Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
Author:Arthur C. Clarke [Clarke, Arthur C.]
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780553288773
Publisher: Spectra
Published: 2010-06-04T18:30:00+00:00
2S
MYSTERY TOUR
Only an expert on the history of aeronautics could have dated the vehicle that stood glistening in the late-afternoon light. Like sailing ships, though in Iess than a tenth of the time, aircraft had reached their technological plateau. Improvements in detail would continue indefinitely, but the era of revolutionary change was long past. J
Bill van Hyatt was convinced that this flying machine was at least a hundred years old. "It's powered by rubber bands," he insisted. "When we get inside,
152
there'll be a big windlass and we'll all have to walk round and round, winding it up." "Thank you, Mr. van Hyatt," said the Enigma representative, who had met them at Washington airport. "That's a very interesting idea. We'll bear it in mind." There were twenty clients in the party, and they all seemed a little tense and expectant. The only person who was in complete control--in More ways than one --was the man from Enigma. He was a tough, self-assured character ("Just call me Boss--you may think of something eIse later"); Duncan would have guessed his age at about fifty. They never discovered his real name, but he had that indefinable air of authority that comes only from years of command; van Hyatt advanced the plausible theory that he was a spaceship captain grounded for some technical misdemeanor. However, he showed no signs of concealing any secret disgrace. Boss's first order to his customers was completely unexpected, but set the tone of the whole enterprise. "I must ask you," he said, "to hand over all watches, radios, and communication devices. You won't need them until you get home." He held up an admonitory hand at the chorus of protests. "There's a good reason for this--and for any other peculiar requests I may make. Remember, this whole program has been worked out for your benefit. If you won't cooperate, you're ,only cheating yourselves. Cameras and recorders--yes, of course. Use them as much as you like." There was a general sigh of relief at this. Duncan had noticed that most of his companions were festooned with equipment designed to capture every aspect of their experience. A couple were obviously "tapeworms," those peculiar addicts who went through life accompanied by voice-actuated recorders, so that nothing they said--or heard--was ever lost. Unless they could do this, Duncan had been told, they did not believe that they had really and truly lived .... Such a backward-looking obsession was typically 153
Terran. Duncan could not imagine anyone on his world trying to encapsulate his whole life so that whenever he wished he could recall any moment of the past. On Titan, it was the future that mattered. As he walked to the aircraft, carrying his scanty baggage (toilet necessities, a change of underwear, raincoat), Duncan decided that van Hyatt's guess at its age was not too far out. An obvious vertical~lift fusion jet, it probably dated from the turn of the century, and looked as if it had been built to last forever. He guessed that
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