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

which even a slight breeze would be enough. The crews of the L-4 boats,
discouraged by the absence of wind, were gathered in their cabins in front
of TV sets watching a children's programme.
Nikolai found Yura sitting on the edge of the pier in his bathing
trunks, his long arms wrapped round his knees, singing a song from an Indian
film in a mournful voice. He sat down beside Yura and took up the refrain.
They sang until dockmaster Mehti stuck his head out of the window of the
boathouse and begged them to stop. "This isn't an opera-house," he
complained.
"You shouldn't have lent uncle Vova your scuba gear," Yura remarked
after a while. "We could have done some diving."
"Why not come over to my place if the races are cancelled? We might try
to change the pitch of the spiral."
"I don't want to."
"Why not?" Nikolai looked at his friend. "Ah, yes, of course. A date
with Val."
"No, I-"
"Then what the devil-"
"Nothing will come of it, Nick. The surfaces of substances are a hazy
subject. If famous scientists don't know how to handle them, then what's the
use of us trying?"
"You needn't if you don't want to. I'll get along without you."
"You can't. At least I know my way about electronics, which is more
than you can say."
"Anyway, I won't give up. There must be a field in which surface
tension increases."
"A field!" Yura repeated derisively. "'Oh, field, broad field, who
strewed you with whitened bones?'"
Boris Privalov came up to the young men. "Good morning, boys. Doesn't
look as though there'll be any racing today, does it?"
"The races haven't been officially called off yet," said Yura. "We're
waiting. Take a seat."
The three of them sat side by side on the pier, dangling their feet in
the water, the sun warming their backs, waiting for the wind to come up.
"Do you recall our talk about surface tension, Boris?" Nikolai asked in
a determined voice.
The sun flashed on Privalov's glasses as he turned to look at Nikolai.
"Yes, I do."
"Well, it's like this." Nikolai launched into a description of the
experiment with water and a wire, and mentioned the spiral and the desired
field.
Privalov listened closely, frowning and screwing up his eyes.
"It's amateurish," he said finally. "You can't go in for that sort of
thing without thorough preparation. There's a book by Adam on the physics
and chemistry of surfaces. I'll lend it to you." He was silent for a while.
"Besides, at the moment we have more than enough work on our hands, and
later there will be a pipeline across the whole of the Caspian."
"I've been hearing about a transcaspian pipeline for years," said Yura.
"We're beginning to wonder whether it will ever be built."
"It will. I forgot to ask you yesterday, Nikolai, if you went over to