Ending. Starts at No. 1-4.
Hoyland led Jo-Jim into a small room, one wall of which was made of glass. The glass was dark, as if something from outside was blocking the view. Opposite the wall stood two chairs, in the armrests of which and on the dashboards in front of them the same squares of small lights shone as in the Main Control House.
Jo-Jim tried to find a device that would reproduce a panorama of the starry sky on the glass wall in front of them. The attempts were unsuccessful. He couldn’t have known that this glass was not a screen, but a porthole obscured by the hull of the Ship itself. Manipulating his fingers at random, Joe-Jim turned on the instruments, above which the “Start” sign lit up. This word meant nothing to him, and he paid no attention to it. Moreover, nothing significant happened, except that the red light flashed and another inscription flashed: “The hermetic airlock is open.”
Jo-Jim, Hugh and Bobo were very lucky that the floodgate was open. If they had closed the doors behind them and their distant ancestors had left in the Converter at least a few grams of mass suitable for conversion into energy, all three would, quite unexpectedly, find themselves in a ship’s boat launched into space without any preparation for the flight: in a small spacecraft, the control system of which they only vaguely began to comprehend by analogy with the instrument diagram of the Main Control House.
It is unlikely that they would have been able to bring the boat back into the dock; most likely they would have crashed into the Ship.
And none of them suspected that the “dwelling” they found was itself a small space rocket. It never occurred to them that the Ship could be equipped with boats.
“Turn off the light,” Hugh asked.
Jo-Jim complied with his request.
“So?..” continued Hugh. — What do you think about this find?
“It’s clear,” Jim answered. - This is the second cabin. We didn't know about it before because we couldn't open the door.
“Illogical,” Joe objected. — Why does the Ship need two deckhouses?
- Why does a person need two heads? — his brother answered the question with a question. - From my point of view, yours is a clear excess.
- Don’t compare, you and I were born this way. But the ship was built according to the project.
- So what? We carry two knives, don't we? Were we just born with them? The reserve does not fit the pocket.
- But how to control the Ship from here? - Joe protested. - You can’t see anything. If you duplicate the controls, then in the Captain's cabin, from where the stars are visible.
- And what's that? - Jim asked, pointing to the glass wall.
“Use your brains,” Joe replied. — This wall goes inside the Ship, not outside. There are no devices here to reproduce the starry sky.
“Maybe we just didn’t find them.”
- Okay, but then why is the Converter here? I assure you, it was not installed by accident.
- So what?
- Surely it is somehow connected with all these devices.
- Why do you think so?
- That’s why! Why would you install both instruments and the Converter in the same compartment if they have nothing to do with each other?
Hugh, who had been silent all the time, raised his head. Even the contradictions in the brothers' arguments seemed reasonable and logical. Confusing situation. But Converter, Converter...
- Listen! - Hugh suddenly blurted out.
-What else are you thinking?
- What if... what if this part of the Ship is moving?
- Naturally. The whole Ship is moving.
“No,” said Hugh impatiently. - I'm talking about something completely different. What if this part of the Ship could move on its own? Remote Control and Converter! That's the secret - this section can separate from the Ship and fly on its own!
- Doubtful.
- Maybe. But if I’m still right, then we found what we were looking for. This is the way out.
- How so? - Joe asked. - What nonsense! There is no door here.
- But if this thing is taken away from the Ship, then you can go out through the door through which we entered!
The two heads turned towards him at the same time, then looked at each other. Jo-Jim repeated his experiment with the dashboard.
- Do you see? - said Jim. - “Start.” Launch means to set the ship in motion.
- Why isn’t anything happening?
- “The hermetic airlock is open.” This means the door, all the doors through which we have passed.
— Shall we try to close it?
— You must first turn on the Converter.
- Don't rush, don't rush. Who knows what will happen? We'll fly out some more, but we won't be able to come back. Then we'll die of hunger.
- Hmmm, that's right. We need to look around, think everything through carefully.
Listening to the twins argue, Hugh carefully examined the dashboard, trying to figure out what was what. Seeing a drawer on the panel in front of the chair, he stuck his hand into it.
- Look what I found!
- Book? - said Joe. - Yes, Converter has a whole bunch of them.
“Show me,” said Jim. Hugh opened the book he found.
“The logbook of the starship Vanguard,” he read. “June 2, 2172. The flight continues at the same cruising speed."
- What?! - Joe yelled. - Let me have a look!
“June 4th. The flight continues at the same cruising speed. At 13.00 the captain announced a list of promotions and disciplinary sanctions. See Administrative Log."
- Give it to me!
“Wait,” Hugh replied. - “June 6. At 04.31 a mutiny broke out. Junior engineer Huff captured several tiers and, declaring himself Captain, invited the watch to surrender. The officer of the watch declared him under arrest and called the Captain's cabin. There was no answer."
“04.35. The connection has been interrupted. The officer of the watch sent three messengers to notify the Captain, as well as to find the commandant of the guardhouse and assist in the arrest of Huff.”
“04.41. The converter is turned off, we went into free flight."
“05.02. Delivery boy Aesi, one of the three sent down earlier, returned to the control room. He reported verbally that the other two - Malcolm Young and Arthur Sears - had been killed, and he was released only to offer the watch to surrender. The rebels give us until 05.15 to think.”
The next entry in the logbook was made in a different handwriting.
“05.45. I did my best to contact other posts and officers of the Ship, but my attempts were unsuccessful. Based on the current circumstances, I consider it my duty to leave the control room without waiting for a shift and try to restore order in the lower tiers. Since we are not armed, my decision may be a mistake, but I have no choice. Gene Baldwin, pilot third class, officer of the watch."
