The collection includes the following novels: "The Girl With Whom Nothing Happens", "Alice's Journey", "Alice's Birthday". A 21st century girl Alice and her friends travel to other planets. The book will acquaint readers with paradoxical scientific hypotheses and ideas, the embodiment of which is a matter of the future.
A series: Alisa Selezneva
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The following excerpt from the book Girl from the Earth (compilation) (Kir Bulychev, 2008) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.
Alice's Journey
Alice the criminal
I promised Alice: “When you finish second grade, I will take you with me on a summer expedition. We will fly on the Pegasus ship to collect rare animals for our zoo.”
I said this back in the winter, right after the New Year. And at the same time he set several conditions: to study well, not to do stupid things and not to engage in adventures.
Alice faithfully complied with the conditions, and nothing seemed to threaten our plans. But in May, a month before departure, an incident happened that nearly ruined everything.
That day I was working at home, writing an article for the "Bulletin of Cosmozoology". Through the open door of the office, I saw that Alice came from school gloomy, threw a bag with a dictaphone and microfilms on the table, refused lunch and instead of her favorite book of recent months, Animals of Distant Planets, took up The Three Musketeers.
- Are you in trouble? I asked.
“Nothing of the kind,” said Alice. - Why do you think so?
- Yes, it seemed.
Alice thought for a moment, put down her book and asked:
– Dad, do you happen to have a gold nugget?
– Do you need a big nugget?
- One and a half kilograms.
- How about less?
– To be honest, there is no less. I don't have any self. Why is he to me?
“I don't know,” said Alice. “I just needed a nugget.
I left the office, sat next to her on the sofa and said:
“Tell me what happened there.
- Nothing special. Just need a nugget.
- And if it's completely frank?
Alice took a deep breath, looked out the window, finally decided:
- Dad, I'm a criminal.
- Criminal?
“I committed a robbery, and now I’m probably going to be kicked out of school.
“Pity,” I said. - Well, go on. I hope that everything is not as scary as it seems at first glance.
- In general, Alyosha Naumov and I decided to catch a giant pike. She lives in the Ikshinsky reservoir and devours fry. A fisherman told us about it, you don't know him.
- And what does the nugget have to do with it?
- For baubles.
- We discussed in the class and decided that it was necessary to catch a pike with a lure. A simple pike is caught on a simple lure, and a giant pike must be caught on a special lure. And then Leva Zvansky said about the nugget. And we have a nugget in the school museum. Rather, he was a nugget. One and a half kilograms in weight. One graduate presented his school. He brought it from the asteroid belt.
- And you stole a gold nugget weighing one and a half kilograms?
“That's not true, dad. We borrowed it. Leva Zvansky said that his father was a geologist and he would bring a new one. In the meantime, we decided to make a lure out of gold. Pike will probably bite on such a bait.
- The lot fell on you.
- Well, yes, the lot fell on me, and I could not back down in front of all the guys. Moreover, no one would miss this nugget.
- And then?
- And then we went to Alyosha Naumov, took a laser and sawed this damned nugget. And we went to the Ikshinsky reservoir. And the pike bit off our lure.
“Maybe not a pike. Maybe a snag. The spinner was very heavy. We looked for her and didn't find her. They dived in turn.
- And your crime was revealed?
- Yes, because Zvansky is a deceiver. He brought a handful of diamonds from home and says that there is not a piece of gold. We sent him home with diamonds. We need his diamonds! And then Elena Alexandrovna comes and says: “Young people, clean the museum, I’ll bring first-graders here on an excursion.” There are such unfortunate coincidences! And all of a sudden it showed up. She ran to the director. “Danger,” he says (we listened under the door), “someone’s past has awakened in the blood!” Alyoshka Naumov, however, said that he would take all the blame, but I did not agree. If the lot fell, let them execute me. That's all.
- Is that all? I was surprised. “So you confessed?
“I didn’t have time,” said Alice. We've been given until tomorrow. Elena said that either tomorrow the nugget would be in place, or a major conversation would take place. So tomorrow we will be removed from the competition, and maybe even kicked out of school.
- From what competitions?
Tomorrow we have bubble races. School championship. And our team from the class is just Alyoshka, me and Egovrov. Yegovrov cannot fly alone.
“You forgot one more complication,” I said.
You broke our agreement.
“I did,” agreed Alice. – But I hoped that the violation is not very strong.
- Yes? Steal a nugget weighing one and a half kilos, cut it into baubles, drown it in the Ikshinsky reservoir and not even confess! I'm afraid you'll have to stay, the Pegasus will leave without you.
- Oh, dad! Alice said softly. – What are we going to do now?
“Think,” I said, and returned to my office to finish the article.
But it was poorly written. It was a very fluffy story. Like little kids! Sawed a museum piece.
An hour later I looked out of the office. Alice was not. She ran away somewhere. Then I called the Mineralogical Museum to Fridman, whom I once met in the Pamirs.
A round face with a black mustache appeared on the videophone screen.
“Lenya,” I said, “do you have an extra nugget weighing a kilogram and a half in storerooms?”
- There are five kilograms. And why do you need it? For work?
No, you need to be at home.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Lenya answered, twirling his mustache. - They're all booked.
“I’ll have one of the most overwhelming ones,” I said. My daughter needed it at school.
“Then you know what,” Friedman said, “I’ll give you a nugget.” Or rather, not to you, but to Alice. But you will repay me with kindness for kindness.
- With pleasure.
- Give me a blueberry for one day.
- Cinebarsa. We've got mice.
- In stones?
“I don’t know what they eat, but they started. And cats are not afraid. And the mousetrap is ignored. And from the smell and sight of the bluebars, mice, as everyone knows, run away as fast as they can.
What was I to do? The blue leopard is a rare animal, and I myself will have to go with it to the museum and look there so that the blue leopard does not bite anyone.
“All right,” I said. - Only the nugget came by tomorrow morning, by pneumatic mail.
I turned off the videophone, and immediately the doorbell rang. I opened. Behind the door stood a little white boy in an orange suit of a Venusian scout, with the emblem of the pioneer of the Sirian system on his sleeve.
“Sorry,” the boy said. Are you Alice's father?
- Hello. My surname is Yegovrov. Alice at home?
- No. Gone somewhere.
- It's a pity. Can you be trusted?
- To me? Can.
- Then I have a man's conversation with you.
- Like an astronaut with an astronaut?
"Don't laugh," Yegorov blushed. “In time, I will rightfully wear this suit.
“I have no doubt,” I said. "So what's with the men's talk?"
- Alice and I compete at competitions, but then one circumstance happened, because of which she could be removed from the competition. In general, she needs to return one lost thing to school. I give it to you, but not a word to anyone. Clear?
“I see, mysterious stranger,” I said.
- Hold on.
He handed me a bag.
The bag was heavy.
- Nugget? I asked.
- Do you know?
- Nugget.
I hope it's not stolen.
- No, what are you! They gave it to me at the tourist club. Well, goodbye.
No sooner had I returned to the office than the doorbell rang again. Behind the door were two girls.
“Hello,” they said in unison. We are first class. Take it for Alice.
They handed me two identical wallets and ran away. In one purse were four gold coins, ancient coins from someone's collection. In the other - three teaspoons. The spoons turned out to be, however, not gold, but platinum, but I could not catch up with the girls.
The hand of an unknown well-wisher threw another nugget into the mailbox. Then Leva Zvansky came and tried to hand me a small box of diamonds. Then a high school student came and brought three nuggets at once.
“I used to collect stones as a child,” he said.
Alice returned in the evening. From the door she said solemnly:
“Dad, don’t worry, everything worked out. You and I are going on an expedition.
- Why such a change? I asked.
Because I found a nugget.
Alice barely pulled a nugget out of her bag. He looked like he was six or seven kilos.
- I went to Poloskov. To our captain. He called all his acquaintances when he found out what was the matter. And he also fed me dinner, so I'm not hungry.
Then Alice saw nuggets laid out on the table and other gold things that had accumulated during the day in our house.
- Oh oh oh! - she said. Our museum will get rich.
“Listen, criminal,” I said then, “I would never have taken you on an expedition if not for your friends.
- And what about my friends?
- Yes, because they would hardly run around Moscow and look for gold things for a very bad person.
“I'm not such a bad person,” said Alice without much modesty.
I frowned, but at that moment, a pneumatic mail receiver clinked in the wall. I opened the hatch and took out a package with a nugget from the Mineralogical Museum. Friedman kept his promise.
“This is from me,” I said.
“You see,” said Alice. So you are my friend too.
“So it is,” I replied. “But please don’t get carried away.
The next morning I had to walk Alice to school, because the total weight of the gold reserves in our apartment reached eighteen kilograms.
Passing the bag to her at the entrance to the school, I said:
“I completely forgot about punishment.
- About what?
- You will have to take a blue leopard from the zoo on Sunday and go with him to the Mineralogical Museum.
- With bluebars - to the museum? He's stupid.
- Yes, he will scare mice there, and you will see that he does not scare anyone else.
“Agreed,” said Alice. “But we are going on an expedition anyway.
forty three hares
The last two weeks before departure were in a hurry, excitement and not always necessary running around. I hardly saw Alice.
Firstly, it was necessary to prepare, check, transport and place cages, traps, ultrasonic baits, traps, nets, power plants and a thousand other things that are needed to catch animals in the Pegasus. Secondly, it was necessary to stock up on medicines, food, films, clean film, apparatus, voice recorders, spotlights, microscopes, herbarium folders, notebooks, rubber boots, calculating machines, sun and rain umbrellas, lemonade, raincoats, panamas, dry ice cream, autoplanes and a million other things that may or may not be needed on an expedition. Thirdly, since we will be descending on scientific bases, stations and various planets along the way, we need to take cargo and parcels with us: oranges for astronomers on Mars, herring in jars for the Minor Arcturus scouts, cherry juice, ink and rubber glue for archaeologists in the 2-BC system, brocade gowns and electrocardiographs for the inhabitants of the planet Fix, a walnut tree set won by an inhabitant of the planet Zamora in the quiz "Do you know the solar system?" we were brought to the last minute by grandmothers, grandfathers, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children and grandchildren of those people and aliens with whom we will have to see. In the end, our Pegasus became like Noah's Ark, a floating fair, a Supermarket store, and even a warehouse of a trading base.
I lost six kilograms in two weeks, and the captain of the Pegasus, the famous cosmonaut Poloskov, aged six years.
Since the Pegasus is a small ship, the crew on it is small. On Earth and other planets, I, Professor Seleznev from the Moscow Zoo, command the expedition. The fact that I am a professor does not mean at all that I am already an old, gray-haired and important person. It so happened that since childhood I have loved all kinds of animals and have never exchanged them for stones, stamps, radios and other interesting things. When I was ten years old, I joined the youth group at the zoo, then I graduated from high school and went to university to study biology. In the meantime, he continued to spend every free day at the zoo and biological laboratories. When I graduated from university, I knew so much about animals that I was able to write my first book about them. At that time, there were no high-speed ships that fly to any part of the Galaxy, and therefore there were few space zoologists. Twenty years have passed since then, and there are a lot of space zoologists. But I was one of the first. I flew around many planets and stars and, without noticing it, became a professor.
When the Pegasus leaves the solid ground, Gennady Poloskov, the famous cosmonaut and commander of the ship, becomes the master on it and the main boss over all of us. We met him before, on distant planets and scientific bases. He often visits our house and is especially friendly with Alice. Poloskov does not look like a brave cosmonaut at all, and when he takes off the form of a starship captain, he can be mistaken for a kindergarten teacher or a librarian. Stripes of short stature, white, silent and very delicate. But when he sits in his chair on the bridge of the spaceship, he changes - and his voice becomes different, and even his face acquires firmness and determination. Poloskov never loses his presence of mind, and he is highly respected in the space fleet. I hardly managed to persuade him to fly as a captain on the Pegasus, because Jack O "Koniola persuaded him to accept a new passenger liner on the Earth-Fix line. And if not for Alice, I would never have persuaded Poloskov.
The third member of the Pegasus crew is Zeleny the mechanic. He is a large man with a lush red beard. He is a good mechanic and flew five times with Poloskov on other ships. His main pleasure is to dig into the engine and fix something in the engine room. This is actually an excellent quality, but sometimes Zeleny gets carried away, and then some very important machine or device turns out to be dismantled at the very moment when they are very needed. And Zeleny is also a big pessimist. He thinks that "this" will not end well. What is this"? Yes all. For example, he read in some old book that one merchant cut himself with a razor and died of blood poisoning. Although now on the whole Earth there is no such razor to cut himself, and all men grease their faces with paste in the morning instead of shaving, he grew a beard just in case. When we get to an unknown planet, he immediately advises us to fly away from here, because there are no animals here anyway, and if there are, then those that the zoo does not need, and if they are needed, then we still cannot bring them to Earth, and so Further. But we are all accustomed to Zeleny and do not pay attention to his grumbling. And he does not take offense at us.
