"Hogan, James P - The Genesis Machine p174-259" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

of the surrounding hills, the gun pits that covered the approach roads and the silent, probing radar fingers that searched the skies above.
The roles of Clifford and Aub somehow became interchanged. Aub, once the epitome of enthusiasm and energy, had grown reserved and apprehensive, fearful of this thing that had intruded upon and was now taking over their lives. Clifford became the tireless driving force, dominating the project and sparing nothing and nobody in his relentless determination to meet ever more demanding schedules. Everything he had ever been and everything he had once stood for seemed to have been sacrificed to the voracious and insatiable new god that was taking possession of his being.

Like an immense iceberg, the larger part of the Brunnermont complex lay submerged deep in the Precambrian heart of the Appalachian mountains with just its tip breaking the surface. From the air this tip had much of the appearance of a scenically sculptured ultramodern village, with knife-edge-styled houses, chalets, and communal buildings clustered but secluded amid a carefully balanced setting of trees, shrubs, pathways, and lawns, broken by the occasional ornamental pool or flower bed. All this was intended more to relieve the harshness of the reality that lay below ground for the colony of inhabitants and to make some concession to their need for psychological relaxation than to conceal the nature of the establishment. Even the most amateur photographic interpreters would soon have noticed the impenetrable perimeter defenses, the ramps down which the access roads descended to subterranean destinations protected by steel doors and the disproportionately high volume of aerial and road traffic that constantly ar
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rived and departedЧthough these things would reveal nothing of the installationТs true purpose.
One evening, some months after their arrival at Brunnermont, Aub and Sarah were strolling among the trees in a shady corner of the so-called village, enjoying the scents and the freshness carried down from the hills on the first cool breezes of autumn. Had it been another time, another place, it would have been a dreamland. As things were, their mood was heavy and strained.
УWhy did it all have to turn out this way, Aub?Ф Sarah asked, after several minutes of silence.
УMmm. What?Ф
УYou, me, Brad. . . us. This thing thatТs happened. I mean . . . I know whatТs happened . . . but I still donТt really understand why.Ф
УYeah . . . I know what you mean.Ф The ebullient Aub of earlier days was gone.
УI was thinking about it all earlier today,Ф she said, kicking a stone absently. УHow different it all used to be. Do you remember when you first came marching into our house, the one we had in New Mexico .
the day that Brad quit that job at ACRE? We never laugh now the way we used to laugh then. . . . You and Brad used to get drunk every night . . . we all went out together. Remember?Ф
УI remember.Ф
УWhat happened to those three people?Ф
Aub stared at the ground in front of his slowly pacing feet as he sought a reply that would neither hurt nor deceive.
УI guess. . . they had to grow up sometime.Ф
УBut itТs not a question of growing up, is it? We were always grown-up enough; that wasnТt so very long ago. ItТs more of a change. Brad has changed. He isnТt the Brad we used to know any more. And
his changing is making us change. I thought I knew him, Aub, but I donТt. I donТt know what made him change so suddenly.Ф
They stopped and stared out across the pool to which the path had led them. On the porch of a chalet on the opposite side somebody was bobbing gently back and forth in a rocking chair. The strains of pop music came floating across the water.
УHeТs doing the only thing he can to preserve the way of life he believes in, I suppose,Ф Aub said. УAt least, thatТs how he sees it.Ф
УBut itТs not what he believes in. HeТs never wanted any part of all this before. HeТd have died first. He always said that one human life was too much to pay for all the causes in the world put together. That was the Brad I knew. And now . . .У she cast an arm about her to take in their whole surroundings, Уthis. Everything you can see is part of one huge, horrible machine thatТs being built for the sole purpose of slaughtering people by the millions. And Brad has done it all.Ф She raised a hand to her lips and bit her knuckle.
УYeah, I know,Ф Aub said quietly. УCТmon, letТs move on. ItТs getting chilly.Ф
They walked on, taking a fork in the path that led toward the warm, homely glow among the shrubbery that marked the position of the bar and social club.
УWhat about you?Ф she asked. УYou donТt seem happy about the whole thing either, and yet you still play a big part in it. Why, Aub? Why do you choose to stay mixed up in it?Ф
УWhy donТt I just quit?Ф
УIf you like.Ф
He scratched his head for a moment and pulled a face.
УWell . . . I suppose I donТt really have much of a
choice any more. When I signed the papers t Jericho, they said it was for the duration. Eve. decided I didnТt want to work on the projec longer, I canТt see my being let out to walk the s not knowing what I know now. So . . .У he shri Уmight as well press on. At least IТm busy. Guc go nuts otherwise.Ф
They stopped again outside the clubhouse. I music from BrunnermontТs own Marine comb4 coming through the open window.
УIs that really the only reason?Ф she asked, reflected for a while.
УNot really,Ф he admitted. УThere is som else . . . kinda difficult to put into words, you ItТs just that I still feel the old Brad down there 1 neath somewhere. I just canТt see him letting J be used for real. Somehow there has to be a bil behind all his bravado . . . something heТs figur that he hasnТt told even me about. All the time feeding him the dope on what was happeni Berkeley, he never once let me get implicated and we didnТt really know each other then. F came across right from the start as the kinda gr can trustЧknow what I mean? I felt I could tru then, and I was right. It may sound crazy, but feel I can now.Ф
УIf you knew how much I needed to hear y that.Ф A shadow of her old smile brightened he a fraction. УCome onЧletТs go inside. IТll allow:
buy me a drink and, if youТre very good, to ha honor of a dance.Ф
Chapter 21

One year and one month had gone by since Jericho was conceived. Deep in its rocky womb the fetus was now fully formed, its nuclear heart beating strongly. A miniature flying armada from Washington converged on Brunnermont, bringing the fathers to witness the birth.
In fact, a number of test firings of the J-bomb had already been successfully made; this was to be the first to be at all public.
As a prelude, Morelli conducted the deputation of Pentagon officials and Army, Navy, and Air Force senior officers on a guided tour of the restricted, lowermost levels of the complex. He showed them the duplicated system of fusion reactors and generating equipment, capable of sustaining all the machines in Brunnermont independently of outside sources of power for years, although under normal circumstances demands could be met from the national distribution grid. He explained that the amount of matter that was actually fed via the beam into the annihilation chamber of the J-reactor was really quite small; it was the technique employed for modulating, controlling, and focusing the delivery of the return energy through hispaceЧin order to achieve adequate accuracy of aiming the weaponЧthat required such enormous amounts of power.