"Laurence M. Janifer - Count Down" - читать интересную книгу автора (Janifer Laurence M)

"Don't do me any favors."
"It's the same favor I did the emperorтАФyesterday. He had to be ready, you see."
"Ready?"
"All right, Sam. Now listen . . ."

"First News is happy to present, in its regular weekly interview series, the renowned archaeologist,
Dr. Parran Allerton. Some recent discoveries made by him are spreading in influence throughout the
Comity. Dr. Allerton is here to explain their significance, and to tell the story of their finding . . ."

"Minister Freeman?"
". . . Thank you. Now, I want begin by saying once again that numerology has no influence on the
real world, the world of events. It's all just a silly superstition. I'm sure none of you fine people out there
really believes that numbers influence our world, or influence the takeoff of that vitally necessary ship the
Roubins . . ."

GREAT HALL:
CAPITAL CITY:
2100 H., JULY 17, 2113
Hamsun, after several hours of trying, had finally managed to corner Minister Freeman in a
comparatively quiet section of the Great Hall. Around them, the Space Gala was picking up speed and
volume. If it hadn't been for Freeman, Hamsun told himself, he'd never have come to the damned thing.
But what he knew was that Freeman had almost killed off the shoot. What he'd heardтАФthe sort of
chatter nobody pays any real attention toтАФwas that Freeman had made the shoot possible.
Well, the gala was, more or less, in Hamsun's honor; and no matter what he knew, he couldn't quite
keep the chatter out of his head. He needed explanations ...
"There are all sorts of rumors," he was saying. "People are convinced you made the shoot possible, I
mean. I . . . well, you know."
Freeman smiled. The way a politician smiles, Hamsun thought; there's never any way to find out what
he really thinks. "There are always rumors," he said. His eyes flicked from one person to another as he
spoke: studying people, Hamsun realized.
StudyingтАФthe materials of his profession; and why wasn't that as respectable as . . . say . . . studying
equations?
"ButтАФLook, you made those speeches," Hamsun said. "One right after another. All about how
sensible people were, how they'd never let superstition hold them backтАФ"
"That's right," Freeman said. A girl went past them, laughing much too loudly.
"And those speeches damn near sank the entire shoot," Hamsun said. "Every time you told people
they were too smart to believe in superstition тАФLook, we have a psychologist on the base and he
explained it this wayтАФyou reminded them of the superstition. You forced them to think about it.
AndтАФwhen it comes to superstitionтАФpeople don't think."
"By definition," Freeman put in.
Hamsun blinked. "By . . . I suppose so." He took a breath. "So you kept stimulating the whole thing,
making people think about that Friday-the-thirteenth business, making them even more positive they
weren't going to let the Roubins take off."
Freeman nodded. "Something like that," he said. "Yes."
"So," Hamsun said, "you almost did kill the shoot. What I thought. What everybody thinks. Only
there was some crackpot talk that you ... well, that you made the shoot possible."
"I did," Freeman said.
Hamsun opened his mouth and shut it again.
"First of all, you see, I made those speeches," Freeman said. "No, wait a minute, I did one more
thingтАФI bribed an archaeologist."