"William Tenn - Brooklyn Project" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tenn William)

"Yes, sir. Consolidated News Service. Our readers are very curious about that in-cident of the
Federation of Chronar Scientists. Of course, they have no respect or pity for themтАФthe way they acted
and allтАФbut just what did they mean by saying that this experiment was dangerous because of insufficient
data? And that fellow, Dr. Shayson, their president, do you know if he'll be shot?"
The man in black pulled at his nose and paraded before them thoughtfully. "I must confess that I find
the views of the Federation of Chronar ScientistsтАФor the federa-tion of chronic sighers, as we at Pike's
Peak prefer to call themтАФare a trifle too exotic for my tastes; I rarely bother with weighing the opinions
of a traitor in any case. Shayson himself may or may not have incurred the death penalty for revealing the
nature of the work with which he was entrusted. On the other hand, heтАФuh, may not or may have. That
is all I can say about him for reasons of security."
Reasons of security. At the mention of the dread phrase, every reporter straightened against the
hard back of his chair. Culpepper's face lost its pinkness in favor of a glossy white. They can't consider
the part about Shayson a leading question, he thought desperately. But I shouldn't have cracked about
that damned federation!
Culpepper lowered his eyes and tried to look as ashamed of the vicious idiots as he possibly could.
He hoped the acting secretary to the executive assistant on press re-lations would notice his horror.
The clock began ticking very loudly. Its hand was now only one-fourth of an arc from the red dot at
the top. Down on the floor of the immense laboratory, activity had stopped. All of the seemingly tiny men
were clustered around two great spheres of shining metal resting against each other. Most of them were
watching dials and switch-boards intently; a few, their tasks completed, chatted with the circle of
black-jumpered Security guards.
"We are almost ready to begin Operation Periscope. Operation Periscope, of course, because we
are, in a sense, extending a periscope into the pastтАФa periscope which will take pictures and record
events of various periods ranging from fifteen thousand years to four billion years ago. We felt that in
view of the various critical circumstances attending this experimentтАФinternational, scientificтАФa more
fitting title would be Operation Crossroads. Unfortunately, that title has beenтАФuh, preempted."
Everyone tried to look as innocent of the nature of that other experiment as years of staring at
locked library shelves would permit.
"No matter. I will now give you a brief background in chronar practice as cleared by Brooklyn
Project Security. Yes, Bradley?"
Bradley again got partly out of his seat. "I was wonderingтАФwe know there has been a Manhattan
Project, a Long Island Project, a Westchester Project and now a Brook-lyn Project. Has there ever
been a Bronx Project? I come from the Bronx; you know, civic pride."
"Quite. Very understandable. However, if there is a Bronx Project you may be assured that until its
work has been successfully completed, the only individuals outside of it who will know of its existence
are the President and the Secretary of Security. IfтАФif, I sayтАФthere is such an institution, the world will
learn of it with the same shattering suddenness that it learned of the Westchester Project. I don't think
that the world will soon forget that."
He chuckled in recollection and Culpepper echoed him a bit louder than the rest. The clock's hand
was close to the red mark.
"Yes, the Westchester Project and now this; our nation shall yet be secure! Do you realize what a
magnificent weapon chronar places in our democratic hands? To ex-amine only one aspectтАФconsider
what happened to the Coney Island and Flatbush Subprojects (the events are mentioned in those sheets
you've received) before the uses of chronar were fully appreciated.
"It was not yet known in those first experiments that Newton's third law of mo-tionтАФaction
equalling reactionтАФheld for time as well as it did for the other three dimensions of space. When the first
chronar was excited backward into time for the length of a ninth of a second, the entire laboratory was
propelled into the future for a like period and returned in anтАФuh, unrecognizable condition. That fact, by
the way, has prevented excursions into the future. The equipment seems to suffer amaz-ing alterations
and no human could survive them. But do you realize what we could do to an enemy by virtue of that