James P. Hogan Paths to Otherwhere

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

the same arguments as they had been through with Sam and Jantowitz back in the
lab, and arriving at the same conclusions. Sarah agreed that there were
grounds for caution but not panic.
"Okay, so it looks as if someone in some reality suspects there are
unauthorized experiments going on," she said. "And they're taking advantage of
the machine to check into it in a more drastic way than they'd risk in their
own world. The
DRA will want to look into it, and we're going to be asked questions. But the
whole of Washington isn't going to be down here by tomorrow."
Hugh looked dubious. "I'm not so sure. The result can only be a security
clamp-
down, and it could happen soon.
The powers here can't afford any evidence showing up if there's a DRA
investigation." He held Dave's eye pointedly for a second. "We can still do
it, Dave. We could still get I out while we've got the chance."
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/James%20P.%20Hogan%20-%20Paths%20to%20Otherwhere.htm
l (303 of 439)12-1-2007 3:41:37
Hogan, James P. - Paths to Otherwhere (v1.0) (html).html
Sarah caught the look. "What's he talking about, Dave?"
"It's something we talked about the other night& "
Dave hesitated. But this was the obvious time. Sarah needed to be told.
"Remember what happened with you that time you got cut off," he said. "Hugh
wants to do it deliberately, i for keeps get away permanently. He wants us to
move Hugh continued, speaking urgently in a low voice. "We i know that all
three of us have analogs there. We could do it tomorrow. Think about it: a new
beginning. A world that runs on honesty and decency. A chance to do real
science, without being stifled in politics."
Sarah stared at him, astounded. "You're joking," she whispered. But it was
pure reflex. She could see that he wasn't.
"Oh, he's serious," Dave confirmed.
"Isn't it just the land of world you've been telling us you've always wanted?"
Page 149
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Hugh said to her. "You've been there, too, Dave& Well, I found out more about
it today. Did you know they've never heard of Stalin or Hitler? So whose side
were we on in World War II this time? There wasn't one. Nor even really a
World War I. The European war ended in a negotiated peace in 1916 while
respect for a defeated opponent still meant something, before everything went
back to barbarism. So there were no Versailles injustices to be put right.
Russia never collapsed, and Lenin was just a pest who went away. The twentieth
century was peaceful and progressive, and somehow the European empires faded
away without a lot of grievances and screams for revenge. The world became
everybody's cultures, all mixed up. But people come first there. They've got
their
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/James%20P.%20Hogan%20-%20Paths%20to%20Otherwhere.htm
l (304 of 439)12-1-2007 3:41:37
Hogan, James P. - Paths to Otherwhere (v1.0) (html).html priorities right." He
nodded again at Sarah.
"That's why it seems so quaint and old-fashioned to us in other ways. Without
two world wars and a century of threats from totalitarianism, the manic drive
for technology didn't happen. It's developing at its own leisurely pace. Jet
air travel is a novelty there they still have ocean liners. Railroads are the
main way of travel between cities. They haven't even got to the Moon. But
there's more focus on scientific basics. MV theory is taught in college they
just don't have the means to exploit it. They've got a simpler interpretation
of Relativity that's news to me& " Hugh spread his hands at the other two
imploringly. "It's there, waiting, guys. Can you imagine what an asset the
kind of knowledge we could bring would be in a place like that?"
Sarah looked at Dave dazedly. "This is crazy
."
"A chance to start your life over again and get it right isn't crazy," Hugh
said. He appealed to Dave. "You've heard what Sarah's said about Otherwhere,
ever since the first time she went there. If you say you'll go, she'll go."
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd rather hear Sarah say that," Dave objected. "And
in any case, maybe I'm not so sure yet that I do want to go."
Hugh looked exasperated. "Dave, I don't understand. What is there to not to be
sure about?"
"Turning your back on a whole life and walking out isn't exactly something you
do every day. There's a saying about the devil you don't know."
"And there's one about sometimes having to go for it. I say this is one of
those
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/James%20P.%20Hogan%20-%20Paths%20to%20Otherwhere.htm
l (305 of 439)12-1-2007 3:41:37
Hogan, James P. - Paths to Otherwhere (v1.0) (html).html times," Hugh said.
"
You say," Dave retorted. "But what about the analogs? Where do they figure in
all this? They've got lives of their own, and very probably they quite like
their world too. We're not always comfortable about occupying them
temporarily. So do we become invaders now, like some kind of alien monsters in
the movies? Is that okay? And what happens when you confront their relatives
and friends?
What are you going to tell them?"
That was an objection that Hugh hadn't been prepared for. Dave had obviously
been doing some thinking. Sarah, too, looked far from sold. "I don't have any
really strong ties anywhere, I guess& But it seems so, oh, I don't know& so
callous, somehow. How do you just turn your back on everyone you've known and
walk away like that just leave them to it? It seems& " she shook her head,
"despicable, somehow."
Suddenly Hugh felt weary. It was the same misgivings that he had felt and
Page 150
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Dave. The difference was that they'd had time to think about it, talk it over.
Sarah hadn't. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki