"Джон Варли. Платежное поручение(engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

"I have the feeling Rethrick is a great deal more than just another
construction company the SP wants to control."
"I suppose it is. I really don't know. I'm just a receptionist. I've
never been to the Plant. I don't even know where it is."
"But you wouldn't want anything to happen to it."
"Of course not! They're fighting the Police. Anyone that's fighting the
Police is on our side."
"Really? I've heard that kind of logic before. Anyone fighting
communism was automatically good, a few decades ago. Well, time will tell.
As far as I'm concerned I'm an individual caught between two ruthless
forces. Government and business. The Government has men and wealth. Rethrick
Construction has its technocracy. What they've done with it, I don't know. I
did, a few weeks ago. All I have now is a faint glimmer, a few references. A
theory."
Kelly glanced at him. "A theory?"
"And my pocketful of trinkets. Seven. Three or four now. I've used
some. They're the basis of my theory. If Rethrick is doing what I think it's
doing, I can understand the SP's interest. As a matter of fact, I'm
beginning to share their interest."
"What is Rethrick doing?"
"It's developed a time scoop."
"What?"
"A time scoop. It's been theoretically possible for several years. But
it's illegal to experiment with time scoops and mirrors. It's a felony, and
if you're caught, all your equipment and data becomes the property of the
Government." Jennings smiled crookedly. "No wonder the Government's
interested. If they can catch Rethrick with the goods --"
"A time scoop. It's hard to believe."
"Don't you think I'm right?"
"I don't know. Perhaps. Your trinkets. You're not the first to come out
with a little cloth sack of odds and ends. You've used some? How?"
"First, the wire and the bus token. Getting away from the Police. It
seems funny, but if I hadn't had them, I'd be there yet. A piece of wire and
a ten-cent token. But I don't usually carry such things. That's the point."
"Time travel."
"No. Not time travel. Berkowsky demonstrated that time travel is
impossible. This is a time scoop, a mirror to see and a scoop to pick up
things. These trinkets. At least one of them is from the future. Scooped up.
Brought back."
"How do you know?"
"It's dated. The others, perhaps not. Things like tokens and wire
belong to classes of things. Any one token is as good as another. There, he
must have used a mirror."
"He?"
"When I was working with Rethrick. I must have used the mirror. I
looked into my own future. If I was repairing their equipment I could hardly
keep from it! I must have looked ahead, seen what was coming. The SP picking
me up. I must have seen that, and seen what a piece of thin wire and a bus
token would do - if I had them with me at the exact moment."
Kelly considered. "Well? What do you want me for?"