"Spider Robinson - Telempath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Spider)

But it gave him a wild ideaтАФa fancy, a fantasy, and a tasty one.
He checked with me by phone the next day, very casually, and I assured him from my experiences with advances
in virus-vectoring that MacLean had not been whistling in the dark. In fact, I told him, modern so-called тАЬbacterial
warfareтАЭ made the Satan Bug look like childтАЩs play. Carlson thanked me and changed the subject.
On his release from the hospital, he came to my office and asked me to work with him for a full year, to the
exclusion of all else, on a project whose nature he was reluctant to discuss. тАЬWhy do you need me?тАЭ I asked, puzzled.
тАЬBecause,тАЭ he finally told me, тАЬyou know how to make a Satan Bug. I intend to make a God Bug. And you could
help me.тАЭ
тАЬHuh?тАЭ
тАЬListen, Jake,тАЭ he said with that delightful informality of his. тАЬIтАЩve licked the common coldтАФand there are still
herds of people with the sniffles. All I could think of to do with the cure was to turn it over to the pharmaceuticals
people, and I did all I could to make sure they didnтАЩt milk it, but there are still suffering folks who canтАЩt afford the
damned stuff. Well, thereтАЩs no need for that. Jake, a cold will kill someone sufficiently weakened by hungerтАФI canтАЩt
help the hunger, but I could eliminate colds from the planet in forty-eight hours . . . with your help.тАЭ
тАЬA benevolent virus-vector . . .тАЭ I was flabbergasted, as much by the notion of decommercializing medicine as by
the specific nostrum involved.
тАЬItтАЩd be a lot of work,тАЭ Carlson went on. тАЬIn its present form my stuff isnтАЩt compatible with such a delivery
systemтАФI simply wasnтАЩt thinking along those lines. But IтАЩll bet it could be made so, with your help. Those
pharmaceuticals goniffs have made me rich enough to pay you twice what Columbia does, and weтАЩre both due for
sabbatical anyway. What do you say?тАЭ
I thought it over, but not enough. The notion of collaborating with a Nobel Prize winner was simply too tempting.
тАЬAll right, Wendell.тАЭ

. . . We set up operations in CarlsonтАЩs laboratory-home on Long Island, he in the basement and myself on the
main floor. There we worked like men possessed for the better part of a year, cherishing private dreams and
slaughtering guinea pigs by the tens of thousands. Carlson was a stern if somewhat slapdash taskmaster, and as our
work progressed he began looking over my shoulder, learning my field while discouraging inquiries about his own
progress. I assumed that he simply knew his field too well to converse intelligently about it with anyone but himself.
And yet he absorbed all my own expertise with fluid rapidity, until eventually it seemed that he knew as much about
virology as I did myself. One day he disappeared with no explanation, and returned a week or two later with what
seemed to me a more nasal voice.
And near the end of the year there came a day when he called me on the telephone. I was spending the weekend,
as always, with my wife and two sons in Harlem. Christmas was approaching, and Barbara and I were discussing the
relative merits of plastic and natural trees when the phone rang. I was not at all surprised to hear CarlsonтАЩs reedy
voice, so reminiscent of an oboe latelyтАФthe only wonder was that he had called during conventional waking hours.
тАЬJake,тАЭ he began without preamble, тАЬI havenтАЩt the time or inclination to argue, so shut up and listen, right? Right.
I advise and strongly urge you to take your family and leave New York at onceтАФsteal a car if you have to, or hijack
a Greyhound (ed. note: a public transportation conveyance) for all of me, but be at least twenty miles away by
midnight.тАЭ
тАЬButтАФтАЭ
тАЬ. . . head north if you want my advice, and for GodтАЩs sake stay away from all cities, towns, and people in any
number. If you possibly can, get upwind of all nearby industry, and bring along all the formaldehyde you canтАФa gun
too, if you own one. Good-bye, my friend, and remember I do this for the greater good of mankind. I donтАЩt know if
youтАЩll understand that, but I hope so.тАЭ
тАЬWendell, what in the name of God are youтАФ?тАЭ I was talking to a dead phone.
Barbara was beside me, a worried look on her face, my son Isham in her arms. тАЬWhat is it, Jacob?тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm not sure,тАЭ I said unsteadily, тАЬbut I think Wendell has come unhinged. I must go to him. Stay with the
children; IтАЩll be back as quickly as I can. And Barbara . . .тАЭ
тАЬYes?тАЭ
тАЬI know this sounds insane, but pack a bag and be ready to leave town at once if I call and tell you to.тАЭ