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Planet of Paradoxes

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Школа кожевенного мастерства: сумки, ремни своими руками
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   Irina Dovase
PLANET OF PARADOXES
  Series "the Man who could do everything"
  
  
  ? Седова Ирина Игоревна, 1978-2018
  ? Sedova Irina Igorevna, translation, 2019
  
  PLANET OF PARADOXES
  REBELLION
  SUMMER OF LIFE
  CONTRACT FOR THREE YEARS
  MARRIAGE ON TYERRA
  AVENGER - CHEAT - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
  GOLD OF LAKRO
  
  Dovase, Irina
  The Planet of Paradoxes (fantastic novel)
  Her profession is to plant forests where there is no water or air... will she Get a job or not? A girl from the world of free enterprise gets to a planet where she can have whatever she wants. But she doesn't know about it, and no idea about what an exciting, awesome adventure ahead for her...
  
  
  Part I
  RYABINKA
  
  
    
  The Mysterious Route Map
  
   "Ryabinka, ow!" rang a clean melodic voice. It was impossible to guess that the voice belonged to a small thin old woman.
   "This fidget has just disappeared again," grumbled the old woman, going out on the porch.
   That old woman lived alone in a roomy, and for her even in a huge old house in the middle of a vast forest. It was a reserve and she was its Keeper. Her house stood on a sunny glade, but in addition to this lovely place she had to watch over cedar groves, a birch copse and lots of other coppices and woods.
   The old woman was a hereditary forester, and loneliness did not depress her, because she used to the absence of people. Once she had a large family, but her children and grandchildren grew up one by one; they graduated from colleges and dispersed all over the world. They all became biologists and did not forget the old Verba (that was the name of the lady), sending her greeting cards for holidays, letters, and coming to visit.
   During their living near her she taught them all that she knew. She tried to develop their curiosity and delight of living among the magnificence that surrounded them since their childhood. To tell the truth, the old Verba was proud of her "kids." She was glad that her children and grandchildren knew the history of their family and the language of their ancestors.
   They did not call their native planet "Tyerra", but they called it "Zemlya", and their names were generic: Dojd, Veter, Zarnitsa, Irga. It was time when the habit of naming children by words that once had some specific meaning in one of the ancient languages of Tyerra, was quite common. There was no need that most people who spoke Hingr and other new dialects did not know the meanings of those words, but for old Verba the sounds of her native language were like music.
   Ryabinka was the old lady"s youngest granddaughter, she was her favourite. When she was born, her parents were students. Leaving the baby to her grandmother, they flew away and did not return. They were from the astronauts, whom the Space took forever.
   Ryabinka replaced to the old Verba her missing son. Now she was a student as well, she was studying at the High Biology Space School. She came to her granny for two days only and had to fly to a distant planet Liska, where she did her pre-graduate practice work.
   Although Ryabinka said that her practice had started quite well, grandma's heart ached with anxiety, and the sudden arrival of her granddaughter without any warning seemed strange too. The students have not got enough seeds to plant - well, that's understandable, it happens... But since when do trainees have to deal with supplies?
   "Oh, she"s holding something back... She"s got into trouble..."
  Those were the old woman"s thoughts while she was looking for a familiar blue coverall at the edge of the forest.
   "I'm here, granny!" heard she Ryabinka"s voice from above.
   "Why!" the old woman clasped hands and look up, "What are you doing in the attic?"
   "I'm conducting archaeological digs. I have found so many interesting things!"
   "Couldn"t you find another time to go through old papers? Get down here, my naughty!"
   A low slim girl of twenty-two ran out in the meadow. The girl was dressed in a blue coverall of homespun linen, decorated with a wide border with geometric patterns on the edges. The jumpsuit was of a very comfortable style, with two straps on the sleeves and trousers.
   "You my poor darling," sighed grandma, viewing Ryabinka from head to toe, "How pale, just bones and skin. The belt is fastened with the third button..."
   Ryabinka looked at her suit - the belt was fastened correctly, in the latest fashion.
   "It is not a paleness, granny, but a special composition for skin lightening. For lashes to look longer, and lips brighter."
   "And why did you curl your hair and smeared it with blue paint?"
   "Not blue, but black with tint. I want to be beautiful, can you get it, grandma?"
   The old woman threw up her hands. Indeed! - the girl standing in front of her was extremely beautiful without any makeup. The singularity of her face could not be spoiled with any make-up product and no hairstyle. Large specially curved green eyes, a neat nose etched in memory and singled their owner out from any group of other girls immediately. Her mouth was a bit too big, but it did not ruin the impression.
   However, being accustomed to consider herself ugly from the very childhood, Ryabinka missed the sudden flowering of her beauty. And no wonder for the girl who decided to replace the personal life with the business success. During all the years in the High Cosmic School she feasted on knowledge, has been carrying out public work and was elected the head of the group during practical sessions. She got used to perceived as a mockery all the compliments to her appearance.
   "I'm 22 years old," she said angrily.
   "You should think about your qualification, not about eyelashes," one could hear the condemnation in the voice of the old woman.
   "I think," sighed Ryabinka, as she wanted love, true, sincere, real; "Don't worry, granny, I don't like my new appearance myself, but natural pigment won"t recover earlier than in six months. Well, bye!"
   Oh, if only the old forester knew where her beloved granddaughter was going to take off! She would howl of desperation, grabbed Ryabinka hands and legs, but kept her from hasty travel. Just think! To turn off the route, reliably programmed in the computer memory of the starship for to visit a planet, the coordinates of which were inscribed on an ancient route map, lying number of years in the dusty attic of the old house!
   Of course, Ryabinka flew for seeds for planting not on behalf of her authorities. But how could she admit that without those seeds her thesis task would become a failure. That her situation was worse than ever: she wouldn"t graduate with honors. And without first-class degree she won"t have guaranteed job after qualification. This meant that very soon she would have to look for some job on her own. So it made sense to do a little detour to run recon.
   It seems plain madness, but that's the way it worked: if the coordinates of that planet have not been highlighted in a red oval, if Ryabinka did not know from her Star Atlas that there were no planet in that place of the Galaxy, the idea would not even have appeared in her head. And if the place had not been so close to Liska, the project would have been postponed to a better time.
   But everything matched together: the need, the route and desire - well, who on earth would have resisted? Ryabinka kissed her grandmother, shouldered her travel bag with all sorts of things that could prove useful and hurried to the spaceship. She didn't like long goodbyes.
   That's all. Start. Bye, grandma. Goodbye, Tyerra!
  
   The ship lowed to the ground and touched it gently. While Ryabinka was tuning the devices on close inspection, a small cloud of steam, that arose when hot nozzle gases encountered with colder atmospheric, dissipated. On the screen there appeared a hilly valley covered with low green vegetation. A pearl mist lay around. The planet was already living with its own life and it needn"t any human intervention of the person of Ryabinka"s profession.
   Ryabinka saw it at once.
   Meanwhile the obedient metal hands stretched out from the ship, cut the grass cover and, having enclosed a piece of sod in a small container, pulled it into the on-Board laboratory. The test results shocked Ryabinka. Both the soil composition and the biological characteristics of the grass were up to the Tyerra standards. Even the atmosphere was breathable. One didn't have to wear a spacesuit!
   Ryabinka opened the access hatch and looked out. Around her spaceship there spread the most common for Tyerran mid-latitude meadow. She shut the hatch behind her and jumped to the ground. On closer examination, the meadow was completely like on the Earth: wheatgrass, buttercups, chamomiles, sagebrush here and there, and willow herb blooming in full. Our heroine moved on. Very disappointed, she reached the edge of the valley, and couldn"t keep an exclamation: a birch grove opened in front of her. It was like a dream: white trunks, veiled by a light haze, and a lone birch against their background.
   "Maybe I made a mistake and now I"m not on That Object but on Tyerra again?" that sudden idea directly hit our cosmonaut-girl; "Oh no, it can't be so!"
   When she reached the first tree, she touched the bark that was white with black specks, knocked lightly on the trunk and walked along the birch forest. She heard a bird trill. Ryabinka tried to recognize the voice, but she could not determine the bird. Soon she began to come across unfamiliar plants: she saw a flower, similar to lily of the valley, but with plantain leaves, then a bush with large yellow berries which looked poisonous. It was getting interesting.
   "What a nice place! It is almost like in grandma"s reserve. This corner is quite similar, nobody would find the difference. My imagination tells that when I reach the hill, I"ll see the lake behind it. And just behind the lake there would be the cedar grove."
   Ryabinka imagined such panorama and laughed: she loved pine nuts.
  "Hey, who's dabbling?" rang out an angry voice; "Have you nothing to do?"
  The girl ran up the hill and froze in surprise. Just in front of her, indeed, there spread the lake, and behind the lake there was visible the high dark forest. Knee-deep in the water there stood a swarthy guy of twenty five. And water flowed over his black curls and clothes.
  "Is it you who is having fun?" he asked angrily.
  Ryabinka felt a shiver in her legs and leaned against the birch tree behind her. The words she heard were not said on Hingr... The guy was talking in her native language! He not only knew it, but he spoke it to her, to a stranger. Ryabinka immediately felt her in the high antiquity, because in Tyerra her native language almost disappeared after all Indo-European dialects merged into a single conglomerate. In her family the language of their ancestors was preserved as a relic, and it was a pleasant surprise to discover that somewhere in the Universe there is a place where people speak it. It was so interesting that Ryabinka almost forgot why she had come here.
  "A lost expedition! That would be a brouhaha when I get back! However, this guy is a terribly rude fellow," those thoughts momentarily flashed in Ryabinka"s head.
  "Have you lost your mind?" continued the stranger.
  Now his large blue eyes did not flash fire, but there was so much metal in his voice that Ryabinka was completely taken aback. Everything that she could do was to babble, barely picking up the words:
  "Me... I accidentally,"
  Now her vivid imagination was powerless to help her in explanation what her fault was.
  Then she thought that the fellow might feel cold, and that was the reason why he freaked out. So she took off her jacket and handed it to him.
  "Oh, thank you very much," said the guy quite calmly, throwing the jacket over his shoulders; "You yourself designed the pattern on the edge? You see, I'm an artist. And the fabric, it is not quite standard."
  "Last year's pirouette of fashion we had on Tyerra, but I can"t part with it. Besides, it"s made of natural linen," chattered Ryabinka, adjusting her pronunciation under articulation of the fellow. She did it quite instinctively.
   "Sorry, at Tyerra - where is it?"
  "Well, on the Earth."
  "You're a joker," laughed the guy; "Pirouette, linen... Does everybody on your Tyerra like to speak in riddles?"
  Ryabinka nodded mechanically, thinking to herself: "It seems, he does not believe that I am from Tyerra. Perhaps it"s for the best. And then..."
  Ryabinka didn"t try to guess what could happen if the fellow knew where she was from. But to her surprise she didn't want to argue about anything. Her modest look made the right impression. The stranger's face no longer resembled a cloud in a stormy sky, and he said softly:
  "May I give you a present?"
  Ryabinka heard a thousand times from her grandmother that it was dangerous to accept gifts from strangers, but to change the route of the spaceship was also a contradiction to all rules.
  And she nodded in agreement.
  The stranger scratched behind his ear. He put his left hand into the pocket and pulled out a shiny hairpin with a red stone.
   "May I?" he asked.
  He leaned toward Ryabinka and placed the hairpin at her right temple. An unusual sign of attention embarrassed our adventurer-girl.
  "You shouldn"t do it," she said blushing.
  It seemed that the stranger didn't hear her.
  "I wonder why we've never met here before," he said, as if he had seen Ryabinka a thousand times elsewhere.
  It was getting funny.
  "I came here by accident," she explained; "Looking for a job. I'm a space landscaper."
  "Have you ever been to Dolingord?"
  "Never."
  "Then you must go there. There are such places!... In short, it is worth seeing!"
  The guy turned and walked along the shore of the lake. Having walked a few steps, he stopped, turned around and asked in surprise:
   "Why aren't you going? Martin will be awfully glad! You'll see!"
  It was impossible to get the reason why some Martin was supposed to be happy of seeing an unknown girl. But the strange fellow didn't intend to explain it. He behaved as an old friend who accidentally met his schoolmate in a random place after long years of separation. It was clear that he took Ryabinka for someone he had met before.
  But she again did not disabuse him. She glanced at his thin, slightly stooped figure, and finally thought that it would be a good idea to find out at least who she was talking to.
  "Your name... Can't remember..." she said.
  "Elmar. Why are you speaking with me in such a strange manner? We"re alone here. Yes, it is not often possible to meet the ours somewhere. Your name is..."
  "My name is Ryabinka," she decided to take that chance.
  But if she thought that the guy would stop pretending to be her old friend, she was wrong. Elmar was slightly surprised - and that was all.
  "Ryabinka? A strange nickname," he said; "But, you know, it suits you.
  Ryabinka shrugged and followed him on the narrow path along the shore. The behaviour of that strange guy could confuse anyone. Meanwhile, the birch forest was over, and the travelers found themselves in the magnificent pine forest. And once again Ryabinka noticed how similar that forest was to her grandmother"s. There were enough big trees in one and a half human girth, that stood not close to one another, and undergrowth surrounded them in the same way. And among low rare grass there was an anthill which looked exactly like the one she had seen five days ago.
  Elmar bent down, picked up from the ground a few long brown pine needles joined in bunches of five, and said thoughtfully:
   "These plants have very interesting leaves. How do you call them?"
   "They're cedars!" said Ryabinka in surprise, because his ignorance amazed her. "Have you never eaten pine nuts?"
  "Nuts? You mean the ones that are hanging up there?"
  "Yes, in the cones," agreed Ryabinka graciously.
  Elmar asked nothing more. He frowned and, hurrying a couple of steps, stopped.
  
  
    