The fourth member of our crew, except for the kitchen robot, which is always breaking down, and all-terrain vehicles, automatic machines, was Alice. She, as you know, is my daughter, she graduated from the second grade, something always happens to her, but so far all her adventures have ended happily. Alice is a useful person on the expedition - she knows how to take care of animals and is almost not afraid of anything.
The night before the flight, I slept badly: it seemed to me that someone was walking around the house and slamming doors. When I got up, Alice was already dressed, as if she had not gone to bed. We went down to the plane. There were no things with us, except for my black folder and Alice's shoulder bag, to which flippers and a spearfishing harpoon were tied. The morning was cold, chilly and fresh. The meteorologists promised to give rain in the afternoon, but, as always, they were a little mistaken, and their rain poured out during the night. The streets were empty, we said goodbye to our relatives and promised to write letters from all planets.
The aircraft slowly rose above the street and flew lightly to the west, towards the cosmodrome. I gave control to Alice, and I took out long lists, corrected and crossed out a thousand times, and began to study them, because Captain Poloskov swore to me that if we did not throw at least three tons of cargo, we would never be able to get off the Earth.
I did not notice how we flew to the spaceport. Alice was concentrated and seemed to think about something without ceasing. She was so distracted that she lowered the plane at a strange ship that was loading piglets to Venus.
At the sight of the car descending from the sky, the piglets jumped in different directions, the robots accompanying them rushed to catch the fugitives, and the loading manager scolded me for trusting the landing to a small child.
"She's not so small," I replied to the boss. - She graduated from the second grade.
“All the more embarrassing,” said the chief, clutching a newly caught piglet to his chest. “We won’t pick them up until tonight!”
I looked at Alice reproachfully, took the wheel and drove the car to the white Pegasus. "Pegasus" in the days of his ship's youth was a high-speed mail ship. Then, when faster and more spacious ships appeared, the Pegasus was remade for expeditions. It had capacious holds, and it has already served both geologists and archaeologists, and now it has come in handy for the zoo.
Poloskov was waiting for us, and before we had time to say hello, he asked:
- Have you figured out where to put three tons?
“Thinking of something,” I said.
- Tell me!
At that moment, a modest grandmother in a blue shawl approached us and asked:
“Will you take a small package for my son to Aldebaran with you?”
- Well, - Poloskov waved his hand, - this was still not enough!
“Very small,” Grandma said. - Two hundred grams, no more. Can you imagine what it would be like for him not to receive any birthday present?
I was not introduced.
- What's in the package? asked the delicate Poloskov, surrendering to the mercy of the winner.
- Nothing special. Cake. Kolya loves cakes so much! And a stereotape showing his son and my granddaughter learning to walk.
"Drag," said Poloskov gloomily.
I looked where Alice was. Alice has disappeared. The sun was rising over the spaceport, and the long shadow from the Pegasus reached the spaceport building.
“Listen,” I said to Poloskov, “we will transfer part of the cargo to the Moon on a regular ship. And it will be easier to launch from the Moon.
“I thought so too,” said Poloskov. - Just in case, we will remove four tons so that there is a reserve.
- Where can I send the parcel? Grandma asked.
“The robot will accept it at the entrance,” Poloskov said, and we began to check what to unload to the Moon.
Out of the corner of my eye, I looked where Alice had gone, and therefore drew attention to my grandmother with the parcel. Grandmother stood in the shadow of the ship, arguing quietly with the loader robot. Behind my grandmother was a heavily overloaded cart.
“Poloskov,” I said, “pay attention.
“Oh,” said the brave captain. - I won't survive this!
With a tiger leap, he jumped up to his grandmother.
“Parcel,” said the grandmother timidly.
– Cake?
- Cake. Grandmother has already recovered from her fright.
- So big?
“Sorry, Captain,” Grandmother said sternly. - Do you want my son to eat alone the cake I sent, without sharing it with his one hundred and thirty workmates? Do you want that?
- I don't want anything else! - said the driven Poloskov. I stay at home and don't fly anywhere. Clear? I'm not going anywhere!
The battle with my grandmother lasted half an hour and ended in Poloskov's victory. In the meantime, I went into the ship and ordered the robots to remove oranges and walnut sets from the side.
I met Alice in the far passage of the cargo hold and was very surprised at the meeting.
– What are you doing here? I asked.
Alice hid a bunch of bagels behind her back and answered:
- Meet the ship.
At last, by twelve o'clock, we had finished reloading. Everything was ready. We once again checked the weight of the cargo with Poloskov - we got a reserve of two hundred kilograms, so that we could safely rise into space.
Poloskov called Zeleny the mechanic on the intercom. The mechanic sat at the controls, combing his red beard. Poloskov leaned over to the very screen of the videophone and asked:
- Can we start?
“At any moment,” Zeleny said. Although I don't like the weather.
“Control room,” Poloskov said into the microphone. “Pegasus is asking to take off.
“Just a minute,” the dispatcher replied. - Don't you have free space?
“Not a single one,” Poloskov said firmly. We don't take passengers.
– But, maybe you can take at least five people? the dispatcher said.
- What for? Are there no cruise ships?
- Everyone is overloaded.
- Why?
“Don't you know? On the Moon today is a football match for the Cup of the Galactic Sector: Earth - Planet Fix.
Why on the moon? - surprised Poloskov, who was not interested in football and generally fell behind reality during the days of preparation for the flight.
- A naive person! the dispatcher said. - How will the Fixians play with earthly gravity? They will have a hard time on the moon.
"So we're going to beat them?" Poloskov asked.
“I doubt it,” the dispatcher replied. “They poached three defenders from Mars and Simon Braun.
“I would like your worries,” said Poloskov. - When do you take off?
“And yet we will win,” Alice, who quietly entered the bridge, intervened in the conversation.
- That's right, girl, - the dispatcher was delighted. – Can you take the fans? To send all comers, I need eight ships. I have no idea what to do. And all the applications are coming in.
“No,” Poloskov snapped.
- Well, it's up to you. Start your engines.
Poloskov switched to the engine room.
“Green,” he said, “turn on the planetary ones.” Just a little. Let's check if there is an overload.
– Why be overloaded? I was outraged. We've counted everything.
The ship trembled slightly, gaining power.
"Five-four-three-two-one - launch," said the captain.
The ship shuddered and stayed where it was.
- What's happened? Poloskov asked.
- What happened to you? – asked the dispatcher, who was watching our launch.
"It doesn't work," Zeleny said. “I told you, nothing good will come of this.
Alice sat fastened to the chair and did not look in my direction.
“Let's try again,” said Poloskov.
“You don’t have to try,” Zeleny replied. – Significant overload. I have instruments in front of my eyes.
Poloskov tried once more to raise the Pegasus, but the ship stood still as if chained. Then Poloskov said:
We have some miscalculations.
“No, we checked with a calculating machine,” I replied. We have a reserve of two hundred kilograms.
“But then what happens?”
- We'll have to throw the cargo overboard. We can't waste time. With what hold shall we start?
“From the first,” I said. - There are parcels. Let's wait for them on the moon.
“But not from the first,” said Alice suddenly.
“Well, okay,” I answered her mechanically. - Then let's start with the third - there are cages and nets.
“Not from the third,” said Alice.
– What is this? Poloskov asked sternly.
And at that moment the dispatcher got in touch again.
“Pegasus,” he said, “you have received a complaint.
- What's the complaint?
- I turn on the help desk.
The waiting room appeared on the screen. The information desk was crowded with people. I recognized several familiar faces among them. How do they know me?
The woman standing closest to the information desk said, looking at me: - It's a shame all the same. You can't indulge in pranks like that.
- What pranks? I was surprised.
- I told Alyosha: you don’t fly to the moon, you have five triples in the fourth quarter.
“And I forbade Leva to fly to this match,” another woman supported her. - I could watch it on TV.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. I finally recognized the people who had gathered at the information desk: they were the parents of the guys from Alice's class.
"It's all clear," said Poloskov. - And do we have a lot of "hares" on board?
“I didn’t think we were overloaded,” Alice said. – The guys could not miss the match of the century! What happens - I'll take a look, but they don't?
- And we have a lot of "hares"? repeated Poloskov in a steely voice.
“Our class and two parallel ones,” Alice said quietly. - While dad was sleeping at night, we flew to the spaceport and climbed onto the ship.
"You're not flying anywhere," I said. “We cannot take irresponsible people on the expedition.
"Dad, I won't do it again!" Alice pleaded. “But understand, I have a highly developed sense of duty!”
“We could have broken up because of your sense of duty,” Poloskov replied.
In fact, he forgives everything to Alice, but now he is very angry.
We removed the last "hare" from the hold in twenty-three minutes. After another six, they were all already standing, terribly distressed and sad, by the ship, and mothers, fathers and grandmothers ran towards them from the cosmodrome building.
In total, "hares" on the "Pegasus" turned out to be forty-three people. I still don’t understand how Alice managed to place them on board, and we didn’t notice any of them.
- Good luck, Alice! Alyosha Naumov shouted from below when we finally went up to the hatch. - Cheer for us! And come back soon!
- The earth will win! .. - Alice answered him. “It didn’t work out well,” she told me, when we had already risen above the Earth and headed for the moon.
“Not good,” I agreed. - I'm ashamed of you.
“That's not what I'm talking about,” Alice said. - After all, the third "B" flew away in full force at night in potato sacks on a cargo barge. They will be at the stadium, but our second classes will not. I did not justify the trust of my comrades.
- And where did you put the potatoes from the sacks? Poloskov asked, surprised.
Have you heard of the three captains?
When the Pegasus landed on the lunar spaceport, I asked my companions:
- What are your plans? We're leaving tomorrow at 6:00 am.
Captain Poloskov said that he was staying on the ship to prepare it for departure. Mechanic Zeleny asked permission to go to football.
Alice also said that she would go to football, although without any pleasure.
- Why? I asked.
– Have you forgotten? There will be all the third "B" at the stadium, and I'm the only one from the second classes. It's all your fault.
- And who landed my guys from the Pegasus?
We couldn't get up! And what would their parents say about me? Will something happen?
- Where? Alice was outraged. – In the solar system? At the end of the twenty-first century?
When Alice and Zeleny left, I decided for the last time to have a cup of coffee in a real restaurant and went to Selena.
The huge hall of the restaurant was almost full. I stopped near the entrance, looking for a place, and heard a familiar thunderous voice:
Who do I see!
My old friend Gromozeka sat at the far table. I had not seen him for five years, but I never forgot about him for a minute. Once we were very friendly, and our acquaintance began with the fact that I managed to save Gromozeka in the jungle of Eurydice. Gromozeka fought off an archaeological party, got lost in the forest and almost got into the teeth of the Little Dragon, a vicious creature sixteen meters long.
At the sight of me, Gromozeka lowered his tentacles folded for convenience to the floor, opened his half-meter mouth in a charming smile, friendly reached out towards me with sharp claws and, picking up speed, rushed in my direction.
Some tourist, who had never seen the inhabitants of the planet Chumaroz before, squealed and fainted. But Gromozeka was not offended by him. He tightly wrapped his tentacles around me and pressed me against the sharp plates on his chest.
- Old man! he roared like a lion. - Long time no see! I was about to fly to Moscow to see you, and suddenly - I can’t believe my eyes ... What fate?
"Let's go on an expedition," I said. – In a free search in the Galaxy.
- This is amazing! Gromozeka said with feeling. – I am happy that you managed to overcome the intrigues of the ill-wishers and go on an expedition.
But I don't have any detractors.
“You won’t deceive me,” said Gromozeka, shaking reproachfully in front of my nose with sharp, curved claws.
I did not object, because I knew how suspicious my friend was.
- Sit down! Gromozeka ordered. - A robot, a bottle of Georgian wine for my best friend and three liters of valerian for me personally.
- Yes, - answered the robot waiter and drove off to the kitchen to fulfill the order.
- What's up? Gromozeka interrogated me. - As a wife? Like a daughter? Already learned to walk?
“He is in school,” I said. - Graduated from second grade.
- Fabulous! Gromozeka exclaimed. How fast time flies...
Then a sad thought came to my friend, and, being a very impressionable person, Gromozeka groaned deafeningly, and smoking acrid tears rolled down from eight eyes.
- What happened to you? I got worried.
Just think how fast time flies! Gromozeka said through tears. “Children grow up, and you and I grow old.
Feeling emotional, he blew four jets of acrid yellow smoke from his nostrils, which enveloped the restaurant, but immediately pulled himself together and announced:
“Excuse me, noble patrons of the restaurant, I will try not to cause you any more trouble.
Smoke billowed between the tables, people coughed, and some even left the room.
“Let’s go, too,” I said, panting, “otherwise you’ll do something else.”
“You're right,” Gromozeka agreed meekly.
We went out into the hall, where Gromozeka occupied a whole sofa, and I sat down next to him on a chair. The robot brought us wine and valerian, a glass for me and a liter jar for the plague.
– Where do you work now? I asked Gromozeka.
“Let's dig the dead city on Coleida,” he replied. “I flew here for infrared detectors.
“An interesting city on the Coleida?” I asked.
