ZX Pilot #16 05 ноября 1997

Самиздат

Fantasy - A Tale Strugatsky brothers' "The Way to Amalthea.

   FICTION



   Starting with this issue we will publish the story of 
brothers Strugatsky "Way to Amalthea. The text was kindly 
provided by Shotgun'om.



(C) Arkady Strugatsky
(C) Boris Strugatsky

 WAY TO Amalthea
 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■


 PROLOGUE. Amalthea, "Jay-STATION


   Amalthea, the fifth and the closest satellite of Jupiter, 
making full rotates about thirty-five hours. Except

addition, twelve hours, it makes a complete revolution around 
Jupiter. Therefore, Jupiter crawls out of the close horizon 
every thirteen and a half hours. 

   Jupiter Sunrise is very beautiful. Only need to advance up 
the elevator to the top floor under a transparent dome 
spektrolitovy. 

   When eyes become accustomed to the darkness, visible to the 
icy plain, leaving a hump to the rocky ridge on the horizon. 
The sky is black, and on him a lot of bright unblinking stars. 
From the stellar light at plain lie vague reflections, but 
rocky ridge appears deep black shadow in the starry sky. If you 
look closely, you can even discern the outlines of some jagged 
peaks. 

   It happens that hangs low over the ridge spotted sickle 
Ganymede or silver disc Callisto, or both, although this is 
rare. Then, from the peaks of glimmering ice across the plain 
stretch flat gray shadows. And when the sun above the horizon - 
the round spot of blinding flame, plain golubeet, the shadows 
are black and on the ice is visible to every crack. Carbon blob 
on raketodroma field is like a huge, covered with ice puddles. 
This causes a warm half-forgotten associations, and I want to 
run on the field and walk along a thin icy crust, to see how 
She hrustnet under magnetic shoe, and it will run wrinkles, 
similar to foam the hot milk, only the dark. 

   But all this can be seen not only on Amalthea.

   On - really beautiful is when Jupiter rises. And the rising 
of Jupiter's truly beautiful only on Amalthea. AND He is 
especially beautiful when Jupiter rises, catching the sun. 
First Bottoms range inflames green light - the giant planet's 
exosphere. It glowed brightly, slowly picking up the Sun, and 
one by one extinguishes the stars in the black sky. And 
suddenly it creeps on Solntse.Ochen important not to miss this 
moment. The green glow of the exosphere instantly, magically, 
it becomes blood-red. Always waiting for this moment, and he 
always comes suddenly. The sun turns red and an ice plain 
becomes red, and the circular turret finder on the edge of the 
plain break out the bloody glare. Even the shadows of the peaks 
turn pink. Then the red gradually darkens, becoming brown, and 
finally because of the rocky ridge on the near horizon gets out 
a huge brown hump of Jupiter. The sun is still visible, and it 
is still red as red-hot iron, even the cherry-ROM on a brown 
background. 

   For some reason, it is believed that the brown color - it is 
ugly. So says someone who has never seen a brown glow at half 
the sky and a clear red disc on it. Then the disk disappears. 
It only remains Jupiter, a huge, brown, shaggy, long time he 
selected from over the horizon, as if swollen and occupies a 
quarter of the sky. His cross obliquely black and green stripes 
of ammonia clouds, and sometimes it appears and immediately 
disappears tiny white tochkitak look with Amalthea ekzosfernye 
prominences. 

   Unfortunately, to watch the sunrise until the end is rarely 
possible. Too long crawls out of Jupiter, and have to go to 
work. During the observations, of course, can be traced back 
full sunrise, but during the observations did not think about 
beauty ... 

   Director of the Jay-station looked at the clock. Today is a 
beautiful sunrise, and soon it will be even prettier, but it's 
time to go down and think of what to do next.


   In the shadow of the rocks moved and slowly began to unfold
latticed skeleton of large antennas. Radiooptiki began 
observations. Hungry radiooptiki ... 

   Director for the last time looked at the brown fuzzy dome
Jupiter and thought it would be good to catch the moment when 
the horizon hung the four large satellite-reddish Io, Europa, 
Ganymede and Callisto, and the Jupiter in the first quarter of 
the half orange, half-brown. Then he thought that he had never

seen zahoda.Eto must also be beautiful: slowly extinguished the 
glow exosphere, and one after the other exploding stars in the 
sky, blackish, a diamond needle on barhate.No usually the time 
of call - it's the height of working day.


   Director entered the elevator and go down into the lower 
floor. Planetological station on Amalthea is the scientific 
town in a few horizons, carved in the ice and metal-filled. 
Here lived and worked and studied, and built About sixty 
people. Fifty-six young men and women than boys and girls with 
great gusto. 

   The Director looked at gyms, but there was nobody, just 
someone splashed a ball pool and a ringing echo ceiling. The 
Director went on, slowly moving the legs heavy magnetic boots. 
At Amalthea was almost no gravity, and it was extremely 
uncomfortable. In the end, of course, get used to, but at first 
it seems as if the body of pressurized hydrogen, and so it 
strives to jump out of the magnetic shoes. And especially 
difficult to get used sleep.


   Gone are two astrophysicists with wet hair after a shower, 
said hello and quickly moved on to the elevators. One 
astrophysics was, apparently, something is wrong with the 
magnetic horseshoes -He awkwardly bouncing and rocking on the 
move. Director turned the dining room. Fifteen breakfast.


   Cook Valnoga uncle, he is an engineer-deli station, delivers
breakfast on the trolley. He was gloomy. He does a person rather
gloomy, but in recent days, he was gloomy. He was gloomy from 
the very bad day, when Callisto, the fourth satellite

radioed the disaster with food. Ware
warehouse on Callisto was killed by the fungus. This has 
happened before, but Food is now entirely lost to the last 
biscuit, and hlorellovye plantation died, too.