  Martin and his house
  
  Ryabinka drew up level with him, and in front of her in a deep hollow there opened whether a town or a large settlement. It was a wonderful sight! It seemed that the town was very close, Ryabinka even saw people in the streets. But it was impossible to understand in what order the buildings were. Small houses were not located along the bottom but disposed here and there quite independently of each other. They climbed on the slopes and jumped on cliffs. Narrow crooked streets ran around them like paths, and drowned in the sea of vegetation. No one house repeated another. The first was round, another looked like hexagon, the third resembled a mushroom, and the fourth was like nothing at all. And roofs of mixed relief crowned them. It seemed that the inhabitants of that strange village had nothing to do but to devise, who would build a more unusual home.
  Elmar touched Ryabinka"s sleeve:
  "Martin's house is over there."
  "Where?"
  "Do you see that bright rectangle with a cubic superstructure? Found it? Haven"t you? Look at the roof with three little round towers. Count three houses to the left and one up. It is just there where the alley of blue tulips is. Come on!
  He took Ryabinka"s hand, helping her down, and in a few minutes they plunged into the maze of streets. They turned to one side and then to another, and she wondered how Elmar managed not to lose the direction. Rebellious vegetation, the types of which our cosmoflora specialist could not determine even roughly, astonished her. Sometimes it stood like a blind wall and then suddenly broke letting observe facades and windows, also of fanciful forms. There was even the windows that looked like enormous flowers and windows reminding animals.
  The travelers passed the alley with high blue tulips and found themselves in front of the house, where instead of windows Ryabinka saw two wide limpid wavy lines around the perimeter. A small courtyard, framed by a hedge, was entirely covered with a carpet of vegetation.
  When Ryabinka and her guide stepped on the terrace before the entrance the doors moved aside softly as inviting to come in.
  Ryabinka hesitated. One thing was walking in the open air with a random fellow traveler, and quite another was going with him into an odd unknown closed quarters. If only she thought she was more attractive, she would never risk to find herself on her own with two guys. But she thought to herself:
  "If you are looking for a job you should be able to make acquaintance. You have nothing to fear. Nobody will attack you."
  "Come in," said Elmar, touching her sleeve.
  The doors shut as the guests entered the hall. Elmar passed his hand over the wall and said softly:
  "Hey, doctor, look whom I brought to us!"
  Before Ryabinka could react, a side wall moved, as if it split in the middle, and a tall, slender blond man of about twenty-seven appeared in its breach.
  "The our!" said Elmar meaningly; "Here"s on vacation and doesn't know anybody. Her name is Ryabinka."
  "Oh!" said the blond hair; "Where did you find her?"
  The blond hair had a pleasant open face, light-skinned and clean, where one could notice movable eyebrows, surprisingly dark. His lashes were dark as well, and it was hard to expect a trick from a man with the look like his.
  "The girl was daydreaming a little," said Elmar, "I was sitting and painting. Then a sudden splash - and I found out myself in water with water around."
  "It is very good, that dreamy girls roam the groves not every day," said the blond hair reproachfully.
  They said it like they meant it. As if that lake appeared at Ryabinka"s wish. And Elmar continued, pointed at his friend:
   "His name is Martin. He's terribly absent-minded too. Last year he wanted to imagine a costume. Would you believe? He forgot to turn off his mind and could not understand why he did not succeed..." Elmar's little mustache twitched slyly.
  "And you? Have you forgotten, how you almost let around your Studio a fire snake? It was two months ago only," answered their host.
  "Oh, don't, don't talk about it! I"ll tell everything myself! You see, Ryabinka, we have just shot a film about the arrival of the natives. How brilliantly you would be perfect for the lead role! I wish we'd met earlier!"
  "That's why Elmar invited me here," thought Ryabinka; "He need an object for his movies. Is he going to offer me jumping naked in front of them?"
  To hear that she was considered a round fool was a kind of a blow to Ryabinka. Rather offended, she forced to say:
  "I couldn't act in films. I have no time. To spend."
  Ryabinka watched one guy and then another and compared them. The comparison was clearly not in Elmar's favour. His friend was much more handsome. His elongated and narrowed eyes made especially irresistible impression. They looked brown from afar, but coming closely one noticed that only the stars coming from the pupils were of this colour. In bright light those eyes became gray.
  "He's an amazing guy. And so smart," thought Ryabinka; "Elmar is interesting too but..."
  She knew what the "but" meant quite exactly. Ryabinka did not like artists, literary critics and other people of art. She did not respect them, considering worthless and empty. She was sure, they were engaged in nonsense when there is so much useful work around.
  She was not so radical to the artists who applied their skills for some practical needs, but movies differ, and her feeling to participants of the performances of a certain kind could be nothing but disgust. That was Ryabinka"s opinion. Really, have known the reason why Elmar was interested in her, Ryabinka felt disappointment. She wanted the boys to like her - and that was stronger than anything, stronger than all the arguments of reason, and even stronger than usual caution. But one thing was to be admired, and quite another when you are considered as an object for a vulgar movie.
  Something must have reflected on her face, because the host depicted a very natural surprise:
  "Why, so what are we wasting precious minutes? I guess our guest is hungry of course. I'll go to the dining room and get the plates."
  "What would you like first?" asked Elmar, when he sat down on a soft chair near the table.
   "I don't know."
  "All for the better," rejoiced Martin, leaving the kitchen with empty plates in his hands; "I'll regale you with a brand new dish. It"s Mariye"s last invention, so be ready to appreciate.
  He placed the plates, touched his right ear and a portion of the steaming meat, cut into slices emerged on each plate. It was like a trick. Ryabinka smiled.
  "Like it?" noticed her smile Elmar; "Mariye is a cook that you would seldom meet. Mariye"s his sister. She's a builder. And what about your famous grapes, doctor?"
  "Grapes will be for dessert."
  The meat was cooked really excellently. After dinner, Martin led his guests into a garden and disappeared. Ryabinka didn't notice where he went. Her attention was caught by a pergola, entirely covered with grapes and an incomparably beautiful bindweed. Its big orange bells with black stripes, were framed with a pinkish corolla, dense bristle of stamens and long brown fringed pestle in the middle. Each stem had not only blossoming flowers and buds but bolls with seeds as well.
  To get a better look, Ryabinka pulled a sprout and touched one fruit. Its dry membrane crumbled to dust, and a handful of small hedgehog-like seed spilled right into Ryabinka"s hand.
  "What a strange flower!" exclaimed Ryabinka. She sighed and put the seeds in the pocket of her jacket.
  Elmar shrugged and went into the pergola. When Ryabinka looked there, he was already sitting on a folding chair near the window made in grapes. Before him there stood a board on a stand.
  "Are you starting a new picture?"
   "I'm painting".
  "I don't see any paints or brushes."
  "Right you are, it"s better to put a couple of tubes nearby."
  He put his hand into his pocket, took out a box with paints and a brush and put them near the cardboard.
  "And what are you painting?
  "Your grove."
  "Indeed?"
  No grove could be seen on the cardboard; shapeless, fuzzy spots were on an entire sheet.
  "I paint not just trees but a scenery for the film."
   "And what's your film about?
  "It"s about the first settlers. You see, in our film there is an episode where Ol remembers That Earth. Two episodes only but I'm stuck. Where must I take the content if it is absent? I was ready to cry! You really helped me with those cedars of yours. You see, I once heard this word, and knew that it was some kind of trees that existed on Ol"s homeland not imagined by him for some reason. Nobody knew how those cedars should look like!"
   "And what about the birch grove? Weren"t the seeds of birch trees brought by the first expedition?" asked Ryabinka gently, hoping to find out the answers about the place where she had appeared. Now it was only clear to her that it was not Tyerra.
  Elmar stared at her with his wide-opened blue eyes, then he waved his eyelashes in bewilderment, and laughed:
   "Are you joking? The local birch grove cannot be relict. It's one of the late plantation."
  Something began to clear up in Ryabinka"s head. A missing expedition indeed. One of the members of the crew was Ol by name. It's funny that the route map she had found on a dusty attic of her grandmother's house had been signed by the same name.
  "I guess that birches on the Earth are of no much difference from your birches," she said soothingly.
  "Yours, ours! Of course, all birch forests are similar, both on Earth or Zemlya. But That Earth, from which our ancestors came, cannot be similar to any other planet, can it?"
  "Well, you can draw multistoried cities with houses made of glass and concrete... like anthills..."
  "Hm... That"s authentic... Why don't you eat the grapes? You wouldn"t find in the whole Dolinniy the grapes that would be sweeter than from Martin's garden! Choose on the South outside, there"s the best."
  Ryabinka obeyed the reasonable advice and began to treat herself to the grapes. Something got clear; the expedition had arrived directly from Tyerra and the landing was forced. Communication with the center had been lost; and that happened in so ancient time that local people start calling Tyerra "That Earth", because "Zemlya" for them is the name of the planet where they are living. The word "Tyerra" said nothing to Elmar because the accident happened in the days when it did not come to common use yet."
  "Who am I for these guys now? Tyerranee or native?"
  Ryabinka was ready to laugh.
  She paid tribute to the grapes and returned in the pergola. No less than five sketches lay on the floor around Elmar, and a blank sheet of cardboard on a stand indicated that the sixth was destined to appear. Elmar was sitting scowling his face, his legs crossed, and thoughtfully shook his foot.
  "Damn him!" he exclaimed angrily.
  Just at this minute the sky cleared and a beam of sunshine broke through the thick cloud cover. It sparkled only for some moments but its appearance became a revelation for the artist. And when Ryabinka looked at the cardboard again, it wasn"t empty any more. There was a grove, yes, wondrous earth grove appeared on the sheet! It seemed to arose there by itself, without participation of the artist!
  "You are a real magician," she whispered.
  Elmar turned to her his satisfied face.
  "Am I? Oh no, it"s you a fairy. May you be one of them?
  
  A tender moment of beauty
  Smiled to us and faded.
  Maybe it"s caused by you
  coming from dreams of fairies,
  When your green eyes glared."
  
  "Great!" Ryabinka couldn't help admiring; "Did you compose this impromptu? Right now?"
  Elmar glanced away and said:
  "It's a lyrics by one poet. And now Mariye"s coming back!"
  Through the openwork of grape leaves Ryabinka saw a small descending aircraft.
  "Remember, Mariye Can Not."
  
  
    
  The News
  
  Ryabinka did not understand what was the thing that Mariye was not able to do, but she nodded docilely and followed Elmar, who led her for some reason around the house. Then Elmar put his finger to his lips and tiptoed to the porch.
  "Who wants to enter our house unnoticed?" rang out a low pleasant voice, and in the doorway Ryabinka saw a girl with golden fair hair.
  As on Ryabinka"s taste, Martin"s sister looked a perfect beauty. She was well-built neither tall nor low, of healthy complexion, and wore a long, loose-fitting dress with a drawstring waistband. She looked like the beautiful Helen, who had caused the Trojan war. Her lively almond-shaped brown eyes under smooth arches of eyebrows looked smiling and illuminated her face with an elusive victorious light.
  "We wanted to arrange a surprise!" said Elmar portraying indignation."
  "Is the guest upset?" exclaimed Mariye as if sympathetic, but there was laughter in her eyes.
  "My dear sister, I do not see masterpieces of your culinary art!" said Martin getting behind Mariye, "We almost died of hunger here without you!
  And Martin winked at Ryabinka merrily.
  Mariye disappeared in the kitchen. Ryabinka wanted to follow her, but she was not allowed.
  "Don't bother her," said Martin shaking his head; " Poor girl has so little reason to cook! Let"s go into the living-room instead.
  Ryabinka had no choice but to obey. However, she didn"t resist much. She already liked being here and she felt that her new friends liked her as well. It was only liking, not more, as it can be among the humans without any dirty hints. These guys were very nice people, both of them. They were so easy-going that Ryabinka forgot about his suspicions and that the day couldn"t be endless. Sometimes something flashed in Elmar"s eyes, but that light was not able to make the girl nervous. The boys had a good time in talking and so did Ryabinka in their company.
  Of course, she remembered why, in fact, she crossed the threshold of the house near the alley of blue tulips. But after Ryabinka found out that on the planet the work on greening landscapes is still in progress, she recalled grandmother's recommendation "problems of future should be left to tomorrow" and... And what else? The conversation flowed smoothly from one subject to another. It was the usual chatter, natural but interesting.
  By the way, Ryabinka found out from the chatter that there was no obscene in the film Elmar had spoken of. And Martin did not look like a butcher cutting people into parts for pleasure; although he told about medicine enthusiastically, but he wasn"t crazy about it. As for Ryabinka, she was very careful in her words, and when she spoke about Tyerra she portrayed the facts of Imperial life as her fantasies. So, who in the whole Universe would have guessed that all this could end so absurdly!
  "Our guest haven"t informed us yet about herself," suddenly said Mariye leaning out of the kitchen.
  "Neither have you," answered Elmar immediately. "Like me."
  "Oh!" Mariye's voice changed in some strange way. She stared at Ryabinka with such interest as if she met her just that seconds. Ryabinka even felt uncomfortable because of that attentive and cunning gaze.
  "I mean, we haven"t told about ourselves either," said Elmar reproachfully.
  And from this hasty excuse something seemed to hang in the air. Ryabinka felt even more embarrassed. She instantly recalled that she was taken for someone and had been brought to that hospitable house near the alley of blue tulips by mistake. Explanations were inevitable!
  Elmar pointed at Martin and added:
   "Martin is a doctor. A surgeon. His surname is Fot. He's not married yet. Neither am I. And the Film Studio where I work is in Otkrytiy."
  Mariye looked at Elmar incredulously and went back again. Martin got up, closed the door, and, coming up to Ryabinka, said in a low voice:
  "You should keep your eyes open with my little sister. She knows that Elmar and I are the mighties."
  "The mighties?" asked Ryabinka in surprise. So that's who she was taken for. She was considered to be a person of the ruling class of this planet!
   That is why she couldn"t guess, why those two guys are so elegant. Why they behaved so free and, at the same time, without any impertinence! "I wonder what they will say when I open that I"m an astronaut? And the girls on Liska will just burst with envy when I tell them what guys are in the Universe."
  Meanwhile the two friends got silent, gazing at her in fright.
  "Who did you bring me, you, Dull Paper-smearer?" said through his teeth Martin, when he came to; "A Brainless Rhymer! Is this your present?"
  He pointed to the barrette in Ryabinka"s hair.
  "Mine," agreed the artist sadly; "Little souvenir. For memory."
   "And what will she answer if they ask her where she takes these souvenirs from?"
  "She"ll tell she has found."
  "Especially if she would be questioned by the Security Council. Well, will you advise her to say she has taken it off a corpse?"
  Ryabinka couldn"t help smiling.
  "The barrette turns out to be a symbol of power, it shows that I'm from elite," thought she; "I wonder why Elmar pinned it on me. And what was the reason he supposed I was similar to them?"
  The two guys quietly quarreled among themselves, not paying attention to either her presence or smile.
  "No corpses," said Elmar; "She will says that hairpin has been given to her by a friend. That is me, Elmar Kensoly.
  "Kensoly?" said Ryabinka rather surprised; "What a coincidence! I"m Kensoly too."
  The guys glanced at each other.
   "Who are you studying for?" said Martin in a more peaceful tone.
  "I"m cosmo-forester."
  "In the forest... who?"
  He was interrupted by Mariye's head popped in the door.
  "Hurry up! Turn on the TV! They're transmitting such a news!" exclaimed she in excite.
  Elmar pressed a button... He did it in time.
  The violet screen of the rectangle in the corner of the room turned into image, and in five minutes Ryabinka got all the reasons to feel pleased that she had told nothing about herself.
  "An important government message," said a voice from the screen; "In the region near Dolingord there appeared a new unplanned lake surrounded with trees of unregistered breed. That is not all. Quite nearby, behind the birch grove, there was found an aircraft, having trappings that was designed for space flights. We asked the Security Council to comment on the report."
  The face of a grey-headed man:
  "There has never been such a case on our planet. Soon we'll hear whether our astronomers have watched anything; but there's almost no doubt that the ship belongs to a resident of That Earth."
  Another face and inscription "A. V. Tairov":
  "Why should we assume the worst? Can't this rocket be the fruit of a Zemlya mind? Why do we have to bring aliens here?"
  "I suggest just a hoax," - on the screen there emerged blue-eyed man with bald spot. Inscription "A. S. Gusev."
  "Hoax? Oh no!" that voice belonged to a youthful old woman, caption "F. M. Kensoly"; "This hoaxer must be an extremely erudite person. I don't know anybody who could do that. Too difficult. However I can not ensure."
  Tairov:
  "Then let"s postpone the discussion until tomorrow."
  The news made a very strong impression on householders. However, it did not prevent Mariye to lay the table, decorated with exquisite fine inlay, covering it with amazingly delicious food. Although Ryabinka was not hungry, the sight of them immediately aroused her appetite. Every of the dishes was a culinary miracle that asked to taste it. They had nothing common either with boring space diets, or with grandmother's cooking.
  "What do you think about all this?" asked Mariye, taking the last tray out of the kitchen.
  "A masterpiece!" replied Martin in the tone of a true expert.
  "I'm not talking about the salad but of the starship!" protested the hostess of the feast reproachfully.
  "Of the starship?" answered Martin reflectively and sighed: "There is nothing to guess about it. Someone got bored, and he started fooling people's heads. I even strongly suspect one comrade."
  "Really?" echoed Elmar immediately, "And who is this comrade?"
  "You want me to point directly on the person? To call the name?"
  "Your jokes are irrelevant now."
   "But I'm not joking at all. Have you been there? Oh, yes. Your talents are familiar to me and Mariye. Aren't you the one of the best adepts at That Earth? Don"t be too modest, buddy."
  "Go to hell with you! I have enough trouble with starships in the Film Studio."
  "Really, Martin, why did you attack him?" intervened Mariye; "I asked you but not of Elmar. Say what you will but I believe in an alien more. And you, Ryabinka, what do you think of this?"
  "Me?" confused our astronaut; "I wonder what will they do with the ship?"
  "If they make sure it's a hoax, they'll destroy it."
  "But what if it's veritable? I'm more than sure of it! Of course, the Tyerranee does not want to stay here forever. How would he come back then?"
  "It would be nice if he couldn't come back. Three hundred years ago there were 30 billion people on That Earth, and now there are probably even more. Would you like crowds of them flying here to look at us as at the inferior?"
  "I'm not feeling well," said Ryabinka, putting on a forced smile; "I think I'd better get going."
  "Stay," said the host glumly; "It"s completely dark in the street, and tonight you'd better sleep here, if it really happened."
  Mariye took Ryabinka into a small blue room. The room was furnished very simply: there were built-in wardrobes, a kind of a sofa with some pillows and a low table with inlaid in purple-blue scale. The ornament represented something vegetable. Ryabinka touched the surface reflexively; her hand did not feel cold typical for stone.
  "Plastic," she thought listlessly and leaned against the wall, ready to sink straight into the thick, fluffy carpet that covered the entire floor. She was really tired. Mariye took out bedding, put a sheet on the couch and left her guest alone.
  Ryabinka undressed and went to bed, but she couldn"t fall asleep. A vague uneasiness came over her as if to push to action. Getting up, she pulled on her coverall and tiptoed out into the corridor. Muffled voices were coming from the living-room but they sounded too slurring. Ryabinka crept to the door and pricked up her ears.
  She heard words spoken by three voices.
  "You see, she immediately seemed to me strange a little, but I did not guess who she was, because everything happened somehow in too simple way," said Elmar.
  "Of course, you're used to snakes and cataclysms in your Studio; the lake and no romance is not of your style," answered Martin, and that sounded sarcastically.
  The voice of Elmar:
  "She does not know the most elementary things famous to everybody on our planet, and knows what is unknown to others. And her profession? Well, only a "cosmo-forester" could marvel at the viala growing in your garden. And she said she is from Tyerra, but there is no such a settlement in the directory".
  The rustle of pages.
  "Did you notice that the first thing she asked was what would happen to the spaceship?" it's Mariye.
  "So we are found at last..." sounded Martin"s review; "And she is Kensoly, fresh blood..."
  Elmar:
  "We are terribly lucky to be the first who met her! She's so pretty! And so clever! She is a real fast learner!"
  Mariye:
  "I'm sure if we ask her directly..."
  Ryabinka did not listen any more. She returned to the bedroom, put on her shoes and went to the window.
  "My good friends," wrote she hastily; "I am Tyerranee indeed, that is a native, as you say, and I do not want to become an object of common curiosity. All the best to you. Ryabinka Dojdevna Kensoly."
  She put the message on the table, pressed it with the edge of the writing instrument and jumped out into the garden, closing the window behind her.
  
