Конец вечности
The Closing Circle
Twissellwassaying,"NowwhatIreallywantedtodowastoinstallhandcontrolsinsidethekettle,aswediscussed,butthereisn’tanyway,apparently.Theengineerssimplymusthaveasourceofpowerlargeenoughtohandletemporaldisplacementandthatisn’tavailableoutsideEternity.TemporaltensionwhileoccupyingthePrimitiveisallthatcanbemanaged.However,wehaveareturnlever."
Heledthemintothekettle,pickinghiswayamongthepiledsupplies,andpointedouttheobtrudingfingerofmetalthatnowmarredthesmoothinnerwallofthekettle.
"Itamountstotheinstallationofasimpleswitch,"hesaid."InsteadofreturningautomaticallytoEternity,thekettlewillremaininthePrimitiveindefinitely.Oncetheleverisplungedhome,however,youwillreturn.Therewillthenbethematterofthesecondand,Ihope,finaltrip-"
"Asecondtrip?"askedNoysatonce.
Harlansaid,"Ihaven’texplainedthat.Look,thisfirsttripisintendedmerelytofixthetimeofCooper’sarrivalprecisely.Wedon’tknowhowlongaTime-lapseexistsbetweenhisarrivalandtheplacingoftheadvertisement.We’llreachhimbythepost-officebox,andlearn,ifpossible,theexactminuteofhisarrival,orascloseaswecan,anyway.