- This is all? - Joe asked.
“No,” replied Hugh.
“October 1 (approximately) 2172. I, Theodore Mauson, former private in the quartermaster service, have today been elected Captain of the Vanguard. Much has changed since the last entry in this journal. The rebellion was suppressed, or rather died out on its own, but its consequences were tragic. The entire command staff was killed, all the pilots and engineers were killed. That's why I was chosen as Captain - there was no one more suitable.
We lost about 90 percent of the crew. No new crops have been planted since the mutiny, hydroponic farms have been neglected, and food supplies are running low. Among the rebels who had not yet surrendered, cases of cannibalism had already been noted.
My first priority is to establish some semblance of order and discipline among the crew. Crops should be resumed and a constant watch established at the Auxiliary Converter, which has now become our only source of light, heat and energy."
The date of the next recording was not specified.
“Lately I haven’t had the time to keep a journal accurately. To tell the truth, I have no idea what date it is today. The ship's clock has long stopped. Either due to problems in the Auxiliary Converter, or due to external radiation. Since the Main Converter is not functioning, we have lost the radiation protection field around the Ship. My Chief Engineer assures us that the Main Converter can be launched, but we do not have navigators. I tried to learn how to navigate through the surviving books, but the math is too difficult for me.
Due to radiation, approximately every twentieth child is born deformed. I introduced the Spartan code - these children should not live. Severe necessity.
I'm getting old and decrepit, it's time to look for a successor. I am the last one on board who was born on Earth, but I don’t remember much about it either - I was five years old when my parents went on the flight. I don’t know how old I am now, but I clearly understand one thing - I have very little time left before the Converter.
A curious shift is taking place in the psychology of my people. They have never lived on the planet, so over time it becomes increasingly difficult for them to perceive any concepts that are not directly related to the Ship, or to imagine natural phenomena that are not related to life in it. I abandoned all attempts to awaken their imagination and thought; they are unlikely to be of any use if I still have no hope of ever leading my crew out of the darkness. Life is hard for my people, growing crops only to fight for them against the renegades still hidden in the upper decks. So why poison their souls with stories about a better life?
I have decided not to pass this logbook on to my successor. I’d rather hide it in the only boat that remained after the rebels fled. There he will be safe, but here some idiot will not hesitate to use him as fuel for the Converter. Recently I caught the watchman at the moment when he was putting the last copy of the priceless “All-Earth Encyclopedia” into the Converter. The damn fool is illiterate, can neither read nor write. We need to pass a law on the protection of books.”
“This is my last record. I put off coming here for a long time in order to hide the magazine in a safe place - going up to the upper decks is very dangerous. But my life no longer matters, and I want to die confident that the truthful chronicle of events will be preserved.
Theodore Mauson, Captain."
“So that’s how it all was.”
“I feel sorry for him, poor fellow,” Hugh said quietly.
- Whom? Captain Mauson? Why?
- No, not him. I meant pilot Baldwin. Can you imagine what it was like for him to walk out the door where Huff was waiting for him,” Hugh shuddered. He was an enlightened man, but with all the breadth of his views, he subconsciously imagined Huff - “Huff was the first to sin, damn him forever!” — a creature as tall as two Jo-Jims, as strong as two Bobos, and with fangs instead of teeth.
Hugh borrowed from Ertz several porters who were dragging the corpses of war victims to the Main Converter for fuel, and ordered them to carry supplies of water, food and mass into the boat for the Converter. He did not inform Narby about this and generally hid the found boat from him. Why, he didn’t know, Narbi just irritated him.
Meanwhile, the star on the screen of the Main Wheelhouse grew and grew until it turned into a bright sparkling disk. So bright that it was painful to look at. Its position also changed - it moved almost to the center. If the Ship continues its uncontrolled drift, it will describe a hyperbole around the star and disappear again into the depths of space.
Hugh spent a long, long time calculating the flight path. If the Earthly time system had been preserved on the Ship, he would have seen that it took him several weeks to do this. For even longer, Ertz and Jo-Jim checked his calculations and could hardly bring themselves to believe in the correctness of the figures they had received - they seemed so ridiculous. And it took even more time to convince Ertz that in order to bring two bodies together in space, it is necessary to apply a force directed in the direction opposite to the desired one, that is, to rest your heels, brake with all your might and extinguish the force of inertia. It took a number of experiments in free flight in zero gravity before Ertz believed it. He himself was simply going to accelerate the Ship and direct it at full speed towards the star.
Hugh and Jo-Jim calculated the braking force needed to dampen the Vanguard's speed and put it into orbit around the star, so they could then begin searching for planets. Ertz had difficulty grasping the difference between a star and a planet. Alan didn't understand anything at all.
“If my calculations are correct,” Hugh said to Ertz, “it’s time to accelerate the Ship.”
“The main engine is ready,” Ertz replied. “We already have enough mass.”
— We need to go to Narbi for permission.
- Why is this still necessary?
“He’s the Captain,” Hugh shrugged.
- Fine. Call Joe-Jim and let's go.
They found Alan at Jo-Jim's premises.
“Shorty said that Two-Heads went to the Captain,” Alan told them.
- Wonderful. We just wanted to invite him there. Alan, old man, we're starting!
- Already? That's great! Alan's eyes widened.
- Come with us to the Captain.
- Wait, I’ll just warn my grandmother. - And he ran to his home, which was nearby.
“He spoils her,” Ertz noted.
“Sometimes it doesn’t depend on us,” Hugh answered with a blank look.
