"Paul Preuss - Venus Prime 4 - The Medusa Encounter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Preuss Paul)

proved, life can flourish even at tons to the square centimeter.

In the book and TV series Cosmos, the late Carl Sagan speculated about possible life forms that might
exist in the purely gaseous (mostly hydrogen and methane) environment of the Jovian atmosphere. My
тАЬMedusaeтАЭ owe a good deal to Carl, but I have no qualms about stealing from him, as I introduced him
to my former agent, Scott Meredith, a quarter of a century ago, with results profitable to both.

Now a final bibliographic note. тАЬA Meeting with MedusaтАЭтАФthe story that inspired this volume of Venus
PrimeтАФis one of the very few I ever wrote for a specific objective. (Usually I write because I canтАЩt help
it, but I am slowly getting this annoying habit under control.) тАЬMedusaтАЭ was produced because I needed
wordage to round out my final collection of short stories (The Wind from the Sun, 1972). I am pleased to
record that it won the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America for the best novella of
the year-as well as a special bonus from Playboy in the same category.

I happened to mention my association with this estimable magazine, which has printed so many of my
more serious technical writings, when I registered a mild complaint in New Delhi years ago. In his witty
response after I had delivered the Nehru Memorial Address on 13 November 1986, Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi concluded with these words: тАЬFinally, let me assure Dr. Clarke that if Playboy is banned in this
country, it is not because of anything he may have written in it.тАЭ

Certainly thereтАЩs nothing in the original тАЬA Meeting with MedusaтАЭ to bring a blush to the most modest
cheek.

IтАЩm waiting to see what Paul Preuss can do to rectify this situation.

Arthur C. Clarke

Colombo, Sri Lanka




ARTHUR C. CLARKEтАЩS

VENUS
PRIME

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 ARTHUR C. CLARKEтАЩS VENUS PRIME, VOLUME 4




Prologue
S he lay exposed on the operating table. Men and women sheathed in sterile plastic film leaned over
her, wielding black instruments. The rank smell of onions threatened to suffocate her. Her mindтАЩs eye
involuntarily displayed complex sulfur compounds as the circle of lights above her began to swirl in a
golden spiral.

William, sheтАЩs a child