Читать книгу Classics of a fantasy - A. Belyaev - Страница 4

Hans Finger was by the cabin window. His curling fair hair and face

burned in the sun. He whistled a cheerful march, beating time and a leg and

hand. Finger experienced delight of the first flight on the stratoplena.

“Life – devilishly interesting movie when time and events fly as

this стратоплан…” Hans all accelerated a march. If it was possible

to start up the movie of life even quicker! To strike time in a nape so that all

hour hands were started turning quicker second, detachable leaves

calendars fell down as autumn leaves during a storm, and the sun a comet

would rush on a sky…

Hans suddenly reeled, hit the head against a wall and screamed. Or it

also, like a certain utopian hero, received a gift to work wonders?.

The sun as soccerball, described an arch in the sky and was behind a frame

windows.

Hans rubbed a nape, took seat in an easy chair and laughed.

“Well of course, it стратоплан the abrupt bend made. Yes, changing time

on the third speed, it is necessary to keep more strong”.

Hans thought.

Elections, strikes, street demonstrations. Hans kept up everywhere:

scattered illegal leaves from a roof, filled with them abonent books in

boxes of payphones, managed “Mohicans” near by to do, as well as

hundreds of his companions, antigovernmental inscriptions on walls of houses and on

the passing vans, collected the chronicle for underground newspapers, let

children’s spheres with leaflets, set up at night red banners on spikes

churches, sold theatrical programs, putting in them leaflets,

invented tens of ways of propaganda, ran away from prosecution, disappeared,

changed clothes; even it zagrimirovyvatsya and again threw out such pieces, from

which enemies turned green, workers laughed and political raged

caliphs…

Vinkler’s call. Organization of escape of Zander. A smart suit “under

Englishman”. Soft compartment. To the Swiss border – on a car. Boundary

strip. Night, storm… Searches of companions to which at Vinkler was

letter. Wandering… A crossing through the river. Alarm. Firefight…

Switzerland. Mountains in the neighborhood of the Alps. The small house – a chalet – among

unction, larches, Alpine cedars. Snow. Tasty mountain frosty

the air which is given to drink by a needles smell. Work in a workshop. Production of model

starprobe vehicle according to drawings. Study. War with integrals and differentials. In

leisure hours – skis, excursions on the mountains… Blotton’s arrival with big

news. Order of a big passenger starprobe vehicle. Blotton’s departure,

Zander and Vinkler in some unknown Stormer-city…

New duties are assigned to Hans: purchase and reception

high-quality staly Europe in the different cities and America.

Continuous trips. It is interesting. But… “purchasing agent” – such

work not in Hans’s taste. It sends desperate letters to Vinkler. At last

Vinkler “took pity” on him. Arrived to Europe personally to make

some purchases and to capture with itself Hans. And now they fly in

this mysterious Stormer-city. Also Blotton flies. He will make the first

rise in a stratosphere on the single rocket. He did not want this honor

to concede to nobody.

Hans looks out of the window. The sky at this height of gray and flaky color. Sun

it is dazzling is white.

And what becomes below? Concave dark blue board of the ocean. On it

it is dazzling a bright circle – reflection of a solar disk.

Magnificent, wonderful flight! Terrible jump! From west banks

Europe on the southwest, through the Atlantic Ocean, to South America.

Stratoplan crossed all its continent from edge to edge over a river basin

Amazons, passed through the Andes, made a wide semicircle over the coast

The Pacific Ocean and now goes to the same Andes from the southwest. Here they

are seen hardly noticeable zazubrinka on the horizon…

– Уф! – Hans zasvistat a march again.

– What did you rassvistetsya there? – Vinkler from the next cabin speaks.

– Very well we fly! – Hans answers, going to Vinkler.

– On the airplane so would not whistle! – Vinkler speaks. He sits at

little table also considers something in the notebook, puffing

unseparable tube.

– I only in water am not able to whistle, – Hans answered. – And in the airplane —

as much as necessary.

– The same effect that in water: stops the engine.

– It is right, – Hans agreed. – Here it is absolutely silent. As if you fly on

balloon. Even explosions are not heard.

