"Thin World". Chapter 9
The continuation of a fantastic story. There are very few - two more posts, and the story will be completed.
Marina receives an unexpected offer ...
Anatoly Sazanov illustration
')
The adrenaline supply was enough for Marina to help Nastya with her morning distribution. Actually, quite a few people went to work. According to Denis, everything was ready. It is difficult to say whether anyone worried about the fact that the rocket continued to stand whole and unharmed, ready to launch. That morning, the excitement was quite a different matter.
The first thing that caught Marina’s eye was that magnetic locks were installed along one of the walls. Installed clearly hastily - dangling, not really fixed. Half of the tables stood at this wall, the other half - at the opposite. People came in and stopped in confusion, slowly grasping the hint made. Chose differently. Someone walked on the occasion, someone - in defiance. Delivering food, Marina listened to the conversations.
- Here, for example, what penetration ability do they have? - found out at the same table, - Steel sheet will protect?
“If the military descends, you'd better sit and not hang out,” one advised after another, “Dan might not understand — his own, not his own.”
- Come on, - objected to the third, - still remained intact.
- Once lucky. And if the room does not turn off completely?
Marina sighed and went to the window.
“Not that you are afraid. Oh, not that. ” She remembered last night. Kirill, with a stone face, firing bullet after bullet into bound Timur. Her wrathful angry thoughts seemed to be heard: it became quieter in the dining room and seemed to be a few degrees colder.
“Marin,” Nastya whispered to her in time, “why?”
Marina woke up and looked at Nastya blankly. She nodded expressively down at the ready-to-fight rifle. Those who sat closer looked at her. Marina swore and returned her hand to the usual form.
“The latest model of micromachines was released in the summer,” she heard muffled whispers, “The old ones can't do it, the old ones only can.
“Yes, it’s good there,” the Pope Gena the Blond said. He himself was also blond, high - about two meters - and the owner of a powerful voice, - The man of your own children saved, and here you are whispering.
At the table they were silenced, and Marina gratefully looked at the Genius father. He nodded back and continued wielding a spoon.
“It wouldn’t be Nasty, there’s no one to save,” Marina said. But who said it, to whom it was said, whether the interviewee agreed or not - she could not understand this.
* * *
Fortunately, today nobody interfered with the lessons. At first, she painted with children, and then, at the request of Olga Petrovna, Marina read Krylov's fables with them in roles. She then thought that she was completely exhausted, but Nastya came here: she needed to help change the gas cylinders in the kitchen. In general, the day turned out to be troublesome.
As she left, she heard some woman talking in the corridor with Olga Petrovna.
“Yes, but she has a weapon,” the woman said excitedly. Olga Petrovna cooed something in response in an old-fashioned, good-natured way, to which the woman only shook her head, remaining at her own fears. Marina mentally spat on everything and left to see no one.
She returned to a summer house assigned to her temporarily. She closed the door, closed the curtains, wrapped herself in an old prickly blanket and passed out right in the chair where she sat for a minute.
The dream did not bring peace. At first she dreamed of something vaguely unpleasant, from which she absolutely had to run away, and then Morpheus turned the page - and now she was already inside the burning house. She rushes about him, from window to window, but you don’t get close to them, in front of them is a curtain of fire. Marina rushes to the door, pulls the handle, but she does not open. She screams for help, but in response only a hammer knocks in a measured and precise manner. The door was pounded.
Marina woke up in a cold sweat and realized that she did not dream of a knock. Someone knocked three times, and then, without waiting for an answer, began to open the door by pressing the handle.
It seemed to her that the flame of a dream had indeed burst into the house. But this is only the fiery Denisov's head of hair shoved through the open door.
“Greetings,” he began courteously, looking around in the twilight, “Free time stood out and decided to visit.”
“Thank you,” Marina answered dimly. She didn’t really want to see him. However, Denis did not understand the hint and opened the door wide open.
“Well, it's stuffy here,” he remarked, “Maybe we’ll take a little walk?” There is news about your sister.
Marina's dream disappeared. She rose from her chair and looked inquiringly at Dennis. And he smiled, pleased with the effect produced.