“Perhaps interesting,” Gromozeka, who was terribly superstitious, answered cautiously. In order not to jinx it, he drew four times with his tail near his right eye and said in a whisper: - Baskuri-bariparata.
– When do you start? I asked.
– Weeks through two start with Mercury. There is our temporary base.
“Strange, inappropriate place,” I said. “Half of the planet is hot, half is an icy desert.
“Nothing surprising,” said Gromozeka, reaching for the valerian again. “We found the remains of a Midnight Strider ship there last year. Here they worked. Yes, I'm all about myself and about myself! Tell me more about your itinerary.
“I only know about him approximately,” I replied. “We will first fly around several bases in the vicinity of the solar system, and then we will go on a free search. There is a lot of time - three months, the ship is roomy.
“Aren’t you going to Eurydice?” Gromozeka asked.
- No. The small dragon is already in the Moscow Zoo, but, unfortunately, no one has yet been able to catch the Big dragon.
“Even if you caught him,” Gromozeka said, “you still can’t take him away on your ship.
I agreed that you could not take the Big Dragon on the Pegasus. If only because his daily diet is four tons of meat and bananas.
We were silent for a bit. It's nice to sit with an old friend, not to rush anywhere. An old tourist woman in a purple wig decorated with wax flowers came up to us and timidly held out a notebook.
“Will you refuse,” she asked, “to write me an autograph as a memento of a chance meeting?”
- Why not? Gromozeka said, holding out a clawed tentacle for a notebook.
The old woman closed her eyes in horror, and her thin hand trembled.
Gromozeka opened his notepad and on a blank page wrote in a flourish:
“To a beautiful young earthling from a loyal admirer from the foggy planet Chumaroz. Restaurant "Selena". March, 3rd".
“Thank you,” the old woman whispered and stepped back with small steps.
Did I write well? Gromozeka asked me. - Touching?
“Touching,” I agreed. “Just not quite right.
- This is not a young dugout at all, but an elderly woman. And in general - a dugout used to be called primitive housing dug in the ground.
- Oh, what a shame! Gromozeka got upset. But she has flowers on her hat. Now I'll catch up with her and rewrite her autograph.
“Don’t be, friend,” I stopped him. You will only scare her.
“Yes, the burden of glory is heavy,” said Gromozeka. “But it's nice to know that Chumarosa's greatest archaeologist will be recognized even on the distant Earth's moon.
I did not dissuade my friend. I suspected that the old woman had never met any of the cosmoarchaeologists in her life. She was simply struck by the appearance of my friend.
“Listen,” said Gromozeka, “an idea came to me. I will help you.
“Have you heard of the planet named after the Three Captains?”
I read it somewhere, but I don't remember where or why.
- Then it's great.
Gromozeka leaned closer, put a heavy hot tentacle on my shoulder, straightened the shiny plates on my stomach, which was round like a small balloon, and began:
“There is a small uninhabited planet in sector 19-4. Previously, she did not even have a name - only a digital code. Now the astronauts call it the planet named after the Three Captains. And why? There, on a flat stone plateau, three statues rise. They were placed in honor of three space captains. They were great explorers and brave people. One of them was from Earth, the second from Mars, and the third captain was born on Fix. Hand in hand, these captains passed the constellations, descended on planets where it was impossible to descend, saved entire worlds that were in danger. It was they who first conquered the jungle of Eurydice, and one of them shot the Big Dragon. It was they who found and destroyed the nest of space pirates, although there were ten times more pirates. It was they who descended into the methane atmosphere of Golgotha and found there the philosopher's stone, lost by Kursak's convoy. It was they who blew up a poisonous volcano that threatened to exterminate the population of an entire planet. You can talk about their exploits for two weeks in a row ...
“Now I remember,” I interrupted Gromozeka. “Of course, I heard about the three captains.
- That's it, - Gromozeka grumbled and drank a glass of valerian. We quickly forget heroes. Ashamed. Gromozeka shook his soft head reproachfully and continued: “The captains parted ways a few years ago. The first captain became interested in the Venus project.
“Well, I know,” I said. “So, he is one of those who change her orbit, then?”
- Yes. The First Captain always loved grandiose plans. And when he found out that it was decided to drag Venus away from the Sun and change its rotation period so that people could populate it, he immediately offered his services to the project. And this is nice, because the scientists decided to turn Venus into a huge spaceship, and there is no person in the Galaxy who would be better than the first captain versed in space technology.
What about the other captains? I asked.
- The second, they say, died no one knows where and no one knows when. The third captain flew to the neighboring galaxy and will return in a few years. So I want to say that the captains met many rare, wonderful animals and birds. They probably left some notes, diaries.
- Where are they?
“The diaries are kept on the planet of the Three Captains. Next to the monuments erected by the noble contemporaries by subscription held on eighty planets, there is a laboratory and a memorial center. Doctor Verkhovtsev lives there permanently. He knows more about the three captains than anyone in the galaxy. If you go there, you won't regret it.
“Thank you, Gromozeka,” I said. “Maybe you should stop drinking valerian?” You yourself complained to me that it had a bad effect on the heart.
- What to do! my friend spat out his tentacles. “I have three hearts. For some of them, valerian has a very detrimental effect. But I can't figure out which one.
We spent another hour reminiscing about old acquaintances and the adventures that we had to endure together. Suddenly the door to the hall swung open, and a crowd of people and aliens appeared. They carried the players of the Earth team in their arms. Music played, cheers rang out.
Alice jumped out of the crowd.
- Well! she called when she saw me. - The Varangians from Mars did not help the Fixians! Three is one. Now meeting on a neutral field!
What about the third "B"? I asked sarcastically.
“There were none,” said Alice. “I would definitely see them. Probably the third "B" was intercepted and sent back. In potato sacks. So they need it!
“You are a mischievous person, Alice,” I said.
- No! Gromozeka roared indignantly. “You have no right to insult a defenseless girl like that!” I won't let her hurt!
Gromozeka wrapped his tentacles around Alice and lifted her up to the ceiling.
- No! he repeated indignantly. “Your daughter is my daughter. I will not let.
“But I am not your daughter,” Alice said from above. Luckily, she wasn't too scared.
But the mechanic Zeleny was much more frightened. At that moment he entered the hall and suddenly saw that Alice was beating in the tentacles of a huge monster. Zeleny didn't even notice me. He rushed towards Gromozeka, waving his red beard like a banner, and ran into my friend's round belly.
Gromozeka grabbed Zeleny with his free tentacles and put him on the chandelier. Then he carefully lowered Alice and asked me:
- Did I get a little excited?
“A little,” Alice answered for me. “Put the Green down to the floor.
“He won't attack archaeologists,” Gromozeka replied. - I don't want to take it off. Hello, see you tonight. I remembered that I had to visit the base warehouse before the end of the working day.
And, slyly winking at Alice, Gromozeka staggered away towards the airlock. The smell of valerian wafted through the hall.
We removed the green from the chandelier with the help of the football team, and I was a little offended by Gromozeka, because my friend, although a talented scientist and faithful comrade, is poorly educated, and his sense of humor sometimes takes strange forms.
- So where are we going? Alice asked as we approached the ship.
“First of all,” I said, “we will take the cargo to Mars and the scouts of the Minor Arcturus. And from there - a direct move to sector 19-4, to the base named after the Three Captains.
Long live the three captains! said Alice, although she had never heard of them before.
The tadpoles are gone
The scouts of the Lesser Arcturus met the Pegasus very solemnly. As soon as we landed on the metal flooring of the landing area, which staggered under the ship's load and rotten red water splashed into the gap between the strips, they famously rolled up to us in an all-terrain vehicle. Three good fellows in red caftans, put on over spacesuits, stepped out of the all-terrain vehicle. They were followed by three more astronauts in luxurious sundresses, also worn over spacesuits. Well done and young women carried bread and salt on dishes. And when we landed on the wet metal strips of the cosmodrome, they put wreaths of local lush flowers on our spacesuit helmets.
In our honor, a gala dinner was prepared in the cramped wardroom of the scout base. We were treated to canned compote, canned duck and canned sandwiches. Mechanic Zeleny, who was the chef on the Pegasus, also did not lose face - he put real apples, real whipped cream with real currants and, most importantly, real black bread on the festive table.
Alice was the main guest. All scouts are adults, their children stayed at home - on Mars, on Earth, on Ganymede, and they missed real children very much. Alice answered all sorts of questions, honestly tried to seem dumber than she really is, and when she returned to the ship, she complained to me:
“They want me to be a little silly kid so much that I didn’t upset them.
The next day we handed over all the cargo and parcels to the scouts, but, unfortunately, it turned out that they would not be able to invite us to hunt for local animals: the season of storms was beginning; all the rivers and lakes overflowed their banks, and it was almost impossible to travel around the planet.
- Do you want us to catch a tadpole for you? asked the head of the base.
“Well, at least a big head,” I agreed.
I have heard about various reptiles of Arcturus, but I have not yet met a tadpole.
About two hours later, the scouts brought a large aquarium, at the bottom of which meter-long tadpoles, similar to giant salamanders, were dozing. Then the scouts dragged a box of algae up the ladder.
“This is food for the first time,” they said. - Keep in mind that tadpoles are very voracious and grow quickly.
– Need to prepare a bigger aquarium? I asked.
“Even a swimming pool is better,” the head of the scouts replied.
Meanwhile, his comrades were dragging another box of food up the ladder.
- How fast do they grow? I asked.
- Pretty fast. I can’t be more precise,” the head of the scouts replied. We don't keep them in captivity.
He smiled enigmatically and spoke of something else. I asked the chief of scouts:
– Have you ever been on the planet named after the Three Captains?
“No,” he replied. “But sometimes Dr. Verkhovtseff comes to visit us. He was here just a month ago. And I have to tell you, he's a big weirdo.
- And why?
- For some reason, he needed the drawings of the Blue Seagull ship.
"Excuse me, but what's so strange about that?"
“This is the Second Captain's ship, which went missing four years ago.
“And why does Verkhovtsev need this ship?”
- Exactly - why? I asked him about this. It turns out that he is now writing a book about the exploits of three captains, a documentary novel, and cannot continue work without knowing how this ship works.
Was this ship special?
The head of the base smiled indulgently.
“You, I see, are not in the know,” he said. - The ships of the three captains were made by special order, and then rebuilt by the captains themselves - after all, they were jack-of-all-trades. They were amazing ships! Adapted for all sorts of surprises. One of them, "Everest", which belonged to the First Captain, is now in the Paris Space Museum.
- Why couldn't Verkhovtseff ask the Paris Space Museum? I was surprised.
– So all three ships were different! exclaimed the head of the scouts. - The captains were people with character and never did anything twice.
- All right, - I said, - we will fly to Verkhovtsev. Give us, please, the coordinates of his base.
“With pleasure,” replied the head of the scouts. Give him our big regards. And don't forget to move the tadpoles to the pool.
We said goodbye to the hospitable scouts and flew away.
Before going to bed, I decided to examine the tadpoles. It turned out that their resemblance to salamanders is only superficial. They were covered with hard, shiny scales, they had large sad eyes with long eyelashes, short tails forked and ended in thick, stiff brushes.
I decided that I would transfer the tadpoles to the pool in the morning - nothing would happen to them overnight in the aquarium. I tossed two armfuls of seaweed to the tadpoles and put out the light in the hold. The beginning has been made - the first animals for the zoo are already on board the Pegasus.
Alice woke me up in the morning.
“Dad,” she said, “wake up.
- And what happened?
I looked at the clock. It was still only seven in the morning ship time.
- Why did you jump up at dawn?
- I wanted to look at the tadpoles. After all, no one else on Earth has seen them.
- So what? Is it necessary to wake up the old father for this? You'd better turn on the robot. While he prepares breakfast, we would slowly get up.
- Yes, you wait, dad, with your breakfast! Alice interrupted me impolitely. “I'm telling you, get up and look at the tadpoles.
I jumped out of bed and, without getting dressed, ran into the hold where the aquarium stood. The sight I saw was amazing. The tadpoles, though incredible, had more than doubled in size overnight and no longer fit in the aquarium. Their tails protruded out and hung almost to the floor.
- Can't be! - I said. - It is urgent to prepare the pool.
I ran to Zeleny the mechanic and woke him up:
“Help, the tadpoles have grown so big that I can’t lift them.”
“I warned you,” Zeleny said. - It won't be yet. And why did I agree to work in a traveling zoo? For what?
“I don't know,” I said. - Went.
Zeleny put on a dressing gown and trudged, grumbling, into the hold. When he saw the tadpoles, he grabbed his beard and groaned:
"Tomorrow they'll take over the whole ship!"
It's good that the pool was pre-filled with water. With the help of the Green, I dragged the tadpoles. They turned out not to be heavy at all, but they pulled out strongly and slipped out of our hands, so that when we lowered the third and last tadpole into the pool, we were out of breath and sweating.
The pool on the Pegasus is not big - four by three meters and two meters deep - but the tadpoles were at ease in it. They began to circle around it, looking for food. No wonder they were hungry - after all, these creatures, apparently, were about to set a record in the Galaxy for the fastest growth.
