"Robert F. Young - Time Travel Inc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

have to consider the different thought-world in which they lived. Certainly your character-counterparts,
regardless of the age you choose, will have reacted essentially the same to their societies as you have
reacted to yoursтАФbut not necessarily with the same results."
"Nevertheless," Reddinger said, "we still stand a pretty good chance of identifying with a couple of
reasonably well-off merchants. Right?"
The TT official sighed. "Let's put it this way," he said wearily: "Your chances of identifying with a rich
man are certainly better than your chances of identifying with a poor man. There has always been
opportunism in the world and I suspect there always will be. So if reassurance is what you're seeking,
Mr. Reddinger, I can give you that muchтАФbut no more. Now, if neither of you objects, I'll get on with
the rest of my lecture and you can be on your way to wherever you're going.
"As you know, we've done everything possible here at Time Travel, Inc. to insure the safety of our
customers. But there is one hazard which we cannot cope with and which you will have to regard as a
calculated risk.
"The length of time you remain in the past is up to you. You merely tell the Time-tech the number of
hours, days, or weeks, and he sets the temporal pattern accordingly. But, once set, the pattern is
inalterable. Therefore, if your character-counterparts should die during the period of time you are
indentifying with them, you too will die. We cannot revert to the moment before your death and bring
you back.
"However, I don't think either of you has much to worry about. The character-counterparts you will
identify with will probably be your physical as well as your mental equals, and since both of you are big
robust men, there is little likelihood of either you or your counterparts dying during any reasonable period
of identification. Nevertheless, there is a risk, and I must request your signatures on these two waivers."

Reddinger and Held read the documents the TT official handed them. There was a long silence
broken only by the occasional crackling of expensive parchment. Then: "Oh hell!" Reddinger said, and
signed his name. Held followed suit.
"Thank you, gentlemen," the TT official said. "If you'll follow me, pleaseтАФ"


THE Time Terminal was a disappointment. Reddinger, who was partial to B-movies, had expected
to see banks of colorful equipment lining the walls, crimson fluid gurgling through networks of glass
tubing, and blue flames arcing continuously between brightly polished terminals. Instead, he saw a row of
couches, reminiscent of hospital beds, each with a crystal canopy suspended; several feet above it. Then
he noticed the footboards, and his faith in his civilization was restored: each of them boasted a control
panel almost, but not quite, as lavish as the dashboard of the new 1977 Road Queen he had just put on
display in his uptown showroom.
The TT official introduced Reddinger and Held to the Time-tech, and left. The Time-tech, another
annoyingly young man, escorted them to two adjacent couches. "Lie down, gentlemen," he said. "On
your backs, please."

Both men complied. Reddinger felt foolishтАФand a little frightened. He turned his head, caught Held's
eyes. "Still think she'll be there?" he asked.
"Absolutely," Held said. "Want to double the bet?"
"All right. Make it two thousand."
"Two thousand it is, then. I say she won't be there, you say she will be."
The Time-tech stepped between the couches. "What year do you wish to return to, gentlemen?"
"29 A.D.," Reddinger said.
"Oh... The Crucifixion. You want to witness it, of courseтАФ"
 "Of course," Reddinger said.
"You're quite fortunate. We've only recently been able to determine the exact day. You'll have to