[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"And?"
"You owe me a drink."
"Can you prove that in a court of law?"
"No. You'll have to take my word for it."
He curled his lip, then turned away and ordered the drinks. I drank it
slowly. I enjoyed it. I always enjoy winning bets.
"Ever been in space?" I asked him.
"No."
"Strictly a groundhog, then?"
"You could put it that way."
"I just did. You know, the trouble with people who stay grounded all their
lives is that they lack the cosmic perspective. You feel particularly attached
to the holy soil of New Alexandria?"
"In a way," Denton replied. "Not passionately."
"It serves its purpose, hey?"
"It always looked okay to me."
"You've never felt the wanderlust?"
"A bit. Nothing I couldn't handle."
I smiled at his choice of phrase. "Did you ever feel a driving need to
understand the workings of the universe?" I asked him. "Would you feel
yourself to be incomplete or unfulfilled if you had to leave stones unturned
in your search for the meaning of life?"
"I don't think so."
"No unconquerable lust for understanding?"
"No."
Page 78
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He was smiling, waiting for me to tell him what the hell I was talking about.
"That's good," I said. "Me neither. I like it. But I do like to know, don't
you? I do like looking under stones. Do you suppose it might become
pathological? Or do you think the whole concept of the Library is
curiosity gone insane?"
He was bewildered by the swift change of emphasis.
"I don't know," he said.
"Me neither," I said again. "May I buy you a drink?"
"I thought it was your turn tosay 'I told you so.'"
"It is," I said. "I told you so. Now I'm offering to buy you a drink out of
the kindness of my heart."
"Thank you," he said.
I bought another round.
"Aren't you going to tell me the whole story?" he asked.
"I guess so," I said. "But we'd better get some more drinks in. They'll make
it seem that much less boring."
While I was speaking, I fished the little parcel out of my pocket. I unwrapped
it, stood the contents on end on the bar, and looked at them pensively.
"What's that?" asked Denton.
"It's a present. For Titus Charlot. I haven't given them to him
yet. They're to help him to his quest for understanding. They're a
research tool of great value."
"Yes," said the cop. "But what is it?"
"It's a set of panpipes," I said.
Page 79 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]