achieve normalcy when encountering the paranormal?

Jenny was a Santarogan -- and the normalcy of this valley defied normal
explanations.

His mind went to the reports, "the known facts." All the folders of data, the
collections of official pryings, the second-hand secrets which were the stock
in a trade of the bureaucracy -- all this really added up to a single "known