James P. Hogan The Proteus Operation

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to be responsible for anyone's getting killed. Well, neither do I. Now,
whether you believe it or not right now, at the other end of that link is a
world that your operation here has created, in which a war has already begun
that will lead eventually to the destruction of Western civilization unless
something's done to change it. I'm talking about deaths counted in tens of
millions, not just a few who might be around when a bomb goes off."
"Very well, suppose we accept that for the sake of argument," Pfanzer conceded
guardedly.
"You still haven't told us your proposal."
"Simply that we disable the return-gate at the far end until the situation
here is resolved by the appropriate authorities," Winslade said. "We go for
the machine only, with a couple of strategically placed charges, without
harming anybody Then we call in the CN and have the whole place here put under
CIAF control until everything's been investigated."
"Sounds reasonable," someone commented.
"Why disable the gate?" Hailman objected. "Why not simply call in the CN?"
"Because of the time factor," Winslade said. "Time is running two hundred
times faster there. Delay could be fatal. A few days wasted here means years
lost at the other end."
Hallman shrugged. "So? We just suspend operations at this end until further
notice. I
still don't see the necessity of disabling the gate."
"We can't risk leaving it intact," Winslade insisted. "We have the upper hand
here for now, but that could change for any one of a number of reasons. The
only way to be certain that the link won't be used for a while is to make sure
that it can't be."
'And look at it this way" Scholder suggested. "Even if the gate is damaged to
the extent that it will take years to repair, that's still only a matter of a
few days here. You're not losing very much. But the result at the far end if
the link became active again in the wrong hands
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Eddie moved out to join young Scholder in the middle of the room. "Hell,
someone's gonna have to start making decisions around here," he said. "Okay,
I'll buy it. I'm with you, too."
'And me," another declared, following suit.
Dr Pfanzer vacillated. "Again, exactly what are you proposing?" he asked
Winslade.
"One group goes to take charge in the control room," Winslade said, speaking
quickly in an urgent voice. "They have the duty crew bring up the beam and
stand by to initiate a transfer. The two Kurts take another group through into
the Dispatch Preparation Area to obtain explosives, detonators, and time fuses
to make up several charges. Then we-just some of u5; I don't want any of you,
people risking yourselves on this-make a transfer through to the other end,
place the charges on short settings, and are brought back, hopefully before
the 1940 end wakes up to what's happening."
"Is that likely?" Sen asked dubiously.
"I don't know," Winslade admitted. "But I'm willing to try. We're prepared to
take the risks. All we're asking for from you is help."
"Ten seconds," Scholder said. "If it takes ten seconds to place the charges at
the other end and get back into the machine, what will that translate into
here? Nothing! It will be no time at all."
Pfanzer nodded. 'And then?"
"Then we go to the Message Center and put a call through to CN Headquarters in
Zurich,"
Winslade said.
"That'll really stir things up," Eddie said. "Security hasn't caught on to
what's happening yet, but they will if you go holding up the Message Center at
gunpoint. They'll all be heading this way. What happens then?"
'As long as that gate's out of action, I don't really care what happens,"
Winslade said.
"Perhaps we'll hand over the guns and take our chances. You could tell them
you didn't have a choice- we made you cooperate. That's all we're asking-a few
minutes of cooperation. What's that to give if it saves millions of lives?"
'And what if we don't want to cooperate?" Pfanzer asked. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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