Готовый перевод Страна багровых туч / Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие / The Land of Crimson Clouds / Arkady and Boris Strugatsky: СЕРЬЁЗНЫЙ РАЗГОВОР / A Serious Conversation

PART 1. Testing Area # 7

A Serious Conversation

A clerk looked at Bykov with his single eye.

- From Central Asia?

- Yes.

- Papers...

He commandingly stretched his arm across the table. With it's enormously long index finger, the clerk's arm looked like a claw because half of the palm and three other fingers were absent. Bykov put his ID and assignment papers in this hand. The clerk leisurely opened the assignment and read it:

"The mechanical engineer of Gobi's Soviet-Chinese expedition Bykov Aleksey Petrovich is sent by the Ministry of Geology for conversation about the further service. The reason is a query from SCIPC..."

Then he quickly looked through ID, gave it back and pointed at the door upholstered with black oilcloth.

- Come in. Comrade Krauhin is waiting for you.

Bykov asked:

- Will the assignment remain with you?

- The assignment will remain with me.

There were some people sitting on the chairs along the walls in the waiting room. Obviously they were waiting their turns or summons. No one pay any attention to Aleksey Petrovich. It seemed to be strange. He had heard the opposite point about dispositions in state departments of the capital. However, he stopped thinking of the single-eyed clerk and complaisant visitors when he stepped into the office.

The windows in this spacious and gloomy office were covered with bamboo blinds. The bare plastic walls shone dimly. The floor was covered with a soft red carpet. Bykov looked around seeking the owner of the office and he saw two bald spots near the wide and deserted desk. One bald head was pale or even some grayish. It towered motionlessly over the back of the armchair for visitors. The other one was light saffron. It leaned over folders across the table and was swinging. It looked like its owner suspiciously sniffed tracing papers and blueprints placed in front of him.

Then Bykov saw the third bald head. It belonged to an ugly fat figure in a gray suit collapsed on the carpet. Its gray bald head was clumsily buried in the corner between a wall and a safe. A round rope ran from its neck to the table and hid under it...

After all, every boss has his own habits, but hasn't it gone too far?

Bykov awkwardly shifted from foot to foot, again pulled the zipper of his jacket and anxiously looked back at the door. At that moment the saffron bald spot disappeared. There was a heavy breathing, and a muffled hoarse voice said with satisfaction: "Keeps great! Excellent!" А bulky stooping figure in a working nylon overall slowly rose above the table.

The man was of great height, very broad in shoulders and probably very heavy. His face covered with brown pitted skin seemed a mask. Thin-lipped mouth was compressed into a straight line, and from under the powerful convex forehead the round eyes with no eyelashes coldly and carefully looked at Bykov.

- What do you want? - he asked huskily.

I need to see comrade Krauhin, - said Bykov, glancing warily at the bald figure sprawled on the carpet.

- I am Krauhin. - The man with round eyes also glanced at the figure and stared at Bykov again.

The bald spot in the armchair remained motionless. Bykov hesitated a moment, took a few steps forward and introduced himself. Krauhin listened with his head tilted.

- Glad to see you. - he said reservedly. - I waited for you yesterday, comrade Bykov. Please be seated. - He pointed with a huge, like a shovel, hand in the direction of the armchair. - Here, please. Free up the seat and sit down.

Nothing understanding, Bykov came to the table, turned to the armchair and barely kept a nervous laugh. A strange suit lay in the chair. It was made from gray elastic tissue and reminded a diving suit. A round silver cap with metal clasps bulged over the back of the armchair.

- Remove it, put it on the floor - said Krauhin.

Bykov looked back at the fat dummy lying in the corner near the safe.

- This is a special suit, too, - Krauhin said impatiently. - Sit down!

Bykov hastily vacated the armchair and sat down, feeling some embarrassment. Krauhin was staring at him unblinkingly.

- So ... - He drummed his pale fingers on the table. - Well, comrade Bykov, let's get acquainted. Call me Nikolay Zaharovich. Show favor and pay attention to me, as they say. You will have to work under my supervision. Unless, of course...

