2001 A Space OdysseyTransit of EarthFountains of ParadiseChildhood's End by Clarke Arthur C

Author:Clarke, Arthur C. [Clarke, Arthur C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780694516223
Amazon: 0694516228
Goodreads: 63800
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 1995-11-01T08:00:00+00:00

12

AN EARLIER AGE would have regarded Professor Sullivan as an expensive luxury. His operations cost as much as a small war: indeed, he could be likened to a general conducting a perpetual campaign against an enemy who never relaxed. Professor Sullivan’s enemy was the sea, and it fought him with weapons of cold and darkness and, above all, pressure. In his turn, he countered his adversary with intelligence and engineering skill. He had won many victories, but the sea was patient: it could wait. One day, Sullivan knew, he would make a mistake. At least he had the consolation of knowing that he could never drown. It would be far too quick for that.

He had refused to commit himself one way or the other when Jan made his request, but he knew what his answer was going to be. Here was the opportunity for a most interesting experiment. It was a pity that he would never know the result; still, that happened often enough in scientific research, and he had initiated other programs that would take decades to complete.

Professor Sullivan was a brave and an intelligent man, but looking back on his career he was conscious of the fact that it had not brought him the sort of fame that sends a scientist’s name safely down the centuries. Here was a chance, totally unexpected and all the more attractive for that, of really establishing himself in the history books. It was not an ambition he would ever have admitted to anybody—and, to do him justice, he would still have helped Jan even if his part in the plot remained forever secret.

As for Jan, he was now having second thoughts. The momentum of his original discovery had carried him thus far almost without effort. He had made his investigations, but had taken no active steps to turn his dream into reality. In a few days, however, he must make his choice. If Professor Sullivan agreed to co-operate, there was no way in which he could retreat. He must face the future he had chosen, with all its implications.

What finally decided him was the thought that, if he neglected this incredible opportunity, he would never forgive himself. All the rest of his life would be spent in vain regrets—and nothing could be worse than that.

Sullivan’s answer reached him a few hours later, and he knew that the die was cast. Slowly, because there was still plenty of time, he began to put his affairs in order.

“Dear Maia (the letter began), this is going to be—to put it mildly—rather a surprise for you. When you get this letter, I shall no longer be on Earth. By that I don’t mean that I shall have gone to the Moon, as many others have done. No: I shall be on my way to the home of the Overlords. I shall be the first man ever to leave the Solar System.

“I am giving this letter to the friend who is helping me; he will hold it

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