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  Discovery
  
  Half-bent Ryabinka got to the hollow and then start moving on her bellies. She already crept quite close to the spaceship, when suddenly a thin beam of light flashed and illuminated her. A sharp hissing sound rang out. Ryabinka jumped up and ran. Hearing a noise behind her and voices, she raced with all the speed, that her tired feet were capable for. A black pulsing shadow ran ahead of her, lengthening and almost breaking away from her feet. The beam did not lag behind and seemed to burn the back of her head, not letting even for a moment leave its golden tunnel, in the depths of which like a lighthouse silhouetted the birch on the edge of the saving grove. The voices got closer, and only under the ground one could hide from them.
   Reaching the grove, Ryabinka looked around, but luminous shroud only blinded her. She stumbled and rolled on the wet grass, instinctively covering her head with her hands. And before her inflamed eyes the birch from the edge of the grove surfaced in the smallest detail. The picture seemed almost real... Suddenly something immobilized Ryabinka altogether, and it became dark and quiet around.
  She jerked trying to get up but only hurt her nose against her palm. Then she tried to turn over but it was vainly again; her whole body was densely entangled with elastic rigid threads. Ryabinka twitched and hammered her fists against the strange wicker vault. The vault was tight and hard, she even couldn"t bend it. Ryabinka fell into a panic. Tiny pieces of something hard sprinkling from above made her stop the pointless movements.
  The vault smelled like freshly dug ground. Ryabinka felt the threads; the netting was irregular. She easily torn some of the threads with her fingers, and the whole space between them was filled with something loose and crumbly. The first layer of threads was followed by the second, then by the third...
  "Did I get swatted by roots of а tree turned out by a storm?" thought Ryabinka.
  It seems strange enough, but she calmed down. Only an unknown frightened her, that was Ryabinka"s nature. The simple conjecture gave her energy. The tip of her index finger moved faster and reached the free space. It immediately became easier to breathe, and Ryabinka"s head finally cleared.
  Swallowing one more portion of the blessed air, she tried to enlarge the hole. She did it without any difficulty but what of it? Lying under that unknown cover having appeared from nowhere she had no idea what to do. The place was cold and not comfortable, and a current of air was too thin for to breathe deeply.
   Who could remember at those moments that the beginning of the day had been so fine!
   Nevertheless, it was necessary to get out of the trap. Ryabinka thought a little and started to act. Her motto was "There are no hopeless situations."
   She recollected that in her pants pocket there had to be a pocket knife. But Ryabinka"s elbows were spread wide so it was not easy to reach it. They were fixed by rather thick roots, which could not be broken by Ryabinka"s fingers.
   Slowly, with effort, Ryabinka took from her breast pocket a lighter; which was always there since she put on that jacket. She decided to burn thick bundles that did not allow her hands to unbend. The fire did its job: the left hand was released. However very soon the place, where Ryabinka lay, got filled with acrid smoke.
  Ryabinka coughed, put out the light of her lighter and quickly extinguished everything that could smolder and smoke. Then she tried to relax and began to push her palm under the roots. Pinning as far as possible her left side to the wall, she reached the knife.
  Then it went faster. To dig clay with metal blade was much easier than scratch it with fingernails. After having made a hole large enough for hand, she could simply cut pieces of sod and push them out. Sometimes she had a rest, so she had been working for two hours, until the hole became wide enough for her to squeeze out.
  When she was free, Ryabinka sighed deeply. Although the inky darkness wrapped all around and her ragged hands were burning, life seemed to be an intriguing and beautiful thing again... She stretched out and elbowed on a tree trunk.
  The hand seemed to be pierced by electric current. Ryabinka"s fingers relaxed, and her folding knife fell out to get lost in grass. It reminded Ryabinka where she was. Her joy dissipated at once. It became bored and she longed to be on native Tyerra, or even more - on a quiet Liska. Where she was waited by her comrades, who were rough but still understandable.
  Even "Sahm" now seemed not an office red tape, who was afraid to move away from instructions, but a very nice and pleasant person. What if he were not going to break their biographies? What if he sign the practice?
  And in addition she should take care of where to spend the night.
  Ryabinka grope the trunk of the nearest tree and climbed it as high as she could. Who knows what other surprises are prepared for her on this incomprehensible part of the Universe? Finding a comfortable place between the branches, she settled there so as not to fall down, and fell into a heavy sleep.
  She woke up because of cold. Severing her head from the branches, she went down and had a little jumping. Then she came up with the idea to breed a small campfire.
  Ryabinka put her hand in her pocket. The lighter was in its place... But not the knife she had dropped yesterday... Of course, it was necessary to find it!
  Chasing away the remains of the shivering, Ryabinka went in circles to examine every suspicious and unsuspicious spot of the surface. Soon she saw something, that made her forget about the loss.
  Among low sere grass near euonymus bushes there darkened an oval hole. A high gnarled birch rustled over it... And it was the very birch our cosmonaut-girl had spent the last night in.
  Ryabinka would never have thought that it was the same birch she had to crawled out from under; but the grass that covered the roots was something vaguely different from the grass under the other birches. And defying the laws of nature, as far as the hand could reach the bottom of the narrow long tunnel under the birch, it was covered with grass, not with clay or sand. With living vegetation! And right outside there lay pieces of cut sod, slightly singed from inside.
  And nothing looking like the trunk or stump of a fallen tree was seen nearby!
  It was too much for anybody"s nerves. Our heroine"s legs gave way, and she got down to the ground quite exhausted. A quiet panic seized her, if one could name with this word a cold numbing fear. She was afraid to move, and behind every bush she suspected something terrible. Meanwhile her painstaking memory continued scrolling its yesterday records.
  Now Ryabinka saw in a different light the lunch and Elmar"s quick drawing without any brushes and paints. Everything fell into place... if only to make one hypothesis. On this planet ideas could turn into real objects - that was the solution of the puzzle. That was where the lake and the tree that fell on Ryabinka came from. Once she read about such a phenomenon... Perhaps in some ancient fiction story.
  Ryabinka stood up. Having recalled her yesterday running, she even found a twig caused to her falling down. Then she followed the trace, how she could roll if would remove the birch tree that had covered her at night. By the way, this birch did not look like other birches standing nearby. That one could have grown up in a field... or at the edge.
  Once more Ryabinka recalled the first dinner in a small house near the alley of blue tulips. She remembered as Martin setting up the plates held the right hand behind his ear. Such a funny gesture...
  Ryabinka's hand reached for her head and felt a cold metal object.
  The hairpin.
  Touching this accidentally and mistakenly received souvenir, Ryabinka wanted to take it off, but it was not easy to do. She twisted the hairpin this way and that, but no matter how she pulled it was in vain, the damned thing seemed to have grown to her hair.
  "Did he put some glue on it?" thought Ryabinka quite exhausted; "An odd present for long memory! In a word, the artist."
  She took out a mirror to fix her hair, then watched her tongue, stretching her mouth almost to the ears. And again her eyes fell to the pin given by Elmar. Ryabinka"s thinking made a new round. Is the hairpin the secret? She touched the stone and pressed it; it gave in a little.
  "So, what do I need right now? Surely a new jumpsuit. Without the ornament - well, it! And let"s straighten the trouser legs to escape curiosity of the people. In general, it should be a local cut."
  She closed her eyes, imagined the right style and pressed the stone. Something rustled at her feet. Ryabinka opened her eyes and an involuntary exclamation escaped her. On the grass there was the new blue with purple jumpsuit. It was something amazing, it was quite impossible. She had nothing to say, it was just wonderful!
  "So Elmar! Here is so bailed out!" thought Ryabinka; "This is the way how they make miracles on this planet! And that is why Martin got scared! To give such powerful weapon to God Knows Whom! nobody would be praised for such things. Wow, such a serious guy has such a frivolous friend. But it"s good that Elmar took me for theirs. I mean it is good that I look like someone."
  "But how frivolous he is! In a word, the artist!"
  