An abrupt phone call interrupted him. He picked up the phone.

- Wait a minute, comrade Bykov... I'm listening ... Yes, I am...

He did not say a word, but in the bluish light from the videophone screen Bykov saw that his face immediately flushed with paint. His bare temples swollen with nodes of dark veins. Apparently, the conversation was about very serious things. Out of courtesy Bykov looked down and started to scrutinize the special suit lying on the carpet next to the armchair. Through the open collar one could see the contents of the helmet. It seemed to Bykov that he could distinguish rough pattern of the carpet even though the silver sphere was completely opaque from outside. Bykov bent down to have a better look at the helmet, but at this point there was a brief crack of the hurled phone and then a light click of the switch.

- Call up Pokatilov, now! - he ordered in a hoarse whisper.

- Yes, sir! - answered someone invisible.

- In an hour.

- Yes, sir! In an hour!..

Again the switch clicked and a silence fell. Bykov looked up and saw that Krauhin was strongly rubbing his face with palms.

- So, - he said quietly noticing that Bykov was looking at him. - What a stupid! Like talking to the wall ... I'm sorry, comrade Bykov. Where are we ... Yeah ... Once again, I apologize. So, our conversation will be a serious one, but we have few time. There's no time at all. Let's get started... First of all, I would like to become more familiar with you. Tell me about yourself.

- What exactly? - said Bykov.

First of all, your biography.

- Biography? - The engineer thought a while. - I have a very simple life. I was born in 19 .., in a water transport worker's family near the town of Gorky. My father died early, I hadn't been three years old yet. Then I was brought up and educated at a boarding school till fifteen years. Then for four years I worked as an engineer's assistant and as an engineer of jet amphibious gliders at the river of Volga. I'm a hockey player. I participated in two Olympic games within our team "Volga". Then I entered the Higher Technical School of Ground Transport. It is a former school of Armored Wheeled Troops. ("Why am I talking so much?" - an unpleasant thought stung him.) I graduated from the Department of Expeditionary Nuclear Transport. Well ... I was sent to the mountains of Tien-Shan region... Then to the sands of Gobi ... There I served in the army. And there I joined the Party. What else? That's it.

- Well, the biography is simple, - Krauhin agreed. - Are you thirty three years old now, aren't you?

- I will be thirty-four in a month.

- And not married, of course?

Such a thrust from the chief seemed to Bykov pretty tactless. The engineer did not like allusions about his appearance and that "of course" offended him. In addition, it seemed to him that Krauhin's face was also far from ideals of male beauty. He even wanted to tell about this but decided to keep quiet. Anyways, it is unlikely that his appearance has a crucial meaning for Krauhin. Moreover, Bykov knew at least one woman for whom his sun-burnt face, boot-looking nose and red coarse hair do not play a decisive role.

- I want to say - continued Krauhin - that even six months ago, it seems to me, you were single.

- Yes, - Bykov said dryly - I'm still a bachelor now. Yet...

He suddenly realized that Krauhin knows a lot about him and asks questions not for his answers, but to make a "personal impression", or for some other unclear purpose. It was unpleasant, and Bykov pricked up his ears.

- Yet I'm still a bachelor, - he repeated.

- So, - said Krauhin, - you don't have close relatives, do you?

- So, I don't.

- And you, so to say, completely alone and independent...

- Yes, I'm alone. Yet alone.

- Where do you say have you served recently?

- In Gobi...

- How long?

- Three years...

- Three years! All the time in a desert?

- Yes. Sure, there were minor interruptions. Trips, courses ... But mostly in the desert.

- Not tired?

Bykov thought a little.

- At first it was hard - he said cautiously. - Then I used to. Of course, it was not easy to serve there. - He remembered the fiery sky and the black oceans of sand. - But you can love even a desert...

- Really? - said Krauhin. - To love a desert? And do you love?

- I used to it, of course.

- Your last position?