Alan quickly returned, having, however, managed to change his clothes.
- Went! - he shouted excitedly.
Alan proudly strode towards the Captain's office. He has now become a significant person - he walks next to his influential friends, and the guards, you know, salute him. Long gone are the days when he was kept at his beck and call...
But the sentry at the door did not step aside, as usual, although he saluted.
- Way to go! Ertz said sharply.
“Yes, sir,” answered the sentry, without moving from his place. - Your weapon, please.
- Don’t you recognize the Chief Engineer, you idiot?
- Yes, sir, I will find out. Please hand over your weapons. That's the order.
Ertz shoved him on the shoulder. The sentry planted his feet on the floor.
- I beg your pardon, sir. The captain strictly ordered everyone entering him to leave their weapons at the entrance. Everyone without exception.
- Damn it!
“He remembers well what happened to the old Captain,” Hugh interjected quietly. “He’s a smart guy, our Narbi.” - With these words, he unfastened the knife and gave it to the guard. Ertz shrugged and did the same. Discouraged, Alan followed suit, fixing the guard with a withering gaze.
When they entered the office, Narby was talking with Jo-Jim. The twins had a sullen expression on their faces. Bobo appeared naked without his usual slings and knives.
“The question is closed, Jo-Jim,” Narby continued. - This is my decision. I have done you the courtesy of stating the reasons that prompted me to do it, but your agreement or disagreement does not matter.
- What's the matter? - Hugh asked.
Narby looked up.
“It’s good that you came, Hugh, otherwise your friend Mute is starting to forget who the Captain is here.”
- What's the matter? - Hugh repeated. - What's going on here?
“He,” Jim growled, pointing his finger at Narby, “is thinking of disarming all the mutes.”
“But the war is over, isn’t it?”
- There was no such agreement. The mutes had to join the Crew. Disarm the mutes now, and the Crew will slaughter them all. He'll still have the knives.
“The time will come, we’ll take it away from everyone,” Narbi assured, “but I will do it when I consider it necessary.” What do you have, Ertz?
- Ask Hugh.
Narby turned to Hoyland.
“I’ve come to notify you, Captain,” Hugh rapped out according to the regulations, “that we intend to start the Main Engine and proceed to controlled flight.”
If Hugh's words surprised Narby, they did not make him confused.
- I'm afraid you'll have to wait. I still don't think it's possible to allow officers into zero gravity.
“That’s not necessary,” said Hugh. “At first, Ertz and I can handle it quite well on our own.” We can't wait any longer. If we do not start now, then during the lifetime of our generation the Flight will not be completed.
- It won’t be like that, it won’t be.
- What?! - Hugh shouted. - Narbi, don’t you want to complete the Flight?
“I don’t intend to be hasty.”
- What nonsense, Fin? Ertz asked. - What got into you? It's really time for us to start.
Narby drummed his fingers on the table in silence. Then he said:
“Since there are some doubts expressed here about who holds the power, I’ll have to explain to you what’s what.” Hoyland, to the extent that your amusements did not interfere with my control of the life of the Ship, I was ready to overlook them and let you have your fun, for in your own way you were very useful. But since your delusional ideas become a source of corruption for the Crew, a threat to the moral health, peace and safety of the people of the Ship, I am forced to put an end to them.
Hugh was speechless in amazement. Finally he squeezed out:
— Delusional? Did you say "delusional"?
- That's it. Only a lunatic or an ignorant religious fanatic would believe that the Ship is moving. But since both you and Ertz had the honor of being awarded a scientific education and you cannot be considered ignorant, you both have certainly gone crazy.
- In the name of Jordan! - Hugh exclaimed. “You yourself, with your own eyes, saw the immortal stars, and you call us crazy!”
-What does all this mean, Narby? - Ertz asked coldly. - What are you doing? And don’t screw our brains, we know that you were upstairs and made sure that the Ship was moving.
“I’ve been watching you with interest, Ertz,” Narbi said. “But I couldn’t understand: either you decided to use Hoyland’s psychosis to your advantage, or you yourself had gone crazy, just like him.” Only now it became clear to me that you, too, have gone crazy.
Ertz controlled his anger.
- Be kind enough to explain. You were in the Wheelhouse, and how can you say that the Ship is not moving?
“I had a better opinion of you as an engineer,” Narbi grinned. — The felling is nothing more than a clever hoax. Focus! You yourself saw that the lights in it turn on and off - a very ingenious device from an engineering point of view, I must say. Apparently, it served for cult rituals to arouse reverence for ancient myths in believers. But it is of no use to us. The crew's faith is already strong. Now the Cutting can only arouse unhealthy passions, so I will destroy it and seal the doors leading into it.
If Ertz hadn't held him, Hugh would have grabbed Narby.
“Calm down, Hugh,” said Ertz and continued: “Let’s even say that the Main Engine is just a dummy, but what can you say about the Captain’s cabin?” You saw real stars there, not their images.
- Ertz, you're even stupider than I thought! - Narbi burst out laughing. “I must admit, however, that at first the Captain’s Room intrigued me, although I never believed in all these stars!” But the Main Wheelhouse helped me figure it all out. The captain's cabin is as much a trick as she is. A very ingenious engineering solution, of course. Behind her porthole there is another room of approximately the same size, but unlit. Against the background of this darkness, small lights really create the effect of bottomless space. The principle is the same as in the "Main Wheelhouse". I am simply amazed that you yourself did not understand this. If obvious facts contradict logic and common sense, this means that you have misinterpreted them, and they only seem obvious to you. The only one, a truly obvious, basic fact of nature - the reality of the Ship, the solid, unshakable, motionless world. Everything that contradicts this objective reality is nothing more than an illusion, self-deception. Armed with this Teaching, I began to look for the secret of the trick shown to me and found it!
