Марсианские хроники
June 2001: — and the Moon Be Still as Bright
"Butitdidn’tworkout,"saidthecaptain.
"No.Afterthefifthkillingatbreakfast,IdiscoveredIwasn’tallnew,allMartian,afterall.Icouldn’tthrowawayeverythingIhadlearnedonEarthsoeasily.ButnowI’mfeelingsteadyagain.I’llkillyoualloff.That’lldelaythenexttripinarocketforagoodfiveyears.There’snootherrocketinexistencetoday,savethisone.ThepeopleonEarthwillwaitayear,twoyears,andwhentheyhearnothingfromus,they’llbeveryafraidtobuildanewrocket.They’lltaketwiceaslongandmakeahundredextraexperimentalmodelstoinsurethemselvesagainstanotherfailure."
"You’recorrect."
"Agoodreportfromyou,ontheotherhand,ifyoureturned,wouldhastenthewholeinvasionofMars.IfI’mluckyI’lllivetobesixtyyearsold.EveryexpeditionthatlandsonMarswillbemetbyme.Therewon’tbemorethanoneshipatatimecomingup,oneeveryyearorso,andnevermorethantwentymeninthecrew.AfterI’vemadefriendswiththemandexplainedthatourrocketexplodedoneday—IintendtoblowitupafterIfinishmyjobthisweek—I’llkillthemoff,everyoneofthem.Marswillbeuntouchedforthenexthalfcentury.Afterawhile,perhapstheEarthpeoplewillgiveuptrying.RememberhowtheygrewleeryoftheideaofbuildingZeppelinsthatwerealwaysgoingdowninflames?"
"You’vegotitallplanned,"admittedthecaptain.
"Ihave."
"Yetyou’reoutnumbered.Inanhourwe’llhaveyousurrounded.Inanhouryou’llbedead."
