"Philip E. High - The Artifact" - читать интересную книгу автора (High Phillip E)

“I do not say it's radioactive as such, but it's giving offsomething . It's lessening slowly, but I'd prefer not
to touch it. I suggest an examination by experts.”

Ransome shrugged. “If you say so—anything else?”

“Yes, the remains of this body: that, too, should be thoroughly examined before being incinerated.”

He looked at me directly. “You sound very sure of yourself. What's the next move?”
“Only advice, Chief, is leave it to the experts. They'll probably have results by morning—you can move
on from there.”

Very early next morning, he had me up and dressed just after five.

Alone in his office, he said: “I have the findings, all of them, and the relevant departments are here. You
were correct: number one, the vase was giving off some form of radiation but not nuclear, they have no
idea what. Number two, and more disturbing, the substance of the vase defies analysis. They have no
idea what it is and can only conclude it's totally alien.”

Ransome paused and shuffled papers angrily around. “The report on the human remains is even more
disturbing. One hand was complete but the fingers had no prints! They had not been erased—they were
just perfectly smooth. The mangled body had no liver or spleen and there was nothing, absolutelynothing
inside the shattered skull.” He glared at me.

“What do you make of this, Barret—you must have ideas?”

“Well, chief, if the fire had taken place, from common sense alone, we should never have known or
suspected that the charred remains were not those of Berenof.”

Ransome nodded slowly. “And that is common sense alone, it has nothing to do with your faculties?”

“No, Chief.”

He nodded, frowning. “Going to be honest with you, boy, it's only fair, although I expect your
introduction here has been none too easy. This may hurt, mind you, but it's better you know the truth.
When the Police Authority tried to introduce you—and the idea that goes with you—forty-seven
precincts in the area turned you, and the idea down flat.

“I'll be frank, I took you on out of pity and a few other things. I felt you should be given a chance if
nothing else. I knew you'd put in twelve years training to do whatever it is you do and you ought to be
given the chance to use it. To me it looked as if you stood on the brink of redundancy otherwise.”

He paused then continued. “Now we come to the gritty bit. The word ‘sensitive’ means absolutely
nothing to me. I am just as ignorant and possibly, just as prejudiced as the precincts which turned you
down. I confess, frankly, that their misconceptions are mine. The Police Authority has not been exactly
open about your purpose in the force. What you are then, to me and the average mind, is a mixture of
clairvoyants, palmists, fortune tellers and aloof mystics.”

He paused again. “I have been honest with you, boy, I don't think it's asking too much to expect the
same in return.”