“Are you saying,” Ertz asked, “that you really found a way on the other side of the glass wall and saw with your own eyes the mechanisms that create the illusion of stars?”
“No,” replied Narbi, “that is not necessary.” You don't have to cut yourself to be sure the knife is sharp.
“Yeah,” said Ertz. And he said after a short pause: “I offer you a compromise.” If Hugh and I are really crazy, then we won't do any harm anyway, since we keep our mouths shut. But we will try to start the engines and prove that the Ship is moving. If it doesn't work out, you were right and we were wrong.
“The captain doesn’t bargain,” said Narby. “However, I will consider your offer.” You are free.
Ertz turned to leave, holding back his indignation, but his gaze fell “on the stony faces of Jo-Jim.
- What about mutes? - asked the Chief Engineer. “Why do you allow yourself to treat Jo-Jim like that?” Don't forget that you became Captain thanks to his guys.
For a moment, Narbi lost his restraint, and the mask of his own superiority disappeared from his face.
“Don’t interfere in something that’s not your own business, Ertz.” I will not allow bands of armed savages to be kept here. This is my final decision.
“You can do whatever you want with the prisoners,” said Jim, “but our detachment will not surrender their weapons.” This is my final decision. They were all promised good food for the rest of their lives if they fought for you. We will not disarm.
Narbi looked him up and down.
“Jo-Jim,” he said. “I always thought that a good mute is a dead mute.” You are now doing everything to strengthen me in this opinion. I think it will be of interest to you to know that by now your gang has already been disarmed and slaughtered.
Whether the guards burst in on a signal or on a pre-given order was difficult to understand. The blades of knives rested on the backs of the unarmed blood brothers taken by surprise.
“Arrest them,” Narbi ordered.
Bobo squealed and asked Joe-Jim with his eyes what to do.
- Come on, Bobo! - Joe shouted.
Kicking the guard holding him, the dwarf jumped at the man holding the knife to Joe-Jim's back. Confused, he lost precious half a second. Having knocked him to the floor with a blow to the stomach, Jo-Jim snatched the knife from his hands.
Hugh rolled on the floor in an embrace with his opponents, squeezing his hand that held the weapon. Jo-Jim struck the guard, and Hugh jumped to his feet with a knife in his hands. The two-headed man looked around and saw a pile of four people - Ertz, Alan and two others. He struck carefully, so as not to confuse which head belonged to whose body.
“Take their knives,” he ordered his friends, who rose to their feet. His words were drowned in a wild scream. Bobo, who did not have time to take the weapon from the enemy, resorted to his natural weapon. The guard's face, torn apart by his teeth, was filled with blood.
-Where is his knife? :- Joe asked.
“I can’t reach it,” Bobo answered guiltily.
The reason was obvious - the knife was sticking out from under the dwarf's right shoulder blade. Jo-Jim tugged lightly on the handle. The blade was inserted deep and did not come out.
-Can you go?
“Of course,” Bobo croaked.
- Let it stay in the wound for now. Alan! Behind me! Hugh and Bill - cover from the rear. Bobo is the center.
-Where is Narby? - Ertz asked, pressing his hand to his cut cheek.
But Narby had disappeared—slipped out the door behind his desk. And this door was locked from the outside.
The clerks scattered as the blood brothers burst into the reception area. Jo-Jim stabbed the guard at the door with a knife before he could raise the alarm. Quickly dismantling their weapons, they rushed to the upper tiers.
Two decks above the uninhabited areas, Bobo staggered and fell. Jo-Jim picked it up.
- Can you stand it?
The dwarf nodded silently, blood appeared on his lips.
After another twenty decks, it became clear that Bobo would not be able to go further, although he was supported one by one. The force of gravity has already noticeably decreased. Alan strained himself and lifted the strongman like a child. They kept climbing
Alan was replaced by Jo-Jim. They continued to climb. Jo-Jim was replaced by Ertz. Ertz was then replaced by Hugh.
Finally they reached the tier to which they moved after the coup. Hugh, having laid Bobo on the floor, was about to head towards the dwellings, but Jo-Jim stopped him.
- Where are you going?
- Home, where else?
- What a fool. This is where they will come for us.
-Where should we go?
“There is no more room for us on the Ship.” It's time to get out of here. Let's go to the boat.
“That’s right,” Ertz agreed. “Now the whole Ship will turn against us.”
“The chance of salvation is doubtful, but there’s still no other,” Hugh gave up. And again he turned towards the dwellings.
- We're going in the other direction! - Jim shouted.
“We need to take our women.”
- To Huff women! They'll catch you. There is not a moment to lose.
But Ertz and Alan ran after Hugh.
“Okay,” Jim snorted after them, “go get your women.” But hurry up.
Jo-Jim sat down, resting the dwarf's head on his knees, and examined him carefully. Bobo's face had turned gray, and blood was spreading across his right shoulder blade in a huge red spot. He sighed and rubbed his head against Jo-Jim's thigh.
- Bobo is tired, master. Jo-Jim stroked his head.
“Be patient,” said Joe, “now it will hurt.”
Raising the wounded man, Jo-Jim pulled out the knife. Blood gushed out.
Jo-Jim looked at the deadly long blade and assessed the depth of the wound.
“He won’t survive,” Joe whispered. Jim caught his eye.
- Means?
“Yes,” Joe nodded.
