"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Roadside Picnic (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

time."
"That makes it even more interesting to hear what you felt when your
hometown became the site of an Invasion from a supercivilization from
space."
"To tell the truth, I first thought it was a hoax. It was hard to
imagine that anything like that could possibly happen In our little Harmont.
Gobi or Newfoundland seemed more likely than Harmont."
"Nevertheless, you finally had to believe it."
"Finally--yes."
"And then?"
"It suddenly occurred to me that Harmont and the other five Visitation
Zones--sorry, my mistake, there were only four other sites known at the
time-that all of them fit on a very smooth curve. I calculated the
coordinates and sent them to Nature. "
"And you weren't at all concerned with the fate of your hometown?"
"Not really. You see, by then I had come to believe in the Visitation,
but I simply could not force myself to believe the hysterical reports about
burning neighborhoods and monsters that selectively devoured only old men
and children and about bloody battles between the invulnerable invaders and
the highly vulnerable but steadfastly courageous Royal Tank Units."
"You were right. I remember that our reporters really botched the
story. But let's return to science. The discovery of the Pilman Radiant was
the first, but probably not the last, of your contributions to our knowledge
of the Visitation!"
"The first and last."
"But surely you have been carefully following the international
research in the Visitation Zones?"
"Yes. Once in a while I read the Reports. "
"You mean the Reports of the International Institute of
Extraterrestrial Cultures?"
"Yes."
"And what, in your opinion, has been the most important discovery in
these thirty years?"
"The fact of the Visitation itself."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The fact of the Visitation itself is the most important discovery not
only of the past thirty years but of the entire history of mankind. It's not
so important to know just who these visitors were. It's not important to
know where they came from, why they came, why they spent so little time
here, or where they disappeared to since. The important thing is that
humanity now knows for sure: we are not alone in the universe. I fear that
the Institute of Extraterrestrial Cultures will never be fortunate enough to
make a more fundamental discovery."
"This is very fascinating, Dr Pilman, but actually I was thinking more
of advances and discoveries of a technological nature. Discoveries that our
earth scientists and engineers could use. After all, many very important
scientists have proposed that the discoveries made in the Visitation Zones
are capable of changing the entire course of our history."
"Well, I don't subscribe to that point of view. And as for specific
discoveries--that's not my field."