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| 3001 The final Odissey |
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Страница 50 из 91 I`m still trying to make up my mind. Tomorrow, I`ll talk it over with Captain Chandler. Will let you know what we decide. Love, Frank. STORE TRANSMIT INDRA 21 Quarantine `Do you believe in ghosts, Dim?` `Certainly not: but like every sensible man, I`m afraid of them. Why do you ask?` `If it wasn`t a ghost, it was the most vivid dream I`ve ever had. Last night I had a conversation with Dave Bowman.` Poole knew that Captain Chandler would take him seriously, when the occasion required; nor was he disappointed. `Interesting -- but there`s an obvious explanation. You`ve been living here in the Bowman Suite, for Deus`s sake! You told me yourself it feels haunted.` `I`m sure -- well, ninety-nine per cent sure -- that you`re right, and the whole thing was prompted by the discussions I`ve been having with Prof. Ted. Have you heard the reports that Dave Bowman occasionally appears in Anubis? About once every hundred years? Just as he did to Dr Floyd aboard Discovery, after she`d been reactivated.` `What happened there? I`ve heard vague stories, but never taken them seriously.` `Dr Khan does -- and so do I -- I`ve seen the original recordings. Floyd`s sitting in my old chair when a kind of dust-cloud forms behind him, and shapes itself into Dave -- though only the head has detail. Then it gives that famous message, warning him to leave.` `Who wouldn`t have? But that was a thousand years ago. Plenty of time to fake it.` `What would be the point? Khan and I were looking at it yesterday. I`d bet my life it`s authentic.` `As a matter of fact, I agree with you. And I have heard those reports...` Chandler`s voice trailed away, and he looked slightly embarrassed. `Long time ago, I had a girl-friend here in Anubis. She told me that her grandfather had seen Bowman. I laughed.` `I wonder if Ted has that sighting on his list. Could you put him in touch with your friend?` `Er -- rather not. We haven`t spoken for years. For all I know, she may be on the Moon, or Mars... Anyway, why is Professor Ted interested?` `That`s what I really wanted to discuss with you.` `Sounds ominous. Go ahead,` `Ted thinks that Dave Bowman -- or whatever he`s become -- may still exist -- up there on Europa.` `After a thousand years?` `Well -- look at me.` `One sample is poor statistics, my maths prof. used to say. But go on.` `It`s a complicated story -- or maybe a jigsaw, with most of the pieces missing. But it`s generally agreed that something crucial happened to our ancestors when that Monolith appeared in Africa, four million years ago. It marks a turning point in prehistory -- the first appearance of tools -- and weapons -- and religion... That can`t be pure coincidence. The Monolith must have done something to us -- surely it couldn`t have just stood there, passively accepting worship...` `Ted`s fond of quoting a famous palaeontologist who said "TMA ZERO gave us an evolutionary kick in the pants". He argues that the kick wasn`t in a wholly desirable direction. Did we have to become so mean and nasty to survive? Maybe we did... As I understand him, Ted believes that there`s something fundamentally wrong with the wiring of our brains, which makes us incapable of consistent logical thinking. To make matters worse, though all creatures need a certain amount of aggressiveness to survive, we seem to have far more than is absolutely necessary. And no other animal tortures its fellows as we do. Is this an evolutionary accident -- a piece of genetic bad luck? `It`s also widely agreed that TMA ONE was planted on the Moon to keep track of the project -- experiment -- whatever it was -- and to report to Jupiter -- the obvious place for Solar System Mission Control. That`s why |
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