   On Callisto is very difficult to work. In contrast, 
Amalthea, the Callisto a biosphere, and it still has not found 
the means to prevent the penetration of the fungus in the 
residential sections. This is a very interesting fungus. It 
penetrates through any wall, and devours all edible - bread, 
canned food, sugar. Chlorella he devours with great greed. 
Sometimes it strikes a man, but it's not dangerous. First, it 
is feared, and most daring me in the face, found on the skin 
characteristic bit slippery coating. But fungi did not cause a 
living body no pain or harm. It was even said that they act as 
a tonic. But the food they consume in a jiffy. 

   - Uncle Valnoga! - Called someone .- At lunch will also be 
crackers? 

   Director has not had time to see who called, because all the 
breakfast turned to face his uncle Valnoge and stopped chewing. 
Nice young faces, almost all tanned to blackness. And have a 
little haggard. Or so it seems?


   - For lunch you get soup, - said my uncle Valnoga.

   - Wow! - Someone said, and again the director did not notice 
anyone. 

   He approached the nearest table and sel.Valnoga drove him
cart, and the director took his breakfast - a plate with two 
biscuits, polplitki chocolate and a glass bulb with chaem.On 
made it very cleverly, but still thick white biscuits jumped 
and hung in air. Pear tea left standing, she had a magnetic ring

around the bottom. Director caught one of biscuits, a bit off 
and picked up for pear. Tea is hot.


   - Soup - said Valnoga. He spoke softly, referring only
to the director. - You can imagine what kind of soup. And they
I suppose you think I'll give them chicken soup. - He pushed 
the cart and sat down. He watched as the truck is rolling in 
the aisle slower and slower. - A chicken soup, among other 
things, eat on Callisto.


   - Hardly, - said the director absently.

   - Well, how unlikely! - Valnoga said. - I gave them one 
hundred and seventy cans. More than half of our reserve. 

   - Balance of reserve we have eaten?

   - Of course, eating - said Valnoga.

   - So, they have already eaten, - said the director, 
razgryzaya biscuits. 

   - They are the people twice as much as we do.

   "You're lying, Uncle Valnoga - he thought. - I do know well
Engineer deli. Cans twenty you still stashed away for patients 
and other things. "


   Valnoga sighed and said:

   - Tea, you do not cool?

   - No, thanks.

   - A chlorella on Callisto is not grafted - said Valnoga and
sighed again. - Again, they radioed, asked more pounds
ten starter. Reported that the exiled spaceship.

   - Well, we must give.

   - Writing! - Said my uncle Valnoga. - Of course, we must 
give. Only chlorella I have not a hundred tons, and it is also 
necessary to grow ... I you will probably damage your appetite, 
huh? 

   - Nothing, - said the director. He did not have any appetite.

   - Enough! - "Someone said.

   The Director looked up and saw at once bewildered face Zoya
Ivanova. Beside her sat yadernik Kozlov. They always sat
next.

   - Rather, hear? - Kozlov said angrily.

   Zoya blushed and bowed her head. She was very uncomfortable
because everyone is looking at them.

   - Do I slipped my biscuits yesterday - said Kozlov .- Now 
again you slip me his unfortunate tack. 

   Zoya silent. She almost cried from embarrassment.

   - Do not yell at her goat! - Yelled at the other end of the 
dining room atmospheric physicist Potapov. - Zoya, what do you 
fertilize it, this beast! Give me a better biscuit, I'll eat. 
I'm not even going to you yell.


   - No, really - Kozlov said more calmly. -I, and so healthy, 
but she must have more than I do. 

   - It's not true, Val, - said Zoya, without raising his head.

   Someone said:

   - Seagull is still possible, uncle Valnoga?

   Valnoga rose. Potapov, called across the dining room:

   - Hey, Gregor, after work, play?

   - Play - said Gregor.

   - Again, thou shalt bit Vadimchik - said someone.

   - On my side of the law of probability! - Potapov said.

   Everyone laughed.

   In the dining room was thrust an angry face.

   - Potapov here? Vadka the storm on Dzhupe!

   - Well! - Said Potapov and other vskochil.I atmosferniki 
hastily rose from the table. 

   Face disappeared and suddenly reappeared:

   - Biscuits me capture, do you hear?

   - If you give Valnoga - said Potapov vdogonku.On looked at
Valnogu.

   - Why not? - Uncle said Valnoga .- Konstantin Stetsenko,
two hundred grams of biscuits and fifty grams of chocolate ...

   Director stood up, wiping his mouth with a tissue. Kozlov 
said: 

   - Comrade Director, as there is a "Tahmasib?

   All were silent and turned their faces to the director. 
Young tanned the person is already a little haggard. Director 
responded: 

   - Still does.

   He walked slowly down the aisle between the tables and went 
to his office. The trouble is that Callisto is not started on 
time, "Canning epidemic." While this is not a real hunger. 
Amalthea may still be shared with Callisto chlorella and 
biscuits. But If the Bulls do not come from food ... Bulls 
getting somewhere close. He has already zapelengovali, but then 
he paused and was silent now sixty hours. You will have to 
reduce rations, he thought Director. Here, anything can happen, 
and to base on Mars close. Here, anything can happen. It 
happens that spaceship from Earth and Mars lost. This happens 
rarely, not often fungal epidemics. But too bad that it still 
happens. Over a billion miles from Earth is the worst ten 
epidemics. It's hunger. Maybe it's death.


To be continued ...