Citizen in Spase. Stories / Гражданин в Космосе. Рассказы. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Eldridge looked up and found that a bespectacled girl of nine or so was standing at the end of his row of books, staring at him. She ducked back out of sight. He read on.

The next chapter was entitled “Unparadox of Time.” Eldridge skimmed it rapidly. The author began with the classic paradox of Achilles and the tortoise, and demolished it with integral calculus. Using this as a logical foundation, he went on to the so-called time paradoxes – killing one’s great-great grandfather, meeting oneself, and the like.

These held up no better than Zeno’s ancient paradox. Alfredex went on to explain that all temporal paradoxes were the inventions of authors with a gift for confusion.

Eldridge didn’t understand the intricate symbolic logic in this part, which was embarrassing, since he was cited as the leading authority.

The next chapter was called “Fall of the Mighty.” It told how Eldridge had met Viglin, the owner of a large sporting-goods store in Sector One. They became fast friends. The businessman took the shy young genius under his wing.

He arranged lecture tours for him. Then —

“I beg your pardon, sir,” someone said. Eldridge looked up. The gray-faced librarian was standing in front of him. Beside her was the bespectacled little girl with a smug grin on her face.

“Yes?” Eldridge asked.

“Time Travelers are not allowed in the Readery,” the librarian said sternly.

That was understandable, Eldridge thought. Travelers could grab an armload of valuable books and disappear.

They probably weren’t allowed in banks, either.

The trouble was, he didn’t dare surrender this book.

Eldridge smiled, tapped his ear, and hastily went on reading.

It seemed that the brilliant young Eldridge had allowed Viglin to arrange all his contracts and papers. One day he found, to his surprise, that he had signed over all rights in The Time Traveler to Viglin, for a small monetary consideration. Eldridge brought the case to court. The court found against him.

The case was appealed. Penniless and embittered, Eldridge embarked on his career of crime, stealing from Viglin —

“Sir!” the librarian said. “Deaf or not, you must leave at once. Otherwise I will call a guard.”

Eldridge put down the book, muttered, “Tattletale,” to the little girl, and hurried out of the Readery.

Now he knew why Viglin was so eager to arrest him. With the case still pending, Eldridge would be in a very poor position behind bars.