Конец вечности
Search through the Primitive
Doyouunderstand?"
Harlanwasagainbewildered,almostasmuchattheeasewithwhichTwissellpickedhiswaythroughthejungleoftemporallogic,asatthe"paradoxes"ofTime.Heshookhishead,"Iremembernothingofthesort."
"Well,then,wheredoyoukeepthefilesofthatperiodical?"
"IhadaspeciallibrarybuiltonLevelTwo,usingtheCooperpriority."
"Goodenough,"saidTwissell."Let’sgothere.Now!"
HarlanwatchedTwissellstarecuriouslyattheold,boundvolumesinthelibraryandthentakeonedown.TheyweresooldthatthefragilepaperhadtobepreservedbyspecialmethodsandtheycreakedunderTwissell’sinsufficientlygentlehandling.
Harlanwinced.InbettertimeshewouldhaveorderedTwissellawayfromthebooks,SeniorComputerthoughhewas.
Theoldmanpeeredthroughthecrinklingpagesandsilentlymouthedthearchaicwords."ThisistheEnglishthelinguistsarealwaystalkingabout,isn’tit?"heasked,tappingapage.
"Yes.English,"mutteredHarlan.
Twissellputthevolumeback."Heavyandclumsy."
Harlanshrugged.Tobesure,mostoftheCenturiesofEternitywerefilmeras.Arespectableminorityweremolecular-recordingeras.Still,printandpaperwerenotunheardof.
Hesaid,"Booksdon’trequiretheinvestmentintechnologythatfilmsdo."
Twissellrubbedhischin."Quite.
