"Geoffrey A. Landis - Elemental (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Landis Geoffrey A)

and grapes on the fertile low slopes of the mountain.
She spent the rest of the evening on the balcony, watching the volcano and
daydreaming. By daylight, the crown of Vesuvius was covered by an immense
plume of steam. As the sun set, this turned a vivid orange. Even in full
darkness, the base of the plume remained faintly luminous, as if lit from
below by unseen fires.
Professor Kirschmeyer had Ramsey's hardcopy spread across the floor of his
office. He knelt over it, studying intently. A trail of colored chalk dust
showed which sheets had been examined. Ramsey looked on from a more dignified
position, sitting on Kirschmeyer's desk. After a while, the professor stood
up. He pointed at one of the papers with the stem of his pipe.
"Well, mine friend, here we see a steady base of the elemental presence. It
flares up to a higher level from time to time, but these occasional flare-ups
stopped suddenly, at about the same time my Susie left us. Other than the fact
that this very definitely is the signature of the Earth elemental, I can see
no connection to my work. I wish Susie were here-she might have some ideas.
Me, I'm lost."
"If it's not interference from your work, why did it stop when she left?"
"Coincidence. Something else must have stopped, or started, at about the same
time."
"Like what?"
"If I knew that, my boy, most certainly I would tell you, and we'd have the
problem solved."
"So what do 1 do now?"
"Next we all go home and get some sleep and think it all over. In the morning
I meet you in your lab, ja? and maybe we have some better ideas then."
"Right."
As Ramsey and Kirschmeyer left the office, the `incoming' call light on the
terminal started flashing. Kirschmeyer reached out and flicked the switch over
to `not receiving.'
"Shouldn't you answer that? What if it's important?"
"I rather doubt it. Besides, I have a reputation to keep up. I answer too many
of my calls and people might think I have nothing better to do, no? If it's
important, let them leave a message with the computer."
In Rome it was almost morning. When the conference on interstellar winds
ended, Dr. Williamson had intended to spend the weekend in Rome with Count
Raminski, but he had unexpectedly taken ill. Might as well see something of
Italy, she thought. It's been ages since I've been here.
She wandered into the Sheraton lobby and gathered a handful of pamphlets
advertising tours and attactions of Roma and vicinity. One with a picture of a
flaming volcano on the cover caught her eye. "Pompeii: a City of Entombed."
The drive from Rome to Naples was beautiful but hair-rising, even in her
little sportster, which was both smaller and more maneuverable than most of
the vehicles she passed. The Italian
drivers more than made up for the difference by the gusto with which they
drove, bordering somewhere between hysterical and insane. South of Naples the
road to Pompeii snaked along volcanic cliffs at the edge of the brilliant blue
sea. Far below she could see sheltered coves and fishing villages, along with
occasional empty beaches of brilliant white sand.
Even on the twisting mountain roads the drivers raced with insane verve. All