While I was feeding the tadpoles - it took half of one of the boxes of algae - Poloskov appeared in the hold. He was already washed, shaved and dressed in uniform.
“Alice says your tadpoles have grown,” he said, smiling.
“No, nothing special,” I replied, pretending that such miracles were not unusual for me.
Here Poloskov looked into the pool and gasped.
- Crocodiles! - he said. - Real crocodiles! They can swallow a person.
“Don't be afraid,” I said, “they are herbivores. The scouts would have warned us.
Tadpoles swam near the surface of the water and stuck their hungry mouths out.
“They wanted to eat again,” Zeleny said. “They will take us soon.
By lunchtime, the tadpoles had reached a length of two and a half meters and had finished the first box of algae.
“We could have warned you,” Zeleny grumbled, referring to the scouts. – After all, they knew and thought: let the experts suffer.
- Can't be! - Alice was indignant, to whom the scouts gave a goodbye model of an all-terrain vehicle carved from wood, chess from the bone of a fossil parallelepiped, a knife for cutting paper, carved from the bark of a glass tree, and many more interesting things that they themselves made in long evenings.
“Well, let's see,” Zeleny said philosophically and went to check the engines.
By evening, the length of the tadpoles reached three and a half meters. It was already difficult for them to swim in the pool, and they swayed at the bottom, surfacing, only to grab a bunch of seaweed.
I went to bed with a heavy foreboding that I would not be able to take the tadpoles to the zoo. The first beast turned out to be a lump. Space sometimes makes riddles that are too tough for a simple terrestrial biologist.
I got up before everyone else. I tiptoed down the corridor, remembering the nightmares that had tormented me at night. I dreamed that the tadpoles had become longer than the Pegasus, crawled out, flying alongside us in space and still trying to swallow our ship.
I opened the door to the hold and for a second stood on the threshold, looking around to see if a tadpole would crawl out from around the corner.
But there was silence in the hold. The water in the pool was still. I stepped closer. The shadows of the tadpoles, no more than four meters long, darkened at the bottom. My heart was relieved. I took a mop and swirled it in the water. Why don't tadpoles move?
The mop rested against one of the tadpoles, and he easily swam to the side, pressing his relatives to the far wall of the pool. They didn't move.
“Shut up,” I realized. “And probably from hunger.”
- So what, dad? Alice asked.
I turned around. Alice stood barefoot on the cold plastic, and instead of answering I said:
“Put something on your feet immediately, you’ll catch a cold.”
Just then the door opened and Poloskov entered. Zeleny's fiery beard was visible over his shoulder.
- So what? they asked in unison.
Alice ran off to put on her shoes, and I, not answering my comrades, tried to push the motionless tadpole. His body, as if empty, easily floated around the pool. The eyes were closed.
“They’re dead,” Zeleny said sadly. - And we tried so hard, dragged them yesterday! But I did warn you.
I turned the tadpole over with a mop. It was easy to do. The spotted belly of the tadpole was cut lengthwise. Only the skins of the monsters floated in the pool, keeping the shape of their bodies, because the hard scales that covered them prevented the skins from shrinking.
- Wow! Zeleny said, looking around. - They hatched.
- Who? Poloskov asked.
- If i knew!
“Listen, Professor Seleznev,” Captain Poloskov addressed me formally, “to all appearances, I suspect that there are unknown monsters on my ship that hid in the so-called tadpoles. Where are they?
I turned the rest of the tadpoles over with a mop. They were empty too.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“But when you came here, was the door closed or open?”
My head was in turmoil, and I answered:
“I don’t remember, Poloskov. Maybe closed.
- Affairs! Poloskov said and hurried to the exit.
- Where are you going? Green asked.
“Search the ship,” said Poloskov. - And I advise you to inspect the engine room. Just equip yourself with something. It is not known who is hatched from the tadpoles. Maybe dragons.
They left, and a few minutes later Poloskov came back running and brought me a blaster.
“What the hell is wrong,” he said. “I would have locked Alice in the cabin.
- What else was missing! Alice said. - I have a theory.
“And I don’t want to hear your theories,” I said. - Let's go to the cabin.
Alice resisted like a wild cat, but we still locked her in the cabin and began to search the premises.
It's amazing how many holds, compartments, corridors and other rooms are hidden in a relatively small expeditionary ship! The three of us, covering each other, spent three hours until we looked at the entire Pegasus.
There were no monsters anywhere.
- Well, - I said then - let's have breakfast, then we will examine the ship again. They had to go somewhere.
"I'll have breakfast too," said Alice, who had overheard our conversation on the intercom. - Release me from prison.
We released Alice and escorted her to the wardroom under escort.
Before starting breakfast, we locked the door and placed our blasters on the table next to us.
- Miracles! - said Poloskov, taking on the semolina. - Where did they hide? Maybe a reactor? Or got out?
“Sinister miracles,” Zeleny said. “Miracles are not my type. From the very beginning I didn't like the tadpoles. Pass me the coffee pot.
“I'm afraid we'll never solve this riddle,” said Poloskov.
I nodded in agreement with him.
“No, let me,” said Alice.
- Shut up.
- I can not be silent. If you want, I'll find them.
Poloskov laughed, and laughed long and sincerely.
“Three grown men have been looking for them for three hours, and you want to find them alone.
“It’s easier that way,” said Alice. - Guess what I'll find?
“Of course, we argue,” Poloskov laughed. - What do you want?
“At will,” said Alice.
- Agree.
"I'll be the only one looking for them."
“Nothing like that,” I said. “You won’t go anywhere alone. Have you forgotten that the ship may be roaming unknown monsters?
I was angry at the scouts with their dangerous jokes. He is also angry with himself for going to bed and missing the moment when the shells of the tadpoles were empty. Angry at Alice and Poloskov, who started a childish argument at such a serious moment.
“Come on,” said Alice, getting up from the table.
“Drink your tea first,” I replied sternly.
Alice finished her tea and confidently went into the hold, where there was an aquarium. We followed her, feeling like fools. Well, why, tell me, did we listen to her?
Alice quickly looked around the compartment. She asked Poloskov to move the boxes away from the wall. He obeyed with a smile. Then Alice returned to the pool and walked around it. The empty shells of the tadpoles darkened at the bottom. Half-eaten algae floated on the surface of the water.
“Here,” said Alice, “catch them.” Just be careful: they jump.
And then we saw that three frogs were sitting in a row on the algae. Or rather, not quite a frog, but three creatures that are very similar to frogs. Everyone is as tall as a thimble.
We caught them, put them in a jar, and then, repenting of my stubbornness, I asked Alice:
“Listen, daughter, how did you guess?
“It's not the first time you've asked, papa,” she replied, not hiding her pride. - The thing is that you are all adults, smart people. And you think, as you yourself said, logically. And I'm not very smart and I think how it comes into my head. I thought so: if these are tadpoles, then there must be frogs. And frogs are always smaller than tadpoles. You walked around the ship with pistols and looked for big monsters. And even they were afraid in advance. And I sat locked in the cabin and thought that I probably shouldn't always look up and look for something huge. Maybe look around the corners and look for ma-a-a-lazy frogs. And found.
“But why do frogs need such large containers?” Poloskov was surprised.
"I didn't think of that," Alice admitted. - I didn't think about it. And if I had thought, I would never have found the frogs.
- What do you say, professor? Poloskov asked me.
- What to say? It will be necessary to carefully examine the shells of tadpoles. Probably, they are something like factories that process food into a complex concentrate for a frog ... Or maybe it’s easier for big tadpoles to defend themselves from enemies.
“And don’t forget about the desire, Poloskov,” Alice said sternly.
“I never forget anything,” the captain answered clearly.
Doctor Verkhovtsev's advice
We sent a radiogram from the road to Dr. Verkhovtsev: “We are arriving on Friday. Meet". Verkhovtsev immediately replied that he would be happy to meet us and guide us on his space boat through the dangerous asteroid belt that surrounds the planet of the Three Captains.
At the appointed hour, we pulled up at the asteroid belt. A dense swarm of stone blocks, like clouds, hid the surface of the planet from us. For some reason, we all got excited. It seemed to us that the meeting with Dr. Verkhovtsev would lead to important and interesting events. Maybe even adventure.
The doctor's spaceship flashed through the asteroids like a silver arrow. And here he is rushing in front of us.
Pegasus, can you hear me? A muffled voice rang out over the speaker. - Follow me.
What is he like, I wonder? He must be bored alone on the planet, - said Alice, who was sitting with us on the bridge in a small shock-absorbing chair specially made for her.
Nobody answered her. Poloskov steered the ship, I acted as navigator, but Zeleny was not on the bridge - he remained in the engine room.
The Pegasus changed course, circled around the fanged asteroid, and then obediently slid down.
Beneath us lay the desert, cut in places by gorges and marked by the pockmarks of craters. The silver arrow of the boat flew ahead, pointing the way.
We have dropped significantly. One could already make out rocks and dry rivers. Then a dark green patch of oasis appeared ahead. Above him rose the dome of the base. The doctor's boat went into a turn and sank down onto the level ground. We followed his example.
When the Pegasus, slightly swaying, stood on the shock absorbers and Poloskov said "good", I saw three stone statues between the greenery of the oasis and our ship.
Three stone captains stood on a high pedestal. Even from a distance it was clear that two of them were people. The third is a three-legged thin Fixian.
"They've arrived," Alice said. - May go out?
“Wait,” I replied. We do not know the composition of the atmosphere and the temperature. What suit are you going to wear?
“None,” said Alice.
She pointed to the porthole. A man in a gray casual suit and a gray rumpled hat stepped out of the silver spaceboat. He raised his hand inviting us.
Poloskov turned on the speaker and asked:
Is the atmosphere breathable?
The man in the hat nodded quickly - go, don't be afraid!
He met us at the gangway.
“Welcome to the base,” he said and bowed. - I rarely see guests here!
He spoke a little old-fashioned, to match his suit.
He looked to be in his sixties. He was short, thin and looked like a kind old woman. His face was lined with fine lines. The doctor was constantly screwing up his eyes or smiling, and if sometimes his face smoothed out, the wrinkles became white and wide. Dr. Verkhovtsev had long thin fingers. He shook hands with us and invited us to his place.
We followed the doctor to the green trees of the oasis.
Why is there an oxygen atmosphere here? I asked. “After all, the planet is a solid desert.
“The atmosphere is artificial,” said the doctor. “It was made when the monuments were being built. In a few years, a large museum dedicated to the heroes of space will be built here. Out-of-date spaceships and all sorts of curiosities from distant planets will be brought here.
The doctor stopped in front of a stone block. It was engraved with the words in cosmic language:
"The Main Space Museum will be built here."
“You see,” said Verkhovtseff. “The museum will be built together by eighty different planets. In the meantime, for starters, a powerful reactor has been installed in the center of the planet, which releases oxygen from rocks. Right now the air here is not very good, but by the opening of the museum the air will be the best in the entire galaxy.
Meanwhile, we approached the foot of the monument.
The monument was very large, with a twenty-story building. We stopped and, with our heads thrown back, examined the three captains.
The first captain turned out to be young, broad-shouldered, slender. He had a slightly snub nose and broad cheekbones. The captain smiled. On his shoulder sat a strange bird with two beaks and a beautiful crown of stone feathers.
The second captain was taller than him. He had a very wide chest and thin legs, like all people who were born and raised on Mars. The Second's face was sharp and dry.
The third captain, a Phixian in a tight suit with his helmet thrown back, rested his palm on a branch of a stone bush.
“They are not old at all,” said Alice.
"You're right, girl," Verkhovtseff answered. They became famous when they were young.
We stepped into the shade of the trees and walked along a wide alley to the base. The base turned out to be a vast room, littered with boxes, containers and devices.
“Exhibits began to be sent to the museum,” the doctor said, as if apologizing. - Follow me to my lair.
- Well, just like the Pegasus at the beginning of our journey! Alice admired.
Indeed, the journey through the base to Dr. Verkhovtsev's residence was like walking through our ship when it was overloaded with parcels, cargo and all kinds of equipment.
A small nook between the containers, littered with books and microfilms, which could barely fit a bunk, also littered with papers and films, turned out to be the bedroom and study of the curator of the museum, Dr. Verkhovtsev.
“Sit down, make yourself at home,” the doctor said.
It was quite clear to all of us, except the owner, that there was nowhere to sit down here. Verkhovtseff brushed a pile of papers onto the floor. The sheets flew up, and Alice began to collect them.
Are you writing a novel? Poloskov asked.
Why romance? Oh yes, of course, the life of the three captains is more interesting than any novel. She deserves to be described as an example for future generations. But I am deprived of a literary gift.
I thought Dr. Verkhovtseff was being modest. After all, he himself flew to the scouts to find the drawings of the ship of one of the captains.
“So,” said the doctor, “what can I do for my dear guests?”
“We were told,” I began, “that you all know about the three captains.
- Well, - Verkhovtseff even blushed with embarrassment - this is an obvious exaggeration!