- What's the news? - Marina could not stand it. Dan waved his hand, inviting him to go behind him, and disappeared behind the threshold. Marina sighed. “You can't just say, you have to blink,” she complained to herself, pulling on her jacket and shoes. For a moment, joyful hope swept over her: Liza was already here, maybe waiting right outside the door, holding back not to giggle. She shook her head, banishing the tempting deception. “Dan needs something from you. For the beautiful eyes alone, he will not give you Lisa. ”
The news was not very helpful. The scouts discovered their father’s squad with all the equipment ready for departure. Lisa was with him. Denis didn’t know anything else, or wasn’t going to tell him yet. “It was worthwhile to drag me out for such a thing,” Marina frowned, walking along the empty streets nearby. They wandered to the northern outskirts of Novozhilovo - safe but abandoned. However, they were abandoned only two months ago, so they seemed still inhabited. Here the owners, just came out for a while. There's an untidy car with mowed grass, a rake leaning against it. There is a pack of cigarettes lying on a bench under a canopy. Here is a rocking horse on the path to the house. She even sways a little bit - a huge crow flew off a minute ago. Marina only noticed her because a pale green radiance surrounded her.
- I know what you're thinking, - Denis broke the silence, - And I beg your pardon.
Marina looked at him sidelong, nodded, but did not answer. Starting, she thought. Denis calmly continued:
- You saved Oleg's life, saved the kids. What happened to you is a monstrous mistake. The perpetrators of the landmarks have already received, do not even hesitate. I have no desire to quarrel with you. Yes, and you know, - he frowned, - I don’t like all that much myself, what Kirill does there. Dying in battle is still all right, it’s an honor, but so ... There’s just no choice. Look at your own hand - what the hell did you get, right?
He stopped and suddenly grabbed her right wrist. Not rudely, not strongly, but persistently raised higher and, pointing at a leather glove, said:
- You see, almost dragged on. And you are already back in the ranks, you teach the children, - Marina also persistently pulled her hand out of his palm and looked at Dennis not fully understanding what he was getting at,
- And here we have Lesha, - continued Dan, - He, too, four days ago shot his hand. The bone is crushed. Lesha will return to service oh, how soon, if at all. Do you understand? The chances of the Boar and I are not equal. When he goes to the assault - and this will happen very soon - he will simply blow us away. Not from the first call, so from the second exactly - when we have no one left. And then he knows what he owns. I do not want it. You, probably, too. I need everything that can equalize chances.
He suddenly pointed to the bench in the side of the wreck, which seems to have been orphaned many years ago and was overgrown with mold and grass.
- Let's sit down? I think you're tired.
Marina was tired long before the beginning of this conversation and did not refuse the offer. Thoughts in a tired head were confused. “I know, I know,” she told herself, “Timur alone suffered to save a lot of good guys. Much - more than one. Simple equation. In the third grade, they decide. Only people are not numbers. You can't multiply them, you won't change the sign, you won't reduce them in a fraction. ”
“There must be another way,” she continued aloud. Denis just sat down beside him - the bench creaked pitifully under him - he stretched his legs and, chewing a blade of grass, without any reason began to tell:
- You know, I was not going to run with a gun in the woods. In late August, my father and I came to visit our old country house, to think about what to do with it. My father was still a strong man. Climbing fond. He had such a set of modifications that he could even ride a hundred years in the mountains. When it all started, we sat on the bench. Here on this one, where we are sitting with you, - Denis knocked on her with his fist, - I did not have time to recover myself, I didn’t really understand anything at all. And he once - and already at the neighbor's fence, hugging Aunt Galya. Well, it seemed to me at first that it embraced.
Marina looked at him in surprise. Denis spoke quietly, as if from the depths of his memory, and did not seem to want to speak. I did not want to, but told. And inside him something was bubbling and hissing, which he held back with all his might, not allowing him to escape.
- And then, - Denis's voice faltered, - Galina kids jumped out, to see why mom screamed. Then I already came to my senses, shouting to them, shouting to my father - I do not remember what I shout myself. And he, "he swallowed," he hung over them, and his hands again turned into knives.
He took a deep breath, with his eyes closed, and continued, nervously shaking his foot.
