"Arkady & Boris Strugatsky - Crabs on the Island" - читать интересную книгу автора (Strugatski Arkady)

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Molecular Cafe - Crabs on the
Island




CRABS ON THE ISLAND

Anatoly DNEPROV


From the SF compilation “THE MOLECULAR CAFE”


MIR PUBLISHERS
Moscow
1968

_______________________________________________________ OCR:
http://home.freeuk.com/russica2




"Hey, you there! Be careful!" shouted Cookling at the sailors who, standing up to
their waists in the water, were trying to drag a small wooden case along the gunwale
of the boat. It was the last of ten crates the engineer had brought to the island.
"Phew! Isn't it hot! Like a furnace," he groaned, wiping his thick red neck with a
bandana handkerchief. Then he pulled off his sweat-soaked shirt and threw it on the
sand. "Take your things off, Bud; there's no civilization here."
Dejectedly I watched the light schooner rocking gently on the waves at a distance
of a mile or so from the shore. It would come back for us in three weeks' time.
"Why the devil did we have to come to this sun-hell with your machines?" I
demanded of Cookling as I undressed. "With a sun like this we'll be peeling like
cucumbers tomorrow."
"Never mind. The sun will come in useful. Incidentally, it's exactly noon, and it's
just above our heads."
"It's always like that at the equator," I muttered, not taking my eyes off the
"Dove". "All the geography books tell you that."
The sailors had come over to us and were standing in silence before the engineer.
Unhurriedly he put his hand in his trouser pocket and took out a wad of notes.
"Is that enough?" he asked, giving them several. One of them nodded.
"In that case you can return to the ship. Remind Captain Gale we shall expect him
in twenty days' time."
Then Cookling turned to me. "Let's get busy, Bud," he said. "I'm impatient to
begin." I stared at him.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know why we've come here. I understand that it
may not have been convenient at the Admiralty for you to tell me about it. But I think
you can now."
Cookling grimaced and looked down at the sand.