jdavid.footprintsofthunder-第94部分

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　collapses；　only　to　rise　again。　Or　perhaps　the　structure　was　placed　there　deliberately　to　travel　to　the　past…to　Nick's　present？　Would　future　scientists　be　able　to　predict　the　time　displacement　that　accurately？
　A　knock　interrupted　his　thoughts；　irritating　him。　〃e　in！〃
　Elizabeth　came　through　again；　this　time　acpanied　by　Samuel　Cannon。　Nick　had　exchanged　pleasantries　with　the　CIA　director　on　occasion；　but　never　had　closer　contact。　He　and　Elizabeth　pulled　chairs　up　close　to　Nick's　desk　and　leaned　forward；　talking　in　low　voices。　As　usual　Elizabeth's　face　was　impassive；　but　Cannon's　look　told　Nick　this　meeting　would　be　all　business。　With　her　usual　bluntness；　Elizabeth　jumped　right　to　the　problem。
　〃Nick；　the　President　is　going　ahead　with　Gogh's　plan。　The　cruise　missiles　have　been　armed　and　the　terrain　mapped。　They　are　going　to　launch　as　soon　as　the　timing　is　right。〃
　〃What　about　the　site　selection？　Aren't　they　going　back　to　the　Security　Council　to　consider　sites？〃
　Elizabeth　and　Samuel　Cannon　exchanged　glances；　and　then　Cannon　answered　in　a　subdued　voice。　〃There　is　nothing　to　be　considered。　The　site　has　been　selected。　It's　the　Portland　site。　They　can't　confirm　the　dinosaur　report　in　Alaska；　and　the　glacier　site　is　too　near　the　Canadian　border。　Besides；　the　glacier　might　be　from　the　Ice　Age。　We　have　no　way　of　knowing。〃
　Nick　knew　what　he　meant。　Everything　suggested　the　time　displacements　were　all　from　the　Cretaceous　period；　but　if　the　glacier　was　from　the　Ice　Age　there　might　be　people　somewhere　there。　It　was　unlikely　that　killing　them　would　alter　the　present；　and　if　it　did　who　would　know？　Nick　understood　the　danger；　however。　Severing　a　lifeline　in　the　ancient　past　would　kill　all　succeeding　generations。　Who　might　be　eliminated　from　history　by　such　an　act？　While　you　might　want　to　eliminate　Hitler　or　Stalin；　you　would　also　risk　Jesus；　Gandhi；　and　Einstein。　But　if　you　killed　Einstein；　would　we　have　nuclear　weapons　at　all？　Perhaps　Hitler　would　have　developed　them　first　and　won　World　War　II。　And　if　we　didn't　have　the　bomb；　how　could　we　drop　it　to　kill　Einstein　in　the　first　place？　Nick's　mind　reeled　for　the　second　time　in　a　few　minutes。　He　understood　why　they　were　avoiding　the　Alaskan　site…still；　risking　the　population　of　Portland　for　an　untested　theory　was　immoral。
　〃But　Portland　is　a　city。　Can't　you　convince　the　President　to　wait　for　confirmation　on　the　glacier　site？〃　Nick　argued。
　〃Nick；　the　President　is　only　listening　to　Gogh。　Gogh　is　telling　him　what　he　wants　to　hear；　and　what　he　wants　to　hear　is　that　he　can　get　his　wife　back。　Nick；　do　you　think　this　will　work…this　bomb　theory？〃
　〃I've　been　monitoring　the　debate　over　Gomez's…Gogh's　theory；　and　only　one　in　ten　physicists　support　it。　The　rest　are　suggesting　modifications　or　outright　doubt　about　its　validity。　No　one　is　supporting　Gogh's　idea　that　simultaneous　nuclear　detonations　will　return　things　to　normal。　It's　also　not　clear　that　the　explosions　will　actually　take　place　in　the　past。　Those　bombs　could　be　delivered　to　our　present。〃