He laid his hat on a pile of books; the hat tried to slide down, and the doctor caught it and put it back in its old place.
“Captains,” I said, “managed to visit many unknown planets. They met wonderful animals and birds. From them, they say, there were notes, diaries. And we are just looking for unknown animals on other planets. Will you help us?
“Aha, that’s the point…” Verkhovtseff pondered. His hat took advantage of the moment, slid down and disappeared under the bunk. “Ah,” he said, “if I had known in advance…
- Dad, can I tell the doctor? Alice asked.
“Yes, girl,” the doctor turned to her.
- One stone captain has a bird with two beaks and a crown on his head sitting on his shoulder. There is no such bird in the zoo. Maybe you know something about her?
“No,” said Verkhovtseff. “I know almost nothing. Where is my hat?
“Under the bunk,” said Alice. - I'll get it now.
"Don't worry," said Verkhovtseff, and dived under the bunk. Only his legs stick out from there. He was looking for a hat there, in the dark, rustling papers and went on talking: - The sculptors were given the latest photographs of the captains. They chose the photos they liked the most.
Maybe they invented this bird? I asked, leaning over to the bed.
- No no! Verkhovtseff exclaimed, and his boots twitched. I have seen these photos myself.
But do you know where they were filmed?
- The First Captain never parted with the bird, - answered Verkhovtseff, - but when he flew to Venus, he gave the bird to the Second Captain. And the Second Captain, as you know, is missing. The bird is gone too.
“So you don’t even know where she lives?”
Verkhovtseff finally crawled out from under the bed. He crumpled his hat in his fist and looked embarrassed.
“Sorry,” he said, “I digress.
“So you don’t know where the bird lives?”
“No, no,” Verkhovtseff answered quickly.
“Pity,” I sighed. - So it's a failure. There is nothing you can do to help us. And we were hoping...
Why can't I? Dr. Verkhovtsev was offended. “I have traveled a lot myself… Let me just think.
The doctor thought for about three minutes, then said:
- I remembered! On the planet Eurydice there is a Small dragon. And yet, they say, Big dragon.
“I know,” I said. “The big dragon was once shot by one of the captains.
– How do you know? asked Verkhovtsev.
- I know. My friend the archaeologist Gromozek told me.
“Strange,” said Verkhovtseff, and tilted his head, examining me as if seeing me for the first time. "Then I'll think about it."
He thought for another minute and informed us about the Martian mantis. It was even funny. Martian praying mantis live not only in all zoos - they are even kept at home. Alice has one living, for example.
Then Verkhovtsev told us about the tadpoles, about the flycatcher from Fix, about the infernal birds from the planet Trul, and about other animals known from the book Animals of Our Galaxy.
No, we don't need these animals.
“Forgive me,” Verkhovtseff said politely, “but all my life I have been interested in rational beings, and somehow I never met animals. May I think?
Verkhovtseff thought again.
– Where have I been? he asked himself. “Yeah,” he replied, “I've been to the Empty Planet.
- On the empty planet. It's not far from here, in a nearby star system.
“But if this is an empty planet, then what kind of animals are there?” Alice was surprised.
“No one knows. You see, we were there on Monday, the whole sky was full of birds. And on Tuesday, not a single bird - only wolves prowl in packs. And deer. And on Wednesday - neither one nor the other. The planet is empty.
- But maybe the animals just migrated somewhere?
“No,” said Verkhovtseff, “that is not the point. We had a reconnaissance boat, and out of curiosity we circled the entire planet. No animals, no birds. Emptiness. And we weren't the only ones surprised. I'll give you the coordinates.
“Thank you,” I said. “But if you can’t remember anything else, then show us the captains’ diaries. They must have seen different animals.
Who told you about the diaries? the doctor asked, tilting his head.
“Our friend the archaeologist Gromozeka,” I answered.
- Never heard. And why do you need diaries? I remembered the skliss. About Skliss from the planet Sheshineru. Them there darkness-darkness. I was told.
“Thanks for that too,” I said. But I really wanted to look at the diaries of the captains, but for some reason Dr. Verkhovtseff did not want to show the diaries. Somehow we made him distrustful.
- Please.
What about the diaries? Alice asked.
- Oh, girl, what do you need in these diaries? By the way, they are not here. They are on Fix. Stored in the archive. Yes, in the archive. - And Dr. Verkhovtseff suddenly brightened up, as if he had come up with a successful lie.
“Well, as you wish,” said Alice.
The doctor was embarrassed, put his crumpled hat over his eyes and said quietly:
– You can also visit the market in Palaputra.
“We will definitely go there,” I said. - We know about him.
"Then I'll walk you out," said the doctor.
He got up and led us between boxes and containers to the exit from the base. He walked quickly, as if he was afraid that we would change our minds and not fly away.
We returned to the monuments. We stopped near them.
“What happened to the Second Captain?” I asked.
“He died, you know,” Verkhovtseff answered.
We were told that he was missing.
Dr. Verkhovtseff shrugged his narrow shoulders.
“Can you find the First Captain?” I didn't give up. - Is he alive?
– Yes, it works somewhere in space.
- On the Venus project? But there are several thousand people there.
“You yourself know how to look for it. And you won't get anything from me.
“Well,” I said then, “thank you for the welcome. We, however, thought that the meeting would be different.
“I thought so too,” said Verkhovtseff.
“Maybe when you write a novel, send us a copy?”
I don't write novels! I do not know how! Who came up with this?
- I'm talking about the novel for which you flew a month ago to the scouts on the Lesser Arcturus and asked them about the Blue Gull's device.
- What? Dr. Verkhovtseff waved his hands. - What is the "Blue Seagull"? What scouts? I haven't been there in six months!
“Well, well, well,” I said, seeing that the doctor was completely at a loss. We didn't mean to offend you.
"That's it," said Verkhovtseff. - If you fly past, come in, I will always be glad to see you. Especially this charming little girl.
He reached out to pat Alice on the head, but Alice stepped aside and the doctor's hand hung in the air.
“Then don’t forget,” he said, stopping at the monument of the Three Captains. - Sklisses on Sheshineru and the riddle of the Empty Planet.
“Thank you doctor,” I replied. - We won't forget.
The doctor stood for a long time at the feet of the huge stone captains and waved his hat. The golden rays of the setting sun illuminated him, and it seemed that he, too, was a statue, only smaller than the others.
– Ah-ah-ah! Suddenly, we heard a distant cry.
We turned around.
The doctor ran towards us, bogged down in the sand.
- For-would! he shouted. - Absolutely for-would!
The doctor ran up to us and for about two minutes he tried to catch his breath, all the time he began the same phrase, but there was not enough breath to finish it.
“Ku…” he said. - At pa ...
Alice tried to help him.
- Chicken? she asked.
- No-no ... ku-stiks. I ... forgot to say about the bushes.
- What bushes?
- I stood by these very bushes and forgot to tell about them.
The Doctor pointed to the monument. Even from here, from afar, it was clear that at the feet of the Third Captain the sculptor depicted a lush bush, carefully cutting out its branches and leaves from stone.
“And I thought it was just for beauty,” said Alice.
- No, it's a bush! Have you ever heard of bushes?
- Never.
“Then listen. Only two minutes... When the Third Captain was on the eighth moon of Aldebaran, he got lost in the desert. No water, no food, nothing. But the captain knew that if he did not reach the base, the ship would die, because all the crew members lay stricken with space fever, and the vaccine was only at the base, at an empty, abandoned base in the Sierra Barracuda mountains. And so, when the strength left the captain and the path was lost in the sands, he heard a distant singing. At first the captain thought it was a hallucination. But he still gathered the last of his strength and went towards the sounds. Three hours later he crawled to the bushes. Bushes grow in those places around small reservoirs, and before a sandstorm their leaves rub against each other, making melodious sounds. It seems that the bushes are singing. In this way, the bushes in the Sierra Barracuda mountains, with their singing, showed the captain the way to the water, made it possible to wait out a terrible sandstorm and saved the lives of eight astronauts who were dying from space fever. In honor of this event, the sculptor depicted a bush on the monument to the Third Captain. So, I think you should look at the eighth satellite of Aldebaran and find bushes in the Sierra Barracuda mountains. In addition, the Third Captain said that in the evening large delicate luminous flowers open on the bushes.
“Thank you doctor,” I said. – We will definitely try to find these bushes and bring them to Earth.
Can they grow in pots? Alice asked.
“Probably,” the doctor replied. “But, to tell the truth, I have never seen bushes - they are very rare. And they are found only at the source in the very center of the desert surrounding the Sierra Barracuda mountains.
... The Aldebaran system lay nearby, and we decided to find the bushes and, if possible, listen to their singing.
Eighteen times our spacecraft circled the entire desert, and only on the nineteenth pass did we see greenery in a deep hollow. The reconnaissance boat descended over the sand dunes, and the bushes surrounding the spring appeared before our eyes.
The bushes were low, up to my waist, they had long leaves, silvery from the inside, and rather short, thick roots that easily emerged from the sand. We carefully dug out five bushes, choosing those on which we found buds, filled a large box of sand and transferred our trophies to the Pegasus.
On the same day, Pegasus launched from a desert satellite and headed further.
As soon as the acceleration was over, I began to prepare the camera for shooting, because I hoped that luminous flowers would soon bloom on the bushes, and Alice prepared paper and paints to sketch these flowers.
And at that moment we heard a quiet, harmonious singing.
- What's happened? – the mechanic Zeleny was surprised. I didn't turn on the tape recorder. Who turned on? Why won't they let me rest?
- This is our bushes singing! Alice screamed. - Is there a sandstorm coming?
- What? Green was surprised. How can there be a sandstorm in space?
“Let’s go to the bushes, dad,” Alice demanded. - Let's see.
Alice ran into the hold, and I lingered a bit, loading the camera.
"I'm going too," Zeleny the mechanic said. “I have never seen singing bushes.
I suspected that he really wanted to look out the window, because he was afraid that suddenly a sandstorm was really coming. I had just finished loading the camera when I heard a scream. I recognized Alice's voice.
I left the camera in the wardroom and quickly ran down to the hold.
- Dad! Alice screamed. - You just look!
- Save! roared Zeleny the mechanic. - They are coming!
A few more steps - and I ran to the door to the hold. At the door I ran into Alice and Zeleny. Or rather, I ran into Zeleny, who was carrying Alice in his arms. Zeleny looked frightened and his beard fluttered as if from the wind.
Bushes appeared in the doorway. The sight was truly terrible. Bushes crawled out of the box full of sand and, stepping heavily on short, ugly roots, moved towards us. They walked in a semicircle, swaying their branches, the buds opened, and pink flowers burned among the leaves, like sinister eyes.
- To arms! Zeleny shouted and handed Alice to me.
- Shut the door! - I said.
But it was too late. While we were pushing, trying to pass each other, the first of the bushes passed the door, and we had to retreat into the corridor.
One by one, the bushes followed their leader.
Zeleny, pressing all the alarm buttons along the way, ran to the bridge for weapons, and I grabbed a mop standing against the wall and tried to cover Alice. She looked at the advance of the bushes fascinated, like a rabbit at a boa constrictor.
- Yes, run away! I called out to Alice. “I can’t hold them for long!”
Bushes with elastic, strong branches grabbed the mop and pulled it out of my hands. I retreated.
- Hold them, pa! Alice said and ran away.
“Good,” I managed to think, “at least Alice is safe.” My position continued to be dangerous. The bushes tried to drive me into a corner, and I could no longer use a mop.
Why does Green need a flamethrower? - I suddenly heard the voice of Captain Poloskov in the speaker. - What's happened?
“We were attacked by bushes,” I replied. “But don’t give Zeleny a flamethrower. I'll try to lock them in the compartment. As soon as I retreat through the connecting door, I will let you know, and you will immediately close the hold compartment.
- Are you in danger? Poloskov asked.
“No, as long as I hold on,” I replied.
And at the same moment, the bush closest to me pulled hard on the mop and tore it out of my hands. The mop flew off to the far end of the corridor, and the bushes, as if encouraged by the fact that I was unarmed, moved towards me in close formation.
And at that moment I heard quick footsteps from behind.
Where are you going, Alice! I shouted. - Back now! They are strong as lions!
But Alice slipped under my arm and rushed to the bushes.
Something large and shiny was in her hand. I rushed after her, lost my balance and fell. The last thing I saw was Alice, surrounded by the ominous branches of the animated bushes.
- Poloskov! I shouted. - For help!
And at the same moment the singing of the bushes was interrupted. It was replaced by a quiet murmur and sighs.
I got to my feet and saw a peaceful picture. Alice stood in the thick of the bushes and watered them with a watering can. The bushes swayed their branches, trying not to miss a drop of moisture, and sighed blissfully ... When we drove the bushes back into the hold, removed the broken mop and wiped the floor, I asked Alice:
End of introductory segment.
Actually, Kira Bulychev does not have a story or story with a similar title. That was the name of the collection, which was published more than a quarter of a century ago - in 1974.
