"Robert F. Young - Ghosts" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

mean—that only one in a million is lucky in love. Or maybe what we're trying to do is harder than, we
think."
"Maybe," Jim answered. "And maybe it's because they do things between scenes that we don't know
about."
"Do things such as what?"
"Like maybe they take off their clothes and kiss and hug that way."
"Why would they take their clothes off? What difference would their being naked make?"
"I don't know," said Jim, "but it wouldn't hurt to try."

THAT evening before they sat down on the sofa they removed their clothes. Professor Tom had lost
interest in sex even before he retired and Jenny's body, although differently shaped, wasn't a great deal
different from Jim's. The movie they watched abounded in love scenes, but although they embraced and
kissed every time the two main characters did, their efforts went as unrewarded as before.
During one dawn, as they sat disconsolately on their doorstep, Jim said, "I think I know the reason,
Jenny—I think I know why for us it doesn't work. We're different—and this world is different, too.
We're going to have to make it happen. We've got everything we need to work with, thanks to Professor
Tom, and he taught us practically all he knew. Maybe he foresaw a time like this."
They got busy right away. Jim made the blueprint first, after consulting several of Professor Tom's
books. Then he made all the parts. Jenny helped him with the assembling. They worked day and night,
taking time out only to watch the old movies and to kiss and embrace like the stars. There was hope in
them now and they put more and more passion into their kisses.
"I want it to be a boy," Jenny said.
"Yes," Jim answered. "I want a son."
They had begun work in midsummer. Fall was on hand when they finished, and yellow and crimson
patterns had begun to show upon the hills. Jim had built a lightweight electric motor to provide the
necessary power. He made two light but long-lasting batteries to feed it. Together he and Jenny climbed
the valley slope.
"We'll give it all the height we can," he said. "That way it'll have a maximum chance of getting to
wherever it has to go and of returning with its bundle."
He turned on the little motor and released the device into the air. Slowly it rose into the sky. It circled
the valley once, as he had programed it to do, then sped off toward the south.
Jenny said, "But suppose the nursery doesn't lie in that direction."
"Then—after it comes back we'll recharge its batteries and send it to the west. And after that, if
necessary, to the east and to the north. The nursery has to be somewhere."
"Later on, if it's successful, we'll send it for others, won't we?" Jenny said.
"Of course. But first we'll make love—otherwise it won't work."
Hand in hand they walked down the slope and across the fields to the house.

THE captain of the supply ship found them in the living room six months later. They were sitting on
the sofa, their bodies covered with dust, their arms around each other, their lips touching in a final kiss.
Before them in the shadows an empty screen hung ghostlike on the wall. Behind them stood the
automatic projector they had used to project their dreams. The length of copper wire they had used to
short themselves out was lying on the floor at their feet.
The captain went all through the house. Professor Tom's note was lying on the bedtable beside his
empty bed. The captain read it. Then he returned to the living room and looked once more at the faces of
Jenny and Jim. He had known Tom all his life and he had known Tom's long dead wife. In Jenny's face
he saw young Tom's beloved bride—in Jim's, he saw young Tom.
 When he made them I'll bet he didn't even know ...
His first thought was to repair them, to bring them back to life. Then he found the mechanical stork
lying in the back yard. One of its canvas wings was broken, its tiny motor was burned out and its power