Читать книгу WRESTLING MATCH. Space history - В. Спейс - Страница 4

He dreamed of friends. Sobinov sat in a dressing-gown and slippers, sitting at the kitchen table and reading a newspaper. My wife was bustling at the stove. The table of contents, written in bold capital letters: «CATASTROPH».

Vision strained, read a few lines: «The death of Leonid Krazimov drew a line under the dangerous expeditions into space. It’s time to put an end to the reckless victims in the age of robotics and automatic unmanned ships…»

Oh, how it was missing now there. I wanted to be close to my colleagues, to finish what we started. He started, woke up. Found myself sleeping in the chair. From the dream I saw in my heart a little warmer.

– «I wish I could visit Alexey now. What is he really doing there? Does he drink coffee with his wife?»…

Of course, the distance separating the spaceport from the N-sky, where Sobinov lived, prevented the implementation of the plan. Leonid got up, stretched his stiff legs, then went down to the sleeping compartment. The snow-white bed inspired the warmth of the home and such a desired comfort, followed by peace of mind. Undressed, lay down in a soft bed. Soon he was asleep, indulging in a sweet rest…

The sun’s rays fell on the devices, reflected from them and blinded the eyes. Squinting, he turned away from the sun toward the exit that led to the command bay.

Impulsively jumped out of bed. A light breakfast, after the morning procedures, and a «cup» of coffee was jolted. Wearing a jumpsuit, walked up the steep stairs to the cabin. I sat down in the commander’s chair and thought deeply. It was necessary to weigh the situation again and again, to understand what had happened and to take some kind of decision. The instruments on the control panel were turned off, only one light, a control one, was flashing alone, signaling that the ship’s systems were not working. A ray of sunshine broke through the porthole. From the blinding sun, my eyes lost their sight for a moment. From a breast pocket he took out a napkin, rubbed his eyes. Fragrant gel wipes quickly absorbed into the eyelids pleasantly cool eyesight. As they got used to it, a panorama of the outskirts opened through the window. Approximately from the height of the twenty-story building where the cabin was located, how much the eye could reach, the vast sea of the forest «spilled». Cumulus hung over the expanse, drawn against the blue sky by a downy pile of white chimeras.

– «And yet I am on Earth!» – Replied with the sad warmth in the heart. Jumping to his feet, an instant and the HDA is already open, letting in the transition chamber. On the captain’s bridge, the astronauts, yielding to the old tradition, called the observation deck, looked through a vast area. A warm, gentle breeze filled with the tart flavors of an unfamiliar world caressed his cheeks. Breathing has become harder. The sugary-rich saturation of the smells of lush-flowering primeval forest and the high content of carbon dioxide made the atmosphere almost unsuitable for breathing. My head was spinning slightly, I had to go back inside the ship. Dressed in a light suit, entered the elevator. The spacesuit breathed easily, there was a surge of strength and vitality. Coming out of the transition chamber, vigorously ran down the ladder down to the sand. The spreading crown of a giant fern from the north completely covered

ship. The silvery design rushed upwards, like an alien plant, abandoned by Cosmos from the distant future. The landing stands are deeply entrenched in the ground, or rather in ghostly sand, on which was seen an endless variety of tracks. But only his gaze settled on these bizarre traces, as the crash of fallen and dry horsetail branches warned of imminent danger.

An old acquaintance, gleaming with a gray-green sheen of armored scales, raking in clawed five-fingered limbs, weighty clods of earth, like excavator buckets, was approaching. A few «eternal» moments and a long monster, snaking like a snake, saw the «victim» and froze, preparing for the attack. Mouth of explosive noise threw portions of compressed air picking up clouds of dust, making it tremble with horror. But, the lizard suddenly froze with a nightmare, approaching. Icy fear was crawling on my back, the astronaut looked around, there were no other animals around. The lizard raised its face and stared dully at the headset with huge balls of eyes. In the vertically set pupils flashed red reflections. By issuing an annoyed sap, the animal took a few «steps» back. Then, in a fierce leap, rushed at the man. His open mouth almost instantly froze over the headset glittering in the sun. The blood-red train of the forked tongue darted to the body with an arrow. The click of the closed fangs and the horror seized consciousness. The monster backed away, hissing furiously, clearly preparing for a new attack…

My heart pounded like a hammer on an anvil. The monster, not having achieved success in the attack, resumed the attack. The clanging of terrible fangs, closed somewhere inside Leonid, and the stinging mucus of saliva from thousands of tiny mouths of the mouth, caused an irresistible feeling of nausea. Leonid vomited. Dizzy. Trying not to look in the direction of the vile animal, he hurriedly ran to the ladder, and with pleasure feeling the firmness of the steps, ran up to the ship. The roar and the crackling of dry trunks under the power of heavy carcasses for a long time spoke in the dead of the forest, in the guttural cries of small animals…

With a stale breath from the experienced one, the astronaut was sitting in the cockpit in front of the control panel. Anger treacherously pushed to the button «START». To somehow calm down, and collect his thoughts, spoke to himself.

– This is some kind of nightmare! – then I thought, having calmed down a bit, I asked the same question repeated a thousand times in my mind:

– What is happening after all?! – having heard once again his own voice, he was moaned:

– It is clear how twice two, I am in another dimension! But, on the other hand, there is no sensation of touching visible objects, but at night?! And at night I see the world left. – he sadly remembered last night.

Friends who did not even know about his existence next to him…

– This is something different, some kind of two-faced world…