"James P Hogan - Leapfrog UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)
Halloran frowned. УWhat, exactly, are you saying?Ф
УWell, you tell me. What was the biggest case of where your government went muscling in and took over directing the space program?Ф
УDo you mean Kennedy and Apollo?Ф
Vusilov nodded emphatically and brought his palm down on the arm of his chair. УDa! Apollo! YouТve got it!Ф
Halloran was taken aback. УBut . . . that was a success. It was magnificent.Ф
УYes, it was a success. And I give you, it was magnificent. It did what Kennedy said. But what was that? You stuck a flag in the Moon
Чfine, very good. And you concentrated your whole industry for years on producing the Saturn V behemoth engine, which ever since has no other use than to be a lawn ornament at the Johnson Space Center. An expensive gnome for the garden, yes?Ф
УHey, there was more than that.Ф
УOh, really?Ф Vusilov looked interested. УWhat? You tell me.Ф
УWTell . . .У
УYes?Ф
УThere was the spinoff . . . all kind of technologies. Big scientific discoveries, surely . .
УBut what about the other things that didnТt happen because of it?Ф Vusilov persisted.
УWhat do you mean?Ф
УThink of all the other things that would have come true if Apollo had never happened. In the late fifties, the U.S. Air Force wanted to go for a spaceplaneЧa two-man vehicle that would have pushed the explored frontier to the fringes of space, the natural step from the rocket aircraft you had been flying. We were terrified of it. It would have led to a whole line of evolution that would have seen commercially viable hypersonic vehicles by the end of the sixtiesЧNew York to Tokyo in two or three hours, say, with the same payload and turnaround time of an old 747. That would have led to a low-cost, reusable surface-to-low-orbit shuttle in the seventies, permanently manned orbiting platforms in the eighties, with all the potential that would attract private capital, which gives us a natural jump-off point for the Moon, say, maybe in the mid-nineties, yesЧall lightning-years ahead of anything we could have done.Ф
Halloran raised a hand and nodded glumly. УOkay, okay.Ф It was all true. What else could he say?
Vusilov nodded. УYes, Apollo was magnificent. But the truth was, nobody really needed it then, militarily, commercially, or scientifically. It was all twenty or thirty years too soon. It got you your flag and your lawn pixie. But beyond that, it put government geniuses in charge of your whole space program. And what did that get you? Dead-end after Apollo. Then Skylab fell down. By the eighties youТd sunk everything in the original shuttle, which already had old-age.
When that blew up there was nothing, because it was the only one you had. The program was so bankrupt that youТd been reduced to playing a public-relations shell game by switching the same set of flyable insides around between different skins. That was why it took ten thousand technicians three months to prepare for a launch, and why you had to shut the line down for two years to build another. And by then, everything was over. The design was already obsolete, anyway.Ф
Halloran nodded wearily. Now that it was all spelled out, there was nothing really to argue about. He raised his glass to drink, and as he did so, he saw that VusilovТs eyes were watching him and twinkling mischievously. УWhatТs so funny?Ф he asked.
The Russian replied softly, in a curious voice, УWell, surely you donТt imagine that all of that just . . . happened, do you?Ф
HalloranТs brow knotted. УYouТre not saying it was you who brought it about?Ф Vusilov was nodding happily, thumping his hand on the arm of his chair again with the effort of containing himself. УBut how? I mean, how could you possibly have manipulated U.S. government policy on such a scale? I donТt believe it.Ф
Vusilov brushed a tear from his eye with a knuckle. УIt was like this. You see, we had been operating with centralized government control of everything under Stalin for decades, and we knew that it didnТt work. It was hopeless. Everything they touched, they screwed up. By the time we got rid of him after the war, we knew we had to change the system. But America was racing so far in front that we would never catch up. What could we do? Our only hope was to try somehow to get America to put its space program under government control and let them wreck it, while we were getting ours together.
And we did!Ф
Halloran was looking dumbfounded. УYouТre not saying that . .
С. . . this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.Т He fell for it. It was our masterstroke!Ф
Halloran sat staring at the Russian, thunderstruck. Vusilov leaned back in his chair, and as if finally unburdened of a secret that had been weighing him down for years, laughed uproariously in an out-
burst that echoed around the lounge. Halloran had had enough. УOkay, youТve had your fun,Ф he conceded bitterly. УSuppose we concentrate on the present, and where weТre going from here.Ф
Vusilov raised a hand. УOh, but that isnТt the end of it. You see, it made for you an even bigger catastrophe on a national scale, precisely~ because it succeeded so well.Ф
Obviously Halloran was going to have to hear the rest. УGo on,Ф he said resignedly.
