Конец вечности
Trapped!
Therewasahomewhenproverbthatwent:"Gripthenettlefirmlyanditwillbecomeastickwithwhichtobeatyourenemy."
Inshort,NoyshadnoanalogueinthenewReality.Noanalogueatall.Shecouldtakeherpositioninthenewsocietyinthemostinconspicuousandconvenientmannerpossible,orshecouldstayinEternity.Therecouldbenoreasontodenyhimliaisonexceptforthehighlytheoreticalfactthathehadbrokenthelaw-andheknewverywellhowtocounterthatargument.
SohewentracingupwhentotellNoysthegreatnews,tobatheinundreamed-ofsuccessafterafewdayshorriblewithapparentfailure.
Andatthismomentthekettlecametoahalt.
Itdidnotslow;itsimplyhalted.Ifthemotionhadbeenonealonganyofthethreedimensionsofspace,ahaltthatsuddenwouldhavesmashedthekettle,broughtitsmetaltoadullredheat,turnedHarlanintoathingofbrokenboneandwet,crushedflesh.
Asitwas,itmerelydoubledhimwithnauseaandcrackedhimwithinnerpain.
Whenhecouldsee,hefumbledtothetemporometerandstaredatitwithfuzzyvision.Itread100,000.
Somehowthatfrightenedhim.Itwastooroundanumber.
Heturnedfeverishlytothecontrols.Whathadgonewrong?
Thatfrightenedhimtoo,forhecouldseenothingwrong.Nothinghadtrippedthedrive-lever.Itremainedfirmlygearedintotheupwhendrive.Therewasnoshortcircuit.