- A chief of motorcade of nuclear all-terrain vehicles of Gobi expedition base.

- Consequently, you know machines well?

- It depends on what...

- For example, these nuclear all-terrain vehicles?

The question seemed to Bykov idle, and he said nothing.

- Tell me, was it you who led the rescue of Dauge's expedition last year?

- Me.

- Well done! Without you they would have died.

Bykov shrugged:

- For us it was a pretty ordinary march and nothing more.

Krauhin's eyes narrowed.

- But your people have suffered too, if I remember correctly.

Bykov flushed - with his skin color it looked scary - and said angrily:

- There was a Black Storm! I'm not bragging, comrade Krauhin. Marches with music happen only in Moscow on parades. In sands it is more difficult.

He was embarrassed and annoyed. Krauhin was examining him with an uncertain smile.

- Well, well ... More difficult ... Three years in sands. It is a lot. That is good. Tell me, comrade Bykov, do you have any hobbies, beside the service?

Bykov looked at him puzzled:

- In what way?

- What do you do when you are off the duty?

- Um ... I read, of course. I play chess.

- And it seems you have some publications?

- I have.

- Many?

- No, not so many. Two articles in the "Crawler Transport".

- What are they about?

- Repairing of motor reactors in the field. Personal experience.

- Repairing of motor reactors... Very interesting. By the way, except hockey, what else are you interested in sports?

- A sambo wrestler ... An instructor.

- That's good. So. And have you ever wondered about astronomy?

Bykov thought Krauhin was kidding him. He replied:

- No, I haven't wondered about astronomy.

- What a pity!

- Probably...

- The matter is that your work - Aleksey Petrovich - will be related to this science, in a certain extent, of course.

The engineer frowned:

- I'm sorry. I don't understand clearly...

- What have you been told when you was sent to us?

- They said that I was sent to negotiate the participation in a scientific expedition. Temporarily ...

- Did they tell, what type of expedition?

- Somewhere in the desert in search of the rare ores.

Krauhin cracked pale fingers and placed his hands on the table.

- Yes, of course - he muttered. - It's quite natural. They don't know that. So, Aleksey Petrovich - he said with a sigh. - Of course, the astronomy is not the matter. More precisely, almost innocent. More precisely indeed, it is nothing FOR YOU. It does not matter that you have not been interested in astronomy. It is unlikely you will need it. Well, after all you will read something or you will be told somewhat. But the point is that you will work not here. Not on Earth, generally.

Bykov blinked nervously. Suddenly he again felt uneasy, like half an hour ago, when he crossed the threshold of this study.

- I'm afraid ... I do not understand you - he said with hesitation. - Not on Earth? On the Moon, perhaps?

- No, not on the Moon. Much further.

It reminded a very strange dream. Krauhin, resting his chin on his crossed fingers, was talking:

- Why are you so surprised, Aleksey Petrovich? People have been flying to other planets for last thirty years. You think they are kind of special people? Nothing like that! They are usual people, just like you. They are people of different professions. I'm sure that you, for example, could be an outstanding cosmonaut. In fact, many cosmonauts came to us from outside, as you can say, for example from aviation. I understand that for you, as an engineer with a deep "earth" profession, an opportunity to participate in a case like that hasn't just come to mind. However, the circumstances ran that way, and we are sending an expedition to Venus. And we need someone who perfectly knows working conditions in a desert. It is unlikely that sands there strongly differ from your favorite Gobi. It will be just a little more difficult...

Bykov suddenly remembered:

- Uranium Golkonda!

Krauhin glimpsed at him carefully:

- Yes, Uranium Golkonda! You see that you know almost everything.

- Venus... - slowly said Bykov. - Uranium Golkonda... - He shook his head and grinned. - Me! And into heavens! Unbelievable!

- Um... You are not quite a sinner. And, beside that, we are sending you not to Eden. But may be.... - Krauhin downed his voice, - you are afraid?

Bykov thought a while.