– Quicker than a sound we fly, because and it is not heard. Four hundred. We slow down

the course also we decrease. Height is only fifteen kilometers.

– But here temperature has to be much lower, than on

the Earth’s surface, the speed of a sound decreases with decrease

temperatures…

Vinkler nodded in the affirmative.

– . reaching at zero three hundred thirty two meters per second.

Now probably the motor is switched already off.

– And what ceiling?

– Twenty – twenty two kilometers. It is the most favorable height if

not to chase record speed.

– Mosquito take-off. Two hundred – three hundred kilometers – all right! Five hundred

– six hundred is the real height! – the voice of the third was heard

passenger.

Smoking the Egyptian sigarette, Henry Blotton approached Vinkler’s chair.

The lord was dressed in warm light brown sports overalls though in

to such “prozodezhda” there was no need: cabin of a stratoplan

it was well heated by electricity and supplied with clean air. In it

it was warm, cozy, with comfort, as in a compartment of the pullman car.

– Aeroplanny champions of height, certainly, pottered about in dust on

to comparison with us. For all these “saunders-Valkyries”,

“pharman-sou-pergoliafov”, “yunkers” twelve – fifteen thousand meters

were already almost extreme height. Researchers of a stratosphere rose

higher. But they rose on balloons. And recently in Taymsa I

read…

Blotton rode out the favourite fad and began a never-ending conversation

about height records, about rivals who can challenge its monasteries, about

chances of a victory of the same champions, as it.

– You will go to an interplanetary travel and at once will beat all

the rivals, – Vinkler told. Blotton did not understand a sneer.

– Yes, but., I am afraid that about it it will not be printed in Taymsa and

my rivals just do not learn about a new record, – melancholically answered

it.

Stratoplan decreased and reduced speed. Mountains on the horizon grew, dark

color of the sky turned pale, turned blue, stars, as one by one died away on

dawn.

Far below, at a foot of mountains as the bright green ocean, spread

violent tropical vegetation.

– The Andes – the South American continuation of the Cordilleras, – Vinkler told. —

Behind them the desert lowland, and further – the Rocky Mountains the republics

Ecuador.

– Surprisingly! It is difficult to get used to it. What speed, what

victory over space! – Finger exclaimed and once again Endured all

flight.

Europe – as if the big card. On the right – the Azores, at the left —

the Cape Verde Islands, hardly distinguishable even in the strongest sea

field-glass, South America… The basin of Amazon with its inflows similar on

tree branches… A semicircle of “atmospheric braking” over the Great ocean and

again coast of South America, already western.

– Yes, quite good way of studying of geography. It is better our school

books and maps, – Henry told. – But speed turtle. Other business —

space flight!

– Space flight! Turtle speed! – in Blotton’s tone continued

Vinkler. – That twelve mean some – eighteen kilometers in

second of space flight in comparison at least with thirty kilometers

flight of Earth? And star fogs! Some of them fly from huge

speed.

– ? – Blotton asked.

– About one thousand kilometers per second – usual average speed. But

there are also exceptions. According to the latest data, a fog Big Dipper

number twenty four flies with a speed of eleven thousand seven hundred

kilometers per second, Lev number one – nearly twenty thousand kilometers.

– Yes, such speed is pleasant to me. But do not laugh, kind Vinkler.

I understand in such things a little, but our friend Leo Zander said to me that

when we have radioactive energy down to a science, it will be possible

to reach also velocity of light.

– Alas, even with velocity of light you should fly to the next

stars four years and four months. To other sun stars, which we

we consider our “neighbors” in world space, – ten – fifteen

years. Some tens of stars are from us on such close

distance. To the others it should fly hundreds and thousands of years. You

the immense desert within months, years, decades would surround.

Any concept about time will disappear.

– What star, next to the Sun? – Blotton asked.

– Alpha Tsentavra. In total about forty trillion kilometers.

– Four over a year – are not much. Having kept silent, lord Henry

returned to terrestrial affairs:

– And why, actually, for start this is chosen wild, desert

place?

– Just because it wild, desert, unsociable. Such is desire

shareholders of your wild society “Noah’s Ark”. Conspiracy.

