День триффидов
World Narrowing
"Well,naturallythesethingswouldhavebeenintendedtooperateclosetotheground,wheretheeffectwouldbespreadoveradefinitelycalculablearea.Buttheystartgoingoffoutthereinspace,ormaybewhentheyhittheatmosphere—eitherway,they’reoperatingsofarupthatpeopleallroundtheworldcanreceivedirectradiationsfromthem...
"Justwhatdidhappenisanyone’sguessnow.ButonethingI’mquitecertainof—thatsomehoworotherwebroughtthislotdownonourselves.Andtherewasthatplague,too:
itwasn’ttyphoid,youknow...
"Ifindthatit’sjustthewrongsideofcoincidenceformetobelievethatourofallthethousandsofyearsinwhichadestructivecometcouldarrive,ithappenstodosojustafewyearsafterwehavesucceededinestablishingsatelliteweapons—don’tyou?No,Ithinkthatwekeptonthattightropequiteawhile,consideringthethingsthatmighthavehappened—butsoonerorlaterthefoothadtoslip."
"Well,whenyouputitthatway—"murmuredJosella.Shebrokeoffandwaslostinsilenceforquiteawhile.Thenshesaid:
"Isuppose,inaway,thatshouldbemorehorriblethantheideaofnaturestrikingblindlyatus.AndyetIdon’tthinkitis.Itmakesmefeellesshopelessaboutthingsbecauseitmakesthematleastcomprehensible.Ifitwaslikethat,thenitisatleastathingthatcanbepreventedfromhappeningagain—justonemoreofthemistakesourverygreatgrandchildrenaregoingtohavetoavoid.And,ohdear,thereweresomany,manymistakes!Butwecanwarnthem."
