Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederick Pohl

Author:Frederick Pohl [Pohl, Frederick]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-04T22:00:00+00:00

"But-" I said, and, "Essie-" I said, and what I wanted to say was either "You shouldn't be doing this yet!" or "Not in front of the computer!" She didn't give me a chance to decide which. She leaned down to press her cheek against mine, perhaps so that I might feel how round and full it had once again become.

"Robin," she said sunnily, "I am far more well than you believe. You may ask the doctor, if you wish. She will tell you how very rapidly I have healed." She turned her head to kiss me quickly and added, "I have some affairs of my own for the next few hours. Please continue chatting with your program until then. I am sure Albert has many interesting things to tell you, isn't that so, Albert?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Broadhead," the program agreed, puffing cheerfully on his pipe.

"So, then. It's settled." She patted my cheek and turned away, and I have to say that as she walked back to her room she did not in the least look unwell. The robe was not tight, but it was shaped to her body, and the shape of her body was really fine. I could not believe that the wadding of bandage all along her left side was gone, but there was no sign of it.

Behind me, my science program coughed. I turned back, and he was puffing on his pipe, his eyes twinkling.

"Your wife is looking very well, Robin," he said, nodding judiciously.

"Sometimes, Albert," I said, "I don't know just how anthropomorphic you are. Well. What very interesting things do you want to tell me about?"

"Whatever you want to hear, Robin. Shall I continue on the subject of Peter Herter? There are some other possibilities, such as the abort mode. That is, setting aside for the moment the legal complications, it would be possible to command the shipboard computer, known as `Vera', to explode the fuel tanks on the orbital craft."

"Hell it would! We'd destroy the greatest treasure we've ever found!"

"Sure thing, Robin, and it's even worse than that. The chance of an external explosion damaging the installation Mr. Herter is using is quite small. It might only anger him. Or strand him there, to do as he chooses, as long as he lives."

"Forget it! Don't you have anything good to tell me about?"

"As a matter of fact, Robin," he grinned, "I do. We've found our Rosetta stone." He shrank away to a dwindling spray of colored flecks and disappeared. As a luminous spindle-shaped mass of lavender color replaced him in the tank, he said, "That is the image of the beginning of a book."

"It's blank!"

"I haven't started it yet," he explained. The shape was taller than I, and about half as thick as it was tall. It began to shift before my eyes; the color thinned out until I could see through it clearly and then one, two, three dots began to appear inside it, points of bright red light that spun themselves out in a spiral.

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