Атлант расправил плечи
Anti-Life
"Wehadtohavethatplan!Witheverythingfallingtopiecesandstopping,somethinghadtobedone!Wehadtostopthemfromstopping!Wecouldn’thelpit!"
Hiseyesweredesperate;shedidnotknowwhetherhewasboastingorbeggingforforgiveness;shedidnotknowwhetherthiswastriumphorterror."Jim,don’tyoufeelwell?Maybeyou’veworkedtoohardandyou’rewornoutand—"
"I’veneverfeltbetterinmylife!"hesnapped,resuminghispacing.
"YoubetI’veworkedhard.Myworkisbiggerthananyjobyoucanhopetoimagine.It’saboveanythingthatgrubbingmechanicslikeReardenandmysister,aredoing.Whatevertheydo,Icanundoit.Letthembuildatrack—Icancomeandbreakit,justlikethat!"
Hesnappedhisfingers."Justlikebreakingaspine."
"Youwanttobreakspines?"shewhispered,trembling.
"Ihaven’tsaidthat!"hescreamed."What’sthematterwithyou?Ihaven’tsaidit!"
"I’msorry,Jim!"shegasped,shockedbyherownwordsandbytheterrorinhiseyes."It’sjustthatIdon’tunderstand,but...butIknowIshouldn’tbotheryouwithquestionswhenyou’resotired"—shewasstrugglingdesperatelytoconvinceherself—"whenyouhavesomanythingsonyourmind...such...suchgreatthings...thingsIcan’tevenbegintothinkof..."
Hisshoulderssagged,relaxing.