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  Running Away
  
  Of course, it can seem strange for a normal person being of sound mind and firm memory to go on excursions instead of making one more attempt to get into the starship. However, that decision was natural in Ryabinka"s position.
  First, she hadn't taken the situation seriously yet. She really thought that having such a powerful thing as a "materializer of everything from nothing" she would be able to cope with any situation at any moment. Secondly, no one plan of capture still crossed her mind. Thirdly, she wrote in her message who she was, so nothing bad could happen to the spaceship, and it was even good that it was guarded. In general, every person would be interested at least once in life to feel like a representative of the ruling class.
  Could it be that some adventurous streak manifested itself in Ryabinka?
  What ever it was, our heroine materialized a single rocket, giving it a shape similar to the Mariye"s aircraft which she managed to notice when Elmar and she were in the pergola behind Martin"s house, and then flew. She didn"t know the exact direction of the flight but in half an hour there appeared a city.
   It was much larger than Dolingord and looked very uniform, from above of course. Smooth like for the ticker streets were built in regular rows. The square in the center of the city and two rectangles inscribed each other stood out sharply against the general background. The outer rectangle occupied the whole district block. As Ryabinka descended, she noticed a parking place on the central square and decided to land. When she landed, she looked around.
  Two amazingly beautiful buildings, standing opposite of each other, struck her with the novelty of architectural solution. One of them seemed to be a cloud, mistakenly placed on a flower bed instead of rushing into the sky. The second was as if made of rectangular prisms, inscribed or superimposed on each other. Although at a first glance it seemed that the prisms were put in disarray, but the whole structure gave the impression of lightness and grace. "AWARD" was on its frontage.
   People were dressed up very pretty bright, even tawdry as for Ryabinka"s taste. They were walking to and fro and standing in front of the billboards, that announced a new fiction movie. The painted fire snake allowed to guess that the advertised movie was just the film, the shooting of which Martin had described with such humor.
  Ryabinka came closer... Well, that was that, "The Last coming of the natives." She looked at the schedule and calculated that the next film session was about to begin. Ryabinka"s curiosity was aroused to its limit: whether Elmar told truth about his work. If to recall that the main part in the film he supposed to be suit Ryabinka, nobody in her place could resist the temptation to buy a ticket. She had no way of not doing that, and she did.
  So Ryabinka walked up to the cinema box office and bought the ticket. Entering the hall, she almost decided that mixed up foyer with the auditorium; she felt as if she got in a small museum. Divided by a three-lobed partition into three parts, the foyer resembled the interior of a huge surrealistic fruit. The general lighting in the hall was absent, and each slice was illuminated with its own point source of light, and it gave the exhibits hanging around something unreal. The exhibits were flat, but it took effort to believe it; they seemed voluminous and even alive.
  "Holograms," thought Ryabinka.
  The bell rang and everyone hurried to the auditorium. Ryabinka hurried there as well to take her seat according to the purchased ticket. She had sincere intention to penetrate into the internal world of the local life through images of the local cinema art. Withal she wondered how they represented their ancestral home and its inhabitants. She watched, penetrated and was horrified.
  First, there was no scenery in the movie, they were absent at all; every happened in a real creepy atmosphere. Second, that atmosphere suffered too much because of the presence of aliens from the center of the Empire. And the main character... Ryabinka was ready to burst into tears... Oh, nobody and never had thought she had been a kind of a witch. Even "Sahm," scolding her, looked at her as at someone good, someone "his", in the end. But now she watched on the screen a cyborg walked along the planet. She saw impeccable and merciless person wearing boots "I am from special forces".
  The film session was ended. Ryabinka left the cinema, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. "There will be something to tell the ours," she thought finally, as a sense of humor won. She came back to the posters and froze, having no any idea what to do next.
  "I can't stand these natives!" heard she a voice behind her back. Ryabinka flinched and turned.
  She saw a curly-haired man of thirty. His eyes, red as if they were inflamed together with his blonde wild hair seemed disgusting to Ryabinka. He said it, by the way, to no one but personally to her. Ryabinka did not even realize that the question was not a kind of intention to insult her. Oh no, it was just a pretext to make acquaintance with a person of the opposite sex standing alone.
  "Can't you? And why?" she asked in a rather defiant tone.
  "What to love them for? We don't know where to go from our own mighties. What will be if these ones start wandering everywhere. This fire snake," the curly-haired nodded at the poster, "is nothing. Scorched fields and forests will be just the beginning."
   "The beginning of what?" asked mockingly the older man with sunken cheeks as he approached. His look also did not cause Ryabinka"s much sympathy.
  "The beginning of the end," said the curly-haired grimly. "Let the fools rejoice but I know what I say".
  "Well, well," said the skinny reconciling. His gaze slid across Ryabinka"s eyes... Obviously, something attracted his attention to her appearance, because he began to examine her face almost point blank.
  It was very unpleasant and Ryabinka departed from the billboard. Turned her head back she saw both men watching her and talking about something in low voices. So she snuck back to the box office of the cinema and took the ticket to the next session. In the foyer she climbed up the stairs and saw some rows of chairs and a large dark purple screen all over the wall. The chairs were not empty; there were enough people sitting there. At first Ryabinka didn"t intend to stay there for long but soon she discovered that the hall wasn"t only a waiting area; it turned out to be an auditorium for watching the news on TV, because on that planet not only Ryabinka was interested in the latest government news.
  "We refer to the continuation of yesterday's meeting of the Security Council," sounded from the TV screen.
  So Ryabinka found a place in the middle of the third row then passed and sat down. She did it on time; the hall got quickly filled with people, and soon all the chairs were occupied. Those who did not get chairs, sat down on windowsills, and some guys perched right on the floor, covered with a soft carpet. All this seemed very strange to Ryabinka, but she took a calm look and turned her face to the screen.
  Now it wasn"t lilac-coloured but there appeared the inscription "F. M. Kensoly" and the known face of the old lady:
  "I do not know and have not found anyone who has sufficient knowledge in order to implement the aircraft like this . If it's a hoax, it's a collective one. But..."
  "It's not a hoax!" from the TV screen there looked to Ryabinka one more face familiar to her. That was of Mariye"s; "We have seen her! Elmar was there when she imagined the grove with the lake!"
  Tairov:
  "Wait a little! Is it not a he-native but she? How does she look like?"
  "This is the picture."
  On the screen there appeared a caricature image of a large-mouthed girl of consumptive type or, better to say, a freak in a blue coverall of stylish cut. It was another blow to Ryabinka's ambition: no matter how bad she thought about her appearance, but still she believed that she was far from the lower limits of ugliness. The trim on the coverall was pictured very carefully, and that hit her most of all.
  "Elmar says that if she has been our guest..."
  Elmar's face:
  "Not because of this! But because she's good. She"s got the mind. She poses no danger to our planet."
  Someone behind Ryabinka said rather mockingly:
  "See how he's protecting her?"
  And another voice responded quietly:
  "Take it easy. She'll be neutralized anyway."
  Both voices sounded familiar to Ryabinka. She turned her head... Just behind her there were sitting the two she met near the billboards. Piercing eyes of the skinny slid down her face, and she fancied that he looked at her in a meaning strange way... She got up and started to make her way to the exit.
  It was the best way to draw attention. Most of the audience immediately turned their faces to her. If only Ryabinka could keep her cool, it might have been all right but she was nervous. She was a stranger to this hall, packed full of odd people, talking to each other quietly and speaking out aloud their impressions of her appearance. They were discussing how dangerous she was and why she needed to be caught up.
  It was awful and quite unexpectedly for her. Why? What for? And when, having got out of the row, she turned around to get to the door someone under the fresh impression recognized her and shouted at the whole hall:
  "Look! It"s her!"
  Ryabinka instinctively shuddered and ran. Quite naturally, the people sitting in the hall, jumped from their seats and rushed after her. What here began! Probably never since its founding the town has had such a race!
  Ryabinka had never won prizes in the long-distance running at the Institute but now she flew like wind. Behind her there rushed the crowd growing like an avalanche. But as none of the catchers knew, why he actually runs and what he would do with his prey, so the competition was won by Ryabinka. She jumped into her car and shot up into the sky just at the moment she was being stepped on her heels.
  In the air our heroine cheered up. Of course, some of those who tried to catch her up also rushed to his aircraft, but now the advantage was with Ryabinka. Speeding up she easily broke away from unpleasant escort, and soon only a few diminishing points showed that somebody have not lost hope to chase her.
  Suddenly her aircraft slowed; it lost control and start falling down. All the further must have happened very quickly, but when later Ryabinka recalled the event, this time interval seemed to be dimensionless.
  Ryabinka felt the wind blowing over her head. She looked up and did not see the top of the cabin; it was gone, and a part of the front, too. Her hair immediately disheveled and got in her eyes, so her right hand involuntarily rose to correct it. Touching the hairpin she clicked on the stone and tried to open the cockpit door. Having opened it she jumped aside and materialized a parachute.
  From the air she noticed the flash of explosion on the rocks below when her aircraft fell down and then the sound of falling. Having flown on a parachute over a ridge of rock placers she landed (Wow!). First what she did after that was materialization of the new aircraft, but the second flight didn"t last long either; when she rose up to a certain hight, she got into the crash again. The only difference was that it happened not above mountains and she didn"t land but splash down.
  After that Ryabinka didn"t want to get in the air any more. A motor boat that was the maximum she had the nerve. And even that simple thing she made only after long floating around the sinking parachute. Only when it disappeared under water she came to herself and understood that the seacoast was too far for reaching it by swimming. But Ryabinka didn"t turned on the engine of her new mean of transportation immediately. She got into the cabin of the boat, stretched out her hand to the control panel and froze. A fear fell on her in retrospect. It rolled up to her like waves of the sea, on which her boat drifted slowly; over and over again Ryabinka mentally broke against the sharp, rapidly approaching rocks.
  Ryabinka's hands trembled and her mind clouded, and she has been sitting still for a long time until she felt that if she didn"t do anything immediately, she risked to lose her mind. Then she shook off the daze and ruled her boat there, where had to be another continent, which she remembered looking at the planet from the space. Though the continent was far by any standards, but this fact also pleased Ryabinka, because she needed to understand what was happening. Nevertheless she did not want to think as well, so she rippled across the lead-gray surface of the sea aimlessly, while on the horizon appeared a tiny dot, which soon turned into a small island.
  Ryabinka"s hands directed the boat to the shore, and her eyes began to look for a secluded place to bring in proper order her nervous system. Having anchored in the central cove she went ashore. To do this she found the place under the steep, and laid the gangplank; in general, she wanted to choose a higher point, from where she could see the surroundings. Having made the way through a shrub, she found herself in an open place.
  The picture she saw could impress anybody with its peaceful sight. Everywhere, wherever one looked, was located the treated area of land such as fields or orchards. In the distance there were some buildings, four tiny ponds and meadows with herds complemented the picture.
   The fields were small too and somewhat mottled: everything grew there just little by little. The people who worked on the fields and in the gardens were also small like pygmies. Doubtless Ryabinka saw kids, and the view of the kids busily swarming between the patch garden with spades and buckets, swept from her impressionable head anguish and terror. It looked like a labor college.
  Did she really make a fool of herself by running away from people?
  However, Ryabinka wasn"t given enough time for taking any constructive solution. Before she have been standing on the yellow sand long enough and breathing the pleasant fresh air, a girl of about thirteen popped out from behind the trunk of the nearest tree. Holding out her hand open palm up, the girl said with importance:
   "Show your pass!"
  Ryabinka stepped back. Did her eyes deceive her, and she got into another mess, taking for a school settlement something carefully hidden and dangerous?
  "No, no, it must be private property or some college," she decided but asked just in case:
   "Where am I?"
  The girl looked at her suspiciously and got around to explaining:
  " You're on the Katrena," and then add understandingly, "Do you have an accident that brought you here?"
  Although the aggressivness of this young keeper of own territory was unexpected for Ryabinka but it was more familiar to our Tyerranee than Elmar"s gift or Martin's hospitality. With kids like that one Ryabinka knew how to talk.
  "I"m OK, I've just lost my way," she said softly, trying to take the time for collecting her mind.
  "What did they teach at your school for? Can't you detect where the South is, where the North, and where Katrena?"
  While Ryabinka was looking for an answer, a new character appeared in the foreseeable space. A tall blue-eyed old man with a bald head came from around the corner of the nearest house. It was impossible, of course, to define the color of eyes from afar but Ryabinka has already seen the old man's face and she recognized it. She saw him even twice. Yes, from TV screen! "S. A. Gusev," she recalled.
  "You shouldn"t speak in this way with the grown-ups, Lyolechka," grumbled "S.A.Gusev," out of breath from the fast walk.
  "I have no the map," said our she-astronaut to the old man, as she decided to ignore the attack of the annoying girl; "I lost the direction, saw your island - and here...
  She spread her hands, feigning helplessness.
  "She's lying, she's lying," said Lyolechka; "She came here to spy, that's it!
  "Lyolechka, you're wrong. Ordinary people are not taught to navigate in space without maps and devices."
  "Why do you think we're not taught anything?" broke out Ryabinka.
  She had quite forgotten that he was going to be calm and unmoved. Once she was considered crazy and now ignorant. She got ready to say lots of different insolences and she hardly restrained herself.
  Meanwhile the girl pulled out from behind a little book, put it in the hands of angry and confused Ryabinka and went on the attack again:
  "Why do you continue to stand like a magnetized?.. Oh, Sergey Aganesovich, just have a look!"
  And she pointed to the barrette in the Ryabinka"s hair. Ryabinka also in turn, looked at the girl's head and what did she notice? There glittered the metal hairpin with exactly the same stone. The sympathetic calm on the old man's face was replaced by extreme curiosity. The old man patted his head...
  "Come, come," said he, drawling his words; "Give me your hairpin!"
  "It won't come off," said Ryabinka with some gloating. It was already clear to her that it was not so easy to take away Elmar"s souvenir.
  "It's a gift from my friend," she added haughtily.
  "The name!" came in the pushy girl again; "You must call his name!"
   "Stop it, Lyolechka. I think I know the name of our mystery guest's friend."
  "Mystery guest... Wow! And I thought..."
  Lyolechka whispered something in the "C.F.Gusev"s ear, looking sideway at Ryabinka.
  It gave Ryabinka some time and she hastened to retreat backwards into the bushes to the spot where she had left her boat. She rushed to the deck of the fragile ship almost forgetting about the gangplank, and none need to be even explained how quickly the boat rushed to increase the distance between it and the island on the water area. Ryabinka was somewhat surprised that no chase was sent to catch her.
  
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   The Strange Face
  
  There was no more chase that day indeed. When Ryabinka made sure of that she put the boat on autopilot and began to study the local geography. Having leafed through the Atlas, she pondered again. In contrast to the boat, her thoughts floated in a free way, without rudder and sails, and soon they took a very unpleasant color.
  Now Ryabinka scolded herself at all crusts and quite justifiably. After all what would it be if she had sat patiently in front of the TV-set and listened to the discussion up to the end? No doubt the picture on the screen was ugly, but just because of its ugliness no one in the hall would had recognized her. Even if she was not a beauty, but there was no stamp on her face, who she was. On the contrary, the local elites were ready to take her for theirs. So what for she had stood up like a tree in the middle of the desert and presented herself to the public?
  Well, a couple of some idiots don"t like the Tyerranees, so what? And why were you so stressed by the movie? When has it been that those inventors of virtual tricks portrayed life as it is? How could she change the situation for the better?
  "You made a fool of yourself like an inexperienced freshman! It's good that none of your friends have seen that stupid detective! Where's your praised composure? Wow! To get in the race with pursuit! Such a shame! What would grandma say if she knew about it?!"
  Of course, Grandma would not say anything good about that kind of craziness. She was a supporter of behavior that let a person be polite enough in any society for not giving a reason to be chased not only by a crowds but even individually. And, of course, she was right, Ryabinka shouldn't rush into running because of a couple of bad words.
  If Ryabinka had not been so stupid today she would have quietly gathered all the necessary information and could choose the right line of behavior. No one would have suspected her to be a secret agent from Tyerra or a sample of terrorist. But what was the use of crying? Ryabinka advertised her person herself and did it not in the best way. Now her face was widely known, and there was no place to hide. Such a pity that she was not a butterfly and her skin wasn"t a cocoon!
  Thoughts in Ryabinka"s head made a new turn. Of course, it was impossible to get out of own skin but what can stop her from making a skin of another girl and pulling it on top of her own? Yes, couldn"t she change the appearance through fine, even superfine mask? Elastic, capable not only for changing a face but to be put on hands or even feet. Skin, much lighter than her own, with fair hair and regular features...
  Clothes should be changed too. She would wear an orange shimmering dress and glittering ballet shoes with a sequin. That will be cool!
  She shouldn't get away from her starship too far, that was the point. On the other hand, circling around it, not knowing the security system, was also a complete folly. And what was the resolution of Security Council? What would they make with Ryabinka if she come or get caught?
  "Fresh blood," said Martin.
  "She'll be neutralized," said the curly-haired.
  Oh no, she couldn't stay in the dark. It was necessary to return to Otkrytiy and seek Elmar, the only man who tried to protect her. Of course, he was not ideal (ideal guy would never give right and left dangerous souvenirs), but what would Ryabinka do today without his gift?
  Having pointed the boat in the opposite direction, that is to the East, Ryabinka changed her appearance and put on the new clothes. A looking-glass told her that her new face was much more beautiful than the old one: eyelashes became thicker and eyebrows thinner, and nose longer. To tell the truth, her new mouth opened worse, but that"s was nothing because it was possible to adapt to it. Much more important was the fact that now she could appear anywhere, and no local investigator would take her for his prey.
  When Ryabinka reached Otkrytiy, she put her little plane on the same parking from where she had started three hours before. It was summer and the day was hot. There was no wind to help breathing but the streets were full of people, and they continued to discuss the alien theme everywhere.
  At first Ryabinka shuddered when non-familiar people asked her questions, but at last she understood that it was the specific feature of local life to express emotions aloud and discuss the problems collectively. She could relax. However, having acquired from the very childhood a habit not to trust human courtesy prevented her to speak frankly; but she couldn"t criticize tyerranees to maintain the disguise neither, she lacked nerve. And she turned from the square to the street where she thought the people were the least. The street was straight, narrow and long. It was impossible to get lost there and she was able to feel not in a crowd but in the privacy.
  So, Ryabinka crossed the square, turned round the corner and soon found herself near a long square building, which she had seen from the air. There was a porch somewhere at the end. Ryabinka came up and read the sign, "FilmStudio". She opened the door and came in. There was nobody in the semi-dark lobby but a watchman.
  " No admittance to outsiders," said the watchman.
  "I need Elmar Kensoly," these words flew from Ryabinka"s mouth as if by themselves. She didn't hold them back. She was really looking for Elmar, and it was necessary to say something. In addition, she was sure that no matter how great the Studio was, but decorators were not a dime a dozen there. Indeed, the watchman was not surprised at all. Moreover, he answered as if he had been waiting for such a question:
  "Elmar didn't show up today. If you want to see him, tomorrow on the High Island there opens an exhibition-competition "Green autumn". He'll be there for sure."
  Having clarified that the High Island was somewhere in the Cold Archipelago, Ryabinka jumped out into the street and hurried back to the square to look for the nearest Internet Center. A crazy idea flashed through her freshly baked forestry head. Of course, that was her chance!
  In fact, it was absolutely impossible that the team of the lost expedition have taken the seeds of all useful plants. Therefore, if she gave the local residents any edible plant from Tyerra, it would change the situation immediately. They would stop considering her a fool with tricks and start looking at her seriously when she talked about work. In short, she must take part in the competition without fail.
  Ryabinka was not one of those who had a huge time-measure distance between the decision and its execution, but it turned out that it was not so easy to use the chances as she thought. She had to give something unusual that was absent there, so it was necessary to make acquaintance to the local fruit flora. And the best way to do that was surfing the local Internet.
  Alas! in that place of the Universe nobody knew what the word Internet meant! Something sounded about computers but they were connected only with cosmic flights. To her regret, Ryabinka could not get to her personal one on the board of her spaceship but if even she had the opportunity, the electronic brain from her boat did not contain the information on this issue.
  In general, Ryabinka was confused. At last she decided to return into Film-Studio and ask questions to the watchman. It turned out that on this crazy planet people use libraries for the exchange of information, and all the information was preserved in the form of printed signs on thin paper or plastic sheets, united in books and brochures.
  " All is there," said the watchman.
  Indeed, in the library she found everything she needed. Having requesting materials for the competition, Ryabinka lost herself in contemplation of pictures with the images of the planet plants. The pictures were of high-quality and three-dimensional but there were countless of them; and the systematic was wild, it was alphabetical. It seemed the task was unrealizable, because Ryabinka had to submit something absolutely special that would amaze public and attract them to her side.
  "May it be hazel? No, it doesn"t fruit every year. Apples would be the best, but it's doubtful that they were not known here.'
  At last Ryabinka stopped on a breadfruit tree. She had heard that two or three of them are able to feed a person throughout his life. The task was to recall how the breadfruit trees looked like, and after that everything would be OK.
  And then Ryabinka turned cold as she found that she could not remember it. Yes, she saw those plants in the Botanical garden, she even tasted their fruit. But what kind of tree was that one? It seems to belong to ficuses... No, it looked like baobabs... Anyway, the bole looked thick... But flowers... or leaves? What did its leaves look like?
  Ryabinka even moaned softly of grief because the problem seemed insoluble. Her ego was hurt: what was her diploma worth if she was not able to do even a trifle. That she couldn"t portray in detail a single plant?
  "Are you sick?" heard she. The woman from the next table was already standing beside her, bowing sympathetically over her head.
  "No problem, I am just thinking," said our cosmonaut-girl, and smiled as politely as she could. The sensitivity of the local residents began to bore.
  Ryabinka materialized a pencil with a notebook and drew a couple of uncertain lines. In thought she looked up and immediately met the astonished eyes of the guy sitting opposite.
  Blushing deeply, Ryabinka start scribbling in her notebook while her head continued to reflect:
  "I wonder was the guy sitting in front surprised that he can see so easily a representative of the ruling elite, or my clothes don't match my rank?"
  "Well, let it be off. But here's another hitch. How could I materialize the birch tree, under the roots of which I escaped the pursuit? After all, I did not remember the look and shape of each leaf or every branch..."
  "Can be the trick that I materialized it as a whole? Certainly, yes! I remembered how it looked from the meadow, and the rest was drawn by my subconscious."
  "Maybe it would be better to go to the tropics for materializing a bread tree and dissect it on the spot just there? No, I"m short of time... Anyway, there was a lot of strange facts about those grove and lake. How could I get them before I had had that "hairpin". On the other hand, if Elmar thought that it was I who had materialized cedars and the lake, why did he give me this pin with its stone?"
  At any rate, the breadfruit tree had to be given up. What suitable did they study else? May it be a pomegranate? It is also a good thing, and has lots of vitamins. But flowers... Ryabinka had never seen it in bloom... What? Oh, what?"
  She looked at the clock and scowled with annoyance, it was time to leave the library without coming up with anything.
  The heat of the day faded and the weather was much more pleasant then in the morning. Still, Ryabinka walked down the streets and suffered, the problem seemed to be insoluble. The right idea dawned on her only when she was passing a hotel. Ryabinka even called herself "Forgetful Kikimora"; she stopped and then tapped her forehead. In the High Forest School"s library there was 'Identifier of Wild Plants'. And 'Atlas of Tropical Flora' was there as well. Ryabinka had read them personally. And if she had read, then nothing had to be considered lost.
  She ordered a private room and overlaid herself with books. In general, Ryabinka spent most of the night over the project, so before the dawn sleep overcame her. She saw a night-dream, which was very bright and disturbing.
  
