"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Roadside Picnic (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

last nut onto the asphalt.
It was a lot simpler after that. I found the crack, and it was still
clean, not overgrown with any garbage, and unchanged in color. I just looked
at it and rejoiced in silence. It led us to the garage door better than any
pylons or signposts.
I ordered Kirill to descend to four feet. I lay Bat on my belly and
looked into the open doors. At first I couldn't see anything because of the
bright sunlight. Just blackness. Then my eyes grew accustomed and I saw that
nothing seemed to have changed in the garage since the last time. The dump
truck was still parked over the pit, in perfect shape, without any holes or
spots. And everything was still the same on the cement Boor--probably
because there wasn't too much witches' jelly in the pit and it hadn't
splashed out since that time. There was only one thing that I didn't like.
In the very back of the garage, near the canisters, I could see something
silvery. That hadn't been there before. Well, all right, so there was
something silvery, we couldn't go back now just because of that! I mean it
didn't shine in any special way, just a little bit and in a calm, even a
gentle way. I just got up, brushed myself off, and looked around. There were
the trucks on the lot, just like new. Even newer than they had been the last
time I was here. And the gasoline truck, the poor bastard was rusted through
and ready to fall apart. There was the cover on the ground, just like on
that map of theirs.
I didn't like the looks of that cover. Its shadow wasn't right. The sun
was at our backs, yet its shadow was stretching toward us. Well, all right,
it was far enough away from us. It seemed OK, we could get on with our work.
But what was the silvery thing shining back there? Was it just my
imagination? It would be nice to have a smoke now and sit for a spell and
mull it all over--why there was that shine over the canisters, why it didn't
shine next to them, why the cover was casting that shadow. Buzzard Burbridge
told me something about the shadows, that they were weird but harmless.
Something happens here with the shadows. But what was that silvery shine? It
looked just like cobwebs on the trees in a forest. What kind of spider could
have spun it? I had never seen any bugs in the Zone. The worst part was that
my empty was right there, two steps from the canisters. I should have stolen
it that time. Then we wouldn't be having any of these problems now. But it
was too heavy. After all, the bitch was full, I could pick it up all right,
but as for dragging it on my back, in the dark, on all fours... . If you
haven't carried an empty around, try it: it's like hauling twenty pounds of
water without a pail. It was time to go. I wished I had a drink. I turned to
Tender.
"Kirill and I are going into the garage now. You stay here. Don't touch
the controls without my orders, no matter what, even if the earth catches
fire under you. If you chicken out, I'll find you in the hereafter."
He nodded at me seriously, as if to say, I won't chicken out. His nose
looked like a plum, I had really given him a solid punch. I lowered the
emergency pulley ropes carefully, checked out the silvery glow one more
time, waved Kirill on, and started down. On the asphalt, I waited for him to
come down the other rope.
"Don't rush," I said. "No hurry. Less dust."
We stood on the asphalt, the boot swaying next to us, and the ropes