Jo-Jim poked the knife he had removed from the wound into his thigh, but was not satisfied and chose one of his own razor-sharp knives. With his left hand he lifted Bobo's chin and ordered:
- Look at me, Bobo.
Bobo looked up at him, trying to say something. Joe didn't take his eyes off him.
- Bobo is great, Bobo is strong.
The dwarf grinned weakly. The knife plunged into the jugular vein, missing the throat.
“Bobo’s great,” Joe repeated.
Bobo parted his lips again in a grin.
When the dwarf's eyes glazed over and he stopped breathing, Jo-Jim got up and walked in the direction from which the others were supposed to return. As he walked, he checked all his weapons, adjusting them so that they were more convenient.
Hugh ran out to meet him, out of breath.
“There’s a hitch,” he explained, taking a breath. - Shorty is dead. And none of your fighters are there. Apparently, Narbi didn’t lie, they really were cut off. Here you go. - And he handed Jo-Jim a long knife and specially made armor with a large lattice helmet capable of covering both heads at once.
And Zrtz, and Alan, and Hugh also put on armor. Jo-Jim noticed a fresh bruise on Hugh's youngest wife's lip. She kept herself calm, but a storm raged in her eyes. The eldest wife, Chloe, took everything calmly. Ertz's wife was sobbing quietly, Alan's wife was as distraught as her master.
- How's Bobo? asked Hugh, helping Jo-Jim fasten his armor.
- Bobo is no more.
- Clear. Well, let's go.
It was difficult for them to walk; the women were not used to weightlessness. There was no ambush at the bulkhead separating the boat lock from the Ship, although Joe thought he saw a man dive into the hatch. But he didn’t tell anyone except his brother about it.
The door was stuck again, and Bobo was no longer with them. The men leaned on her. Finally she gave in.
“Push the women inside,” Jim commanded.
He stood guard while his brother worked on the door. Screams from the depths of the corridor confirmed his words.
Jo-Jim covered the rear while the others pushed the women into the boat. Alan's younger wife, as always, at the most opportune moment, became hysterical and tried to rush back, but in zero gravity this was difficult to do. Hugh kicked her with all his heart and forced her into the boat.
Jo-Jim threw a knife to hold off the advancing enemies. Half a dozen attackers retreated back. Then, apparently on command, six knives simultaneously cut through the air.
Jim felt the blow, but there was no pain. He decided that the knife had hit the armor.
- Looks like it's gone, Joe! - he shouted, but did not hear an answer. Jim turned his head to the mash. A knife protruded from the bars of his helmet a few inches from his eyes. His blade went deep into Joe's face. Joe was dead.
Hugh leaned out the door.
- Hurry up, Jo-Jim!
- Close the door! - Jim barked.
- Close the door, they tell you! “With these words, Jim pushed him away and closed the door. Hugh only caught a glimpse of the knife stuck in his face. Then he heard the lever turn.
Jim met the attackers face to face. Pushing off from the bulkhead with unusually heavy legs, he rushed at the enemies, clutching his terrible, long clay with both hands. The enemy's knives rained down on him, bouncing off his steel armor. He twisted his blade and cut one guard almost in half.
- For Joe!
The blow threw him aside. He turned over in the air, straightened up and swung again.
- For Bobo!
Enemies loomed over him from all sides. Surrounded, he hit at random, just to hit.
- And this one, for a snack, is for me!
The knife stuck into his thigh, but he didn't even notice it.
- One for all!
Someone jumped on his back. It doesn’t matter, there’s another one in front of him, steel will take him as well as any other.
“All in one...,” he didn’t finish.
Hugh tried to open the door, which was locked from the outside, but nothing worked. If there was a door control mechanism here, then where to look for it? He put his ear to the steel plate, but the sealed door did not allow sounds to pass through.
Ertz tugged at his arm.
-Where's Jo-Jim?
- Stayed there.
- What?! Open the door, quickly, let's drag him in here.
- I can’t, she doesn’t give in. He wanted to stay there, he slammed the door himself.
- But we have to save him, we are blood brothers!
Suddenly it dawned on Hugh.
“That’s why he stayed,” Hugh said quietly and told Ertz what he had seen. - For him, the Flight is over. Get on the Converter, Bill. We need energy.
They walked out of the airlock and closed the last door behind them.
“Alan,” Hugh shouted, “drive the women into a corner so they don’t get in the way!”
Sitting in the pilot's seat, he turned off the lights. The sign lit up: “Engine ready.” Ertz did his job.
- Let's go! - Hugh said to himself and turned on the start.
A jolt, a surge of nausea - and he felt with horror that everything began to spin. How could he have known that it was a launch silo being deployed?
The porthole in front of them was filled with stars. They were flying! But part of the screen was covered by a huge shapeless mass, which Hugh had never seen while looking at the stars through the porthole of the Captain's cabin. At first he couldn't figure out what it was, but when he finally figured it out, he was filled with awe - it was a Ship, and he was looking at it from the outside! Although his mind had long ago perceived the true nature of the Ship, the thought of seeing the Ship from the outside had never occurred to him. The stars - yes, the surface of the planet - yes, he was already ready for this, but the outer surface of the Ship...
Hugh had difficulty recovering from the shock.
- What is this? - Alan asked.
Hoyland tried to explain. Alan just shook his head.
- I don’t understand this.
- Nothing. Call Ertz. And women too, let's show them.
- OK. But,” common sense suddenly began to speak in Alan, “you shouldn’t show it to women.” They'll be scared, fools, they've never seen the stars.
