"Vladimir Savchenko. Self-discovery (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Over and above everything else, however-the mind-bending ideation, the
unexpected narrative turns, the wide spectrum of characterization, the
humor, the suspense-shines the author's love for and faith in the species.
As he says through his protagonist, he talks not about man, but about
people. And at the end, the very last words of the novel bespeak this faith
and this optimism.
There's no point in looking at those last words now, by the way. They
will carry no freight until you put it there by reading the novel.
-THEODORE STURGEON
Los Angeles.



FOOTSTEPS FROM BEHIND * PART ONE



FOOTSTEPS FROM BEHIND



Chapter 1


"When checking the wiring, disconnect power.'
-A poster on industrial safety

The brief short circuit in the line that fed the New Systems Laboratory
occurred at three A.M. The circuit breaker at the substation of the
Dneprovsk Institute of Systemology did what all automatic safety devices do
in these cases: it disconnected the line from the transformer, lit up a
blinking red light on the board in the office, and turned on the alarm.
Zhora Prakhov, the electrician on duty, turned off the alarm signal
immediately so as not to be distracted from his study of The Beginning
Motorcyclist (Zhora was about to take the driver's test) and he glanced at
the blinking light with hostility and expectancy. Usually localized short
circuits in the lab were taken care of at the site.
Realizing after an hour that there was no getting around it, the
electrician shut his book, picked up his instrument case and his gloves, set
the pointer on the door at "New Syst. Lab." and left the office. The dark
trees of the institute grounds were waist-deep in fog. The transformers of
the substation stood with their oil-cooling pipes akimbo, looking like
shapeless old women. The old institute building hovered in the distance like
a washed-out snowbank against the graying sky. It had heavy balconies and
ornate towers. To the left, the parallelepiped of the new research
department tried vainly to block out the early June dawn.
Zhora glanced at his watch (it was 4:10), lit a cigarette, and
scattering the fog with his bag, headed right, into the far corner of the
park where the New Systems Lab was located, housed in a small lodge. At
4:30, in answer to electrician Prakhov's call, two cars appeared on the