Bulychev K.V. Girl from Earth: Fantasy. novels and short stories / Fig. E. Migunova. - M.: Det. lit., 1974. - 288 p.: ill.
It included: a selection of short stories "The Girl With Whom Nothing Happens" and two stories - "Alice's Journey" and "Alice's Birthday". This collection, in fact, opened an endless series about a girl from the XXI century, Alisa Selezneva.
No one realized then that a real little revolution had taken place. And this is not an exaggeration, because at that time there was simply nothing like "The Girl from the Earth" in Soviet children's literature. That is, writers, of course, wrote fiction for children, but, with rare exceptions, so dull and instructive that longing took.
What did Bulychev manage to do? Not a lot and not a little. First of all, he came up with a charming heroine who became truly “his own” for several generations of readers from 7 to 12. He did not “stole” this heroine from Lewis Carroll at all, but only copied from his own growing daughter, by the way, named at birth Alice. Alice was the most ordinary - restless, curious, resourceful, sticking her freckled nose everywhere - in a word, a normal girl, and not a philosophizing Electronics. And she had her own world, invented by the generous imagination of her father, the writer Kira Bulychev.
You can scold Bulychev or, conversely, admire him, but the fact remains: for his heroine, he created the whole universe - children's, toy, fabulous, carnival, call it what you want. But this cozy world is a space of limitless possibilities, where nothing really can happen to Alice, although, what can I say, it constantly happens. There you can easily tame a brontosaurus, make a scientific discovery that turned out to be beyond the power of an adult scientist, save an entire planet from a cosmic plague, or become a real princess. The favorite mode of transport in this world is not even a starship, which in a matter of minutes will take you to visit an alien friend named Rrrr, and nothing more than a time machine. There, an unfamiliar dwarf will give you a cap of invisibility, and brave space captains will promise to take you on a journey to another galaxy. Truly this is Wonderland, and how good it is in it! After all, one can only dream of such friends as the temperamental and naive archaeologist Gromozek from the planet Chumaroz, who has three kind, stupid hearts. Or the boring mechanic Zeleny, whose melancholy question “well, what’s wrong with us?” entered the conversation. Even the villains there are real darlings and charms, such as, for example, fat, fat Veselchak U.
This densely populated and beautifully lived space is free from any stillborn ideology. After all, no Alice is a pioneer! And there is no such word in Bulychev's books and never has been, no matter what critics unfriendly to the writer invent on this score. From the moment when the first stories about Alice appeared in the almanac "World of Adventures" in 1965, much has changed in our lives, 
but it seems that for a very, very long time they will be read by generations and generations of teenagers. And obviously, the words of another critic, friendly, will turn out to be fair: “It will not be too bold to assume that a book about Alice will be read in a hundred years, because we also read and reprint books a hundred and even one hundred and fifty years ago. And, probably, schoolchildren and schoolgirls of the 70-80s of the 21st century will compare the author's ideas with the reality around them with interest, they will probably laugh at something, they will probably grieve over something. But, we are ready to argue that the "girl from the Earth" will be as close to them as to today's schoolchildren, because the heroes of fantastic tales, who have absorbed the essential features of children's characters, are destined to have a long life. The wooden man Pinocchio-Pinocchio does not age, and the girl Ellie from Oz with her true friends, and Carlson, who lives on the roof, and many other characters in favorite children's books ”(Vs. Revich).
Still, an amazing girl, this Alice. There is no other like it. Recently, in honor of the beloved heroine of Russian schoolchildren, one celestial body was even named. No, no, not in Kir Bulychev's book, but in reality. And now, somewhere far, far away in endless space, a small star named Alice is following her path ...
Kir Bulychev is a very prolific writer. And to date, he has written so many books about Alice that it seems that even his most devoted fans have lost count (and the score has already gone to dozens!). Alas, it has been said more than once that Bulychev failed to overcome the main drawback of all series - each subsequent story or story inevitably turned out to be weaker than the previous ones. Probably the best in the cycle about a girl from the future were the first three books: "The Girl from the Earth", "One Hundred Years Ahead", which served as the literary basis for the most popular television series "The Guest from the Future", and "A Million Adventures". Moreover, perhaps, the story "The Purple Ball", which, being printed next to the other two stories in the collection "Fidget", for some reason faded and lost a significant share of the amusement and mystery of the newspaper version published in the first half of the 80s in Pioneer Truth.
Alice's popularity, of course, was largely facilitated by the film adaptation - especially the full-length cartoon "The Secret of the Third Planet" and the television series "Guest from the Future" already mentioned. But the first to offer readers the visible appearance of their beloved heroine was the wonderful artist Yevgeny Tikhonovich Migunov. After his witty, dynamic and inventive drawings, it became almost impossible for Alice to imagine otherwise.
Bibliography
Bulychev Kir. Girl from Earth: Fantasy. story / [Art. E. Migunov]. - M.: Det. lit., 1989. - 444 p.: ill.
Contents: Alice's Journey; A million adventures
Bulychev Kir. Preserve of fairy tales: Fantast. novels and short stories / Khudozh. E.Migunov. - M.: ARMADA, 1994. - 396 p.: ill. - (Castle of Wonders).
Contents: Reserve of fairy tales; Kozlik Ivan Ivanovich; Purple ball: Tales; Girl from the Future: Stories.
Bulychev Kir. A Million Adventures: Fantasy. story / Art. E.Migunov. - M.: ARMADA, 1994. - 395 p.: ill. - (Castle of Wonders).
Contents: Prisoners of the asteroid; A million adventures
Bulychev Kir. Alice's Journey: Fantasy. story / Art. E.Migunov. - M.: ARMADA, 1994. - 428 p.: ill. - (Castle of Wonders).
Contents: A girl with whom nothing will happen; Rusty field marshal; Alice's Journey; Alice's birthday.
Bulychev Kir. One hundred years ahead: Fantastic. story / [Art. K. Lee]. - L.: Lenizdat, 1991. - 637 p.: ill.
Contents: Girl from Earth; One hundred years ahead; A million adventures
Bulychev Kir. One hundred years ahead: Fantastic. story / Art. E.Migunov. - M.: ARMADA, 1995. - 298 p.: ill. - (Castle of Wonders).
In recent years, all books about a girl from the future have been published in the "Alice's Adventures" series by the Moscow publishing house "Armada".
I promised Alice: “When you finish second grade, I will take you with me on a summer expedition. We will fly on the Pegasus ship to collect rare animals for our zoo.”
I said this back in the winter, right after the New Year. And at the same time he set several conditions: to study well, not to do stupid things and not to engage in adventures.
Alice faithfully complied with the conditions, and nothing seemed to threaten our plans. But in May, a month before departure, an incident happened that nearly ruined everything.
That day I was working at home, writing an article for the "Bulletin of Cosmozoology". Through the open door of the office, I saw that Alice came from school gloomy, threw a bag with a dictaphone and microfilms on the table, refused lunch and instead of her favorite book of recent months, Animals of Distant Planets, took up The Three Musketeers.
- Are you in trouble? I asked.
“Nothing of the kind,” said Alice. - Why do you think so?
- Yes, it seemed.
Alice thought for a moment, put down her book and asked:
- Dad, do you happen to have a gold nugget?
- Do you need a big nugget?
- One and a half kilograms.
- No.
- How about less?
- To be honest, there is no less. I don't have any self. Why is he to me?
"I don't know," said Alice. - I just needed a nugget.
I left the office, sat next to her on the sofa and said:
- Tell me what happened there.
- Nothing special. Just need a nugget.
- And if it's completely frank?
Alice took a deep breath, looked out the window, finally decided:
- Dad, I'm a criminal.
- Criminal?
- I committed a robbery, and now I'm probably going to be kicked out of school.
“Pity,” I said. - Well, go on. I hope that everything is not as scary as it seems at first glance.
- In general, Alyosha Naumov and I decided to catch a giant pike. She lives in the Ikshinsky reservoir and devours fry. A fisherman told us about it, you don't know him.
- And what does the nugget have to do with it?
- For baubles.
- What?
- We discussed in the class and decided that it was necessary to catch a pike on a lure. A simple pike is caught on a simple lure, and a giant pike must be caught on a special lure. And then Leva Zvansky said about the nugget. And we have a nugget in the school museum. Rather, he was a nugget. One and a half kilograms in weight. One graduate presented his school. He brought it from the asteroid belt.
- And you stole a gold nugget weighing one and a half kilograms?
- That's not true, dad. We borrowed it. Leva Zvansky said that his father was a geologist and he would bring a new one. In the meantime, we decided to make a lure out of gold. Pike will probably bite on such a bait.
- And then what?
- Then nothing special. The boys were afraid to open the closet. And we drew lots. I would never take a gold nugget, but the lot fell on me.
- Pal.
- What?
- The lot fell on you.
- Well, yes, the lot fell on me, and I could not back down in front of all the guys. Moreover, no one would miss this nugget.
- And then?
- And then we went to Alyosha Naumov, took a laser and sawed this damned nugget. And we went to the Ikshinsky reservoir. And the pike bit off our lure.
Alice thought for a moment and added:
- Or maybe not a pike. Maybe a snag. The spinner was very heavy. We looked for her and didn't find her. They dived in turn.
- And your crime was revealed?
- Yes, because Zvansky is a deceiver. He brought a handful of diamonds from home and says that there is not a piece of gold. We sent him home with diamonds. We need his diamonds! And then Elena Alexandrovna comes and says: “Young people, clean the museum, I’ll bring first-graders here on an excursion.” There are such unfortunate coincidences! And all of a sudden it showed up. She ran to the director. “Danger,” he says (we listened under the door), “someone’s past has awakened in the blood!” Alyoshka Naumov, however, said that he would take all the blame, but I did not agree. If the lot fell, let them execute me. That's all.
- And that's it? - I was surprised. - So you confessed?
“I didn’t have time,” said Alice. We've been given until tomorrow. Elena said that either tomorrow the nugget would be in place, or a major conversation would take place. So tomorrow we will be removed from the competition, and maybe even kicked out of school.
- From what competitions?
- Tomorrow we have bubble races. School championship. And our team from the class is just Alyoshka, me and Yegovrov. Yegovrov cannot fly alone.
"You forgot one more complication," I said.
- About what? Alice asked in a voice that seemed to guess.
- You violated our contract.
- Violated, - Alice agreed. - But I hoped that the violation is not very strong.
- Yes? Steal a nugget weighing one and a half kilos, cut it into baubles, drown it in the Ikshinsky reservoir and not even confess! I'm afraid you'll have to stay, the Pegasus will leave without you.
- Oh, dad! Alice said softly. - What are we going to do now?
- Think, - I said and returned to the office to finish the article.
But it was poorly written. It was a very fluffy story. Like little kids! Sawed a museum piece.
An hour later I looked out of the office. Alice was not. She ran away somewhere. Then I called the Mineralogical Museum to Fridman, whom I once met in the Pamirs.
A round face with a black mustache appeared on the videophone screen.
- Lenya, - I said, - don't you have an extra nugget weighing a kilogram and a half in storerooms?
- There are five kilograms. And why do you need it? For work?
- No, you need to be at home.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Lenya answered, twisting his mustache. - They're all accounted for.
- I'm some of the most overwhelmed, - I said. - My daughter needed it at school.
- Alice?
- Alice.
- Then you know what, - Friedman said, - I'll give you a nugget. Or rather, not to you, but to Alice. But you will repay me with kindness for kindness.
- With pleasure.
- Give me a blueberry for one day.
- What?
- Cinebarsa. We've got mice.
- In stones?
“I don’t know what they eat, but they are wound up. And cats are not afraid. And the mousetrap is ignored. And from the smell and sight of the bluebars, mice, as everyone knows, run away as fast as they can.
What was I to do? The blue leopard is a rare animal, and I myself will have to go with it to the museum and look there so that the blue leopard does not bite anyone.
“All right,” I said. - Only the nugget came by tomorrow morning, by pneumatic mail.
I turned off the videophone, and immediately the doorbell rang. I opened. Behind the door stood a little white boy in an orange suit of a Venusian scout, with the emblem of the pioneer of the Sirian system on his sleeve.
"Sorry," the boy said. - Are you Alice's father?
- I.
- Hello. My surname is Yegovrov. Alice at home?
- No. Gone somewhere.
- It's a pity. Can you be trusted?
- To me? Can.
- Then I have a man's conversation with you.
- Like an astronaut with an astronaut?
"Don't laugh," Yegorov blushed. “In time, I will rightfully wear this suit.
“I have no doubt,” I said. - So what's a man's conversation?
- Alice and I compete at competitions, but then one circumstance happened, because of which she can be removed from the competition. In general, she needs to return one lost thing to school. I give it to you, but not a word to anyone. Clear?
“I see, mysterious stranger,” I said.
- Hold on.
He handed me a bag.
The bag was heavy.
- Nugget? I asked.
- Do you know?
- I know.
- Nugget.
- I hope it's not stolen.
- No, what are you! They gave it to me at the tourist club. Well, goodbye.
No sooner had I returned to the office than the doorbell rang again. Behind the door were two girls.