  She saw herself on an island with a group of young people. There were still some other people, quite different, unusually strong and impervious with bronze wrinkled faces, similar to masks. They seemed to be deaf and mute, but they understood everything.
  Somehow Ryabinka saw them not at once, but when she rode on the slide. When Ryabinka did it for the first time someone said to her:
  "Never do it. Only the Bronzees go there."
  Ryabinka laughs and runs sliding again and again. Suddenly a guy runs after her and then falls as if struck with electric current. Ryabinka sees, that it is Elmar. And after that there appeared the Bronzees with terrible faces and iron muscles. They picked up the body and took it away. And after that somebody shows her one of them and says:
   "It's Elmar."
  And with fear Ryabinka recognizes familiar features in the crippled face.
  The slide attracts Ryabinka again and again. She stands there and watches how the Bronzees slide down. Her friendship with Elmar is not ruined and she often spend her time with him, at first out of pity then with pleasure. He spoke to her telepathically and she communicated with him by words.
  And once he says:
  "I don't need your pity, I'm not Elmar."
  "But how it can be? And who are you then?" asks Ryabinka, feeling eerily.
  "I'm not human. We're aliens. Elmar's gone, his brain is out. Only the body remained, so that I could be materialized."
  Then Ryabinka gets to know that they arrived on the planet in the form of embryos, on the ship ruled by robots. That they can't develop on their own, they need ready bodies.
  And the bodies should be taken only at the moment of overcoming of fear when the spirit of the person is lifted and feels desperate pleasure from a victory. That is what the slide is for. Running through it, the objects step under action of special rays, and if their states correspond to the desired level, the persons are caught.
  All this is very reminiscent of the ravings of a madman, but Ryabinka believes. More over she makes her way to the airport to seize the plane and fly off the island. She wants to warn her planet about the danger.
  She's flying.
  Next to her is her foe friend. For some reason, their relationship is not broken. And suddenly Ryabinka realizes that the plane is loaded with containers with alien"s embryos. The decision to destroy the ship, even at the cost of her own life comes to her. Terrific and cheerful state covers her. Then she faints.
  After that she's lying on some table, and there"s standing pseudo-Elmar.
   "I was to take out your brain and put an embryo of my tribesman instead of it. But I couldn't do it. I destroyed the embryo. I did it in the way for my people wouldn"t find it out. You will be wearing a mask. You look like one of us now. I'll teach you our language."
  Ryabinka looks at herself in the mirror and weeps. Is it her so terrible now?
  She walks around the island, being a stranger to everybody.
  And at last she blows up the hated island and floats in the ocean, clinging to some log.
  And suddenly she appears on the shore and tries to rip off that hateful face. But in vain.
  
  Our girl-astronaut woke up in a cold sweat. She jumped up, ran to the mirror and for a long time could not understand whom she sees there. Both the nose and mouth were completely strange though just human.
  "The mask," finally recalled Ryabinka. Yesterday night she fell asleep in artificial skin.
  Taking off the mask and making sure that nothing bad happened to her family face, Ryabinka sat down and stayed in that pose for some minutes. Her hands and legs trembled. She thought that Elmar surely was an extremely frivolous guy. What if the stone of the damn thing he had presented to her was pressed at the wrong time? No persons are responding for their sleep dreams. Oh...
  
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  The Competition
  
  However no matter what Ryabinka would think about Elmar, he really was the only person she could count on for support. Her second hope was for a plant contest. The paths of Elmar and the contest crossed in the area of the Cold Archipelago, that is why her way lay there as well.
  Hastily having taken a bath and had breakfast, Ryabinka collected a large bag, without forgetting to put on yesterday's "set", that consisted of the skin and new clothes. Having put everything in the trunk she flew to the North. That time she didn"t want to go in her own vehicle, but she rented a racket as she was recommended in the hotel. The local route atlas, the gift of the pushy girl from the island Katrena was in use again. There was autopilot in the racket, so putting her aircraft on it, Ryabinka leafed through the maps again.
  As for a recently opened planet, New Zemlya was settled rather densely but still there were enough spaces where no inhabited points were seen at all. Certainly, Martin and Elmar did not lie: there were lots of work on Ryabinka"s profession, in short, she had a place to turn. By the way, on the area where her path lay to, there was none of the inhabited point as well. Ryabinka wondered for whom the exhibition was arranged. Could be any working expedition there?
  However, the Cold Archipelago was really deserted. But Ryabinka did not need to guess which of the islands had the name "High," because of a huge blazed inscription on the flat rocky surface of one of the piece of land in the whole expanse of the coastline. The inscription was: "Attention! Exhibition-competition "Green Autumn"!
  Approaching the island, our astronaut-forester saw a basin in the middle of it. It was about a kilometer in diameter, and there was a round pavilion in the center of the basin. On the inner slopes of the rocks, on the North side, there was knocked out a flat ground. Ryabinka put the rocket there and went down to pavilion. The pavilion was closed and there was nobody seen inside and around.
  The first Ryabinka"s thought was of the trap, but as no one jumped out from the pavilion when she touched the door, nothing exploded, and the landscape was still empty, she suggested that she came too early.
  For something to do Ryabinka measured depth of breakstone on the bottom of the basin. It turned out about a meter; it was suitable even for trees, not only for bushes. But there was nothing seen at all; even lichens were absent. Grayish-yellow dirty rocks in stripes and dirty-yellow gravel underfoot.
  The rockets of the other visitors arrived all at once. In less than two minutes after landing of the first one, the rocky valley was full of noise and laughter. The pavilion became opened, and the rivals rushed into the building.
  The hall, gradually descending to the platform in the center, would look huge if it was not crowded with stands for the most part of its volume along the perimeter. The boards for posters and little benches were empty, so Ryabinka was not late. Having counted the contest participant, the manager pointed to each of them his place, and everybody began to unpack his luggage.
  Ryabinka also took out her things and looked for the Elmar, but without any success. She hung up the drawings, put a pot with a sprout on the bench and did the same with a hefty piece of ripe fruit with seeds. Having added to all of those a detailed botanical description and a dozen culinary recipe she went out and mingled with the crowd outside the pavilion.
  At half past nine the exhibition opened. From a first glance at other competitor's projects Ryabinka realized that she had made a mistake. All the plants presented there were intended for a cold climate. Any way, the breadfruit, on which Ryabinka had placed so much hope, didn't fit there.
  Why, why couldn"t she guess about such a trifle when she had read that the contest took place not in a constant area, but every time it was performed on a new point? Perhaps, and it was very possible that the tests on the viability of the proposed plants will be carried out there, on that empty wild island. No one will cherish the sprout of her breadfruit tree until it gets strong enough. However, what would be will be.
  Being quite frustrated, she walked from stand to stand, when unexpectedly came across Elmar. Or more precisely, he stumbled on her.
  "Glad to see Ryabinka!" he said softly, leaning close to her ear.
   "How did you recognize me?" recoiled she.
  That guy surprised her once more. Certainly, she didn't think that it would be so easy to decipher her.
  "You betrayed your presence, and the rest was of no problem," explained Elmar; "You forgot to change your walking and figure, as a face is not everything in a person. And see what's happening near your work! Wow! To bring alive model!"
   "Is that forbidden?"
  "Of course, yes. Only a mockup is allowed. Until the plant is approved by the Council, no one has the right to introduce it into the flora of our planet. You're the only one who couldn't know that. And your new appearance was described to me in detail at the Film Studio."
  "How simply... I was so frightened there of this. But why do you have such a strange resolution? After all, a living model is better in all respects."
  "That's what we thought a hundred and fifty years ago. Everyone could invent his own project and bring it in the Materialization Office."
  "Materialization Office?"
  "Yes. We had such institutions fifty years ago."
  "But not every design is viable."
  "Of course you"re right, but they became closed in the case of a quite different reason. Some of the new inventions turned out to be dangerous, and it was absolutely impossible to foresee whether the plant would be poisonous or edible. Do you understand now? It was very good, if such a stuff died without leaving any seeds. But in fact, we still cannot exterminate some of them."
  "Like the viala that grows in Martin's garden?"
  "Oh no, vialas are not poisonous and nobody is going to exterminate them."
  "Then why were you so surprised when I liked it?"
  "Me? Oh yes! Just because it is the most common home ornamental plant. And Martin"s viala is not a bit special of the vialas from other man"s gardens."
  "So I praised the thing that didn't deserve praising? It is interesting... But what should I do?"
  Elmar shrugged his shoulders:
  "The only thing that threatens you..."
  "The author of the so-called breadfruit tree, please go to the middle of the hall," came a loud voice from somewhere above.
  The noise in the hall immediately fell silent as if it was turned off.
  "Don't go," whispered Elmar, and it seemed everybody all around heard his words, so deafening that silence was. And unbearably loudly it sounded this:
  " The author of the breadfruit tree, please, come up into the centre of the auditorium. All the others stand aside, make a space.
  It became noisy again, and the crowd, which had been spread out in streams along the stands, poured to the middle of the hall, to the spot where was standing a middle-aged woman with a microphone. It became tightly in a moment. The crowd squeezed Ryabinka and carried her forward.
  In vain Ryabinka tried to get out, instead of it she was moving on. Once she was pushed so she was forced to follow the flow for not losing Elmar. Yet she had to listen how excited people around her was exchanging impressions.
  "Do you think she'll come out?" asked a clear voice quite close to her ear.
  Ryabinka turned her head and found herself face to face with a sassy girl named Lyolechka. She wanted to answer, not guessing at first that at that moment Lyolechka was supposed to be in another place, but then she grasped that the question was not addressed to her but to the skinny man with sunken cheeks, whom Ryabinka had seen in Otkrytiy. The Skinny, as if waking up from some thoughts, asked in turn:
   "Who's she?"
  "A native!"
  Ryabinka did not hear his answer. The human wave carried her further and with its last splash brought her just to the platform in the center of the hall.
  Now Ryabinka stood neither alive nor dead, clutching Elmar's hand. She clearly felt with every cell of her body, that in case of something she couldn"t flee anywhere.
  "So, is author of the breadfruit tree among us?" repeated the woman with the microphone for the third time and glanced just in Ryabinka"s direction.
  The legs of our girl-adventurer buckled at the knees. If she was without the mask, the expression on her face with no doubt would betray her, and the whole story could probably come to an end.
  Hot, sticky sweat poured down Ryabinka"s body, accumulating in all sort of places where he had the slightest chance under her artificial skin. And when Elmar gently freed his arm from her hand, she saw on his wrist white, gradually turning pink trail.
  "This is my project," said Elmar and took a step forward.
   The woman looked at him with interest.
  "Really? Is that you? Would you be so kind to explain... we didn't quite understand... what does it mean... "the mulberry family"?
  Immediately the urge to act turned on in Ryabinka as if against her will. Well, she was not used to hide behind someone"s back!
  Within a fraction of a second between the speaker and Elmar there appeared the kind of a box, in which on a cushion of sphagnum moss, there towered a bush of blueberries. The moss around the blueberry was dotted with large cranberry. It was a piece of Ryabinka"s favorite swamp from her grandmother's reserve, and here, on this cold rocky island, those plants had every chance to survive and produce offspring. In the center of the box she erected a tablet, "a Corner of Native Nature. Berries are edible. The rest is harmless."
  For a moment the crowd froze as if it was paralyzed. Then someone shouted:
   "Hey Elmar, are you going to recertify as alien?"
  A shadow ran across Elmar"s face. He raised his head, swayed, folded his arms, and said sullenly:
   "I was joking."
  Something hissed, then there was a hysterical female scream. Turning her head, Ryabinka saw how the crowd at the opposite end of the hall heaved and a curly-haired man ran to the door. Seeing his disheveled blond head Ryabinka was not even surprised. She thought somewhat distantly, "Everyone I've encountered on this planet is here today."
  Three men rushed after the curly-haired.
  The curly-haired turned to his pursuers, moved his red inflamed eyes, and something like an aerosol can flashed in his hand. The pursuers draw back, the curly-haired jumped out and escaped. All happened so fast that seemed to be just a delusion.
  People in the hall began to cough. A young, beautiful brunette, dressed in a gray-purple jumpsuit with geometric patterns, hung lifeless in the hands of her neighbors.
  "The doctor, is any doctor here!" shouted someone.
  "Put her on the floor," commanded the woman with the microphone; "Turn on the ventilation. Disperse, residents!"
  It became cool, and Ryabinka smelled a faint floral scent, followed by something sharp and stifling.
  "Has anyone got ammonia?" asked the woman with the microphone.
  "I have," immediately responded Elmar and took a bottle from his pocket.
   "That's great. Give me that."
  She held the ammonia to the girl's nose and the girl opened her eyes. She stood up and then threw up.
  "You flew alone here, I guess, didn"t you?" asked the woman.
  "Yes," answered the girl breathlessly, "I"ve got a glider."
  The hall and area in front of the pavilion started emptying more then quickly. Soon there remained few people. Once more Ryabinka saw Lyolechka and a skinny man with sunken cheeks.
  Lyolechka came up to Elmar, gave him a sheet of paper folded in half and told the woman with the microphone:
  "We'll take the victim into the right place."
  Not listening to the protests of the girl, she took her by the hand and they went to the exit. Elmar unfolded the paper, read the message and frowned.
  "Have you got troubles because of me?" asked Ryabinka guiltily.
  Elmar shook his head:
  "No, that"s nothing. There's one urgent matter. And as for you... you"d better sit still in the hotel of Otkrytiy and wouldn"t get out anywhere. I'll find you there."
  "And why should I spend time among four walls?"
  "Until we catch this guy. I have to help in defusing him.
  Having heard the word "defuse" Ryabinka shuddered. Elmar obviously noticed that.
  "Because it was you whom he wanted to kill, do you understand this?" explained he emotionally; "That insane man made a mistake and has taken that girl for you!"
  "You mean she was hurt through my fault?"
  Ryabinka was outraged. In fact, the hour is not easier! Now she needed to answer for the local maniacs!
  "Not yours," said Elmar anxiously. "You couldn't foresee. Nobody could."
  Ryabinka"s lips curved ironically. It is! He really thinks it was her fault.
  "OK," she agreed reluctantly.
  "Wait a minute. If you find yourself in danger, start turning the head of your mind counterclockwise."
  "What head?" asked she, completely baffled.
  "The head of the barrette I gave you!"
  "So you call this thing "mind?"
  "Naturally. The thing let you "make it not dangerous". What's not understandable?
  "You mean if I turn the stone to the left, you will fly to help me?"
   "Not only me. The one of the mighties who will be closer."
  
  A conversation, Ryabinka never found out about.
  "Elmar Kensoly! As a troublemaker on the planet, you"re standing before the court. You're facing two charges:
  1. You materialized new vegetation without permission of the Security Council.
  2. You broke the fourth law without a good cause."
   "The project wasn't mine. I wanted to reduce it to a practical joke. She was clearly terrified, and I was worried she would do something because of fright."
   "She did. Do you know where she is now?"
  "Yes."
  "Do you know what punishment you're facing?"
  "Yes. But no one was seriously hurt. That girl woke up, I saw her."
  "Unfortunately, you haven't seen all. Sometimes the gas having been used by the criminal does not affect immediately. Death can occur at any time within two days. Four people are already hospitalized. And the criminal roams free!"
  "Who is he?"
  "Laboratory assistant at a factory producing artificial fiber. By the way, he was a good specialist. In fact, it is your fault that he hurt his brain and became dangerous for the community. You are guilty, Elmar."
  "I can"t agree. Hasn't that spray bottle been prepared by him in advance?"
  "It has. But that's not the point here. Mass psychosis is the reason you"re standing here. The girl should have been isolated at once but you have prevented to do this even twice."
   "I will not accept that. She's not a criminal nor insane."
   "She's worse than both of the kinds. She's the source of instability. No one in Outer Space should know about our planet. If this pretty young person on her returning home send a message to the relevant authorities..."
   "Nobody would believe her."
  "But what if they organize expedition to inspect?"
  "Yes, I guess I deserve to be punished."
  "We need not your remorse but a native. Where is she?"
  "At first I want to know what you will do with her."
  
