"Smith, E E 'Doc' - SubSpace Vol 2 - Subspace Encounter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

phoned Doc's daughter, Verna Smith Trestrail, telling her I wanted to get the book ready
for publication, giving her the background information, and asking her to search for the
one-book version and any other pertinent material that might be in her possession. It took
a lot of searching, but finally the one-book version turned up. And that was all she found.
The copy of the later work that I had sent Fred Pohl was the only one to survive. If I had
not sent-and Fred had not kept-that manuscript, this story wouldn't exist.

I know what Doc had had in mind-and certainly I am the only one who knows-so from the
pieces in my possession I have been able to reconstruct the present book, Subspace
Encounter. I believe Doc would have approved of what I have done.

-LLOYD ARTHUR ESHBACH

PROLOGUE

TO ASCRIBE the occurrence of two or more events to coincidence is either to admit
ignorance of, or to deny the existence of, some fundamental relationship. Nevertheless,
all previous investigations into the Early Psionic Age "explained" it, as can be shown by
rigorous analysis, by employing coincidence to an extent that is scientifically
preposterous. This one does not, as a matter of fact, it denies the existence of
coincidence.

This work is the result of years-long study of that Age. It is not, however; strictly
speaking, a history; since it does contain some material that is not incontrovertibly
factual. On the other hand, it is far from being a mere historical novel. Therefore, it
should, perhaps-and using the term more or less loosely-be called a chronicle.

At the time in which this chronicle is laid, interstellar flight, while not the one hundred
percent-safe matter it now is, was far and away the safest means of travel known.
Insurance companies offered odds of tens of thousands of dollars to one dollar that any
given star-traveler would return unharmed from any given startrip to any one of the
ninety-five colonized planets of explored space aboard any starship he chose.

There were a few accidents, of course. Worse, there were a few complete
disappearances of starships; cases in which no calls of distress were sent out and of
which no traces were ever found.
Aboard the starship Procyon there were four psychics. Barbara Warner was a
full-fledged psiontist. She knew it and worked at the trade. Whenever her father; the
owner of WarnOil (Warner Oil, to give the business entity its full name) wanted another
million-barrel gusher she went out, looked around, and told him where to bore his well. In
ten years, on ninety-six planets, WarnOil had not drilled a dry hole. All were gushers of
fantastic production.

The other three were latents. Carlyle Deston, First Officer of the Procyon, and Theodore
Jones, its Second, had always had hunches, but neither had ever mentioned the fact.
Bernice Burns, a post-deb of upper-crust society, was actually a clairvoyant psiontist, but
she would not admit the fact even to herself. Deston and Barbara fell in love at first sight
and were married a few minutes later, and Jones and Bernice were not far behind them.

Catastrophe struck-without warning, with split-second speed and with utter and incredible