Наши партнеры:
| 3001 The final Odissey |
|
|
Страница 70 из 91 can even carry on a kind of dialogue with it. If that`s the right word -- since you need two people for that! I still can`t really grasp the idea that the Monolith, for all its powers, doesn`t possess consciousness -- doesn`t even know that it exists!` `Halman`s been brooding over the problem for a thousand years -- on and off -- and has come to the same answer that most of us have done. But his conclusion must surely carry far more weight, because of his inside knowledge.` `Sorry! I wasn`t intending to make a joke -- but what else could you call it?` `Whatever went to the trouble of creating us -- or at least tinkering with our ancestors` minds and genes -- is deciding what to do next. And Halman is pessimistic. No -- that`s an exaggeration. Let`s say he doesn`t think much of our chances, but is now too detached an observer to be unduly worried. The future -- the survival! -- of the human race isn`t much more than an interesting problem to him, but he`s willing to help.` Poole suddenly stopped talking, to the surprise of his intent audience. `That`s strange. I`ve just had an amazing flashback... I`m sure it explains what`s happening. Please bear with me.` `Dave and I were walking together one day, along the beach at the Cape, a few weeks before launch, when we noticed a large beetle lying on the sand. As often happens, it had fallen on its back and was waving its legs in the air, struggling to get right-way-up.` `I ignored it -- we were engaged in some complicated technical discussion -- but not Dave. He stepped aside, and carefully flipped it over with his shoe. As it flew away I commented, "Are you sure that was a good idea? Now it will go off and chomp somebody`s prize chrysanthemums." And he answered, "Maybe you`re right. But I`d like to give it the benefit of the doubt." `My apologies -- I`d promised to say only a few words! But I`m very glad I remembered that incident: I really believe it puts Halman`s message in the right perspective. He`s giving the human race the benefit of the doubt...` `Now please check your Braincaps. This is a high-density recording -- top of the u.v. band, Channel 110. Make yourselves comfortable, but be sure you`re free line of sight. Here we go...` 35 Council of War No one asked for a replay. Once was sufficient. There was a brief silence when the playback finished; then Chairperson Dr Oconnor removed her Braincap, massaged her shining scalp, and said slowly: `You taught me a phrase from your period that seems very appropriate now. This is a can of worms.` `But only Bowman -- Halman -- has opened it,` said one of the Committee members. `Does he really understand the operation of something as complex as the Monolith? Or is this whole scenario a figment of his imagination?` `I don`t think he has much imagination,` Dr Oconnor answered. `And everything checks perfectly. Especially the reference to Nova Scorpio. We assumed that was an accident; apparently it was a -- judgement.` `First Jupiter -- now Scorpio,` said Dr Kraussman, the distinguished physicist who was popularly regarded as a reincarnation of the legendary Einstein. A little plastic surgery, it was rumoured, had also helped. `Who will be next in line?` `We always guessed,` said the Chair, `that the TMAs were monitoring us.` She paused for a moment, then added ruefully: `What bad -- what incredibly bad! -- luck that the fmal report went off, just after the very worst period in human history!` There was another silence. Everyone knew that the twentieth century had often been branded `The Century of Torture` Poole listened without interrupting, while he waited for some consensus to emerge. Not for the first time, he was impressed by the quality of the Committee No one was trying to prove a pet theory, score debating points, or |
| « Пред. |
|---|