"Paul Preuss - Secret Passages" - читать интересную книгу автора (Preuss Paul)

conversion. He is willing to admit that the world is real after all, even at the quantum
level. I intend to discuss this with him at Delos II. Of course, I also intend to make
him question the worth of his heretical new beliefs.тАЭ

тАЬAnd if he doesnтАЩt choose to attend Delos II?тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩm afraid the whole affair will have to be postponed.тАЭ

Wingate shook his head. тАЬAm I to understand the corporation is
underwriting this conference just so you can play devilтАЩs advocate to Peter Slater?тАЭ

Minakis raised his brows, all innocence. тАЬThe invitations are strictly PapatzisтАЩs
concern. I only suggested that it would be appropriate to invite those who were at
the first Delos.тАЭ

тАЬI had no idea Slater was that old.тАЭ

тАЬHeтАЩs an ancientтАФalmost half as old as you or I. IтАЩm told heтАЩs on the verge of
acquiring an instant family, by marrying a woman who brings her young children
with her.тАЭ

тАЬThen why not let me pull a few strings and have him invited to CERN for a
year? Surely it will be easier to move your experiment to SwitzerlandтАФwhich IтАЩve
been trying to convince you to do since you startedтАФthan persuade Slater to move
his family to Greece.тАЭ

тАЬI trust youтАЩll find a way to indulge me,тАЭ Minakis said com-placently. тАЬThat is,
if you havenтАЩt grown weary of my stubborn quest.тАЭ

тАЬReally, given the chance, slight as it is, that you will some-day get around to
changing the world with these experiments of yours ... Well, IтАЩll find out what I can.
But donтАЩt set your heart on acquiring Slater as a junior colleague.тАЭ

MinakisтАЩs black eyes reflected the curve of the moon. тАЬDonтАЩt concern yourself
with my heart, Richard. Whatever will happen has happened.тАЭ

****

Anne-Marie walked barefoot at the edge of the surf, hugging her daughter to her
shoulder, and Jennifer crowed in ecstasy when the high waves crashed beside her,
partly because her mother squeezed her extra tight each time. But on Anne-MarieтАЩs
face tears mixed with the salt spray. The cool breeze, the warm sunshine, the
thunder of the turquoise ocean, every sensation reminded her of yesterdayтАЩs
happiness; with every retreat of the seething water, the wet sand beneath her feet
slipped away as if she were sliding back into the sea.

For half a year sheтАЩd been living an anticipatory dream, of building a home
with a man she loved who would be a loving father to her childrenтАФa life filled with
the simplest of pleasures, the things most people have, what seemed to her a normal
exis-tenceтАФa life she had hardly dared dream of before she met Peter. At last she