"James P. Hogan - The Proteus Operation" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

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kind of milky white, translucent, moderately flexible plastic. He had seen a similar kind of
plastic in some experimental electrical devices that he'd been shown, but he hadn't realized it
was generally available to the public. Such was progress, he supposed.

The lid was secured by more transparent adhesive strip, and the inside filled to the top
with pellets of a practically weightless packing material, again new to him. Inside the packing he
found some photographs, in color and of a quality that Churchill had never seen before; a
collection of artifacts that looked like tiny electrical components; a flat metal box, smaller
than a cigarette pack, with rows of tiny buttons on the front, all carrying numerals and other
symbols, arrayed in rows below a rectangular win --
dow; a second, similar box, but this time dismantled to reveal an astonishingly intricate
interior; and finally a folded piece of notepaper.

Churchill picked up one of the photographs curiously. It showed an aircraft in flight, but
an aircraft of a kind which to him was completely revolutionary. It had a long, needle-sharp nose,
and angled-back wings; there was no propeller. A caption on the back read, Supersonic jet-
propelled interceptor/bomber. Speed: greater than 2.5 times sound. Range: 3,400 miles without in-
flight refueling. Ceiling: 90,000 feet. Armament: 8 radio-directed heat-seeking air-to-air rocket
missiles, range 20 miles.

"What on earth?" Churchill breathed bemusedly. His face creased into an uncomprehending
scowl.

The next picture showed a sleek, pointed cylinder that resembled an artillery shell,
except that it stood several stories high, as could be seen from the figures standing next to it.
According to the caption on the back, it was an enormous rocket. More pictures showed unfamiliar
machines, buildings, and unidentifiable objects. Another caption read, Power reactor harnessing
the energy of the atomic nucleus on an industrial scale, using artificial trans-uranic element 239
as fuel. Output 800 Megawatts.

Completely baffled by this time, Churchill set down the photographs and picked up the
assembled model of the flat box with buttons. A cursory inspection revealed a small switch set
between inscriptions ON and OFF, and pointing to OFF. He moved the switch to ON, and a row of
numbers appeared in the rectangular window above the buttons. Pressing a button labelled CLEAR
erased the numbers. The numeral buttons caused numbers to reappear, and further experimenting
revealed that the "+," " -- ," and other buttons performed simple calculations. Slowly it dawned
on him that the device could be used for other calculations, too, relating to branches of
mathematics that he had long forgotten, if indeed he had ever had any grasp of them at all -- a
conjecture which he would have been the first to admit as improbable.

Churchill was staggered as the meaning sank in. Even the newest of the desk calculators
that he had seen demonstrated were hopelessly simple and clumsy by comparison to this -- heavy,
noisy, ungainly contraptions, packed with levers and wheels and resembling office typewriters. And
yet he had been assured they were among the wonders of the age. If so, what kind of technology had
produced the device that he was holding in his hand? Where could it have come from? He picked up
the notepaper, unfolded it, and read:

Dear Mr Churchill;