"John Varley - Anthology - Super Heroes - Various Authors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Varley John)

"The bullets were electronically programmed to stop on impact, and
activate a miniaturized electromagnet that was tuned to the frequency of a
metallic salve that I had coated his left palm with."
"Ingenious," exclaimed Parker. "Where did you ever get your idea for
PROJECT SUPERHERO?"
"Where else?" said Kirschenbaum. "The comic books."
"Well, it certainly works," said Parker, patting the older
Brian M. Thomson
doctor on the back. "In less than two hours we can turn an ordinary
soldier with human flaws and instincts for self-preservation into a confident
and carefree hero with no other concerns except the completion of his
mission. One man dies so that many can be saved. No matter how you look
at it, that's a more than acceptable casualty rate. Lt. O'Connor, aka Meteor
Man I, will get a hero's funeral, and the day will be saved."
"A hero's funeral," mused the increasingly more depressed Dr.
Kirschenbaum. ' 'I remember reading about the Soviet firemen who rushed
into Chernobyl to contain the fire to keep the plant from exploding,
knowing that in doing so they were signing their own death warrants. I also
remember stories of soldiers earning medals that were awarded
posthumously by jumping on top of hand grenades…"
"That's where you got your idea for Meteor Man smothering the atomic
bomb that would have leveled Las Vegas," Parker added gleefully.
"I guess," responded Kirschenbaum, "but you've missed the point. In the
past there was a time for heroes, when extraordinary men responded to
extraordinary circumstances. No one could predict it, yet somehow, because
of the appearance of a few good men, we always managed to survive. It was
a time of heroes, and one always showed up on time."
"Now all we have to do is invent our own," added Parker, "and we never
have to worry about one showing up too late. We turned Lt. O'Conner into
Meteor Man in under two hours, and averted the crisis with three hours to
spare. What more could we want?"
 "What more could Lt. O'Conner want?" Kirschenbaum responded
sardonically. "Maybe just a real chance to be a hero, no deceptions, no false
bravado. Maybe all he wanted was the chance to give up his life for the
common good. Maybe it was his time to be a hero."
"I'd rather not take that risk," said Parker.
"I suppose you wouldn't," replied Kirschenbaum, turning off the monitor
till the next crisis, until the time arrived when Meteor Man II would make
his entrance.
Peer Review
MICHAEL A. STACKPOLE
The law can be extremely complicated with twists and turns. How do the
laws of man apply to beings who are only marginally human?
Dan Rather smiled for a second before composing his face into the
solemn mask he affected when imparting distressful news to the people of
America. "The tumultuous kidnap and assault case involving Maria
Hopkins, a desperately ill young woman, her little brother Nathan, and the
masked vigilante Revenant took a couple of odd twists today. After the
American Justice Commission—a group of superheroes united to uphold
the laws of the United States—announced they would hold a hearing on