Citizen in Spase. Stories / Гражданин в Космосе. Рассказы. Книга для чтения на английском языке

“Would I come here to lie? I’ve admitted stealing your invention. Why would I lie about anything else?”

“Then why did I steal?”

“I think you had some sort of wild scheme in the Uninhabited Sectors, but I don’t really know. It doesn’t matter. Listen to me now. There’s no way I can call off the lawsuit – it’s a temporal matter now – but I can get you out of here.”

“Where will I go?” Eldridge asked hopelessly. “The cops are looking for me all through time.”

“I’ll hide you on my estate. I mean it. You can lie low until the statute of limitations has expired. They’d never think of searching my place for you.”

“And the rights on my invention?”

“I’m keeping them,” Viglin said, with a touch of his former confidence. “I can’t turn them over to you without making myself liable for temporal action. But I will share them. And you do need a business partner.”

“All right, let’s get out of here,” Eldridge said.

Viglin had brought along a number of tools, which he handled with suspicious profficiency. Within minutes, they were out of the cell and hiding in the dark courtyard.

“This Traveler’s pretty weak,” Viglin whispered, checking the batteries in his machine. “Could we possibly get yours?”

“It should be in the storehouse,” Eldridge said.

The storehouse was unguarded and Viglin made short work of the lock. Inside, they found Eldridge II’s machine beside Eldridge I’s preposterous, bewildering loot.

“Let’s go,” Viglin said.

Eldridge shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” asked Viglin, annoyed.

“I’m not going.”

“Listen, Tom, I know there’s no reason why you should trust me. But I really will give you sanctuary. I’m not lying to you.”

“I believe you,” Eldridge said. “Just the same, I’m not going back.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Eldridge had been wondering about that ever since they had broken out of the cell. He was at the crossroads now. He could return with Viglin or he could go on alone.

There was no choice, really. He had to assume that he had known what he was doing the first time. Right or wrong, he was going to keep faith and meet whatever appointments he had made with the future.

“I’m going into the Uninhabited Sectors,” Eldridge said. He found a sack and began loading it with potatoes and carrot seeds.

“You can’t!” Viglin objected. “The first time, you ended up in 1954. You might not be so lucky this time. You might be canceled out completely.”

Eldridge had loaded all the potatoes and the packages of carrot seeds. Next he slipped in the World Literature Sets, the lifebelts, the cans of shark repellant and the mirrors. On top of this he put the megacharge hand pistols.

“Have you any idea what you’re going to do with that stuff?”

“Not the slightest,” Eldridge said, buttoning the Symphonic Tape Runs inside his shirt. “But they must fit somewhere.”

Viglin sighed heavily. “Don’t forget, you have to allow half an hour between jumps or you’ll get canceled. Have you got a watch?”

“No, I left it in my room.”

“Take this one. Sportsman’s Special.” Viglin attached it to Eldridge’s wrist. “Good luck, Tom.

I mean that.”

“Thanks.”

Eldridge set the button for the farthest jump into the future he could make. He grinned at Viglin and pushed the button.

There was the usual moment of blackness, then a sudden icy shock. When Eldridge opened his eyes, he found that he was under water.

He found his way to the surface, struggling against the weight of the sack. Once his head was above water, he looked around for the nearest land.

There was no land. Long, smooth-backed waves slid toward him from the limitless horizon, lifted him and ran on, toward a hidden shore.

Eldridge fumbled in his sack, found the lifebelts and inflated them. Soon he was bobbing on the surface, trying to figure out what had happened to New York State.

Each jump into the future had brought him to a hotter climate. Here, countless thousands of years past 1954, the glaciers must have melted. A good part of the Earth was probably submerged.

He had planned well in taking the lifebelts. It gave him confidence for the rest of the journey. Now he would just have to float for half an hour, to avoid cancelation.

He leaned back, supported by his lifebelts, and admired the cloud formations in the sky. Something brushed against him.

Eldridge looked down and saw a long black shape glide under his feet. Another joined it and they began to move hungrily toward him. Sharks!

He fumbled wildly with the sack, spilling out the mirrors in his hurry, and found a can of shark repellant. He opened it, spilled it overboard, and an orange blotch began to spread on the blue-black water.

There were three sharks now. They swam warily around the spreading circle of repellant. A fourth joined them, lunged into the orange smear, and retreated quickly to clean water.

Eldridge was glad the future had produced a shark repellant that really worked.