|
Robert F. Young he knew his brilliance would be rewarded—even if it wasn’t in this world The Time Machine CAMERA NUMBER ONE: At long last my time machine has become a reality! Late afternoon sunlight filters through its translucent panels, lies like a golden carpet upon the floor of my lodgings. Traffic noises from far below, muted by its photon field, faintly reach my ears as I recline upon the satin pillows of my sumptuous studio couch, gazing fondly at the concretion of my lifelong dream. Soon—tonight, perhaps no later than tomorrow—I shall take that giant step forward so long envisioned by my erstwhile colleagues and myself. And I shall never return. CAMERA NUMBER TWO: The time machine is the dirty window of his lodgings seen through thick subjective lenses. His lodgings consist of a sordid fourth-story room that contains a bed, a chair, a bureau and a lavatory. In one corner of the room there is a pile of empty wine bottles. In another corner there is a pile of dusty notebooks. Scraps of paper covered with erratic jottings litter the floor. He is lying on the bed, wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday and the day before, that he has slept in for two nights running. The toilet is down the hall. CAMERA NUMBER ONE: The machine incorporates the photon-diffusion principle I described in the paper that I published in the Scientific Ledger— the same paper, incidentally, that estranged my colleagues and led ultimately to my expulsion from the project. The warp principle, on which the original grant for the project was obtained, has become in their eyes a sort of sacred cow, and in advancing a much more practicable solution to the problem of time travel I inadvertently desecrated the cow and brought down their collective wrath upon my head. Thus, instead of heaping upon my paper the encomiums it deserved, they contemned it and relegated it to the project's dusty files. However, I should not judge them too harshly. Hutchinson, Hull, Stasser, Bodin—they are all fine and honorable men, dedicated to the attainment of the noble goal for which the project was created, in their hearts as eager as I to find the doorway to tomorrow. The paper was a mistake—I see
|
插件设计: zasq.net
本帖子中包含更多资源
您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有帐号?立即注册
x
|