The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

Robert A. Heinlein

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985)

"Precisamos de si para matar um homem." – Esta é a primeira frase do livro, dita à mesa de um restaurante, e dirigida a Richard Ames, o narrador; quem a pronuncia acaba presumivelmente morto, por um atirador invisível, antes de se passarem cinco minutos. É assim que começa esta história de contornos policiais, cuja primeira parte descreve a fuga de Richard e sua mulher Gwen (as coisas complicaram-se após o atentado), de Golden Rule, uma espécie de cidade-estado na órbita de Luna. A segunda parte, consumada a fuga, passa-se maioritariamente em Hong Kong Luna e Luna City, cenários de The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, quase um século volvido sobre a independência, com a sociedade lunar a caminhar rapidamente para uma autocracia. Mas, também aí a permanência do casal, com a cabeça de Richard posta a prémio, é tudo menos tranquila. No limiar da terceira parte, depois de alguns diálogos prenunciadores, entram em cena muitos dos personagens conhecidos dos anteriores livros da série, como as gémeas Laz e Lor, Tamara, Minerva, Galahad, Maureen, o quarteto protagonista de The Number Of The Beast, e o próprio Lazarus Long, como seria de esperar, entre muitos outros.

Este livro, O Gato que Atravessa as Paredes na versão portuguesa que li em 1991, integra a série História do Futuro; reli-o agora na versão original, na série de livros pertencentes ao ciclo, por ordem cronológica de publicação – o que faz muito mais sentido. É sobretudo na terceira parte, grande parte decorrida em Tertius, que se retoma o fio narrativo condutor da série, aprofundando o tema dos universos paralelos, sendo bastante útil ter lido os livros anteriores para entender as alusões e referências a factos passados.

"Gretchen, when I first met you, less than a week ago, you were as I recall 'going on thirteen.' So how dare you be five centimeters taller, five kilos heavier, and at least five years older? Careful how you answer, as anything you say will be taken down by Teena and held against you at another time and place."

"Did someone mention my name? Hi, Gretchen! Welcome home."

"Hi, Teena. It's great to be back!"

I squeezed Xia. "You, too. You look five years younger and you've got to explain it."

"No mystery about me. I'm studying molecular biology just as I was in Luna—but here they know far more about it—and paying my way by working in Howard Clinic doing unprogrammed 'George' jobs—and spending every spare minute in this pool. Richard, I've learned to swim! Why, back Loonie side I didn't know anyone who knew anyone who knew how to swim. And sunshine, and fresh air! In Kongville I sat indoors, breathing canned air under artificial light, and dickered with dudes over bundling bins." She took a deep breath, raising her bust past the danger point, and sighed it out. "I've come alive! No wonder I look younger."

"All right, you're excused. But don't let it happen again. Gretchen?"

"Grandma Hazel, is he teasing? He talks just like Lazarus."

"He's teasing, love. Tell him what you've been doing and why you are older."

"Well... the morning we got here I asked Grandma Hazel for advice—"

"No need to call me 'Grandma,' dear."

"But that's what Cas and Pol call you and I'm two generations junior to them. They require me to call them 'Uncle.'"

"I'll make them say 'Uncle'! Pay no attention to Castor and Pollux, Gretchen; they're a bad influence."

"All right. But I think they're kind o' nice. But teases. Mr. Richard—"

"And no need to call me 'Mister.'"

"Yes, sir. Hazel was busy—you were so terribly ill!—so she turned me over to Maureen, who assigned me to Deety, who got me started on Galacta and gave me some history to read and taught me basic six-axes space-time theory and the literary paradox. Conceptual metaphysics—"

"Slow down! You lost me."

Li anteriormente:

The Number of the Beast (1979)

Amor Sem Limites (1973)

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966)