“Hello,” they said in unison. - We're first class. Take it for Alice.
They handed me two identical wallets and ran away. In one purse were four gold coins, ancient coins from someone's collection. In the other - three teaspoons. The spoons turned out to be, however, not gold, but platinum, but I could not catch up with the girls.
The hand of an unknown well-wisher threw another nugget into the mailbox. Then Leva Zvansky came and tried to hand me a small box of diamonds. Then a high school student came and brought three nuggets at once.
“I used to collect stones as a child,” he said.
Alice returned in the evening. From the door she said solemnly:
- Dad, don't worry, it's all right. You and I are going on an expedition.
- Why such a change? I asked.
- Because I found a nugget.
Alice barely pulled a nugget out of her bag. He looked like he was six or seven kilos.
- I went to Poloskov. To our captain. He called all his acquaintances when he found out what was the matter. And he also fed me dinner, so I'm not hungry.
Then Alice saw nuggets laid out on the table and other gold things that had accumulated during the day in our house.
- Oh oh oh! - she said. - Our museum will get rich.
“Listen, criminal,” I said then, “I would never have taken you on an expedition if it weren’t for your friends.
- And what about my friends?
- Yes, because they would hardly run around Moscow and look for gold things for a very bad person.
"I'm not such a bad person," said Alice without too much modesty.
I frowned, but at that moment, a pneumatic mail receiver clinked in the wall. I opened the hatch and took out a package with a nugget from the Mineralogical Museum. Friedman kept his promise.
“It's from me,” I said.
“You see,” said Alice. So you are my friend too.
“So it is,” I replied. “But please don’t be arrogant.
The next morning I had to walk Alice to school, because the total weight of the gold reserves in our apartment reached eighteen kilograms.
Passing the bag to her at the entrance to the school, I said:
- I completely forgot about the punishment.
- About what?
- You'll have to take a blue leopard from the zoo on Sunday and go with him to the Mineralogical Museum.
- With bluebars - to the museum? He's stupid.
- Yes, he will scare mice there, and you will see that he does not scare anyone else.
“Agreed,” said Alice. - But we are still flying on an expedition.
- Let's fly.
Kira Bulychev's book "The Girl from the Earth" is an excellent example of children's fantasy. It includes the novels "The Girl With Whom Nothing Happens", "Alice's Journey", "Alice's Birthday".
In the center of the story is the girl Alice, first of preschool age, and then a schoolgirl. Young readers are particularly trusted by the fact that this girl is similar to many others, this can be found in any yard and at any school. But Alisa Selezneva's dad is special, in which she was very lucky. He is a scientist who goes to different planets for work. Alice takes part in his travels.
The stories about Alice are told by her father, Professor Seleznev. It exposes readers to the image of the best little girl imaginable. Although she tends to make mistakes, she always does it out of good intentions. Alice appears smart and resourceful, very inquisitive and kind. For these qualities, her peers love her, friends are ready to come to her aid. The father sometimes has a hard time with her extravagant character, but this is his daughter, especially since she has more than once managed to find a common language with unusual creatures.
The book will tell about adventures on other planets, time travel, meeting with aliens, the egg of brontotomorrow and much more. It's amazing how a little girl manages to experience so many adventures at once and help so many.
In these stories there is no cruelty, murders from incredible space monsters. These are very good works that are great for readers of primary and secondary school age. The writer was able to wonderfully convey how the world looks in the eyes of a child, explaining everything in simple words that children can understand. For many, the stories of Alice's adventures have become favorite childhood books.
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The Girl That Nothing Won't Happen to
Stories about the life of a little girl in the 21st century, recorded by her father
INSTEAD OF FOREWORD
Alice is going to school tomorrow. It will be a very interesting day. This morning, her friends and acquaintances have been videophoning, and everyone is congratulating her. True, Alice herself has been haunting anyone for three months now - she talks about her future school.
Martian Bus sent her some amazing pencil case, which so far no one has been able to open - neither me nor my colleagues, among whom, by the way, were two doctors of science and the chief mechanic of the zoo.
Shusha said that he would go to school with Alice and see if she could get an experienced teacher.
Surprisingly noisy. In my opinion, when I went to school for the first time, no one made such a fuss.
Now the turmoil has calmed down a bit. Alice went to the zoo to say goodbye to Brontey.
In the meantime, it's quiet at home, I decided to dictate a few stories from the life of Alice and her friends. I will forward these notes to Alice's teacher. It will be useful for her to know what a frivolous person she will have to deal with. Maybe these notes will help the teacher raise my daughter.
At first Alice was a child like a child. Up to three years. The proof of this is the first story I'm going to tell. But a year later, when she met Brontey, her character revealed the ability to do everything wrong, disappear at the most inopportune time, and even accidentally make discoveries that were beyond the power of the greatest scientists of our time. Alice knows how to benefit from a good attitude towards herself, but nevertheless she has a lot of true friends. But for us, her parents, it is very difficult. After all, we cannot sit at home all the time; I work at the zoo, and our mother builds houses, and often on other planets.
I want to warn Alice's teacher in advance - it will probably not be easy for her either. Let her listen carefully to the completely true stories that happened to the girl Alice in different places on Earth and space over the past three years.
I dial a number
Alice is not sleeping. Ten o'clock and she's not sleeping. I said:
- Alice, sleep immediately, otherwise ...
- What is it, dad?
“And then I’ll videophone Baba Yaga.”
- And who is this Baba Yaga?
Well, kids need to know. Baba Yaga Bone Leg is a terrible, evil grandmother who eats small children. Naughty.
- Why?
Well, because she's angry and hungry.
- Why are you hungry?
“Because she doesn’t have a product pipeline in her hut.
- Why not?
- Because her hut is old, old and stands far in the forest.
Alice became so interested that she even sat up on the bed.
Does she work in the reserve?
- Alice, go to sleep now!
“But you promised to call Baba Yaga. Please, daddy, dear, call Baba Yaga!
- I'll call. But you will regret it very much.
I walked over to the videophone and pressed a few buttons at random. I was sure that there would be no connection and Baba Yaga "won't be at home."
But I was wrong. The videophone screen brightened, lit up brighter, there was a click - someone pressed the receive button on the other end of the line, and before the image appeared on the screen, a sleepy voice said:
“The Martian embassy is listening.
- Well, dad, will she come? Alice called from the bedroom.
"She's already asleep," I said angrily.
“The Martian embassy is listening,” the voice repeated.
I turned to the videophone. The young Martian looked at me. He had green eyes without eyelashes.
“Sorry,” I said, “I obviously got the wrong number.
The Martian smiled. He wasn't looking at me, but at something behind me. Of course, Alice got out of bed and stood barefoot on the floor.
“Good evening,” she said to the Martian.
- Good evening, girl.
- Does Baba Yaga live with you?
The Martian looked at me questioningly.
“You see,” I said, “Alice can’t sleep, and I wanted to videophone Baba Yaga so that she would punish her. But here's the wrong number.
The Martian smiled again.
“Good night, Alice,” he said. - You need to sleep, otherwise dad will call Baba Yaga.
The Martian said goodbye to me and hung up.
“Well, are you going to bed now?” I asked. “Did you hear what your uncle from Mars told you?”
- I'll go. Will you take me to Mars?
“If you behave well, we’ll fly there in the summer.”
Eventually Alice fell asleep and I sat down to work again. And stayed up until midnight. And at one o'clock a videophone suddenly squealed muffledly. I pressed the button. A Martian from the embassy was looking at me.
“I'm sorry to disturb you so late,” he said, “but your videophone is not switched off, and I assume that you are still awake.
- Please.
– Could you help us? said the Martian. “The entire embassy is awake. We looked through all the encyclopedias, studied the videophone book, but we cannot find who Baba Yaga is and where she lives ...
Bronte
A brontosaurus egg was brought to us at the Moscow Zoo. The egg was found by Chilean tourists in a landslide on the banks of the Yenisei. The egg was almost round and remarkably preserved in the permafrost. When specialists began to study it, they found that the egg was completely fresh. And so it was decided to place him in a zoo incubator.
Of course, few people believed in success, but after a week, x-rays showed that the brontosaurus embryo was developing. As soon as this was announced on Intervision, scientists and correspondents began to flock to Moscow from all directions. We had to book the entire 80-story Venera Hotel on Tverskaya Street. And even then she did not fit all. Eight Turkish palaeontologists slept in my dining room, I sat in the kitchen with a journalist from Ecuador, and two correspondents for Women of Antarctica settled into Alice's bedroom.
When our mother called in the evening from Nukus, where she is building a stadium, she decided that she had come to the wrong place.
All the satellites in the world showed the egg. Egg on the side, egg on the front; brontosaurus skeletons and egg...
The congress of cosmophilologists in full force came on an excursion to the zoo. But by that time, we had already stopped access to the incubator, and philologists had to look at polar bears and Martian mantises.
On the forty-sixth day of such a crazy life, the egg shuddered. My friend Professor Yakata and I were sitting at that moment by the hood, under which the egg was kept, and drinking tea. We have already stopped believing that someone will hatch from the egg. After all, we no longer shined through it, so as not to damage our “baby”. And we could not do predictions, if only because no one before us had tried to breed brontosaurs.
So, the egg shuddered, once again ... cracked, and a black, snake-like head began to protrude through the thick leathery shell. Automatic cameras chirped. I knew that a red fire had been lit above the door of the incubator. Something very reminiscent of panic began on the territory of the zoo.
Five minutes later, everyone who was supposed to be here gathered around us, and many of those who didn’t have to be at all, but really wanted to. It immediately became very hot.
Finally, a small brontosaurus emerged from the egg.
- Dad, what's his name? I suddenly heard a familiar voice.
- Alice! I was surprised. – How did you get here?
- I'm with reporters.
But children are not allowed here.
- I can. I told everyone that I am your daughter. And they let me in.
“Do you know that using acquaintances for personal purposes is not good?”
“But, papa, little Bronte might be bored without children, so here I am.
I just waved my hand. I didn't have a free minute to get Alice out of the incubator. And there was no one around who would agree to do it for me.
“Stay here and don’t go anywhere,” I told her, and I rushed to the cap with the newborn brontosaurus.
All evening Alice and I did not speak. We quarreled. I forbade her to appear in the incubator, but she said that she could not listen to me, because she felt sorry for Bronte. And the next day she snuck into the incubator again. It was carried out by astronauts from the Jupiter-8 spacecraft. The astronauts were heroes, and no one could refuse them.
“Good morning, Brontea,” she said, going up to the cap.
The brontosaur looked sideways at her.
- Whose child is this? Professor Yakata asked sternly.
I almost fell through the ground. But Alice does not go into her pocket for a word.
- You do not like me? she asked.
- No, you are quite the opposite ... I just thought that you might be lost ... - The professor did not know how to talk to little girls at all.
“All right,” Alice said. - I'll come to you, Bronta, tomorrow I'll come. Do not be bored.
And Alice did come tomorrow. And she came almost every day. Everyone got used to it and let it pass without any conversation. I did wash my hands. Anyway, our house is next to the zoo, there is no need to cross the road anywhere, and there were always fellow travelers.
Brontosaurus grew rapidly. A month later, he reached two and a half meters in length, and he was transferred to a specially built pavilion. Brontosaurus roamed the fenced paddock and chewed on young bamboo shoots and bananas. Bamboo was brought by cargo rockets from India, and farmers from Malakhovka supplied us with bananas.
Warm brackish water splashed in the cement pool in the middle of the paddock. The brontosaurus liked this.
But suddenly he lost his appetite. For three days the bamboo and bananas remained untouched. On the fourth day, the brontosaurus lay down on the bottom of the pool and placed a small black head on the plastic board. It was obvious that he was about to die. We couldn't allow this. After all, we only had one brontosaurus. The best doctors in the world helped us. But it was all in vain. Bronte refused grass, vitamins, oranges, milk - everything.
Alice did not know about this tragedy. I sent her to my grandmother in Vnukovo. But on the fourth day, she turned on the TV just as the brontosaurus was being reported in declining health. I don’t know how she persuaded her grandmother, but on the same morning Alice ran into the pavilion.
- Dad! she screamed. How could you hide from me? How could you? .. - Later, Alice, later, - I answered. - We have a meeting.
We actually had a meeting. It hasn't stopped for the last three days.
Alice said nothing and walked away. A minute later, I heard someone nearby gasp. I turned around and saw that Alice had already climbed over the barrier, slid into the paddock and ran towards the face of the brontosaurus. She had a white bun in her hand.
“Eat, Bronte,” she said, “otherwise they will starve you here.” I'd be sick of bananas too, if I were you.
And before I could reach the barrier, the incredible happened. Something that glorified Alice and greatly ruined the reputation of us biologists.
The brontosaurus raised its head, looked at Alice, and carefully took the roll from her hand.
“Hush, dad,” Alice shook her finger at me, seeing that I wanted to jump over the barrier. “Bronte is afraid of you.
"He won't do anything to her," said Professor Yakata.
I saw for myself that he would not do anything. But what will happen if the grandmother sees this scene?