Luck, the engineering genius of our ancestors and crumbs of knowledge. It was lucky that the Ship ended up near a star with a planetary system, lucky that they were able to lower the boat; It was lucky that Hugh was able to figure out the control panel before they got lost in deep space and starved to death.
The genius of their ancestors provided their little boat with a huge supply of energy and great speed. Its creators foresaw that astronauts would need all this for research expeditions in the solar system to which the Vanguard was heading. They built the boat with maximum safety margin, and Hugh used it to the limit.
They were lucky in that they found themselves in the sphere of planetary gravity, and in the fact that the orbit along which Hugh sent the boat coincided with the orbits of the planets. Describing an ellipse, he came to a giant planet. Hugh maneuvered for a long time, forgetting about sleep and food, to enter orbit around her, but eventually came out so close that he saw her satellites.
Luck was with him until the end. He intended, in his ignorance, to land on a giant planet. If he succeeded, they would all have to live exactly as long as it takes to open the hatch. But desperate maneuvering and entering orbit around the planet consumed almost all of the Converter’s fuel.
Covered with ancient books, Hugh without rest solved and solved the equations compiled by his ancestors to determine the laws of motion of bodies, counted and recalculated, driving even the always calm Chloe out of patience. The second wife, unnamed, stayed away from him.
But all the answers he received said that he would have to use some of his priceless books for fuel in order to reach the big planet, even if they put all their clothes and weapons into the Converter.
He would rather put his wives in the Converter.
In the end, Hugh decided to land on one of the planet's satellites.
And again luck. The coincidence is so incredible that it is difficult to believe in it. The giant planet's satellite was suitable for life. But think for yourself - after all, for the emergence of a planet of such a type as our Earth, a combination of circumstances is also required, equally incredible. Our own world under our feet also falls into the category of “This doesn’t happen!” The likelihood of its existence is simply ridiculously low.
So, it was precisely this kind of luck that accompanied Hugh Hoyland - incredible luck.
The genius of earthly ancestors completed the work. Although Hoyland had mastered maneuvering in space, landing would have likely destroyed any ship built before the Vanguard. However, the designers of the Avangard knew that the ship's boats would, at best, be operated by second-generation pilots, and they built them based on this.
Hugh brought the boat into the atmosphere and, with the air of a winner, set off on a course that would have taken them all straight to the grave if the autopilot had not taken control.
Hugh thrashed around in his chair and cursed so much that he even forced Alan to look up from the window and transfer his surprised admiration from the planet to his friend. But he was powerless to regain control of the boat. Whatever he tried to do, the boat moved on its own and at an altitude of a thousand feet lay down on a course parallel to the surface.
— Hugh, the stars have disappeared.
- I see it myself.
- Jordan, what is this? Where did they go, Hugh?
Hugh barked at Alan:
- I don’t know and I don’t want to know! Go to the stern of the women and don’t pester them with idiotic questions.
Alan reluctantly left, looking out the window at the clear sky and the surface of the planet. He was interested, but no more; he had long ago lost the ability to be delighted.
Only after some time did Hugh realize that the group of instruments, which he had not tried to manipulate before, not understanding their purpose, was precisely the one giving the autopilot the order to land. Since this was discovered by trial and error, Hugh chose the landing site almost at random. But the unblinking stereo eyes of the autopilot continuously fed information to the selector device, which examined it and made a decision. The ship landed softly on the prairie near the edge of the forest.
Ertz rushed to Hoyland.
- What happened, Hugh?
Hugh wearily waved his hand towards the porthole.
- We've arrived.
He was too exhausted both spiritually and physically to arrange the landing with some kind of solemn ceremony. Years of struggle, the essence of which he himself understood more than vaguely, hunger and thirst, years of aspirations devouring his soul, left him almost no ability to experience joy when he finally achieved his goal and achieved his goal. But they landed, they completed the Flight that Jordan had started! He felt not exactly happy, but peaceful and endlessly tired.
- Shall we go out? Ertz asked.
Alan approached as they were clearing the hatch, with women crowding behind him.
— Have you arrived, Captain?
“Shut up,” Hugh replied.
The women looked out the window, Alan proudly and incorrectly explained to them what was what. Ertz opened the outer door. They breathed in fresh air.
“It’s cold,” Ertz noted.
In fact, the temperature was, at best, about five degrees below the never-changing temperature aboard the Vanguard. But how could Ertz know what weather was?
“Nonsense,” Hugh muttered, unconsciously annoyed by the slightest criticism of “his” planet. - It seems to you.
“Perhaps,” Ertz did not argue. There was an awkward pause. “Let's go,” he said finally.
- Let's go to.
Overcoming indecision, Hugh pushed him away and jumped down. It was only about five feet to the ground.
- Jump, it's great here!
Ertz joined him. Both involuntarily huddled closer to the Ship.
“The world is huge,” Ertz whispered.
“We knew that’s exactly what he was,” Hugh snapped, troubled by the feeling of being lost.
- Hey! Alan looked out carefully. - Can I go down?
- Jump!
Alan joined them in one leap.
- Wow! - he whistled.
Their first foray ended about fifty feet from the Ship. They walked in a group, looking at their feet so as not to stumble and fall on this strange, uneven deck. Everything was fine, but Alan raised his head and suddenly for the first time in his life he did not see the ceiling above him. Dizziness and acute attack of agoraphobia. He groaned, closed his eyes and fell.
- What's happened? - Ertz asked and also looked up. The attack took him down too.
Hugh struggled with dizziness. Fear and pain threw him to his knees, but, placing his hand on the ground, he tried to rise. It was easier for him - he had been looking at the endless expanses of the planet through the window for so long.
