"Asimov, Isaac - Anniversary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

"Where are they?"

"I don't know. We haven't stayed in one place, you know."

"You didn't throw them out, did you?"

"No, but things do get lost when you move."

"If you didn't throw them out, they must be somewhere in this
house."

"If they didn't get lost. I swear I don't recall seeing them hi fifteen
years."

"What were they?"

Warren Moore said, "One was a fountain pen, as I recall; a real
antique, the kind that used an ink-spray cartridge. What gets me,
though, is that the other was a small field glass, not more than about
six inches long. You see what I mean? A field glass?"

"An optikon," shouted Brandon. "Sure!"

"It's just a coincidence," said Moore, trying to remain level-
headed. "Just a curious coincidence."

But Brandon wasn't having it. "A coincidence, nuts! Trans-space
couldn't find the optikou on the wreck and they couldn't find it in
space because you had it all along."

"You're crazy,"

"Come on, we've got to find the thing now."

Moore blew out his breath. "Well, I'll look, if that's what you
want, but I doubt that I'll find it. Okay, let's start with the storage
level. That's the logical place."

Shea chuckled. "The logical place is usually the worst place to
look." But they all headed for the power ramp once more and the
additional flight upward.

The storage level had a musty, unused odor to it. Moore turned on
the precipitron. "I don't think we've precipitated the dust in two
years. That shows you how often I'm up here. Now, let's see—if it's
anywhere at all, it would be in with the bachelor collection. I mean

the junk I've been hanging on to

since bachelor days. We can start here."