- In general, the choice was small. Or he, or guys. I grabbed an ax and put an ax to his shoulder. I wanted to push away, distract. Only to him that blow was that the elephant was a grain. I shoved aside and aimed the knives. And the guys were numb with fear, even if they ran away ... And I killed him. Chopped until it froze. And he, as if possessed, crawled and crawled towards them. He did not say a word to me, did not even look at me. Crawled, crawled and crawled ... Because it was no longer my father, understand? - he suddenly raised his voice, - Father would never touch anyone with his finger. This micromachines killed my father. And I got them revenge for him.
Marina was neither alive nor dead listening to this sudden confession. “Did he tell anyone else? If I had told, I would have boasted, but he ... ”.
She felt sorry for him. She could do nothing about it. He was unpleasant to her, his thoughts and deeds caused her fear. So she regretted not his thoughts and deeds, but that young man - yes, there, a boy - who for the first time was frightened of his own father.
- Your father, - Denis looked at her, - also took possession of the car. If you ever loved him - this is not the person you loved. He is dangerous. He can destroy us all.
But he is not afraid of you. You let him close to you, and nothing threatens you. You should, you just have to kill the Boar.
She looked at him dumbfounded. And it was not clear that she was more dumbfounded and scared. Sudden, bordering on an order, a sentence? The very thought of murder? Or an irrational semi-sober fear of the father himself? She recalled his last image - grinning antennae, cruel eyes. “If he smiles, I can come up,” she thought for some reason.
“I knew that you would not like this idea,” Denis continued insinuatingly, “But this is the very other way you spoke of. Only one person will die. The rest of them will scatter where, and I will not care about them. And everything will end, we, in Novozhilovo, will be able to go about our business. You will quietly teach, Nastya will heal, I will build houses.
- No, - Marina shook her head, - No, I do not agree. I can't do this.
- I don’t hurry you, - Denis replied conciliatingly, and right there clarified, - Bye. Think about it, collect your thoughts. And just count how many more of my children it will be if you don’t help us. They can shoot Oleg, and Jan Nikolaevich. At any time they can. And you could save their lives. You can, you saved the kids. As I learned about it, I immediately understood: Marina will.
Marina got up.
“Remind me where the school is,” she looked around, trying to recall the road.
Dan shrugged and held out his hand.
- There. And here's another thing to think about, - he shouted to her from the bench after him, - You can do it quickly, easily, painlessly. I, if I get to him, I can not promise this.
* * *
Marina returned to the dark house again.
She locked herself again. I lost my mind, dropped the jacket. I regretted the absence of a soul and remembered that today is Saturday. So, in the evening a bath - Nastya promised. And that means there will be no school tomorrow.
“If the father comes to the rocket, there will never be a class.”
She sat in a chair and rubbed her eyes with her fists. It was necessary to sleep. Only her heart was pounding, and her thoughts were trying to split her heavy head.
“In the end, the father knew what was going on. He must be ready to die at any moment, like any soldier. ”
Marina took a deep breath, held up the air - the heart began to beat less, but it was more ponderous, and let it out with a noise. It seemed to her that it was really stuffy in the house. She rose and began to pull back the curtains and open the windows. Only there was no wind, the air on the street froze, froze. The cooling sun snatched hanging dust particles in the room.
“Suppose,” she told herself, emphasizing this “suppose,” “What I agree. That I really would stop all this horror at the cost of my father's life. Which, it is worth admitting, I do not like so much, and I will not sob on his grave. But how, how can I look into Lisa's eyes? How?"
* * *
Sunday morning, Marina spent at school. After yesterday’s bath, her body finally demanded a long, deep sleep. And no thoughts and nightmares bothered her all night. Only in the morning her sleep became nervous, twitching, and she woke up before dawn - rested and broken at the same time.
There were no lessons. The main part of the work was completed. The day was practically free, it would not work out to wrap oneself up. And that means you have to change your mind a lot of hard and unpleasant thoughts.
