"Jerry Davis - Elko the Potter (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

your harvest."
Unko walked around the unlikely contraption, staring. He
tried pushing and pulling it back and forth. "Son," he told Elko,
"this is very clever." A crowd gathered around, and they tested it
by filling it with a large load of grain. With it, one man could
carry in more than ten men could carry without it. Everyone agreed
that this was indeed very clever, and within a month the whole
valley was swarming with copies.
Elko's father still grumbled about his son's choice of
profession, but now there was a touch of admiration in his voice.
This was enough for Elko. His life seemed complete.

#

The report was titled: Elko Potter, Inventor of the Wheel.
Professor Raymond Burns submitted it to Technica along with a copy
of the recordings from the temporal viewer. It chronologged his
search for the first wheeled cart, tracing it back to one Sumerian
potter, then detailed the potter's life from birth to death.
Raymond had been waiting for the call. He'd been sitting in
his condo all morning wearing a suit and a tie, ready for the
occasion. He couldn't see anything other than complete acceptance,
as his thousand-to-one shot project had been a total success.
Raymond found Elko at the very last moment. He had to quick-talk
his way into another several hours with the temporal viewer so
that he could lock it on Elko and scan the man's entire existence.
The call came, and Raymond answered it with a quick, nervous
jab at the button. It was Barbara Lemmas, a professor of the
Seventh Level, one of Technica's local bigwigs. "Raymond, we've
reviewed your project," she said.
"Yes."
"This appears to be a major find. We have to talk about your
follow-up research."
"Yes."
"Meet us at Fine Hall, third floor."
"I'm on my way."
Lemmas nodded once and broke the connection. Fine Hall!

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Raymond thought. Third floor! It was the domain of the gods.
Technica was to science what the Catholic Church was to
religion. There were branches of it everywhere, influencing
everything, owning vast fortunes in knowledge and patent rights.
And here, in the Livermore Valley of California, was Technica's
"Vatican," The Institute of Human Endeavor. Here and only here
could one find humanity's only time machines --- three of them, to
be exact --- and the only Great Hall of Learning.
The board of directors, all professors of the sixth level and