"Theodore Sturgeon - Ether Breather" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sturgeon Theodore)

Well, there you are. And by the recording, Griff had been right about the repetitious three lit
words in the Azores se-quence. I was floored.
After it was over, Berbelot said to Griff: "I think I can speak for Mr. Hamilton when I say that
this is an actual recording, we owe you an apology; also when I say that we do not accept yo
evidence until we have compiled our own. I recorded that program as it came over my set, as
have recorded all my advertising. We will see you tomorrow, and we will bring that sound film
Coming, Hamilton?"
I nodded and we left, leaving Griff to chew his lip.

I'd like to skip briefly over the last chapter of that eve-ning's nightmare. Berbelot picked up
camera expert on the way, and we had the films developed within an hour after we arrived at t
fantastic "house that perfume built." And if I was crazy, so was Berbelot: and if he was, then
was the camera. So help me, that blasted program came out on Berbelot's screen exactly as it h
on my set and his. If anyone ever took a long-distance cussing out, it was Griff that night. W
figured, of course, that he had planted a phony recording on us, so that we wouldn't sue. He'd d
the same thing in court, too. I told Berbelot so. He shook his head.
"No, Hamilton, we can't take it to court. Associated gave me that broadcast, the first col
commercial, on condition that I sign away their responsibility for `incomplete, or inade-quate,
otherwise unsatisfactory performance.' They didn't quite trust that new apparatus, you know. "
"Well, I'll sue for both of us, then," I said.
"Did they buy all rights?" he asked.
"Yes . . . damn! They got me, too! They have a legal right to do anything they want." I thre
my cigarette into the elec-tric fire, and snapped on Berbelot's big television set, tuning it
Associated's XZB.
Nothing happened.
"Hey! Your set's on the bum!" I said. Berbelot got up and began fiddling with the dial. I w
wrong. There was nothing the matter with the set. It was Associated. All of their stations were o
the airтАФall four of them. We looked at each other.
"Get XZW," said Berbelot. "It's an Associated affiliate, un-der cover. Maybe we can-"
XZW blared out at us as I spun the dial. A dance program, the new five-beat stuff. Sudden
the announcer stuck his face into the transmitter.
"A bulletin from Iconoscope News Service," he said con-versationally. "FCC has clamp
down on Associated Televi-sion. And its stations. They are off the air. The reasons were n
given, but it is surmised that it has to do with a little strong language used on the world premiere
Associated's new color transmission. That is all."
"I expected that," smiled Berbelot. "Wonder how Griff'll alibi himself out of that? If he tries
use that recording of his, I'll most cheerfully turn mine over to the government, and we'll have hi
for perjury."
"Sorta tough on Associated, isn't it?" I said.
"Not particularly. You know these .big corporations. Asso-ciated gets millions out of their fo
networks, but those millions are just a drop in the bucket compared with the other pies they've g
their fingers in. That color technique, for instance. Now that they can't use it for a while, ho
many other outfits will miss the chance of bidding for the method and equipment? They lose som
advertising contracts, and they save by not operating. They won't even feel it. I'll bet you'll s
color transmission within forty-eight hours over a rival network."
He was right. Two days later Cineradio had a color broad-cast scheduled, and all hell bro
loose. What they'd done to the Berbelot hour and my "Seashell" was really tame.
The program was sponsored by one of the antigravity in-dustriesтАФ I forget which. They
hired Raouls Stavisk, the composer, to play one of the ancient Gallic operas he'd ex-humed.
was a piece called "Carmen" and had been practi-cally forgotten for two centuries. News of it h