- Alan! - his wife squealed, leaning out of the hatch. - Alan! Come back!
Alan opened one eye, looked at the Ship and crawled towards it on his belly.
- Alan! - Hugh commanded. - Stop it! Sit down!
Alan obeyed with the air of a man from whom too much is demanded.
- Open your eyes!
Alan carefully opened his eyes, but hastily closed them again.
To prove this, he stood up to his full height. His head was still spinning, but he stood. Ertz, who had been lying prone before, rose and sat up.
The sun has passed its zenith. Enough time had passed for the well-fed to become hungry, but they were not at all full. They persuaded the women to come out in an extremely simple way - by pushing them out with kicks. They were afraid to leave the Ship and huddled together. But the men had already gotten used to it and walked around even alone. In full view of the women, Alan could not bear to move a full fifty yards away from the Ship.
During one of these demonstrations, he noticed a small animal that allowed its curiosity to get the better of caution. Alan's knife knocked it down, and the animal tumbled in the grass. Alan grabbed the fat carcass by the paws and proudly ran up to the Ship.
- Look, Hugh, look! Good food!
Hugh looked at him approvingly. The first fear had long passed, and now he was overcome by a warm feeling, as if he had finally returned to his distant home.
“That’s right,” he agreed. - Good food. Now, Alan, we will always have plenty of good food.
Translated from English by Yu. Zarakhovich
And launched in 2119, it was the first documented attempt to reach the nearest stars of our Galaxy. We can only guess about the unfortunate fate of the expedition...
From Franklin Buck's book "The Romance of Modern Astrography"
Universe
Beware! Mut!
From this scream, Hugh Hoyland abruptly, without wasting a second, bent down.
A piece of iron the size of an egg crashed into the bulkhead above his head. It would have easily blown the skull apart.
The momentum of Hoyland's move caused his feet to leave the floor. Before his body hit the deck, Hugh reached his foot to the bulkhead and pushed off from it. With a long, smooth leap he crossed the passage, knife at the ready.
Grouped in flight, he turned over in the air, slowed down, touching the opposite wall, and slowly lowered to his feet. Now he was in the corner of the passage where the mutt had disappeared. The corridor was empty. Two comrades approached him, sliding awkwardly along the floor.
Gone? - asked Alan Mahoney.
Yes,” Hoyland replied. - Looks like it was a female. And I think I saw four legs.
Whether it’s two legs or four, we still won’t catch it,” noted the third young man.
Why would Huff catch him? - Mahoney objected. - I am not going to.
“I’m going to,” Hoyland said. - And Jordan, take me, if he were two inches taller, I would already be a mass for the Converter.
Can you put together at least two words without swearing? - reproached the third. - The Captain should have heard you! - With these words, he respectfully touched his forehead.
"Oh, for Jordan's sake," Hoyland snapped, "don't be such a bore, Mort Tyler." You're not a scientist yet. I think I have no less piety than you, and sometimes giving free rein to your feelings is not a mortal sin. Even scientists do this. I heard.
Tyler opened his mouth to protest, but apparently changed his mind.
Mahoney touched Hoyland's arm.
Listen, Hugh,” he pleaded, “let’s get out of here.” We have never climbed so high before. I feel like I'm being tossed around in all directions - I want to go down and feel some weight in my legs.
Hoyland, clutching his knife tightly, looked longingly at the hatch in which the enemy had disappeared, and turned to Mahoney.
Okay, baby. Still still going down and down.
He turned and slid towards the hatch that had brought them to this level. The other two followed him. Ignoring the ladder, he stepped through the opening and began to slowly descend to the deck fifteen feet below. Tyler and Mahoney fell side by side. Through the next hatch, a few feet from the previous one, they entered another deck. Down, down, down, they fell lower and lower, across dozens of decks, each of which was quiet, dimly lit and mysterious. Each time they fell a little faster, landing a little harder. Finally Mahoney protested.
Let's go on foot, Hugh. The last jump knocked me off my feet.
OK. Only it will take longer. Where are we now? Somebody knows?
There are still about seventy decks to the farm,” Tyler answered.
How do you know? - Mahoney asked suspiciously.
I thought, stupid. And when we went down, I took away one after each deck.
Hoyland put an end to the escalating quarrel.
Shut up, Alan. Maybe he really can. He's big-headed. In any case, there are seventy decks left, as can be seen from the heaviness.
Enough, I said! Duels outside the village are prohibited. This rule is.
They moved on in silence, running easily down the stairs, until the increasing weight with each deck forced them to take a more sedate step. Finally they reached a level that was brightly lit and twice the height of the others. The air was damp and warm; vegetation obscured the view.
Well, here we are downstairs,” said Hugh. - I don’t recognize this farm. We must have come down from the other side.
“There’s a farmer,” Tyler said. He put his little fingers to his mouth and whistled, and then shouted: “Hey!” Countryman! Where are we?
The peasant looked them over slowly, then reluctantly asked how to get to the Main Passage, from where one could reach their village.
They walked at a brisk pace for a mile and a half through a wide tunnel. The road was busy - travelers, porters, carts. The scientist swayed arrogantly in a small sedan chair, was carried by four tall servants, and a squire walked ahead, dispersing the common people from the road. After a mile and a half, the road led them to the village community - a spacious room three decks high and perhaps ten times wider. Here their paths diverged. Hugh headed to his cadet barracks, where unmarried boys lived separately from their parents. He washed himself and went to his uncle, for whom he worked for food. The aunt glanced sideways at him at the door, but remained silent, as befits a woman.