Marina wandered around the school, like in a cage. I thought it would be nice to make a breakfast for myself (and Nastya too). And then suddenly she moved into the physics classroom and began sorting through textbooks. “It was somewhere about atomic reactions,” she painfully recalled the school curriculum. “Well, at least I have to understand something.” She fluttered the pages, then scrolling far ahead, then scrolling back, but the formulas and graphs did not tell her anything about what could be done with this particular rocket.
There was a knock at the door. Marina, already sitting at her desk and overlaid with a pile of books, looked up:
- Yes?
The dad of Gena Blond peeped in the door. “Blond Sr.”, as Marina immediately nicknamed him to herself.
“Hello,” he said politely, and went in, looking at the decomposed textbooks, “I wanted to go home to you, but I didn’t find you.” And here I look - the light in the school is on ... But are you in physics? He asked suddenly. Marina shook her head:
- No Unfortunately.
The blond hero walked up, pulled out a chair from behind the next desk, and sat astride him, peering into open books from his height.
“You won't find an answer here,” he shook his head. “I was already looking.”
Marina looked at him with interest.
- Do you know what I'm looking for?
He shrugged.
- We all thought about it. Someone less, someone more. When we started to close the main entrance, we often saw this rocket. We went, wandered around her, shone with lanterns. Only there are not needed lights.
- And what about?
- Something that could break through the launch container. And then the rocket body.
- And what, then she will not fly?
Genin papa smiled.
- Do you know how everything is arranged there? The bottom stage is such a tube with fuel. You can say a big piece of wood. If you are a military man, you open the mine hatch and ignite the fuel with an electric igniter and the rocket flies. And if the hatch is not opened, and the fuel is set on fire through a man-made hole, then the rocket explodes right in the mine.
- It doesn’t sound like much, - Marina bit her lip, - We just didn’t have enough nuclear explosion.
“That's what embarrassed us, too,” the Blond Senior sighed. “In theory, of course, it shouldn't take off.” The military is not really fools. If any mistake or sabotage, a nuclear explosion should not be. But who can vouch? I can't ... And even if I could, there is nothing for us to make a rocket through.
Marina thought for a minute and asked.
- And these ... fuses. Can't they be set on fuel?
- I doubt it. You need to know where they are. Too jeweler work. And even for a rough tool we did not have one.
“So ... there is no way?”
“It seems so,” Genin dad sighed. “Actually, I wanted something.” I wanted to thank. And warn. I absolutely do not care whose daughter you are. Sons for fathers are not responsible. But, I fear, we have those for whom heredity is a stigma. Rumors have already gone on Novozhilov. Just keep in mind.
- Thank you, - just found what to say Marina. Gena's father waved his hand and rose to his full gigantic height.
- Yes, quit. If anything, I can help you. We are with Gena and Marina - your namesake, by the way - we live here not far from the pump house, - he waved somewhere to the side.
And left.
And she stayed. Hopefully looking at sheets of paper filled with knowledge. Only not those that she needs. She tried to figure out what to do next. What will happen if she does anyway. And somehow it did not converge, it did not appear. She felt her thoughts wandering in a loop, in a closed loop. She shook her head, starting with a clean slate, but got all the same pattern.
She was brought out of a stupor strange noise from the office of literature. All the same, with a broken window, with brushes, markers and pencils. She looked out into the corridor, walked cautiously to the door and looked in. A soldier from the Danov Guard was busily racing around in her drawing supplies. , , .
— , — , , — , .
— ? — .
- What? , . , — , — . - .
— ? — , — ?
— , — , — , … , … , , . . , , . …
. “ , ?”.
— . , — , , . , , .
— , , — , , — .
.
— ? .
— , , — . “ , ”, — .
, , , :
— . , .
, , . . . , , . .
“ , , . , . . — - . … . , . , . — ? , , , , …”
. — — . , , . .
. , . . , .
— , — , — , , — .
* * *
. , . - .
, , .
— , , — , — , .
— , ? — , . .
— , — , — .
— , — , — . .
— , — , — , , , . . — .
— ?
— , , — , — . : ? ? . . .
.
— . .
. , , , :
— .
, :
— . .
— , — , — - .
, . . .
— , — . :
— , , .
10
, — ( )
Thanks for attention.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/402523/
All Articles