Then scientists argued for a long time. They still argue. Some say that Bronte needed a change of food, while others say that he trusted Alice more than us. But one way or another, the crisis is over.
Now Bronte has become quite tame. Although it is about thirty meters long, there is no greater pleasure for him than to ride Alice on himself. One of my assistants made a special stepladder, and when Alice comes to the pavilion, Bronte stretches his long neck into the corner, takes the stepladder standing there with triangular teeth and deftly puts it to his black shiny side.
Then he rolls Alice around the pavilion or swims with her in the pool.
Tutexes
As I promised Alice, I took her to Mars with me when I flew there for a conference. We arrived safely. True, I do not tolerate weightlessness very well and therefore preferred not to get up from my chair, but my daughter fluttered around the ship all the time, and once I had to remove her from the ceiling of the control room, because she wanted to press the red button, namely: the button emergency braking. But the pilots were not very angry with her.
On Mars, we toured the city, went with tourists to the desert and visited the Great Caves. But after that I had no time to study with Alice, and I sent her to a boarding school for a week.
Many of our specialists work on Mars, and the Martians helped us build a huge dome of a children's city. It's good in the town - real earthly trees grow there. Sometimes the kids go on excursions. Then they put on small spacesuits and go out into the street in a row.
Tatyana Petrovna - that's the teacher's name - said that I don't have to worry. Alice also told me not to worry. And we said goodbye to her for a week.
And on the third day, Alice disappeared. It was an absolutely exceptional occurrence. To begin with, in the entire history of the boarding school, none of them disappeared or even got lost for more than ten minutes. On Mars in the city it is absolutely impossible to get lost. And even more so for an earthly child dressed in a spacesuit. The first Martian he comes across will bring him back. What about robots? What about the Security Service? No, you can't get lost on Mars.
But Alice was lost.
She had been gone for about two hours when I was called from the conference and brought to the boarding school on a Martian all-terrain vehicle. I must have looked bewildered, because when I appeared under the dome, everyone who had gathered there fell silent sympathetically.
And who was not there! All the teachers and robots of the boarding school, ten Martians in spacesuits (they have to put on spacesuits when they enter the dome, into the earth's air), space pilots, the chief of rescuers Nazaryan, archaeologists ...
It turns out that the city's television station has been broadcasting a message every three minutes for an hour that a girl from Earth has disappeared. Every videophone on Mars was blazing with alarms. In the Martian schools, classes were stopped, and schoolchildren, divided into groups, combed the city and its environs.
Alice's disappearance was discovered as soon as her group returned from a walk. Two hours have passed since then. Oxygen in her suit - for three hours.
I, knowing my daughter, asked if they had examined the secluded places in the orphanage itself or next to it. Maybe she found a Martian mantis and is watching him...
I was told that there were no basements in the city, and all secluded places were examined by schoolchildren and students of the Martian University, who know these places by heart.
I got angry with Alice. Well, of course, now she will come around the corner with the most innocent look. But her behavior has done more trouble in the city than a sandstorm. All Martians and all earthlings living in the city are cut off from their affairs, the entire rescue service has been raised to its feet. In addition, I was seriously overwhelmed with anxiety. This adventure of hers could have ended badly.
All the time there were messages from the search parties: “The students of the second Martian gymnasium examined the stadium. Alice is gone”, “The Martian sweets factory reports that no child has been found on its territory…”
“Maybe she really managed to get out into the desert? I thought. “The city would have found her by now. But the desert... The Martian deserts have not yet been properly explored, and you can get lost there so that you won't be found even in ten years. But after all, the nearest areas of the desert have already been examined on all-terrain jumpers ... "
– Found! - suddenly shouted a Martian in a blue tunic, looking at a pocket TV.
- Where? How? Where? – the people gathered under the dome got excited.
- In a desert. Two hundred kilometers from here.
- In two hundred?!
Of course, I thought, they don't know Alice. You could expect that from her."
The girl is doing well and will be here soon.
“But how did she get there?”
- On a mail rocket.
- Well, of course! - said Tatyana Petrovna and began to cry. She suffered the most.
Everyone rushed to console her.
- We were passing by the post office, and automatic mail rockets were being loaded there. But I didn't pay attention. After all, you see them a hundred times a day!
And when, ten minutes later, the Martian pilot introduced Alice, everything became clear.
“I climbed in there to get a letter,” said Alice.
- Which letter?
- And you, dad, said that mom would write us a letter. So I looked into the rocket to take the letter.
- Did you get inside?
- Well, of course. The door was open and there were many letters inside.
- And then?
- As soon as I got in there, the door closed and the rocket flew. I started looking for a button to stop her. There are a lot of buttons there. When I pressed the last one, the rocket went down, and then the door opened. I went out, and there was sand around, and there was no aunt Tanya, and no guys.
She pressed the emergency landing button! – the Martian in the blue chiton said with admiration in his voice.
I cried a little, and then decided to go home.
– How did you know where to go?
I climbed up the hill to look from there. And there was a door in the hill. Nothing could be seen from the hill. Then I went into the room and sat there.
- Which door? the Martian was surprised. “There is only desert in that area.
– No, there was a door and a room. And there is a big stone in the room. Like an Egyptian pyramid. Only small. Do you remember, dad, you read me a book about the Egyptian pyramid?
Alice's unexpected announcement caused the Martians and Nazaryan, the head of the rescuers, to become very agitated.
- Tootexes! they shouted.
Where was the girl found? Coordinates!
And half of those present were licked off like a tongue.
And Tatyana Petrovna, who undertook to feed Alice herself, told me that many thousands of years ago there was a mysterious civilization of tuteks on Mars. Only stone pyramids remained from it. So far, neither Martians nor archaeologists from Earth have been able to find a single structure of the Tutexes - only pyramids scattered across the desert and covered with sand. And then Alice accidentally stumbled upon the structure of the tuteks.
“You see, you’re lucky again,” I said. “But still, I’m taking you home immediately. Get lost there as long as you want. Without a space suit.
“I also like to get lost at home,” said Alice ...
Two months later, I read an article in the magazine "Around the World" entitled "That's what the tuteks were like." It said that in the Martian desert it was finally possible to discover the most valuable monuments of the Tutek culture. Now scientists are busy deciphering the inscriptions found in the room. But the most interesting thing is that an image of a tutex was found on the pyramid, which is magnificent in terms of safety. And then there was a photograph of a pyramid with a portrait of a tuteks.
The portrait seemed familiar to me. And a terrible suspicion seized me.
“Alice,” I said very sternly, “be honest, didn’t you draw anything on the pyramid when you got lost in the desert?”
Before answering, Alice came up to me and carefully looked at the picture in the magazine.
- Right. It's you drawn, daddy. Only I did not draw, but scratched with a pebble. I was so bored there...
Shy Shusha
Alice has many familiar animals: two kittens; the Martian praying mantis that lives under her bed and imitates the balalaika at night; a hedgehog that lived with us for a short time, and then went back to the forest; brontosaurus Bronte - Alice visits him at the zoo; and, finally, the neighbor's dog Rex, in my opinion, a dwarf dachshund of not very pure bloodlines.
Alice got another animal when the first expedition from Sirius returned.
Alice met Poloskov at a meeting of this expedition. I don't know how she arranged it: Alice has wide connections. One way or another, she was among the guys who brought flowers to the astronauts. Imagine my surprise when I see on TV - Alice runs across the airfield with a bouquet of blue roses larger than herself and hands it to Poloskov himself.
Poloskov took her in his arms, they listened to the welcoming speeches together and left together.
Alice returned home only in the evening with a big red bag in her hands.
- Where were you?
“Most of all I was in kindergarten,” she replied.
- Where have you been least of all?
- We were also taken to the spaceport.
- And than?
Alice realized that I was watching TV and said:
– I was also asked to congratulate the astronauts.
- Who asked you to?
One person, you don't know him.
- Alice, have you ever come across the term "corporal punishment"?
- I know, it's when they spank. But, I think, only in fairy tales.
- I'm afraid that the fairy tale will have to come true. Why do you always go where you shouldn't?
Alice was about to take offense at me, but suddenly the red bag in her hand stirred.
– What is this?
- This is a gift from Poloskov.
- You asked for a gift! This is still not enough!
“I didn't ask for anything. This is Shusha. Poloskov brought them from Sirius. Little shusha, shushonok, one might say.
And Alice carefully took out of her bag a small six-legged animal that looked like a kangaroo. Shushanka had big dragonfly eyes. He quickly rotated them, firmly clinging to Alice's suit with his upper pair of paws.
“You see, he loves me already,” said Alice. I'll make a bed for him.
I knew the history of the Shushas. Everyone knew the history of Shushi, and we, biologists, in particular. I already had five shushas in the zoo, and from day to day we were expecting an addition to the family.
Poloskov and Zeleny discovered shush on one of the planets in the Sirius system. These cute, harmless animals, which did not lag behind the astronauts a single step, turned out to be mammals, although in habits they most of all resembled our penguins. The same calm curiosity and eternal attempts to climb into the most inappropriate places. Zeleny even had to somehow save a fur coat, who was about to drown in a large can of condensed milk. The expedition brought a whole film about Shushi, which was a great success in all cinemas and video frames.
Unfortunately, the expedition did not have time to properly observe them. It is known that Shushi came to the camp of the expedition in the morning, and at nightfall they disappeared somewhere, hiding in the rocks.
One way or another, when the expedition was already returning back, in one of the compartments Poloskov found three shushs, which, probably, got lost in the ship. True, Poloskov thought at first that one of the expedition members had smuggled the shush onto the ship, but the indignation of his comrades was so sincere that Poloskov had to give up his suspicions.
The appearance of shush caused a lot of additional problems. First, they could be a source of unknown infections. Secondly, they could die on the way, not withstand overloads. Thirdly, no one knew what they were eating… And so on.
But all fears were in vain. Shushi endured disinfection well, obediently ate broth and canned fruit. Because of this, they made a blood enemy in the person of Zeleny, who loved compote, and during the last months of the expedition he had to give up compote - he was eaten by "hares".
During the long journey, the shushikha gave birth to six shushats. So the ship arrived on Earth overflowing with shushats and shushats. They turned out to be intelligent little animals and did not cause any troubles or inconveniences to anyone except Zeleny.
I remember the historic moment of the expedition's arrival on Earth, when a hatch opened under the guns of film and television cameras and instead of the astronauts, an amazing six-legged beast appeared in its hole. Behind him are several more of the same, only smaller. A sigh of surprise swept across the land. But it was cut off at the moment when, following the shushs, a smiling Poloskov came out of the ship. He carried in his arms a fur coat smeared with condensed milk ...
Some of the animals ended up in the zoo, some remained with the astronauts who fell in love with them. Alice got Poloskovsky's little cloak. God already knows how she charmed the stern cosmonaut Poloskov.
Shusha lived in a large basket next to Alice's bed, did not eat meat, slept at night, was friends with kittens, was afraid of the praying mantis and purred softly when Alice stroked him or talked about her successes and troubles.
Shusha grew rapidly and in two months became the size of Alice. They went for walks in the garden opposite, and Alice never put a collar on him.
“What if he scares someone?” I asked. Or get hit by a car?
No, he won't be scared. And then, he will be offended if I put a collar on him. He's so whimsical.
Somehow Alice couldn't sleep. She was capricious and demanded that I read to her about Dr. Aibolit.
“No time, daughter,” I said. - I have an urgent job. By the way, it's time for you to read the books yourself.
- But this is not a book, but a microfilm, and there the letters are small.
- I'm cold to get up.
- Then wait. I will add and turn on.
- If you don't want, I'll ask Shusha.
“Well, ask,” I smiled.
And a minute later he suddenly heard a gentle microfilmed voice from the next room:
"... And Aibolit also had a dog Abba."
So Alice still got up and reached for the switch.
"Now back to bed!" I shouted. - You'll catch a cold.
- And I'm in bed.
- You can't cheat. Who turned on the microfilm then?
I really do not want my daughter to grow up deceitful. I put aside work, went to her and decided to have a serious talk.
There was a screen on the wall. Shusha operated at the microprojector, and on the screen the unfortunate animals crowded at the door of the good doctor Aibolit.
How did you manage to train him like that? I was genuinely surprised.
“I didn’t train him. He can do everything himself.
Shusha shyly moved his front paws in front of his chest.
There was an awkward silence.
“And yet…” I finally said.
"Sorry," a high-pitched, husky voice said. Shusha said it. “But I actually taught myself. It's not difficult after all.
“Sorry…” I said.
“It's not difficult,” Shusha repeated. “You yourself showed Alice the story about the praying mantis king the day before yesterday.
- No, I'm not talking about that. How did you learn to speak?
“We studied with him,” Alice said.
– I don’t understand anything! Dozens of biologists work with Shushas, and not a single Shusha has ever said a word.
- A little.
He tells me so many interesting things...
“Your daughter and I are great friends.
“So why were you silent for so long?”
“He was shy,” Alice answered for Shusha.
Shusha lowered his eyes.
