"Larry Niven - The Return of William Proxmire UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

Through the peephole in AndrewТs front door the man made a startling sight.
He looked to be in his eighties. He was breathing hard and streaming sweat. He seemed slightly more real than most men: photogenic as hell, tall and lean, with stringy muscles and no potbelly, running shoes and a day pack and a blue windbreaker, and an open smile. The face was familiar, but from where?
Andrew opened the front door but left the screen door locked. УHello?Ф
УDr. Andrew Minsky?Ф
УYes.Ф Memory clicked. УWilliam Proxmire, big as life.Ф
The ex-senator smiled acknowledgment. УIТve only just finished reading about you in the Tribune, Dr. Minsky. May I come in?Ф
It had never been Andrew MinskyТs ambition to invite William Proxmire into his home. StillЧФSure. Come in, sit down, have some coffee. Or do your stretches.Ф Andrew was a runner himself when he could find the time.
УThank you.Ф
Andrew left him on the rug with one knee pulled against his chest. From the kitchen he called, УI never in my life expected to meet you face to face. You must have seen the article on me and Tipler and Penrose?Ф
УYes. IТm prepared to learn that the media got it all wrong.Ф
УI bet you are. Any politician would. Well, the Tribune implied that what weТve got is a time machine. Of course we donТt. WeТve got a schematic based on a theory. Then again, itТs the new improved version. It doesnТt involve an infinitely long cylinder that youТd have to make out of neutroniumЧФ
УGood. What would it cost?Ф
Andrew Minsky sighed. Had the politician even recognized the reference? He said, УOh . . . hard to say.Ф He picked up two cups and the coffeepot and went back in. УIs that it? You came looking for a time machine?Ф
The old man was sitting on the yellow rug with his legs spread wide apart and his fingers grasping his right foot. He released, folded his legs heel to heel, touched forehead to toes, held, then stood up with a sound like popcorn popping. He said, УClose enough. How much would it cost?Ф
УDepends on what youТre after. If youЧФ
УI canТt get you a grant if you canТt name a figure.Ф
Andrew set his cup down very carefully. He said, УNo, of course not.,,
УIТm retired now, but people still owe me favors. I want a ride. One trip. What would it cost?Ф
Andrew hadnТt had enough coffee yet. He didnТt feel fully awake. УI have to think Out loud a little. Okay? Mass isnТt a problem. You can go as far back as you like if . . . mmm. LetТs say under sixty years. Cost might be twelve, thirteen million if you could also get us access to the proton-antiproton accelerator at Washburn University, or maybe CERN in Switzerland. Otherwise weТd have to build that too. By the way, youТre not expecting to get younger, are you?Ф
УI hadnТt thought about it.Ф
УGood. The theory depends on maneuverings between event points. You donТt ever go backward. Where and when, Senator?Ф
William Proxmire leaned forward with his hands clasped. УPicture this. A Navy officer walks the deck of a ship, coughing, late at night in the 1930s. Suddenly an arm snakes around his neck, a needle plunges into his buttocksЧФ
УThe deck of a ship at sea?Ф
Proxmire nodded, grinning.
УYouТre just having fun, arenТt you? Something to do while jogging, now that youТre retired.Ф
УPut it this way,Ф Proxmire said. УI read the article. It linked up with an old daydream of mine. I looked up your address. You were within easy running distance. I hope you donТt mind?Ф
Oddly enough, Andrew found he didnТt. Anything that happened before his morning coffee was recreation.
So dream a little. УDeck of a moving ship. I was going to say itТs ridiculous, but it isnТt. WeТll have to deal with much higher velocities. Any point on the EarthТs surface is spinning at up to half a mile per
second and circling the sun at eighteen miles per. In principle I think we could solve all of it with one stroke. We could scan one patch of deck, say, over a period of a few seconds, then integrate the record into the program. Do the same coming home.Ф
УYou can do it?Ф
УWell, if we canТt solve that one we canТt do anything else, either. YouТd be on a tight schedule, though. Senators whatТs the purpose of the visit?Ф
УHave you ever had daydreams about a time machine and a scopesighted rifle?Ф
AndrewТs eyebrows went up. УSure, what little boy hasnТt? Hitler, I suppose? For me it was always Lyndon Johnson. Senator, I do not commit murder under any circumstances.Ф
УA time machine and a scope-sighted rifle, and me,Ф William Proxmire said dreamily. УI get more anonymous letters than youТd believe, even now. They tell me that every space advocate daydreams about me and a time machine and a scope-sighted rifle. Well, I started daydreaming too, but my fantasy involves a time machine and a hypodermic full of antibiotics.Ф
Andrew laughed. УYouТre plotting to do someone good behind his back?Ф
УRight.Ф
УWho?Ф
УRobert Anson Heinlein.Ф
All laughter dropped away. УWhy?Ф
УItТs a good deed, isnТt it?Ф
УSure. Why?Ф
УYou know the name? Over the past forty years or so IТve talked to a great many people in science and in the space program. I kept hearing the name Robert Heinlein. They were seduced into science because they read Heinlein at age twelve. These were the people I found hard to deal with. No grasp of reality. Fanatics.Ф
Andrew suspected that the senator had met more of these than he realized. Heinlein spun off ideas at a terrific rate. Other writers picked them up . . . along with a distrust for arrogance combined with stupidity or ignorance, particularly in politicians.
УWell, HeinleinТs literary career began after he left the Navy because of lung disease.Ф
УYouТre trying to destroy the space program.Ф
УWill you help?Ф
Andrew was about to tell him to go to hell. He didnТt. УIТm still talking. Why do you want to destroy the space program?Ф
УI didnТt, at first. I was opposed to waste,Ф Proxmire said. УMy colleagues, theyТll spend money on any pet project, as if there was a money tree out there somewhereЧФ
УMilk price supports,Ф Andrew said gently. For several decades now, the great state of Wisconsin had taken tax money from the other states so that the price they paid for milk would stay up.
ProxmireТs lips twitched. УWithout milk price supports, there would be places where families with children canТt buy milk.Ф