– But there is a lot of desert places on the globe, to take at least Youzhny

pole. There nobody would prevent us, even efficient reporters. Why

exactly here? I would like to know, than the choice was defined.

– On it there were the, and important, the bases, – seriously answered

Vinkler. – Exactly there are optimum conditions for

take-off. You probably know that to the rocket at take-off from Earth

it is necessary to break through a double armor: atmospheres and terrestrial

inclinations. The greatest inclination exists on poles, the smallest – on

the equator as Earth is a little flattened to poles. Besides on

poles the smallest, and on the equator the greatest centrifugal effect.

Therefore an inclination armor on the equator minimum.

– And what difference in weight?

– On the equator the body weighs on the one two-hundredth share less, than on

pole.

– Only? – disappointedly Blotton told.

– Yes, only. Thanks to centrifugal effect and “inflation” of terrestrial

sphere at the equator of a body weigh on half-percent less here, than at poles.

As though really it is a little. But for the rocket important even it

reduction of weight: it gives noticeable economy in a fuel reserve. So

weight half-percent – not so small size in our enterprise.

– Well, equator. He agrees. But why this place on the equator?

– To answer also this question, we should talk already about

other armor – atmospheric. Air which we approximately do not notice,

represents almost absolute obstacle for quickly moving

bodies. The quicker the movement, the is more resistance. At very big

speeds resistance of air is almost also big, as well as resistance

solid body, – the real steel armor. This not only figurative

expression. Meteors – the stones which are on a silver platter – move from space

speed; crashing into the atmosphere, meteors more small, being heated because of

air resistance, evaporate, being besieged тончайшею by dust. Here with

what obstacle it is necessary to deal in our flight. Zhyulvernovskiye

the heroes who were taking off from the gun in a shell would have to in the first

the moment of a shot to break in flat cake against a shell bottom. To avoid

this sad fate, we will increase the speed of our rocket

gradually. We have to choose such place on the globe where

the atmospheric armor has the smallest thickness. Relative

density of air depends on pressure, temperature, humidity, and all

it, in turn, from height above sea level. Than higher over level

the seas, an armor of the atmosphere are thinner than subjects, it is easier for that to punch, therefore

it and that should be spent for it fuel less. At the height of six

density of air is approximately already twice less than kilometers, than at the level

seas. Now, I hope, it is clear to you that it is more favorable to the interplanetary ship

to start in total from perhaps higher place, with some mountain

surfaces? So what is is necessary for us? The equator and the greatest height on it.

Take the globe, and, turning it, you will see what mountain areas

crosses the equator. Islands of Sumatra and Borneo and South American

The Cordilleras – the Andes. Islands gorist. There are heights more than four

thousands of meters. It is possible that Sumatra and Borneo will become rocket airfields

future regular interplanetary travel, as well as Andes. But on these

islands., it is too crowded: oil, coal, tropical spices and

fruit and other tempting things attracted the capital and people there, and

islands became colonies of a number of powers. Besides Sumatra and Borneo

are rather far from those factories and the plants at which

parts of the rocket are produced. Transfer would cost much.

Therefore, there are Andes. Here everything that to us, is more faithful to you, is necessary:

equator, high mountains, deficiency, off road terrain, desert, solitude. Quite

also the area topography approaches. Flight will be directed on an inclined plane in

twelve degrees on the East, that is in the same direction, in what

also the globe rotates. It to use “free”

additional speed of rotation of Earth to add this speed to speed

rockets. As you can see if skillfully to undertake, then and rotation of Earth is possible

to make the ally. Between the Andes and the Rocky Mountains the valley lies. There,

where the Andes break to this valley, it is convenient to arrange the platform for running start

rockets. Having gained speed, the rocket “will break” from break to leave

Earth. Well, now all “why” are resolved? Blotton nodded:

– I thank you, everything is clear. Do not complain about me for my dullness: to me

it was not necessary to be engaged in these lofty matters.

– However we were so chattered that nearly missed landing, – told

Vinkler. – Already Stormer-city – the purpose of our travel is seen. On

any case be fastened to a chair by belts. Startodr here not quite

it is equipped.

Finger silently executed this council, but Blotton, being fastened, carelessly

told with a type of the skilled person.

– Overcaution!