"C. L. Moore - Greater Than Gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore C. L)

coincidences in it proved that. Or-were they coincidences? Desperately he
tried to clarify the thought taking form in his own mind, a terrifyingly vast
thought, terrifyingly without explanation. And yet it must be a dream- If it
were real, then there was more than chance here. It could be no accident that
these two children of his, groping blindly in the dark for contact with him,
had succeeded at so nearly the same moment. There would be reason behind it,
reason too vast for comprehension. He parted his lips to speak, but Dunn was
already speaking.
"Look then, William Vincent Gory! Watch your own greatness unfolding in the
years that lie ahead."
Hazily the scene in the cube blurred. The beloved, blue-eyed face of the boy
he might never have, faded as a dream fades-a dream fading in a dream, he
thought dimly-
This time it was Marta coming down the church aisle toward him, looking like a
violet-eyed madonna coifed and veiled in white lace. He knew that he did not
love her, now. His heart was still sore with the memory of Sallie. But love
would come; with a woman like this it could not but come. There was tenderness
and humor and passion on that raptly lifted face, and a strength that would
call out the strength in him, not a weakness such as dimpled in Sallie's face
to evoke an underlying weakness in himself. For weakness was in him. He knew
it. It would depend upon the woman who shared his life which quality overcame
the other.
Life would be good with Marta. He saw it unfolding before him in a long
succession of days, work and play and companionship that brought out the best
in both. And the memory of the strange vision in which he thought he loved
Sallie faded. This was the woman he loved. Her courage and humor, her violet
eyes bright with pride of him- Life went by-clear, condensed, swift. He saw
his own work moving
steadily toward success, Marta's eager encouragement tiding him over the low
ebbs when difficulties threatened. She was so full of pride in her brilliant
young husband that her enthusiasm almost ran away with her. It was she who
insisted upon making the discovery public.
"I want to flaunt you before the world!" she urged. "Let's report to the
Council now, darling. Aw, please, Bill!"
"MTe're not ready yet," he protested feebly. "Let's wait-"
"What for? Look." She shook a record sheet under his nose. "A hundred per cent
success in the last dozen experiments! What more do you want? It's time to
make an official report-announce what you're doing to the world! You've been
all the way from fruit flies to monkeys. You'll have to make a report to the
Council anyhow before you can take the next step. And remember, darling, when
you come to that, I'm first in line as a candidate."
He seized her shoulders in a heavy grip, frowning down into the eagerness of
her lifted face. "There'll be no guinea pigs in this family! When Junior Cory
comes into the world he-or she-will do it without benefit of X-rays.
Understand?"
"But darling, I thought the whole idea was to give parents their choice of
boys or girls in the family."
"The thing's not perfected yet to the point where I'd want to risk my own
wife. And anyhow . . . anyhow, I've got a funny notion I'd rather just take
what comes. Don't know why, exactly, but-"