"Christopher Pike - The Immortal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

atmosphere of the alien home world. That way, if David and Vani got that far, there would be no
possibility of failure.

"David reasons this out. He sees more of the reasons why they chose him. They must have known about
his marital difficulties, he thinks. They must have figured he would be smart enough to realize that he
wasn't meant to come home, and that it would be easier for a depressed man to accept a hopeless fate.
But David is not overly bitter about being used this way. He understands that the one chance to save the
human race rests with him. On the other hand, he isn't happy about being on a suicide mission. He
doesn't want to die--not yet. He searches the ship and finds a bomb built into one of the walls. It is the
real bomb--the one with the antimatter in it* The bomb they handed him was a fake.

"David is smarter than his superiors suspected. He disarms the bomb and removes it from the wall. He
adjusts it so that he, and only he, can detonate it when he wishes. About this time they are closing on the
alien home world. In fact, it has become visible up ahead."

My father stopped. I waited for him to continue; I was enjoying the story, although, as I said, I had heard
parts of it before. But I soon realized my father had stopped for a good reason.

"That's as far as you've gotten," I said.

He nods. "Yeah. Pathetic, isn't it?"

"Not at all. You have me captivated."
"Thank you. I know you are not just telling me that.
40

THE IMMORTAL

I like the beginning of the story as well. The problem is, if you captivate the audience, you've got to give
them their money's worth before you let them go. I have all the pieces of a great science-fiction epic, yet I
don't know what my story's about."

"It's about the war, the struggle for survival, between the aliens and the humans."

He shook his head. "You're smarter than that. For it to work it has to have an underlying theme. I have
no theme. I have no clear path of action. I don't know what David will do when he gets to the home
world. I don't know what Vani will do. I don't understand the aliens at all. I don't know why they
destroyed the Earth, except that it was the single act that started the war, and that is the one act I know I
can't change. Really, I don't even know why David's wife left him. I feel her, Josie, I do. She was
devoted to him."

I asked delicately. "Is she Mom?"

He shrugged. "She lives on a planet far away, far in the future. I suppose if you believe in reincarnation
she could be your mother."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know," he said softly. We sat and stared at the waves. The orange light on the horizon turned gray.
Out at sea, Delos faded to black. The wind continued to gain strength. "Do you have any ideas?" my dad