"James P. Hogan - Paths to Otherwhere" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

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Paths to Otherwhere by James
P. Hogan
Prologue
The woman in the tan business suit sat in a padded recliner that looked like a
dentist's chair. Her head lay in a concave rest that kept it positioned exactly in
the focal zone of the projection array a few inches above. She was staring at one
of the screens on a panel in front of her. Leonard Sarvin, Deputy Director of the
Defense Research Administration, stood to one side, out of the field being
directed by the machine. His principal assistant, John Fiske, was with him. The
department had poured millions into this, and the Director was being harried by
the President's office for a progress update. Jesse Willard, the National
Laboratory's executive director, watched from the other side of the chair, while
the chief scientist of the project, who was handling the demonstration, checked
other screens. Cabinets and equipment racks lined the partitioned space around
them. The hum of pumps and cooling fans came from other machinery beyond.

"It's quite straightforward." Kintner looked up and addressed the three visitors.
"We're Black. The machine plays Red. It's our move. But the bet has to be real.

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Let's make it ten dollars, say. You've got three choices for how the game will go:
Win for Black, win for Red, or a draw. Winners divide the pot."

"What happens if we all lose?" Fiske asked.

Kintner smiled thinly. "Then I suppose thirty dollars goes to charity."

The two men from Washington looked at each other, as if checking for
something they might have missed. They both shrugged together.

Ten on Black," Sarvin said.

"Black," Fiske agreed. He looked at Kintner and Willard "I meanтАж what else is