Hello Hugh! - uncle greeted. - Are you exploring everything?
Good food, uncle. I'm researching.
My uncle, a balanced and reasonable man, inquired complacently:
Where have you been? I have found?
The aunt silently slipped out of the room and returned with dinner, which she placed in front of her nephew. Hugh attacked the food; It didn’t even occur to him to say thank you. He chewed a bite before answering.
High. We have reached almost weightlessness. Mut almost blew my head off.
Uncle chuckled.
You will find your death on these tiers, boy. Better get down to business... and then, lo and behold, I’ll die and get out of your way.
Hugh's face showed stubbornness.
Aren't you curious yourself, uncle?
To me? Well, I was quite curious when I was young. I walked the entire Main Passage there and back. Passed straight through the Dark Sector, where the Muts are on their heels! Do you see this scar?
Hugh cast an inattentive glance. He had seen the scar many times and had heard the story ad nauseum. One foray into the depths of the Ship - ugh! He wanted to go everywhere, see everything and understand the essence of things. These upper levels - why did Jordan create them if a person is not allowed to climb that high?!
However, he kept his thoughts to himself and continued eating. Uncle changed the subject.
I'm going to go see the Witness. John Black claims I owe him three pigs. Want to go with me?
Well, no, probably... Although wait... I'll go.
Then hurry up.
They paused at the cadet barracks for Hugh to ask for time off.
The witness lived in a small, smelly closet, the door of which opened into the Common Hall just opposite the barracks; there he could be seen by anyone who needed his help. They found him sitting in the doorway, picking his teeth with his finger. The Witness's disciple, a teenager with a plump face and intense, myopic eyes, squatted behind.
Happy eating! - said Uncle Hugh.
And good food to you, Edard Hoyland. Did you come on business or just to chat with the old man?
“Both,” Uncle Hugh answered diplomatically and outlined his problem.
So? - said the Witness. - Well, the contract clearly states:
Gave it to Ed by Black John
Ten bushels of oats.
He was waiting for payment
Two upcoming piglets.
How the piglets mature -
John will receive his payment.
Have the pigs grown up, Edard Hoyland?
“Okay,” my uncle admitted. - But Black demands three instead of two.
Tell him to cool down a bit. "The witness has spoken." - And he laughed in a thin voice.
Astounding Science Fiction
Yu. Zarakhovich, 1977
A. Mukhlaeva, 1992
D. Skvortsov, 2002
A. Mityushkin and E. Belyaeva, 2007
In Russian, the novel was published in 1977 in the magazine “Around the World” (Nos. 1-5) in an abridged translation by Yu. Zarakhovich, which was subsequently republished several times, including in the collection “The Worlds of Robert Heinlein”. In 2007, a new translation by A. Mityushkin and E. Belyaeva was published. There are also translations by A. Mukhlaeva (1992) and D. Skvortsov (2002). All translations were published under the same title.
Notes
see also
- The story "The Achieved Generation" by Clifford Simak.
Links
- Information about the work “Stepchildren of the Universe” on the website “Fiction Laboratory”
| "The Story of the Future" by Robert Heinlein | |
|---|---|
| Stories and stories |
Life line · Let there be light! · The roads must roll · An explosion is always possible · The Man Who Sold the Moon · Delilah and the Space Fitter · Space driver · Requiem · Long watch · Take a seat, gentlemen! · Dark Pits of the Moon · It's great to be back! · We also walk dogs · Spotlight · Space test · |
Robert Heinlein unfolds before the viewer a picture of an ordinary way of life, where people raise cattle, get married, take care of their home, and all this happens ... on the Vanguard spaceship, which they do not even know about. On the upper decks there is another life, more burdened with the production of food. But right here there is a person who has to figure out everything that is happening. Gradually, together with the prisoner from the lower decks, he begins to clearly understand who they are and where they are, he knows where the ship is heading, and why they, or rather their distant ancestors, left their home, the reason that some are born mutants becomes clear, and the meaning of what is written in their ancient books. But freedom from the prejudices and ignorance of the inhabitants of the interstellar ship comes at huge sacrifices. All this is worth it, because this is how they acquired real life, unfamiliar and frightening, but true. Previously, people had only a shadow of that idea of how everything should be, without hope and purpose, and therefore without the meaning of existence. Everything was replaced by books, the interpretation of which was confusing and incomprehensible, and therefore often taken on faith, as dogma, at the level of fanaticism. The worldview of mankind did not allow delving into the secrets of the universe, because their world moved in a vicious circle, unable to delve deeper. Even traveling to the upper decks, where the main solution to the mystery of flight lies, was just fun for some young people. But such a pastime is deeply condemned, and then prohibited due to the threat of attack by bloodthirsty mutes that feed on people. However, one of these young men, Hugh Hoyland, is captured by mutants, where he meets Jo-Jim. Together, with the help of surviving books, they understand what happened to the ship, and come to the conclusion that what was started by the first captain of the Vanguard must be completed so that people have the opportunity to live not in fairy tales, but in reality. And they completed the great journey of their ship, begun so long ago. Young and strong, they still have to master the planet on which they landed and learn to live in a new way.
The book is very easy to read, it captivates you from the very first pages. It comes as a complete surprise that all the events take place in a confined space, on a ship heading towards a bright future, but due to the rebellion, it turned out to be a prison for everyone who lives there. And at the end of the book, people on a planet alien to them seem like babies who have difficulty mastering simple movements. The fact that the novel ends so happily is an accident. But sometimes chance is a greater guarantee of success than the preparatory work undertaken.
Reviewer: olgakussmenko
Loading...
