"John Varley - Mammoth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Varley John)

for..."

" 'Haring off after a wild hair,' that's what somebody once said about it."

"There was that rigid-frame airship you were talking about a while back," Matt said. "What ever
happened to that?"

"That's still in development," Christian said, a bit defensively. The neozeppelin project,
code-named Zipper, was actually in the prototype stage, and had thus far eaten well over a hundred
million of Howard Christian's dollars and returned nothing.

"Twice the length of the Hindenberg, was it?" Matt asked.

"Just about."

"Pretty expensive to fill it with helium."

"We're using hydrogen."

Matt laughed in real admiration.

"That will be a real heavy lifter. So long as you can keep it from exploding."

"Not a problem. There won't be anything aboard that can make a spark. Carbon composite
construction, throughout."

"I also heard you're trying to clone a mammoth. Anyway, knowing just these things about you, I
asked myself what a man like you would want from a man like me. You offer a lot of money and a
ride in a fancy car and a fine meal"—Matt gestured with half a hamburger—"and then you casually
ask if I believe time travel is possible. The conclusion I draw is that you may want me to make you a
time machine and get you a mammoth. It's wild, but it's all I can think of. Now tell me where I went
wrong."

Christian didn't say anything for a few moments.

"First, answer my question. Is time travel possible?"

"Without question."

"You're talking about something on the subatomic level, aren't you?"

"Sure. There's a type of quantum entanglement whereby two particles can influence each other
even though they're separated by many light-years of distance and thousands of years of time."

"Okay. Hypothetically, then. Is it possible to build the kind of time machine, the kind
that"—Christian spread his hands wryly—"that a man like me would want to buy?"

"You're talking about a fancy bicycle with a crystal handle and rotating thingamabobs and so
forth like in a movie."