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  The Practice
  
  Ryabinka returned to the hotel, she was full of despair. Why do all the things she did turn against her?
  She wanted to fly away but ran into a trap.
  She wanted to be similar to everyone on that planet but she wasn"t even allowed to have a try.
  She wanted to find a job but because of it she had to hide from a homicidal maniac.
  Exactly as at her practice with Mr. Sahmshit. Everything was bad. How happy Ryabinka was, when her group received practice on Liska. It was a rare luck to start work not following someone, when you feel like only a cog of a wheel running in someone mechanism. Oh, no! They got their practice in a separate virgin place! And so what? How did it all end? She got a reprimand!
  And now she was in trouble again. Oh, no, now her problems were much worse. Because of her people began to die! Somebody got crazy and start attacking all the others but they blame none except her! Scared freaks they are! And now she had to sit still and was not even allowed to appear anywhere else!
  Ryabinka"s pent-up irritation demanded immediate release. Her active nature didn"t let her sit still and hide. To wait patiently for something unknown was a torture, and even her worst enemy couldn"t invent anything more cruel than those dreary uncertainty!
  Ryabinka turned on the TV set and forced herself to watch everything. But the programs which were on either irritated her or drove to despair, and her eyes followed the adventures and the behavior of TV characters through a great effort of will power.
  There was only one movie she came across which was of interest to her. The main plot of the film revolved around the production of water from hard rocks. It turned out that many years ago on that planet there had been the lack of water. That reminded Ryabinka the situation on Liska, where they had the similar problem too. Artificial hydrosphere - such luxury! Could that be true? The credits indicated that the plot was based on real facts. Their "Sahm" would have died of envy if he ever watched or knew such grandiose things.
  But to transform a small fact into a ninety-minute drama - oh no, Ryabinka"s nerves were hardly able to withstand such a mockery. She was too tired. She felt like flying home, to see the group-mates she had left, to walk and work on yellow-gray sands of Liska. She recalled and recalled...
  Their group consisted of 5 trainees and was only one two-hundredth part of the expedition people, whose purpose was to ensure the development of the planet under the name of Liska in order to make it suitable for human existence. So almost all the other members of the expedition were the experienced space bisons. Those people were very far from forestry and any other biological things. There were an energy engineer, five cooks, three medics, many builders and a lot of professionals among which hydro-, geo- and seismic- did not seem the most significant.
  Those people, most of whom were over thirty, looked at the freshmen critically and openly predicted that they would escape in six months. The "host of celestials" was headed by Sahmshit Waindovich Vlasenko, for short "Almighty" or just "Sahm"; he was an economist by profession. People said that he had as much as Three Planets on his track record.
  The trainees determined to prove through the acts what they are capable of. According to the contract "Sahm" was supposed to provide them with experienced area on the base. However, after arrival at the place nothing indicated that the chief was in a hurry to fulfill his promise.
  "Is your grass that would dry after the first meteor rain more important than the people comfort? If you want to see the result as quickly as it possible, take shovels in hands and go forward to clean the caves," that was what he said to the angry students.
  But when the premises and equipment were installed and brought to the living condition, it turned out that there was no place for the experimental corner. That it was not even going to be provided because bio-experiments were not listed in the original project.
  Quite angry Ryabinka rushed to the boss:
  "Sahmshit Waindovich, how this may be called?"
   "Have I built the greenhouses? - I have. Take one flowerbed and carry out your experiments."
  "We need not a bed, but a series of hermetically sealed chambers!"
   "There is enough things in stock, that have been taken in reserve," frowned "Almighty", "It's all at your disposal. And I have a schedule, so I ask you not to disturb me on trifles any more."
  "But how can we assemble the equipment if none of us know the process?"
  The chief economist and conqueror of the four planet twisted mouth in a grin:
  "You had three months to learn how to weld. And do not forget about your general duties. Soon the sowing campaign will start."
  The head of the expedition remembered perfectly well that at least fifteen years would have to pass before that impatient girl could sow her first grass in the open air. That is why his opinion on the topic "different experiments" was quite definite. He thought they could wait uncertain time.
  Of course, the students also had heard that nothing is done quickly in Space. But where would progress come from if everybody trust different instructions blindly? Oh, our biologists had grandiose plans! They couldn"t let them be throwing away just because of the stubbornness of that "soulless bureaucrat". Oh no! Never!
  After a short discussion Vikhr and Vern were sent to the sealanters to learn how to mount premises fit for their purpose. They were young and full of enthusiasm, so the others three members of their group bravely took upon their shoulders all the work. It does not matter that there was plenty of duties, they were sure they would do. They had the necessary equipment that helped in turning a mixture of gravel and sand into fertile soil. They did not know the machines would require supervision, and the three couldn"t be in five points at a time.
  So the three worked like convicts and still started to lag behind. It was easier for Stone; he used to gardening from his childhood and loved it but the girls got tired to death. That was the situation when they found out the difference between the unhurried digging in the ground and the labour for a farmer. Pride kept them from giving up but when Vern and Vikhr reported that they had mastered the welding machine, Ryabinka said:
  "OK. Soon it'll be useful to us. And now about our cases. The tree-nursery we have already laid but with the fields we"re behind schedule. Come on, boys."
  Two months passed and the students have got enough experience. They adapted, and gradually it became easier. The sown vegetation grew almost without special care, because watching, feeding and watering were nothing compared to the amount of work that they had to turn at the beginning. Now they had time for experiments.
   Oh, the hotbeds built by Verne and Vikhr were just wonderful; they were with a three-layer shell, self-tightening in case of damage and with automatic adjustment of air temperature. They were of a bit unsightly. But whose first pancake did not look like the lump? They carried the service regularly, and it was the main thing.
  In the first section the students decided to create the perfect soil for Liska, according to their idea of that. For a basis they took crushed stone. They diluted it with water, mixed it with dry leaves, sowed seeds of various fast-growing plants and inhabited by rotifers, bacteria, earthworms and other ground animals. Tim wanted that to be there. She was a soil scientist.
   The next section was the water basin. Perhaps it was the greatest, because Vikhr needed both running water and a pond. This was his kingdom, and no arguments "against" would be accepted.
   The third part belonged to Stone. It was divided into many sections with a variety of landforms, structure, hardness, from bare rock to dust. Stone was an ecologist and the main interest for him was what bio-communities suited better for different ground spots.
  The combined area of Vern and Ryabinka was divided into a number of isolated chambers, each of which had a lower air pressure than the previous one. The partners dreamed to get vegetation, that could be planted on the planet's surface under the minimum air pressure. They wanted Liska to have accumulated some biomass by the time she would have wrapped into a thick enough blanket of atmosphere.
  It was a tempting target, worth hard work and time. If it is effective, it would mean a successful career, name, fame and a heap of money in the end instead of stagnation on the outskirts of Space. In addition, bio-experiments were included in their diploma projects as a theme. And that was of great importance for Ryabinka because she had never taken data of her course works at random; she had neither falsified the facts nor adopted anything from works of other students.
  But as soon as our three boys and two girls got any positive results and filled a couple of pages in their diaries of observations, their violent activities was interrupted by "Sahm". Ryabinka was ordered to come to him with a report immediately.
  She thought she just would be scolded for taking up sleep and working time (both were strictly forbidden) but...
  "I have heard you"ve started to get bored there," said the head of the expedition sarcastically, when Ryabinka entered the room; "Don't you think it's early a little?"
  Ryabinka blushed and did not answer.
  "Are you aware that the metallurgical plant is built, and the event took place a week ago?
  Ryabinka nodded.
  "Then why do you neglect your duties?"
  "We'll harvest and get on with it."
  "The crop will be harvested without you. Your business is to plant. When do you start?"
  "But you didn't warn us!"
  "Oh, they still need a babysitter! Don't you know that gardening is your bounden duty, recorded, incidentally, in your contracts? So please, take note, at every facility there will be as a closed greenhouse - there must be trees, I remind you just in case, and an outdoor one as well."
  "But we have no seeds!" said Ryabinka in a trembling voice.
  The chief got angry:
  "So if we suddenly were cut off from Tyerra and the harvest was lost, we would be dying of hunger because of your negligence? Why haven't you ordered them yet?"
  Ryabinka turned pale.
  "Go," said the boss at last; "And in two weeks something must be growing there."
  How confused the group of our trainees when Ryabinka retold her conversation with "the Almighty".
  "He's mocking us!" exclaimed Tim; "He's laughing at us!"
  "He wants to get rid of us," said Vern.
  "I saw the map. Soon the facilities will start rising up like mushrooms after rain," confirmed Stone gloomily; "Planting, then maintenance... I don"t see the way how we can do all of this!"
  "We can plant something that grows by itself, without care, like a forest," said the Vikhr.
  "The forest made of nothing. That"ll be gorgeous," shrugged Tim; "We have neither fertilizers, nor seeds. Even if we"ll forget about seedlings and everything else."
  "Oh, what would that pettifogger have waited for half of the year," waved his hand Stone.
   "We should plant pine trees. They are undemanding," suggested Vern.
  "Pine trees won"t befit, they are fire-dangerous," protested Tim; "lindens are much better."
  "It is necessary to proceed from what we have," stopped the dispute Ryabinka; "Vikhr has a few cuttings of shadberry. We"ll create a small park with a lake. And henceforth let us be smarter."
  "Yes," said Stone; "But what about the steppe part of our landscapes?"
  
  Those were the events that predated the appearance of Ryabinka in her grandmother's reserve, and so after that on the New Zemlya. And everyone would be nervous in her position; she flew from Liska without asking permission, and if she isn"t back in a week, their group will not have time to patch all the holes. After that they won"t meet the deadline for the commissioning of facilities, as no miracle would be able to help this trouble, and "Almighty" won"t forgive it. In short, this would mean the end of all. Failure!
   And now there's the maniac! Did Elmar tell her the truth, and that man really had decided to kill Ryabinka just because she was a stranger? Could the artist mistake? Should she rely on his information implicitly? Everybody knows that all artists love blowing smoke and look mysterious.
  At last breaking news following the film about water drama forced her to ensure that Elmar hadn"t confused anything when he advised Ryabinka to hide and sit still. By that time two more girls became the victims of the maniac; both of them were dark-haired and both were dressed in blue jumpsuits. Both of them were hospitalized and the one even got into intensive care.
  But believing Elmar did not mean feeling calm. On the contrary, now Ryabinka"s nervous system finally crashed. She began sweeping through the room, torn apart by the mix of different feelings and desires. Danger was a danger, but she just couldn't let anyone get killed instead of her or because of her.
  Elmar risked his life for her - well, she could accept it. He was a man, it was his right. But those unlucky girls were quite another matter. They had never met Ryabinka nor took part in any cosmic movies. Why must they be lambs to the slaughter? What a hatred must that man have that he tried to kill quite innocent people just because they look like someone? And as the result, three victims instead of Ryabinka"s person, and she"s sticking here like a stupid doll with a head having sawdust instead of brains!
  "What if I take off this skin and show my face up?" thought Ryabinka at last
  But she immediately recalled the fatal "she will be neutralized". The desire to declare herself faded at once, and her mind obligingly issued a suitable excuse:
  "But then the criminal will hide. And he's crazy. Something else will come into his head, and I'll become guilty without guilt again. For example... I ought to put myself in his shoes... What would you do if you wanted to hit the natives?"
  Ryabinka chilled, when she thought of the spaceship. How could she forget about it? What if the criminal is already approaching to her spaceship?
  "And that's an idea. That is the spot where it is necessary to wait for him..."
  "But what if he guesses? Stop flouncing, let's put myself in his position once more..."
  "I"m a real mess... Let"s start from the beginning... Suppose he understand I have guessed about his intention..."
  If someone could now penetrate the chaos of Ryabinka's thoughts, he would have explained to her that the logic of a maniac is different from the logic of a sane person, and that the problems of the local population did not matter to her. That it would be better for her to try another attempt to get into the ship, without catching local killers. But since there was nobody who could direct Ryabinka"s mind to that correct and useful conclusions, the result appeared strange enough. Her wish not allow the maniac to mix her into his maniacal deals turned into intention to interfere. In short, her nature demanded immediate action. The situation should be resolved at all costs.
  "If I help the locals to catch the maniac, I will achieve two goals at once. First, I'll prove to them that I'm normal, and second, I"ll get rid of the danger. Where's the best place for catching the maniac? I know it"s the spot where he supposes to meet me. He thinks I want to leave immediately. So, intending to destroy me, this evening he must be not somewhere, but in the birch grove near Dolingord to ambush me when approaching to the starship."
  "I have nothing to fear; with a hairpin-materializer I can do everything, and nobody will do anything to me."
  On reflection, Ryabinka went to the desk and wrote a message:
  "Elmar! Sorry, I couldn't keep my promise. I'll find you myself. R.D.Kensoly."
   Having given the message to the attendant in the hotel lobby, she went to the parking lot. It could seem a strange enough but peace and quiet reigned in her heart again. Her aircraft obediently carried her to the place of her first adventures in that Planet. Flying over the Dolingord, our heroine hovered round the little house near the alley of blue tulips. What a good time she had had at Martin's! She felt a pity that guys like him aren't interested in the plain girls like Ryabinka. She hoped he would come out for a few moments... But Martin didn't.
  Ryabinka"s heart was pounding when she put the aircraft by the lake and went out. Constantly looking round she took a step and then another one. Nobody was there. And she went along, holding hand in the pocket, where she had put a pistol with soporific capsules.
   It was so wonderful all around! The subtle scent of the resin spread through the air. The slender trunks of cedars were lightly swaying in the wind, and it sounded like a whisper ran through their tops. They seemed to moan lamenting for her young life, that, perhaps, was destined to end in such a ridiculous way.
   "How stupid," thought Ryabinka; "How hopeless and stupid everything was!"
  Having made a hook, she found familiar trees near the edge of the grove and "her" birch. Her old overalls were still lying under the roots, covered with a bundle of grass, and her knife lay beside. Our cosmonaut-girl changed her clothes and put the knife in its usual place and shifted the gun from her dress pocket into the side pocket of the jacket.
   Meanwhile she noticed that the twilight deepened but the offender never appeared. Ryabinka completely omitted that the sound of the trees masked the noise from her light steps. She guessed of it only when it became dark. The case reached deadlock. Meanwhile, if her calculations were correct, criminal was somewhere nearby. And Ryabinka decided on the last. There was quite a bit to the edge of the birch grove, and after that, at the distance of a couple of hundred steps...
  And she took those steps.
  At once the siren roared, and the spotlight caught her silhouette out of the darkness. And before Ryabinka ran into the shadows of the first trees as a dark figure appeared in front of her. The nasty smell of overripe hay mixed with the familiar sharp and suffocating gas hit her face. She threw her right hand with the gun forward and shot out.
  "It"s so simple..." thought she, fainting.
  Being already on the ground she saw the face of the skinny man with piercing eyes leaning above her. And before her eyes closed, she fired again.
  
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  Was it really super-romance?
  
  For a long time Ryabinka could not understand, where she was. Everything around her was blue and green: walls, chairs, curtains, even the floor and the ceiling. She argued with "Almighty", then her eyes opened and she swam somewhere over turquoise waters. In front of her there stood a skinny long face with piercing eyes, and the hand with the aerosol spray was reaching for her, depriving her of air or not giving to breathe.
  Ryabinka twisted her head, trying to get up... Sometimes she was back in the green room. Fair-haired girl with bangs dropped her on a pillow bringing to her nose a hose with oxygen. In front of Ryabinka"s inflamed eyes there appeared her friends asking about the seeds, and grandma came in want to know whether she took the travel bag... But the reaching hand and the skinny face with piercing eyes tormented her the most.
   At last the moment came when Ryabinka"s mind finally cleared. She found herself lying on the bed. So she tried to get up.
  "The less you move, the better you'll be," she heard.
  Those words belonged to the fair-haired girl with bangs. The girl was wearing a white robe and a kerchief. And it was not difficult to guess that Ryabinka was in a hospital.
  "Did they catch the criminal? asked she breathlessly.
   "Of course, they did. He was quite next to you."
  The nurse adjusted something in the bed where Ryabinka lay and added,
  "The next four days you should spend here."
  Ryabinka fell into a semi-delirious state again. But in the morning of the following day she felt that she had slept enough to remember she was expected by her group-mates on Liska. She might be sick but she had eyes, ears, and tongue.
  "Turn on the TV, please," she asked the nurse.
  "I'm afraid the doctor won't allow it," said the nurse.
  Everything was clear: there would be no information from the surrounding world. Well, that's another question:
  "Where am I?"
  "In our hospital."
   "That's clear. Where exactly?"
  " In Dolingord."
  That was a comforting news. That meant an ordinary hospital and she was only treated, nothing else. But every information should be checked:
  "Is Dr. Martin Fot working today?"
  "Certainly, yes. He"s just started his rounds. Here he is to explain everything to you.
  Martin came up to Ryabinka"s bed. Ryabinka looked up at him, and suddenly bitter tears poured down her cheeks. Why, why was she so ugly?
  "Aren"t you angry with me?" she asked.
  "Why should I be angry with you?"
   "Because I ran away."
  "Nobody's angry with you. Everybody would get scared in your circumstances. Get well soon."
  "I am not blind. You have all became obsessed with the fear of aliens."
  "Maybe it is so but that doesn't apply to you. Look what poem is published in today's newspaper. It is about you."
  He put his hand into a large pocket of his doctor"s coat and took out a big piece of four-fold paper, all around filled with letters, smelling fresh printer"s ink. Having laid it on the table beside Ryabinka"s bed, he went out. Ryabinka"s eyes ran over the headlines and came across a poem of nine stanzas. "To the Girl from Stars" was the name of the poem.
  
