"Henry Kuttner (as Lewis Padgett) - Time Locker UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

The change wasnТt immediate. It occurred slowly, the demijohn altering its shape and size till it was a distorted cube the apparent size of a cube of sugar. Galloway reached down and brought it up again, placing the cube on the floor.
It grew. It was a demijohn again.
УNow the bench. Look out.Ф
Galloway rescued the little pyramid. Presently it became the original workbench.
УYou see? IТll bet a storage company would like this. You could probably pack all the furniture in Brooklyn in here, but thereТd be trouble in getting what you wanted out again. The physical change, you knowЧФ
УKeep a chart,Ф Vanning suggested absently. УDraw a picture of how the thing looks inside the locker, and note down what it was.Ф
УThe legal brain,Ф Galloway said. УI want a drink.Ф He returned to his couch and clutched the siphon in a grip of death.
УIТll give you six credits for the thing,Ф Vanning offered.
УSold. It takes up too much room anyway. Wish I could put it inside itself.Ф The scientist chuckled immoderately. УThatТs very funny.Ф
УIs it?Ф Vanning said. УWell, here you are.Ф He took credit coupons from his wallet. УWThereТll I put the dough?Ф
УStuff it into Monstro. HeТs my bank. . . . Thanks.Ф
УYeah. Say, elucidate this sugar business a bit,will you? It isnТt just gravity that affects the cube so it slips into a test tube. DoesnТt the water soak up into the sugarЧФ
УYouТre right at that. Osmosis. No, IТm wrong. Osmosis has something to do with eggs. Or is that ovulation? Conduction, convection
Чabsorption! Wish IТd studied physics; then IТd know the right words. Just a zoot stoop, thatТs me. I shall take the daughter of the Vine to spouse,Ф Galloway finished incoherently and sucked at the siphon.
УAbsorption,Ф Vanning scowled. УOnly not water, being soaked up by the sugar. The . . . the conditions existing inside the locker, being soaked up by your workbenchЧin that particular case.
УLike a sponge or a blotter.Ф
УThe bench?Ф
УMe,Ф Galloway said succinctly, and relapsed into a happy silence, broken by occasional gurgles as he poured liquor down his scarified gullet. Vanning sighed and turned to the locker. He carefully closed and latched the door before lifting the metal cabinet in his muscular arms.
УGoing? GТnight. Fare thee well, fare thee wellЧФ
УNight.Ф
УFareЧtheeЧwell!Ф Galloway ended, in a melancholy outburst of tunefulness, as he turned over preparatory to going to sleep.

Vanning sighed again and let himself out into the coolness of the night. Stars blazed in the sky, except toward the south, where the aurora of Lower Manhattan dimmed them. The glowing white towers of skyscrapers rose in a jagged pattern. A sky-ad announced the virtues of VambulinЧФIt Peps You Up.Ф
His speeder was at the curb. Vanning edged the locker into the trunk compartment and drove toward the Hudson Floataway, the quickest route downtown. He was thinking about Poe.
The Purloined Letter, which had been hidden in plain sight, but re-folded and re-addressed, so that its superficial appearance was changed. Holy Hutton! What a perfect safe the locker would make! No thief could crack it, for the obvious reason that it wouldnТt be locked. No thief would want to clean it out. Vanning could fill the locker with credit coupons and instantly theyТd become unrecognizable. It was the ideal cache.
How the devil did it work?
There was little use in asking Galloway. He played by ear. A primrose by the riverТs rim a simple primrose was to himЧnot Prim ula vulgaris. Syllogisms were unknown to him. He reached the conclusion without the aid of either major or minor premises.
Vanning pondered. Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Ergo, there was a different sort of space in the lockerЧ But Vanning was pumping at conclusions. There was another
answerЧthe right one. He hadnТt guessed it yet.
Instead, he tooled the speeder downtown to the office building where he maintained a floor, and brought the locker upstairs in the freight lift. He didnТt put it in his private office; that would have been too obvious. He placed the metal cabinet in one of the storerooms, sliding a file cabinet in front of it for partial concealment. It wouldnТt do to have the clerks using this particular locker.
Vanning stepped back and considered. PerhapsЧ A bell rang softly. Preoccupied, Vanning didnТt hear it at first.
When he did, he went back to his own office and pressed the acknowledgment button on the Winchell. The gray, harsh, bearded face of Counsel Hatton appeared, filling the screen.
УHello,Ф Vanning said.
Hatton nodded. УIТve been trying to reach you at your home. Thought IТd try the officeЧФ
УI didnТt expect you to call now. The trialТs tomorrow. ItТs a bit late for discussion, isnТt it?Ф
УDugan & Sons wanted me to speak to you. I advised against it.Ф
УOh?Ф
HattonТs thick gray brows drew together. УIТm prosecuting, you know. ThereТs plenty of evidence against Macllson.Ф
УSo you say. But peculationТs a difficult charge to prove.Ф
УDid you get an injunction against scop?Ф
УNaturally,Ф Vanning said. УYouТre not using truth serum on my client!Ф
УThatТll prejudice the jury.Ф
УNot on medical grounds. Scop affects Macllson harmfully. IТve got a covering prognosis.Ф
УHarmfully is right!Ф HattonТs voice was sharp. УYour client embezaled those bonds, and I can prove it.Ф
УTwenty-five thousand in credits, it comes to, eh? ThatТs a lot for Dugan & Sons to lose. What about that hypothetical case I posed? Suppose twenty thousand were recoveredЧФ
УIs this a private beam? No recordings?Ф
УNaturally. HereТs the cut-off.Ф Vanning held up a metal-tipped cord. УThis is strictly sub rosa.Ф
УGood,Ф Counsel Hatton said. УThen I can СCall you a lousy shyster.Ф
УTcli!Ф
УYour gagТs too old. ItТs moth-eaten. Macllson swiped five grand in bonds, negotiable into credits. The auditors start checking up. MacIlson comes to you. You tell him to take twenty grand more, and offer to return that twenty if Dugan & Sons refuse to prosecute. Macllson splits with you on the five thousand, and on the plat standard, that ainТt hay.Ф