"E.Voiskunsky, I.Lukodyanov. The Crew Of The Mekong (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

rustling sound and the glass disc of the electrostatic machine began to
revolve. Blue sparks crackled.
A round aquarium on the table had wire wound around it, with thick
copper tubing on top of the wire. A copper disc hung above the aquarium
parallel with the surface of the water. Small fish darted about in the
greenish water.
Benedictov turned the levers of the valve oscillator. Then, slowly
tightening a screw, he brought the copper disc close to the water.
The fish stopped darting about. They seemed to fall asleep instantly.
Benedictov looked at his watch, dropped heavily into an armchair and closed
his eyes.
The room was shrouded in semi-darkness. Rita sat on the sofa. A black
cat lay at her feet.
"You ought to give up these experiments, Anatole," she said
thoughtfully. "You're biting off more than you can chew."
"It's too late, Rita. I can't give up now."
There was a silence. The electricity crackled. The fish in the aquarium
slept.
"Why do you keep experimenting with living creatures, Anatole?" Rita
asked, leaning forward. "Your old-time predecessors used inorganic matter."
"You know why. Living matter gives me something a piece of wood or a
chunk of metal never could. It gives me action potentials."
"But the knife is lost. How can you continue experimenting without it?"
"I don't know. I need that knife all the time." Benedictov paused, then
added, "Did you actually see it fall overboard? Could someone in the crowd
have grabbed it?"
"No, it went overboard. I dived after it at once, but the knife sank to
the bottom."
"What a thing to have happened!" Benedictov rubbed his shaggy head
furiously.
The doorbell rang. When Rita opened the door she found a husky man in
blue overalls and a cap pulled down over his eyes standing there.
"I'm from the municipal electricity board," he said. "I've come to
inspect the wiring."
"Step in," said Rita. "The meter's over there."
The electrician removed the fuses and inspected them.
"These have to be replaced," he said. "They're defective."
"Rita!" Benedictov called from his room. "Why did you switch off the
electricity?"
"Hurry up and put those fuses back," Rita told the electrician.
"Are you in a hurry to be fined?" said the electrician, but he put back
the fuses. "Where's the •kitchen?" He went through the rooms, his head
tipped back, looking at the wiring. Suddenly he stopped short. "Is that a
motor running?" he asked. "Got a license for it?"
"Rita!" Benedictov called impatiently.
"Excuse me a moment," Rita said to the electrician as she turned
towards Benedictov's study.
The electrician heard her explaining what the matter was. A man's voice
said, "To hell with him! Let him look. Here, hold this fish."
"Ouch!" Rita exclaimed.