УThe U.S. economy could have absorbed the mistake of Apollo and recovered. But you didnТt let it end there. It gave you a whole generation of legislators and lawmakers who saw the success and concluded that if central control by government and massive federal spending could get you to the Moon, then those things could achieve anything. And you went on to apply it beyond our wildest hopesЧwhen Johnson announced the Great Society program and started socializing the USA. You didnТt stop with bankrupting the space industries; you bankrupted the whole country. Apollo was a bigger disaster for America than the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, at least you knew youТd gone wrong, and you learned something. But how can anyone argue with success?
УAnd what made it so hilarious for us was that you were doing it while we were busy dismantling the same constructions of meddling bureaucrats and incompetents in our country, because we knew how well they didnТt work. That was our biggest secretЧthe discovery that made everything else that you see happening today possible. That was the secret that the KGB was there to protect. That was why it was such a big organization.Ф
Despite himself, Halloran couldnТt contain his curiosity. УWhat discovery?Ф he asked. УWhat secret are you talking about?Ф
УCapitalism! Free enterprise, motivated by individualism. That was why our defense industries and our space activities were so secret. That was how they were organized. If America wanted to waste the efficiency of its private sector on producing pet foods, laundry detergents, and breakfast cereals, while destroying everything that was important by letting government run it, that was fine by us. But we did it the other way around.Ф
Halloran was looking nonplussed. УThat was the KGBТs primary task?Ф
УYes. And you never came close to finding out.Ф
УWe assumed it was to protect your military secretsЧbombs, missiles, all that kind of thing.Ф
УBombs? We didnТt have very many bombs, if you wish to know the truth.Ф
УYou didnТt?Ф
УWe didnТt need them. Washington was devastating your economy more effectively than we could have done with thousands of megatons.Ф
Halloran slumped back in his chair and stared at the Russian dazedly. УBut why . . . how come weТve never even heard a whisper of this?Ф
УWho knows why? The leaders we have now are all young. They only know what they see today. Only a few of us old-timers remember. Very likely, most of history was not as we believe.Ф
Halloran drew in a long breath and exhaled shakily. УJesus . . . I need another drink. How about you? This time itТs scotch, no matter
ЧУ At that moment a voice from a loudspeaker concealed overhead interrupted him.
УAttention, please. An important news item that has just come in over the laser link from Earth. The PeopleТs Republic of China has announced the successful launch of a pulsed-nuclear-propelled space vehicle from lunar orbit, which is now en route for the planet Jupiter. The vessel is believed to be carrying a manned mission, but further details have not been released. A spokesman for the Chinese government gave the news at a press conference held in Beijing this morning. The Chinese premier, Xao-Lin-Huong, applauded the achievement as tangible proof of the inherent superiority of the Marxist political and economic system.
УIn a response from Moscow amid public outcry and severe criticism from his partyТs opposition groups, the new Soviet premier, Mr. Oleg Zhocharin, pledged a reappraisal of the Soviet UnionТs own program, and hinted of a return to more orthodox principles. СWe have allowed ourselves to drift too far, for too long, into a path of indolence and decadence, СMr. Zhocharin said. СBut with strong leadership and sound government, I am confident that by concentrating the resources of our mighty nation on a common, inspiring goal, instead of continuing to allow them to dissipate themselves uselessly in a thousand contradictory directions, the slide can be reversed. To this end, I have decreed that the Soviet Union will, within ten years from today, send men out to the star system of Alpha Centauri and return them safely to Earth.Т Mr. Zhocharin also stated that . . .У
Excited murmurs broke out all around the lounge. Halloran looked back at Vusilov and saw that the Russian was sitting ashen-faced, his mouth gaping.
And then a shadow fell across the table. They looked up to see that
the Chinese representative had risen from his chair in the alcove and stopped by their table on his way toward the door. His expression was impenetrable, but as Halloran stared up, he saw that the bright, glittering gray eyes were shining with inner laughter. The Chinese regarded them both for a second or two, his book closed loosely in his hand, and bowed his head politely. УEnjoy your day, gentlemen,Ф he said.
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