　Elizabeth　exchanged　glances　with　Cannon　again；　and　when　she　gave　him　an　encouraging　look；　he　nodded　reluctantly。　〃There's　something　else　you　should　know；〃　Cannon　continued。　〃This　is　classified；　you　understand？　We　sent　a　team　into　Atlanta　to　try　to　locate　and　recover　the　first　lady。　They　never　came　back。〃
　〃What？　How　did　you　do　it？〃
　〃The　first　attempt　was　an　air　drop。　We　sent　up　an　aircraft　that　orbited　the　Atlanta　site　until　they　got　a　good　solid　image　of　the　city　below　them。　Then　they　parachuted　in。　We　monitored　the　descent　from　the　ground　and　from　the　aircraft。　Everything　went　normal；　their　chutes　opened　and　they　descended　into　the　city。　Then　the　city　was　gone　again　and　we　never　heard　from　them。　We've　been　trying　to　contact　them　ever　since。〃
　Nick's　concern　made　his　voice　quaver。　〃Sorry　about　your　men；　but　that　could　partially　support　Gogh's　theory。　If　we　deliver　the　warheads　when　the　past　is　。。。　present　。　。　。　then　the　warheads　may　go　off　in　the　past　。　。　。　but　of　course　that　would　be　in　this　present　。　。　。　or　would　it？〃　He　berated　himself。　He　had　only　confused　them　and　embarrassed　himself。　Changing　the　subject；　he　asked　about　the　other　incident。
　〃The　ground　team　monitoring　the　drop　had　a　good　vantage　point　and　reported　that　as　the　parachutists　dropped　into　the　city　they　saw　that　kind　of　fuzzy　transparent　look　the　city　has。　The　crazy　thing　is　the　ground　team　reported　that　from　their　vantage　point　the　city　appeared　off　in　the　distance；　but　the　aerial　shots　showed　the　ground　team's　position　as　in　the　city。　Since　we　had　radio　contact　with　the　ground　team；　we　sent　them　toward　the　heart　of　the　effect…Atlanta…and　told　them　to　maintain　radio　contact。　We　had　positive　contact　until；　suddenly；　they　were　gone。〃
　〃We　get　nothing　now；〃　Elizabeth　added；　her　voice　uncharacteristically　tremulous。
　Nick　was　puzzled。　Dinosaurs；　like　the　ankylosaur　in　Montreal；　were　ing　out　of　the　displaced　segments　into　Nick's　present；　but　apparently　the　people　from　the　present　made　only　a　one…way　trip。　Nick　wondered　whether　the　dinosaurs　could　go　back。　Could　movement　be　only　from　past　to　the　future？　That　would　be　consistent　with　time's　arrow。　If　so；　then　was　Atlanta　displaced　to　the　future；　and　was　that　why　Cannon's　people　could　not　e　back？　But　what　of　inanimate　objects？　Would　they　have　the　same　restrictions？　Probably；　Nick　realized。　He　was　thinking　in　terms　of　the　human　disruption　that　could　occur　if　one　traveled　to　his　or　her　own　past。
　Like　most　people；　Nick　was　psychologically　unwilling　to　meet　himself　in　the　past。　But　in　one　sense　people　were　nothing　more　than　organized　chemicals。　Would　chemicals　from　the　future　meeting　themselves　in　the　past　cause　disruption？　Not　likely；　but　if　the　disruption　occurred　in　a　forward　direction；　then　Gogh's　bombs　could　be　carried　into　the　future。　That　is；　if　the　effect　was　not　disrupted　by　the　blast。　He　resisted　speculating　out　loud　again。　Elizabeth　and　Cannon　came　to　him　for　his　expertise。　It's　disquieting　to　people　when　experts　act　human。
　〃I'll　put　this　information　on　PresNet。　Maybe　someone　can　make　sense　of　it。〃
