Конец вечности

           Detachedlyhethought:Thelastminuteoflife?

           Minusthirtyseconds.

           Hethought:Itwillnothurt.Itisnotdeath.

           HetriedtothinkonlyofNoys.

           Minusfifteenseconds.

           Noys!

           Harlan’slefthandmovedaswitchdowntowardcontact.

           Minustwelveseconds.

           Contact!

           Hisrighthandmoved.

           Minusfiveseconds.

           Noys!

           Hisrighthandmo-ZERO-vedspasmodically.

           Hejumpedaway,panting.

           Twissellcameforward,peeringatthedial."TwentiethCentury,"hesaid."Nineteenpointthreeeight,tobeexact."

           Harlanchokedout,"Idon’tknow.Itriedtofeelthesame,butitwasdifferent.IknewwhatIwasdoingandthatmadeitdifferent."

           Twissellsaid,"Iknow,Iknow.Maybeit’sallwrong.Callitafirstapproximation."Hepausedamomentinmentalcalculation,tookapocketcomputerhalfoutofitscontainerandthrustitbackwithoutconsultingit."ToTimewiththedecimalpoints.Saytheprobabilityis0.99thatyousenthimbacktothesecondquarterofthe20th.Somewherebetween19.25and19.50.Allright?"

           "Idon’tknow."

           "Well,now,look.