"Henry Kuttner - Shock UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

'Halison here? Mac, what ЧЧЧ'

'Take it easy. I came in and asked him who he was. "Halison," he said. "I just dropped in for a minute"Чor words to the effect. "Gregg wants see you," I said. "Haven't time yet," he says. "I'm looking for something. I'll be back by Thursday to see Ranil-Mens. I'll tell Gregg anything he wants to know then. I can tell him plenty, tooЧI'm labeled as a genius." All this was in a sort of double talk, but I managed to understand it. After that he went out. I ran after him. "Where's Gregg?" I yelled. He waved back toward the . . . the valve, and scooted off downstairs. I stuck my head through the hole in the wall, saw you, and started to feel funny. So I fixed a highball and sat down to wait. That guy gives me the creeps."

Gregg dropped his burden on a couch. 'Damn! So I missed him. Well, he'll be back, that's one consolation. Why the devil does he give you the creeps?'

'He's different,' MacPherson said simply.

'Nothing human is alien. Don't tell me he's not human.'

'Oh, he's human, all right, but it isn't our sort of humanity. Even his eyes. He looks right through you, as though he's seeing into the fourth dimension.'

'Maybe he does,' Gregg speculated. 'I wish . . . mph. He'll tell me anything I want to know, eh? I'll have a drink on that. What a chance! And he's a genius, even for his age. I suppose it'd take a genius to work out that space-time business.'

MacPherson said quietly, 'It's his world, Manning, not yours. If I were you, I'd stay out of it.' , -,

Gregg laughed, his eyes very bright. 'Under other circumstances, I'd agree. But I know something about that world now. The pictures in the books, for example. It is a perfect world. Only just now it's a world beyond my comprehension. Those people have gone far beyond us in everything, Mac. I doubt if we're capable of understanding everytiiing there. Still, I'm not exactly a moron. I'll learn. My training will help. I'm a technician and a physicist.'

'All right. Suit yourself. I'm drunk now because I've been sitting looking at that hole in the wall and wondering if it'd snap shut forever.'

'Nuts,' Gregg said.

MacPherson got up, weaving on his feet. 'I'm going to bed. Call me if you need me for anything. G'night."

'Night, Mac. Oh, say. You haven't mentioned this to anyone, have you?'

'No. I won't. And Halison's eyes scared me, even though they had a friendly look in them. Man and superman. Urp!' MacPherson floated away in a haze of Scotch mist. Gregg chuckled and closed the door carefully.

Whatever else he might be, Halison was no superman. He hadn't evolved to that extreme, or, perhaps, there could have been no meeting ground between the twoЧHomo sapiens and Homo superior. There was much that was mysterious about the 'man from the futureЧhis enigmatic quest through time, for exampleЧbut by Thursday, Gregg hoped, he'd know at least some of the answers. If he could only curb his impatience till then.

He didn't go to work the next day, either. That was Wednesday. He spent his time pondering over the gadgets he had brought back from the future, finding a cold sort of comfort in that.

.He waited till hunger pangs could no longer be ignored, and then decided to step around the corner for a sandwich. On second thought, he changed his mind and ate across the street, at a fly-blown quick-lunch joint, where he could keep his eye on the apartment house.

He saw Halison go in.

Choking on a mouthful, Gregg flung a handful of change at the waiter and dashed out. On the steps he nearly stumbled and caught himself by clutching wildly at the surprised doorman. The elevatorЧЧ

Gregg cursed its slowness. His apartment door was open. Halison was emerging.

'Tawnishly hello,' Halison said. 'I returned for a clean shirt.'

'Wait,' Gregg said desperately. 'I want to talk to you.'

'No time yet.. I'm still searching marj entarЧhaven't foundЧЧЧ'

'Halison! When will you talk to me?'

'Wednesday night. Tomorrow. I must be back then to see Ranil-Mens Thursday. Who is wiser than I, by the way.'