　When　Elizabeth　and　Cannon　looked　as　if　they　wanted　more；　Nick　wasn't　sure　what　to　give　them。
　〃This　means　the　timing　is　crucial；〃　he　added。　〃If　the　bombs　are　delivered　when　the　present　is…present；　then　the　bombs　will　go　off　over　Portland。　If　the　past　is　present；　then　everything　in　the　present　will　be　intact。　Of　course　the　past　will　be　incinerated。〃
　Nick　meant　it　to　be　reassuring。　There　was　nothing　more　he　could　do。　And　apparently　Cannon　and　Elizabeth　had　lost　their　influence。　What　Nick　needed　was　sweet　lemon　rationalization。　No　matter　how　sour　things　turned　out　he　was　going　to　make　the　best　of　it。
　〃Tell　him　the　rest；　Sam。〃
　〃The　timing　is　the　problem。　Gogh　thinks　the　effect　will　be　disrupted；　but　he　isn't　sure　of　the　oute。　He　thinks　each　segment　will　return　to　its　own　time；　but　he　admits　there　is　a　chance　the　explosions　will　freeze　the　displaced　sections　in　whatever　time　they　are　in。　The　problem　is　the　oscillations　for　various　locations　are　different。〃
　Nick　saw　where　Cannon　was　going；　and　a　horrible　thought　formed　in　his　mind。　Cannon　had　been　looking　Nick　in　the　eye…but　now　Nick's　expression　made　the　CIA　director　drop　his　head　to　study　his　shoes。
　〃Mr。　Cannon；　have　they　timed　the　oscillations　in　Portland？〃
　〃They're　working　on　it；　but　the　data　from　out　west　is　ing　in　slow。　It　won't　matter　though。　They're　going　to　use　the　Atlanta　oscillations　for　the　timing。〃
　〃They　can't　do　that。〃
　〃The　President　can；　and　he's　ordered　it。〃
　〃They　could　kill　everyone　in　Portland。〃
　〃Elizabeth　and　I　argued　that。　The　President　sees　it　as　a　lesser　of　two　evils。　Lose　everyone　in　all　the　affected　locations；　or　risk　the　residents　of　Portland。〃
　〃He　could　minimize　the　risk　by　waiting　for　the　oscillation　analysis。〃
　Cannon　had　no　heart　for　arguing　the　President's　position　and　slumped　back　in　his　chair；　just　as　Elizabeth　leaned　forward。
　〃This　isn't　about　saving　anyone　but　the　President's　wife；〃　she　said　urgently。　〃He's　going　to　time　the　blast　to　freeze　Atlanta　in　the　present。　We　think　it's　a　mistake。〃
　〃It　is；　it's　a　deadly　mistake。〃
　〃We　want　you　to　e　with　us。　We're　going　to　talk　to　the　President　one　more　time。　We　need　you　to　handle　Gogh。〃
　The　President　was　in　the　Oval　office；　his　back　to　his　desk；　staring　out　the　window；　his　fingers　involuntarily　twirling　a　paper　clip。　Gogh　and　Natalie　Matsuda　were　there　too。　As　usual；　Elizabeth　ignored　them　and　took　charge　of　the　meeting。
　〃Mr。　President；　I　think　you　need　to　reconsider　this　plan　to　bomb　Portland。〃
　The　President　whirled　around　in　his　chair　and　threw　the　paper　clip　onto　the　desktop；　it　bounced　onto　the　floor　at　Elizabeth's　feet。
　〃Elizabeth；　I　told　you　before；　we're　not　going　to　bomb　Portland！　We're　going　to　detonate　nuclear　explosions　in　the　distant　past　to　return　things　to　normal。　If　it　works；　and　I'm　confident　that　it　will；　Portland；　and　every　other　city　in　this　country　。　。　。　and　everywhere　in　the　world；　will　return　to　normal。〃
　The　President　spoke　with　venom。
　〃A　decision　had　to　be　made；〃　he　added；　〃and　I　made　it。　The　longer　we　wait　the　less　chance　there　will　be　of　it　working。　Isn't　that　right；　Arnie？〃
　〃The　effect　is　stabilizing；〃　Gogh