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

a new picture of cosmology in which phases of quasar formation and expansion alternated with phases of galaxy manufacture . . . for ever. Thus the notion of a continuous УWave ModelФ of the universe was born, superseding, if it could be proved, both the Steady State and the Big Bang models. It required neither the singularity in the laws of physics that characterized Big Bang and about which a number of leading physicists still felt a trifle uneasy, nor for the universe to appear the same at all times, as was required by Steady State but which observation had shown to be manifestly untrue.
All in all, there was a lot of exciting work already lined up waiting for Mark II.
But as Mark II neared completion and the first tests of its subsystems commenced, world events cast a deepening shadow over the project. Anti-West policies intensified in South America, threatening closure of the Panama Canal, and the Urals border war escalated to include the use of massed tanks and ground-attack aircraft as regular features. The long-drawn-out civil war in Burma finally died out as the revolutionary factions effected a shaky compromise and took over the country, while the exhausted remnants of the rightwing government forces retreated to seek sanction in neighboring India. Soon India itself became the object of renewed border pressures from both east and west as Chinese and Afrabs resurrected long-standing grievances. Hong Kong, having been reduced to a state of economic impotence and famine by a systematic stranglehold of sanctions and blockade, was taken over uncontested. Within three days, China announced its claim for Taiwan.

УYeah, I know itТs a pain, Brad, but thatТs the way it is,Ф Morelli said across his desk. УItТll only take, say,
a day at most. Get a couple of the team to give you a hand with it.Ф
УBut . . .У Clifford waved the wad of forms that Morelli had given him in front of him. УWhat is all this crap? I havenТt got a spare day. . . .У He glanced down at the schedule sheet attached to the front. УInventory of Capital Equipment Advanced. . . Projected Purchase Breakdown . . . A ccu~nulated Maintenance Debits . . .У Clifford looked up imploringly. УWeТve never had anything like this before. WhatТs going on all of a sudden?Ф
Morelli sighed and scratched the side of his nose.
УI suppose Washington is trying to bring it to our attention that theyТve poured a lot of hardware into this place and itТs costing them a lot of bucks,Ф he said. УI think maybe itТs a little reminder that they havenТt seen much in the way of results yet . . . you know how they workЧsubtly.Ф
УThis wonТt help get results,Ф Clifford fumed. УItТll just soak up time.Ф He halted for a second, then continued. УWho says weТre not getting results, anyway? WeТve solved the secondary-radiation problem . .
untangled the cosmic background problem . . . postulated new k-conservation principles. ThatТs what I call results.Ф
УI know,Ф Morelli agreed, holding up a hand. УBut itТs not what they call results. УRemember, we sold them on supercommunications and superradar and all kinds of other superstuff? ThatТs what theyТre waiting to see.Ф
УAw, but hell . . .У
УI know what youТre gonna say, Brad, but donТt say it.Ф Morelli placed his hands down in a gesture of finality. УTheyТre paying for the tunes, and I guess we have to play. Fill it in as they ask and keep it
i ne ~..~eiiesis iviautiiiie

short, okay? Like I said, get some people to help you and I bet you can clear it up in half a day.Ф
УBureaucrats!Ф Clifford snorted to himself as he closed the door behind him and began walking down the corridor. Washington, it appeared, was not wildly excited about quasar distributions or Wave Models of the universe.

УNext Thursday, IТm afraid,Ф Peter Hughes said to Morelli as they were walking across the grounds of the Institute away from the GRASER building. УThey really didnТt leave me any choice.Ф
УThursday?Ф Morelli looked dubious. УBrad will be pretty mad about that. He was planning to devote the whole of Thursday to checking out the BIAC interface to Mark II.Ф
УHeТll have to postpone that, then,Ф Hughes said. УSorry, Al, but our friends in Washington were adamant.Ф
УBut hell . . .У Morelli protested. УWhy a progress review meeting . . . and all day at that? The team is perfectly capable of reviewing its own progress, and they can do it in half an hour. Brad and Aub spent four hours last week preparing that progress report for Washington. WasnТt it good enough for them or something?Ф
Hughes threw his arms wide open in front of him as he walked and sighed heavily. УI donТt know, Al. They said it wasnТt detailed enough. They say they need to send some of their people here to go right through the whole project . . . from top to bottom. As I saidЧI didnТt have much choice about it.Ф
Morelli shook his head apprehensively.
УBradТll be pretty mad,Ф he repeated.

УAubТs not bothered about it,Ф Clifford told Sarah later
I I I~ С.A~I I~OIO IVIQI.,I III I~


on that night. УHeТs only interested in getting his Mark II up and running and keeping the funds flowing in to do it. He said we shouldnТt waste time on any of that nonsense but should just keep feeding back whatever fictionТs needed to shut them up.Ф
УThatТs not your way though, is it,Ф Sarah said, stating the fact rather than asking the question. He shook his head slowly, looking deeply worried for the first time in months.
УNo, itТs not,Ф he said. УI donТt like deception. But thereТs something more than that. ItТs ACRE closing in all over again. . . I can feel it.Ф
Chapter lB

УNo, IТm serious, Aub. One of the doct~ the hospital was telling me yesterdayЧfirst aid. ualty evacuation, and precautions against falbou radiation hazards. TheyТre working out the deta the courses now. Within three months theyТll be pulsory in every school in the state and in every pany that employs more than twenty people ii place. You wait and see.Ф Sarah spoke as she set places on the dining-room table. Aub, perched pi ously on a stool at the breakfast counter and si from a can of Coke, watched her from the id
УBack to the Boy Scouts, eh,Ф he said. УR weТll get badges to put on our shirts too?Ф
УI donТt think itТs funny. It proves things m~ getting bad. I heard on the news this afternoo! somebody exploded a tactical nuke in an arms ft somewhere just outside Calcutta. Nearly two tho dead. What kind of people do things like that?Ф
УYeah, I heard about it. Head cases. Seems the in-thing.Ф
Sarah placed the napkins and glanced at the УSix twenty-five. IТd have thought Brad would be by now. What was it you said he was doing?Ф
УHe got tied up with Al and a coupla guys Washington who are trying to hustle things. I ma to duck out of it.Ф
Уflh dear That nrnhahlv me.an~ heТfl he in
mood again.Ф She stepped back to survey hei handiwork, then walked round into the kitchen to inspect the bubbling pan of beef stroganoff. УHe seems to get awfully moody these days, Aub. Are things really getting so bad?Ф
Aub pivoted round on the stool to face her, his mouth jerking momentarily downward at the corners beneath his beard.
УYeah, he gets pretty upset about it, I guess. HeТs into some theoretical thing with ZimТs eggheads that he wants to spend all of his time on, especially now weТve got the Mark II machine running. Trouble is, the brass is getting impatient for its ironmongery. They figure that since they paid the check for most of it, they oughta be getting a bigger slice of the action.Ф
УAnd that doesnТt bother you?Ф
УMe?Ф Aub shrugged. УI guess I can just ride along with it. If I have to come up with a few ideas here and there to keep things smooth, thatТs okay. IТll get in enough of my own thing too. BradТs problem is heТs too much of a purist. He has to have it all his own way or nothing. YТsee, heТs got these principles he feels strongly about . . . whether science dictates politics or the other way round. If it looks like things are going in what he figures is the wrong way, he wonТt have any part of it.Ф Aub shrugged again and sighed. УHe oughta remember the ice ball.Ф
УYou donТt think heТll get restless again, do you?Ф Sarah asked apprehensively.