  Rockets are in my sleepdreams -
  Tell me how they fly
  Tell about the windy
  Planet where sun is bright.
  I will get your refusal
  To take me up the sky
  I'm sure you knew it,
  Yes, I"d like to touch stars.
  
  Sweet quiet music sounded in Ryabinka"s soul. She understood at once who was the author of the poem. Surely, it was Elmar! She could almost hear his voice...
  
  Yes, I"d like to touch stars.
  Even if I don't see them,
  Charming lands of the light
  Won"t meet my voice then.
  I will never seek stones
  For the necklace or beads
  For the present... oh, no -
  All seem pleasure to me
  
  All seem pleasure to me
  On the far native planet.
  Cities, towns and people
  Differ but I would wait it.
  Swimming with native lightnings,
  Diving in native waters
  Precious are as the mightness,
  Bathing in the eternity.
  
  Bathing in the eternity
  Rest in the endless spaces...
  Whether they are for ever
  Or on the contrary, absent.
  It is like air quite moveless
  As no gases fly into it.
  Is there bad or goodness,
  I would smell the infinity
  
  Blurry and strangely beautiful pictures seemed to appear through the newspaper lines. They were awakening something in Ryabinka"s soul and calling somewhere...
  
  I would smell the infinity
  With all my breathe and nose
  Ready to pick up comets
  And nebulaes rise to foams
  How I"d like to dance there
  And to paint their dark.
  Such a pity that I have
  Never been so far.
  
  Never been so far.
  And never will be in future
  How сan I approached
  The green of your brilliant eyes?
  Now I hate the secret
  Of our heavy chains
  They are unseen but rigid...
  Knit me coat of rays!
  
  Knit me coat of rays.
  What if it"s all I need?
  Lots of grey endless days
  I pray of it and I dream.
  The songs of Universe
  Cannot be simply replaced
  Give me method to learn.
  And the boots for star ways.
  
  And the boots for star ways...
  If I get them I"ll go
  Walking along till I stay
  Ageless as wandering stone
  Tell me about star storms,
  Speak of aurora borealis
  Say how splendid are dawns...
  Rockets are in my sleepdreams.
  
  Rockets are in my sleepdreams -
  Yes, I"d like to touch stars.
  All seem pleasure to me
  Bathing in the eternity
  I would smell the infinity
  Never been so far.
  Knit me coat of rays
  And the boots for star ways.
  
  The first letters of each line in the last stanza were in red paint. These letters broke away from their places; then they floated in front of Ryabinka"s eyes and built in one line forming one word: "Ryabinka".
  And Ryabinka fell asleep.
  Next morning the nurse brought Ryabinka a stack of fresh newspapers. Ryabinka took one of them and almost immediately her eyes came across a large collection of articles. Articles were by different authors, printed in different fonts but they were united with a common title:
  
   SUPER-ROMANTIC OR BACKING AWAY?
   Notes on the poetry by E. Kensoly
   "To the Girl from Stars"
  
  Ryabinka read one review then another. The articles were acrid and even biting. One of them was especially hurtful.
  
  "Our promising poet Elmarov heralded the beginning of a new era in the poetry of Zemlya - the era of Super-romantics. This time he decided to hide under the nickname "Kensoly".
  Why did he need so much trouble? May it be that he consider our readers so inexperienced in literature that they wouldn"t be able to make out where the claws of a lion and where the ears of a donkey are? Or did the poet hope to know in this way whether he has was empty now? Whether he already exists at the expense of his former popularity?
  Oh no! This badly concocted masquerade and poor pretence serve one purpose: to show off his modesty and at the same time to flash the new topic. Well, let us examine whether his opus is worth the praises that are lavished by some of our youth.
  The first thing that your eye catches out is the uncertainty of the genre. It's neither a verse nor a poem. It seems that the poet fell in love and, like all lovers, writes long and confused. He is so confused that he completely forgets in the second stanza what was written in the first one, and the whole poem falls into a number of separate passages, poorly glued together by the final strophe.
  Say, what does it mean: "I will get your refusal"? If someone is in love, he tries to get love of his sweetheart. Then the poet wants to touch stars without seeing them. On one hand, it"s a clever position to shut eyes before approaching to the extremely shining objects... But on the other hand, there is a big risk of damaging stupid nose on a hot item. Together with long tongue and too prying face.
   The further the better. Having ended the masochism session ("All seem pleasure to me") he returns to more available although not less mortal pastime. We mean "swimming with lightnings". So one wants to shout, "Stop it! Electricity is not a toy!" But that"s nothing for the guy who brags about his inability in distinguishing good from bad.
  The wish of painting the darkness is forgivable against this background. But what about "approaching the green of brilliant eyes?" What a love for mutilation! Not even the eyes he need but only their green! A poor girl! Everything he wants to get from her are a coat and boots!
  And, then, the poet doesn"t hate the chains but their secret only. Thanks for comforting us. Isn"t this secret so unsolving? Every ignorant person knows what fetters bind us to Zemlya. Everyone, except our scribbler.
  Of course, one could argue that the poet took an extremely difficult form, that this form is new and has not been tested yet, etc. But the difficulty of the form does not give the right to a discount. And so does newness. If you can't do something, don't disgrace yourself.
  And why so much effort? To pour old wine in new bottles? Request in any library "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin, Chapter two, and you will see that opuses like "To the Girl from the Stars" were produced more that 700 yeas ago. In the poem by Elmarov "Those distant lands" are changed into "the far native planet", that makes all the difference. And instead of romantic roses there are beads of native stone.
  All is on the face of our poet; we can watch "the passionate and rather strange spirit", and ignorance too. His "sweet dream" differ a little but not essentially. Another epoch, not more! Well, if Elmarov"s intention was raising the romanticism to a new level, we congratulate him with success. But it would be better for him not to revive literary corpses."
  
  At the beginning when Ryabinka started reading the article, it seemed funny and witty to her, but having reached up to the end, she recalled how pretty the poem was. More over, she liked its unexpected comparisons, she bathed in them. Now the poetry impression was wrecked but our astronaut-girl did not want to break up with its fragments.
  Ryabinka felt unhappy again; she was very sorry for herself and Elmar.
  
  
    
  Farewell, the Planet of Paradoxes!
  
  Martin got very angry when he saw the stack of newspapers on Ryabinka"s table.
  "Unforgivable negligence," he muttered.
  "Yes, I"ve read these reviews," said Ryabinka somewhat defiantly; " So what? Why mustn't I know that not everyone is excited about the poetry of your friend? Of course, I sympathize with him but it is he who has to be very worried reading it."
  "If you're about Elmar, he is the last person I care about. He knew what he was writing, and he knew how it would be treating."
  "Did he know?" there was no limit to Ryabinka's amazement.
  "He should have known. It is only you who couldn't guess that he was scolded not for the "Songs of Universe""
  "Not for the poetry? But what for then? Because of me? Because he gave me a materializator? For presenting me the opportunity to create something out of nothing?"
  At her words, Martin raised his eyebrows in surprise, and his long eyes became almost round.
  "So you still didn't get it?" said he with a visible effort, pulling out every word, "Do you think, that all things come out of this hairpin?"
  "Certainly yes!"
  "It"s quite unbelievable but make sense in its own way. So you think Elmar made a mistake and deserves to be punished?"
  Martin chuckled.
  "No, no, I didn't mean that. He made a mistake when he thought I was powerful, but anyone can make a mistake, can"t he?"
   "Aren't you?.. Is the breadfruit yours?"
  "Mine."
  "Where did you get the shooting vials?"
  "Materialized."
  "Oh, that's all right then. I even was scared again. So, according to you, Elmar made a mistake?"
  "Surely."
  "So you mean that Elmar is an irrational idiot, handing out right and left dangerous toys? Wow! I'll tell him, he'll laugh a lot!"
  Ryabinka reddened with vexation and raised her head from the pillow.
  "Stay down, stay down! Don't worry, you're the mighty, and Elmar wasn't wrong. That thing on your head doesn"t help with materialization; on the contrary, it prevents embodying your ideas. The limiter of creativity, if one may say so. I can't get how Elmar guessed you were the our, but he reacted quickly, and, most importantly, correctly.
  Ryabinka was unable to digest what she had heard but she was already tired of the numerous omissions. The atmosphere of rejection that surrounded her from the first moment of her arriving on this planet were pressing down on her chest harder than the weakness that kept her from breathing. Even Elmar as it turned out, made her the present not because of good relation. And she whispered with pain,
  "Why, why do you hate me so much?"
  "Nonsense! When did I say that I hate you or so on? It"s true, at first someone scared your appearance here but not me. In addition, everything has changed now. You would be really surprised, if you knew how many friends you have!"
   "Then why? I mean all these articles," demanded Ryabinka on the frank answer.
  "Elmar touched upon the forbidden topic: Space and space flights. They are unattainable for us, and we are not used to talk about the unattainable."
  "They are unattainable just because you avoid talking of them."
  Martin shook his head:
  "You don"t know everything about our planet. There is a limit beyond which death awaits us."
  "But some hundreds years ago your ancestry have appeared here in some way, haven"t they? And even if their starship has crashed, why can"t you build or construct a new one? You produce aircrafts of all styles as far as I could see."
  Martin shook his head again:
  "I told you about the border. All our aircrafts have a height limiter. Haven't you noticed this yet?
  Ryabinka remembered the disappearance of her first rocket, on which she was running away from Otkrytiy, and her heart sank.
  "So I am... I also have to stay here forever now, don"t I?" said she ready to burst into tears.
  "No, no, there is no barrier for you," said Martin evasively; "You... you spent too little time here."
  "So, you assure me, that everything is OK and Elmar is doing wrong, don"t you?" Ryabinka"s voice trembled.
  Martin looked at her with a typical doctor's eye and then laughed softly and kindly:
  "Elmar defied public opinion, and this cannot be forgiven. Of course, he is not the only to sigh of the "boots for star ways". But to admit it openly!... Oh, you don't know our Elmar yet! He"s a desperate guy!"
  "And what about you?"
  Martin laughed:
  "I am a perfectly earthly man, and I don't care about any of the galaxies."
  He turned and walked away noiselessly on his soft doctor's outsoles. And Ryabinka fell deep in reflections. There was a mystery connected with the materialization, and Martin surely couldn"t tell too much. But one thing was now clear: the imaginary objects are not stable, so nothing from this planet could be taken to Liska. What a pity! And what was even worse she had no any materializer, because all the wonders as it had turned out, were possible only here.
  "However, I have never guessed that to be a wizard is so dangerous."
  Having thought about that Ryabinka couldn"t help smiling. "Perhaps, the local residents are already tired of miracle-makers. Of course yes, it is of no pleasure to live like on a volcano when nobody can be sure of anything. And what a rivalry they must have I suggest - oh, my God! If only all the miracles are under control... But then everything is even worse; it means strict regulation... Br-r... And so was Elmar: "Oh, trees! oh, the lake! Take this hairpin..." And what a title of this thing they have come up with - "the Mind". Oh, that Elmar...
  Ryabinka"s ideas began to swirl around Elmar. She tried to drive away the memories of him but without results, his name came up again and again in her thoughts. She had to admit that the guy managed to impress her. He was completely obscure to her and stunningly unlike anyone else at all! He was absolutely illogical, and even his flippancy suddenly turned into foresight...
  He liked her. There could not be any mistake with it, because every feeling of this local film-artist was reflected on his face as on the screen, but during all their acquaintance he made no attempt to entice her... And still that didn"t prevent him from helping her twice...
  "It is so good, that he was from the ruling elite, that is, of the mighties, as they call themselves. It's great to have a friend of them..."
  After little thinking, Ryabinka sighed, because to have a friend similar Elmar was useful even if he was nobody. And still he was very truthful. If he come, Ryabinka would find out from him what fate was in store for her. But would he be allowed to see her? If even on TV they have imposed ban ...
  He was. However, before Ryabinka saw again, as she believed, her only patron, she was destined to meet another representative of the mighty tribe. Thin old lady with the living, very active face features entered the hospital chamber, sat down next to Ryabinka"s bed and said:
  "My name is Feoktista Mikhailovna. I'm from the Security Council."
  Ryabinka shrank inwardly. Her heart gave a start, and a sudden weakness seized her again.
  "I came to thank you for your help in catching dangerous criminals," heard she as from afar.
  Ryabinka closed her eyes, the weakness didn"t want to leave her.
  "Were there more than one?"
  "They were two. I have to ask you some questions. How did you get to our planet?"
  " I have found its coordinates on the old route map from our family archives."
  "Does anyone know about that route map?"
  "My grandmother..."
  Ryabinka said those words and stammered. Of course, she mentioned her Granny in vain - grandmother knew nothing about that old route map. And even if she did, there was no chance for old lady to guess what her disciplined and exemplary in everything granddaughter had done. That instead of punctually performing the thesis task, she decided to fly along the Great Space, because her pre-graduation practice was hanging by a thread.
  "Why didn't you try putting to sleep the guard near your starship?" continued the representative of the local authorities the inquiry, "You knew that when you approached, the alarm system would go off and they would run after you. You could develop a plan of capture. For example, to imagine something to distract attention of the guards. Tell!"
   "I didn't... I never thought about it," said Ryabinka in a low voice. She said that and stopped because her words were not quite true again. The idea of the capture of the starship flashed in her head, but not seriously, and she didn"t like confessing to unserious acts.
  Ryabinka gathered her thoughts and ventured to ask, trying to make her voice firm:
   "What will you do to me?"
  The firmness was not very successful, and Ryabinka turned away to the wall. The interval between her last words and the response of the representative of the ruling circles seemed too long to her. And the text of the response was rather uncertain:
  "As your gun was loaded not with bullets, but with sleeping pills, the Security Council found you quite harmless. Your ship is in perfect order. We're guarding it, just in case," said F. M. Kensoly.
   "What for?"
  "There are enough people on our planet who do not want the Big Space to hear about New Zemlya. I mean, we don"t want to let your Tyerra know about our life. The Zemeletses don't want the natives to come here."
  "But why? What did I do?" cried Ryabinka in a choked voice, turning to the representative of those who called themselves mighty. Tears rolled from her eyes. She could not contain her resentment anymore.
  "What for? What for?" repeated she.
  F.M. shrugged:
  "My dear girl! You, the aliens, are too dangerous for not to be afraid of you. Just recall: you barely walked a few steps along the surface of our planet, as there appeared the whole complex of unknown plants and a pond. What if you had imagined something else? You're lucky you met Elmar. And for that matter, we're all lucky that it was he and not someone else.
  "Are you? I heard Elmar has got into troubles because of me..."
  "Don't blame yourself, my dear. Elmar is just such a person. He is a poet. If he get a tiny reason, the reason will immediately be presented to the people on a silver platter. Be there on your place anyone or anything other, a dinosaur, for example, he would have written something like that anyway."
  "All the same... Don't scold him!"
  "It's a pretty thing not to scold Elmar! We would be glad not to do that but it does not work. He's too careless, to say the least. To do so as he behaves, it's like to put a label on the forehead with the message "I am mighty".
   "Is that bad?"
  "Bad, and very bad. It is not always useful to show all your talents. After all, we have only one person out of ten thousand with the power of imagination. And if you have this gift, you must carefully hide it from others."
  To perceive that the person belonging to the ruling elite, was obliged to hide this belonging - oh no, such information contradicted all previous Ryabinka"s experience. Although that experience was small, but our space-girl considered himself very erudite and savvy in all vital questions. A kind of chaos immediately erupted in her brain, in which everything was already drowned, such as common sense, fears and worries about the doom of her pre-diploma practice. And even about her own future. Besides, common courtesy demanded to keep the conversation going, asking something like:
  "Hiding? Why? What for?"
  "Because it makes life too difficult when you are uncovered or at least suspected," explained the "F. M. Kensoly willingly, and her words proved involuntary once more that Ryabinka came to the planet of paradoxes; "Everybody ask you to make different trinkets because they are sure it costs you nothing. And do you think someone's grateful? When you are like everyone, you are respected person but not when they know the truth, because of the common belief that all is easy for the mighty. And then they begin to squint at you. They"re afraid of, and speak evil behind the back."
  "How do you know that?" asked Ryabinka incredulously. There was some stinging and sad truth in the words of F. M. Kensoly but Ryabinka"s brain did not want to believe that truth!
  Feoktista Mikhailovna sighed.
  "Dear girl, I am the official representative of the mighties in the Security Council. The whole planet knows about me."
  "Are there other mighty men in the Council besides you?"
  "Of course, there are. But nobody knows about their power. Except me, of course."
  In the evening Ryabinka heard a knock on the window. She sat up and saw Elmar through the glass. He was waving his hand.
  Ryabinka put on a robe, got out of bed, went to the window and opened it towards the warm summer evening.
  "Elmar, why does everyone say that it is bad to be the mighty?" asked she.
  "Who told you such a nonsense?" the artist was really surprised; "It is great to be mighty. You saw this yourself, you can do everything you wish!"
   "But ordinary people don"t think good about us!"
  Elmar wondered.
  "This is not so primitive," said he at last; "With one hand, they do, of course. But on the other hand, everybody understands they cannot do without us. You know, they even have a proverb "Skilled as the mighty". Isn't that accepting? What more would you like?"
  "But that... from the Security Council, she said..."
  "So was it Feoktista complained to you on our bitter fate? Ha-ha! Did you believe?"
  Ryabinka felt that her suffering brain capitulated completely.
  "So that... my namesake...she has deceived me?" said she in a completely dead voice.
  Elmar looked into her eyes and laughed:
  "So in fact that no law in the Council can pass without the approval of Feoktista, and all just because everyone knows who stands behind her. You can ask Martin, whether he would agree to give up his power?"
   "At least, I have not forgotten how he frightened, when he thought I'm not yours," said Ryabinka hesitantly.
  Elmar glanced sideways at her and said:
  "Okay, get well. Bye."
  "Wait a little. Is it true that ordinary people do not want your planet to know about in the center of space flights?"
   "Not only the ordinaries. No one wants that," objected the artist.
  "Even you?!"
  "Even me. Sorry, but you don't understand our life and being. And to tell the truth, you don"t need to understand. Here I go. Get well as soon as it is possible and fly away."
  Elmar went away, and Ryabinka became dreary again. Of course, he was right, she had to leave as soon as possible, but it would be much nicer for her self-esteem if instead of the words "fly away" she had heard "stay". Of course she wouldn't stay, but...
  Next morning she asked Martin to discharge her from the hospital. Two hours later the permission was granted but Ryabinka wasn"t let to get to her spaceship immediately. They waited for representatives of the press and television.
  The news that the native was leaving spread across the planet very quickly. As it turned out, she had a lot of fans. Martin became quite exhausted, chasing away persistent visitors.
  And then there was the departure. The crowd was so enormous that the mind was boggling. Lots of aircrafts filled the meadows around the hollow. But the sky was free. That was the order, and no one dared to break it.
  A crowd of people surrounded Ryabinka, when she left the hospital accompanied by two representatives of the Security Council. And when Ryabinka stepped on the platform in front of her starship, she saw Elmar. A satisfied smile shone on his swarthy face.
  And Ryabinka said:
  "Elmar, I would like you to give me something to remember. A thing that..." she paused, knowing that the cameras are ready to spread every word of her across the planet.
  "Certainly, yes..."
  The artist sighed, made a familiar gesture with putting his hand into his pocket and took out a blue rectangular plate. The thing was not bigger than the size of his palm, but there was inserted a portrait. A portrait of Ryabinka. The thing was a real masterpiece. The blue background of the stone seemed to shine through the emerald green of the portrait, and golden sparks, scattered on it, flashed here and there.
  "Do not think bad," said Elmar; "The stone is artificial but real. It won't fade. I made it myself, with my own hands."
  And a slight sad pride sounded in his words.
  So he stayed in Ryabinka"s memory with his sad smile, full dignity, an awkward figure and wild black hair.
  Goodbye, Elmar! Farewell, strange Earth, the planet of miracles and paradoxes!
  
