"A. E. Van Vogt - The Players of Null-A" - читать интересную книгу автора (Van Vogt A E)

‘Possibly, possibly’--Madrisol looked impatient, and the mechanical translator made his voice sound the same way--
‘but I’ll take that up with ----‘
'Here on Venus,' Gosseyn urged, 'we have an intact distorter ship transmitter capable of handling spaceships ten
thousand feet long. Perhaps your people could make use of that. Perhaps you could give me some idea as to how long
such a transmitter remains similarized with transmitters on other stars.'
'I shall refer all these matters,' said Madrisol, to the proper experts, and decisions will be made. I presume there will
be someone available and authorized to discuss the problem at your end.'
'I'll have the roboperator see to it that you talk to the, uh, properly constituted authorities here,' said Gosseyn, and
suppressed a smile. There were no 'authorities' on Venus, but this was no time to go into the vast subject of Null-A
voluntary democracy.
'Good-by and good luck.'
 There was a click, and the intense face vanished from the plate. Gosseyn instructed the roboperator to switch all
future calls from space to the Institute of Semantics in the nearest city, and broke the connection. He was reasonably
satisfied. He had set another process in motion and, though he had no intention of waiting, at least he was doing what
he could.
Next, Janasen--even if it meant going back to Earth.
 III
NULL-ABSTRACTS

In order to be sane and adjusted as a human being, an individual must realize that he cannot know all there is to
know. It is not enough to understand this limitation intellectually; the understanding must be an orderly and
conditioned process, 'unconscious' as well as 'conscious'. Such a conditioning is essential to the balanced pursuit of
knowledge of the nature of matter and life.

The hour seemed late, and Janasen was not yet recovered from the surprise of having been snatched from the offices
of the Institute of Emigration. He had not suspected the presence of a transport machine in his own office. The
Follower must have other agents in this planetary system. He looked around him cautiously. He was in a dimly lighted
park area. A waterfall cascaded from some invisible height beyond a clump of trees. The plume of spray glittered in the
vague light.
The Follower stood partly silhouetted against the spray, but his formless body seemed to merge with the greater
darkness on every side. The silence grew long, and Janasen fidgeted, but he knew better than to speak first. At last the
Follower stirred, and drifted several feet nearer.
'I had difficulty adjusting myself,' he said. 'These intricate energy problems have always annoyed me, since I am not
mechanically minded.'
Janasen held his silence. He had not expected an explanation, and he did not feel qualified to interpret the one he had
received. He waited.
'We must take a chance,' said the Follower. 'I have followed my present course because I wish to isolate Gosseyn
from those who could help him and, if necessary, destroy him. The plan that I have agreed to pursue in support of Enro
the Red cannot be interfered with by a person of unknown potentialities.'
In the darkness, Janasen shrugged. For a moment, then, he wondered at his own indifference. For a moment there
was a bright thought in his mind that there was something supernormal about a man like himself. The thought passed. It
didn't matter what chance he took, or what were the unknown potentialities of his opponents. He didn't care. 'I'm a tool,'
he told himself with pride. I serve a shadow master.'
He laughed wildly. For he was intoxicated with his own ego, and the things that he did and felt and thought. Janasen
he had called himself because it was as close as he could get to his real name. David Janasen.
The Follower spoke again. 'There are curious blurs,' he said, 'in the future of this man Gosseyn, but pictures do come
through . . . though no Predictor can get them clearly. Yet I am sure that he will seek you out. Do not try to prevent
him. He will find that your name was on the list of passengers of the President Hardie. He will wonder that he did not
see you, but at least it will indicate to him that you are now on Venus. At this moment we are in a park in downtown
New Chicago '