- Sure, it's frightful a bit, - he admitted, - And even scared. Mm... It is possible I'll not manage it. But if I'm called for only I can and know, why not? - He looked at Krauhin and smiled. - No, I don't afraid so much to decline the invitation. Everything is very unexpected, you know. And then, why do you... Are you sure I can do it?

- I am perfectly sure that you can handle it. Of course, there will be hard, very, very difficult. There, probably, will be some dangers that we don't even suspect of... But you can do it.

- You know better, comrade Krauhin.

- Yes, I guess I know better. So, Aleksey Petrovich, can we assume that you won't go to your ministry and won't beg them to release you for health or family reasons?

- Oh! Comrade Krauhin!!

- But what did you think? - Krauhin's face darkened. - There were people much less than you that went coward in a most pity manner sitting right here, in this chair. - He ran his hand over his face. - Frankly speaking, I have kept you in mind for very long time and now I'm glad I haven't made a mistake.

Bykov smirked confusedly and looked away. Then, recollecting himself, he asked:

- How do you know me, comrade Krauhin?

- The campaign for Dauge's expedition. It was the mission of our department, and since then I have taken you on a note. I requested your stats and everything. Now an occasion has happened, and we have invited you.

- I see.

- It is usual to give some time for thinking. A week or a month sometime. But we can't wait today. Do decide, Aleksey Petrovich. I warn you: if you're just a little hesitant, refuse immediately. We will not be offended.

Bykov laughed:

- No, comrade Krauhin, I won't refuse. If you think that I can do it, I won't refuse. I agree. It is unexpectedly, of course, but it's ok, I will used to it. I agree.

- That's fine.

Krauhin quietly nodded and looked at his watch.

- Now that's the matter. The expedition will last a relatively short time, no longer than six weeks. Is it ok?

- It's ok...

- I wont explain the further work in detail. You will learn later. We have very little time. Only please note that tomorrow we are flying out.

- Tomorrow? To Venus?

- No, not to Venus, not so soon. We will work on Earth for a while. However, not in Moscow, but in other place. By the way, where is your luggage?

- Down, in the dressing room. I have little things - a suitcase and a field bag. I did not think ...

- It doesn't matter. Where do you want to stay? I would recommend the "Prague". It's here, nearby.

Bykov nodded:

- I know it. A good hotel.

- A very good hotel. Now I let you go, and in... - He looked at his watch - an hour or two, exactly at 17.00, comrade astronaut, please come back here. Here you'll learn something. Have you had a lunch? Of course, you have not. A dining room is on the thirteenth floor. Please, have a lunch, then relax in a library or in a club - it's also here, in this building - and at 17,00 be back. Well, go ahead. Now I'm going to lather neck for someone as they say.

Bykov - still a little worried - got up, hesitated and asked a question, tormenting him for a long time:

- Comrade Krauhin, what is a full name of this department? In my assignment papers it is called "SCIPC", but I don't think I deciphered it properly.

- "SCIPC" is the State Committee of Interplanetary Communications at the Council of Ministers. I am a Deputy Chairman of the Committee.

- Thank you, - said Bykov.

"The Committee of Interplanetary Communications, - he murmured, turning to the door. - Of course ... I was thinking - the State Committee of International Polytechnic Connections... The same abbreviation..."

At the door Bykov bumped into some lanky man irresistibly sweeping into the office. Bykov just managed to make out that the man was wearing big glasses in a luxurious black frames and was extremely pale. He had not noticed a visitor, pushed him into the chest, and began to speak right from the doorway:

- Nikolay Zaharovich!...

- Where is the sixth reactor? - Bykov heard a muffled sinister Krauhin's bass.

- But let me tell, Nikolay...

- I'm asking, where is the sixth reactor?

Engineer Bykov closed the door and stepped to the door of the waiting room. The swarthy clerk gazed at him with his solitary eye while he was walking and then leaned over the table again.

Внимание! Этот перевод, возможно, ещё не готов.
Его статус: перевод редактируется

Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/35064/123853

Переводчики: staswiz, algrid