"Paul Levinson - Loose Ends 02 - Little Differences" - читать интересную книгу автора (Levinson Paul)

decades. Still...

тАЬIt's justтАФthis has been one lousy year, event-wise,тАЭ Jeff said. He looked at the calendar on the
refrigerator. It was on its last pageтАФDecember, 1968. He'd be glad to pull it down and throw it in the
trash with the rest of the year.

тАЬWell, at least we'll have Apollo 8 circling the moon this Christmas, and Armstrong and Aldrin on the
moon next year,тАЭ Laura said.

тАЬYeah,тАЭ Jeff said, тАЬand Nixon in office. He'll throttle the Apollo program barely out of its cradle, and then
give the Shuttle such poor funding that it's amazing it didn't blow up long before 1986.тАЭ

тАЬWe'll just have to do something about that, then, won't we,тАЭ Laura said.

Jeff hugged her, eggy hands and all, and thought, yeah, and maybe we can still do more than that too.

****

тАЬGod, these hamburgers are gonna kill me, but I love тАЩem.тАЭ Sam McKenna smiled across the table at
Jeff, and made a stab at wiping some of the grease off of his chin.

тАЬPart of the charm of the South Campus Cafeteria,тАЭ Jeff said. тАЬLousy food, cold spilled coffee on your
table, a good shot of getting boiling-hot coffee on your hands. But, hey, there's always a chance of
picking up a juicy tidbit of conversation about another professor, maybe even about yourself, from
unknowing students at a nearby table.тАЭ

Sam chuckled and eyed the table next to them. тАЬNot likely,тАЭ he said, тАЬthey seem to be talking about dead
Greek philosophers. I don't think any of them have tenure here.тАЭ

тАЬWell, at least we know they didn't die of South Campus hamburgers,тАЭ Jeff said. тАЬThey probably aren't
as bad for you as you think, anyway. There are dozens of cholesterolsтАФтАЭ

тАЬI don't wanna hear about cholesterol,тАЭ Sam said and waved Jeff off. тАЬLet's get back to what we were
talking aboutтАФthe space program.тАЭ

Just as well, Jeff thought. Now that he was finally in line for a tenured position himself in the Sociology
Department, there was no point jeopardizing it by dropping too many hints about a future only he could
know. It was enough that he was discussing the space program with SamтАФthe sharpest professor in the
Political Science Department, and someone Jeff had become quite close to in the past year.

тАЬI think you're way off in your concerns,тАЭ Sam continued. тАЬPoliticians are crazy about spaceтАФeveryone
loves it. Hell, LBJ sent framed photos of the earthriseтАФthe shot taken by Apollo 8тАФto heads of state
around the world, including Ho Chi Minh!тАЭ

тАЬJohnson's out of office next week,тАЭ Jeff said.

тАЬYou think Nixon's going to risk hurting the space program with the Vietnam War on his head? Scuttle
the only bright thing he's got going for the American image these days?тАЭ

I know he is, Jeff thought. Not that the Democrats weren't responsible too. He'd studied Mondale's