  
    
  
  Part II
   FATHER
  
  
    
  On Liska
  
  Ryabinka thought quite sincerely that she would never return to the New Zemlya. Indeed, what were those ten days for her? It was a fantastic dream, tightening gradually by the haze of new worry and cares. The graduation work, the exams, the assignment - there were lots of everything one can never even suppose.
  Certainly, Ryabinka had not forgotten the hospitable house near the alley of blue tulips - that was impossible, and nobody would, is was not the case. And Elmar's parting gift was hanging on the wall of her room, invariably causing the ocean of questions from everyone who saw it for the first time. Although Ryabinka could not tell the full true story of her adventures during that voyage behind the back of their boss for seeds, but she had a right to hint on something significant in her life. And she enthusiastically composed a certain fairy tale, each time coloring it with new details.
  In that tale there was the Earth (Tyerra), an emerging artist from a Movie-Studio (Hollywood) "He paints so fast - wow! It is something unreal!" There was also a magic surgeon with golden hands, who unnecessarily ruined his talent in a lost among the vast expanses Valley, dealing at the same time with selection of plants. In proof of it Ryabinka showed not only a portrait on the wall, but also the wild-wonderful flower called "viala", the seeds of which were very up and handy in the pocket of her jacket.
  Naturally Ryabinka wisely kept quiet about her adventures between the extraction of seeds of the miracle flower and receiving a memorable prize. It was the past, some episodes of which were not quite pleasant for her vanity. Only memories about Elmar invariably remained fondly, but how long she could talk of him? His cute and slightly mysterious image gradually faded for her and soon whenever she recalled the artist it didn"t awakened in her soul sweet and strange fluttering. In short, no hopes - no troubles.
  But to her surprise... She was appointed onto Liska!
  It was quite unexpected for Ryabinka. Well, "Sahm" signed their practice in one fell swoop and without wincing, and reports of their group projects were recognized as exemplary. So was Ryabinka"s diploma work, it was marked as promising. But the hope that severe "Almighty" would like to extend their employment relationship, and even with all the five together seemed an event from the realm of the unreal. Yes, they dreamed about it - they even spoke of it in the moments of rest; but they themselves laughed on their dreams. There were always so much faultfinding and too much stern comments from his side! Was it possible that he appreciated them finally, after he had tried to replace them with other young team? And now the favorite work was waiting for Ryabinka. Together with breathtaking everydays, hurrying to change each other.
  Generally, it is customary to say about weekdays that they drag on or at least, go by, but when the work gets along fine such a dull term does not fit at all. Our cosmos-biologists felt time as something running. Now they had no ability to do their experimental surveillance, and only Vern tirelessly changed cultures on his section, but the others gave up all sorts of experiments for a long time.
  Every new object required more and more efforts. Tests, preparation of soils, planting and then care of plants... Multiple movings took a lot of time.
  Sometimes in the evenings, carefully washing away rather smelly dirt, the five gathered in a room and argued.
  "At the next object it would be good to lay date palms nursery," said, for example, Tim, stretching her tired legs.
  "It won't work in the climate," objected Stone.
  "What's the climate like there? Oh yes... Then nuts and noble laurels."
  "We have neither seeds, nor time to send for."
  "We have only fortnight, not more," said Ryabinka; "And nothing can help organize delivery during such time interval. You know how they like to delay demands. I can offer cactuses and olives.
  "Hell on your cactuses," disagreed Vern; "What good will they do?
  "I mean prickly pears and saguaros."
  "Oh, with edible fruit? That"s another matter."
  The problem with fertilizers ceased to disturb our young landscapers. Vern, who with enviable tenacity conducted an aerial search almost every night, found volcanic ash deposits in some thousand miles from the central settlement. The ash was very rich in potash and other salts. And although Vern was looking not ashes but a crevice with a constant output of gases to the surface (a place for yellow bacteria sent to him from Mars), he rightfully became the hero of the day when he brought the news of his discovery.
  Meanwhile, autumn came and passed, followed by winter, and a new spring came. The settlement had already built six factories and had replenished with new people. Foresters, too, had got assistants. The group gained experience; they acquired the necessary skills in operating small and heavy machinery. They cheered up.
  Young growth met them in all their greenhouses. Viala, sown by Ryabinka "just in case" not only sprouted but also rose up and managed to give seeds able to winter in the ground. In a month after the melting of snow (it was one more of Ryabinka"s abandoned experiments) it grew wild, covering with an unexpectedly thick mat the whole greenhouse.
  The explanation of the phenomenon was very simple: viala formed on its roots nodules with azote-bacteria. It was very promising. Even "Sahm" granted attention the extraordinary plantation and said:
  "In a year there will be excellent kitchen gardens here."
  As regards Ryabinka, she fell in love with viala at once. Weeding strawberry, because she admired sweet good berries as well, Ryabinka came across one stem of viala which stood completely straight, despite the fact that viala was a bindweed. And she didn"t pull it out for to let it grow up and give seeds. She set a purpose of creating vialas with erect stems.
  Yes, everything went on as usual till one day, when it turned out, that Liska was unpromising. Such verdict was pronounced by none other than hydrographs. The planet was waterless.
  Not that the news of the absence of a sufficient quantity of water on Liska struck the settlement in a kind of a thunder from a clear sky. Naturally, our biologists heard something. But, first, they knew that water is obtained in many chemical reactions, and secondly, they still did not lack for water. So they were quite astonished when it turned out that the planet had no enough water for the formation of the hydrosphere on its surface, and without the hydrosphere all the other improvement works made no sense. Existing under open sky would still be impossible, with all the ensuing consequences.
  Depressing melancholy hung over the colony, and our team of cosmos-biologists got morose too. All their hopes and plans would vanish. They felt sorry for their work and were sorry for the planet, which they already considered their own.
  " We're about to be packed up," said Vikhr one night.
  "Who's going to take losers? None will," said Stone; "Who needs us?"
  "I've been offered," said Vern; "At the research station."
  "And why didn't you go?" scoffed Tim.
  "Because it's much more interesting here."
  The five were silent for some seconds. At last Ryabinka said:
   "Three more weeks and everything will be over."
  "Oh, if I were the head of the expedition!" exclaimed Stone.
   "And what would you have done?" scoffed Tim sarcastically.
   "I would put the plant that would produce water in an industrial way."
  "That"s not profitable," said Vikhr.
  Ryabinka had a harder time than anyone else. Hydrologists were looking for water. The others knew that nothing depended on them personally. But Ryabinka was neither there nor here. She knew that in the Universe there existed something that could save their little colony from imminent death. There was something that was possible to save her work, the job of her mates and the whole multitude of people gathered here. She remembered well the credits at the end of the stupid drama she'd watched on TV when everyone had been catching the maniac, that the film had been based on real facts. So the technology that could turn a lifeless piece of solid substance into a sample of a garden in Eden had not been the fabrication of a screenwriter. That meant that the relevant documentation was gathering dust somewhere in an archive of a descendant of the inventor and waited until it would be claimed by a curious person.
  Four days of the flight there would be nothing as compared with one month of expecting the doom! Even if they should be taken thrice like necessary for the way back and seeking the place where the documentation was kept. Of course if the information had been true... But what if it hadn"t? What if it had been only a fiction after all? And if even it was not the fiction, nothing could guarantee, that the Security Council of that crazy planet would agree to share the technology. Or the price they would ask would be too heavy?
  The best way of solving the problem was to fly and find out everything. But who invited Ryabinka to appear there once more? She was simply driven away! Moreover, she had been told to run away as soon as possible. If someone did not want to contact with the outside world, the annoying guest could obtain flick on the nose very simply.
  At that painful time she often removed from the wall a plate with her portrait and looked... Oh no, not on her own face but on the backside of the souvenir; or to speak more correctly, at the drawing of a device, inscribed there. The drawing was in two projections and there was a set of numbers and letters under it.
  Ryabinka made a few tries to understand what kind of devices was depicted on the plate and even learned the drawing so carefully that it seemed she got able to reproduce it from memory. And the moment came when the idea struck her: it was the scheme of the catcher of thoughts, of so-called "mind"! The hint was subtle but clear: she was wanted, she was welcome! It was like an invitation card.
  So nothing bad would happen if she flew to New Zemlya once more and found out about the water! If the Security Council had been against her coming, Elmar would never have drawn on his gift a diagram of a device that allowed her to move freely and independently on the surface of the planet.
  Take your chance, Ryabinka!
  
  When she entered "Almighty"s office-room her mood was already quite fighting.
   "What's up?" asked the boss tiredly.
  He was sitting at the table twisting a pencil in his fingers, and there was no even a shadow of the previous self-confidence on his anxious face.
  Ryabinka did not know that their formidable boss would also be without a job if Liska was declared a "planet without perspective"; but the whole appearance of the sitting in front of her man expressed a vast sorrow and utter hopelessness. She felt a sudden desire to tell him something encouraging, but all the words of the kind disappeared somewhere. And she said faltering:
   "I have to get to Tyerra..."
  "So fly," frowned the head of the expedition angrily.
  Ryabinka left the room in silence. Sahmshit Waindovich watched her go and thought that he had never been able to find a common language with this diligent, though too ambitious girl, and of course, she was right, looking for another job. That his sixty-five years was not certainly the age for new projects, and after that failed expedition all would be over for him. Nobody would give him a new planet, and he would be banished on pension. As if pension is a pleasure for people like him!
  Of course, if he had a family or t least home, he could reap the fruits of righteous works and rest on laurels. But he failed in starting a family, and as regards home, he intended to make it here, among the loose sands of Liska, that deceived him so cruelly! Oh no, let his superiors require what they supposed but he wouldn"t go away even if he left alone. Never mind how many days Providence would give him but he had the right to spend the rest of his years at the place where he wanted...
  
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    
   Unexpected Encounter
  
  Elmar began that day with the moping. Even vacation he had dreamed of for three years didn"t make him feel joyous. Surely, the reason of the uncomfortable feeling was because the vacation was almost forced. It was assumed that Elmar would design decoration for "Ryabinka and Akhenaten", but he was unable to find common ground with Waltmin, the producer. So the situation turned out "empty time'.
  And, as luck would have it, no ideas of how to waste the time could come to Elmar"s head. On the contrary, mournful and dreary thoughts crawled into it. Elmar took out a box of sweets, that had been sent to him by Mariye, put one candy in his mouth and thought:
  "You should get married. Why don't you really do it? You know Mariye loves you, and you could never find a better wife!"
  His thoughts were interrupted by the trill of the phone. His nephew called him.
  "Elmarushka!" said he after the ritual "hello" and "how are you"; "Could you do me a huge favor?"
  "I"m not sure," said Elmar; "I don't think I'm capable of doing something huge now."
   "I said it wrong. I mean it's a trifle for you. You know, my Liza is studying at an experimental school. Since this school year, a new rule has been introduced there: every day one of the parents must be present at all events. They have come up with a nonsense, like it brings the family closer to school. The stupid rule, isn"t it? We did fine without moms and dads."
  "Are you off work every other day?"
  "You oddball! Why every other day? I'm not the only father in her class. That"s very simply - my turn came. Elmarik, help out! I'm on a business trip, I just can not get away!"
   "Okay, you talked me into it!" laughed Elmar.
  "Well, that"s fine, I hope!" breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the wire; "I always knew you are the best uncle in the world!"
  Elmar got to school when the bell rang. He crossed the threshold of Eliza"s class and petrified. That nice snub nose, those young, implausible curved eyes with long eyelashes...
  Oh no, he could not meet them here in that class! "Although... Why not? After all, she had to work somewhere... She"s a teacher, wow... "Whether she recognized me as well, I wonder?"
  "Come and have a seat at the back desk," said the holder of implausible eyes in a somewhat defiant tone; "The place for parents is there."
  Elmar went to the farthest desk in the corner and sat down.
  "We continue studying of the topic "Hypotheses about the formation of planetary bodies," said Elmar"s old acquaintance and now a teacher, addressing the class; "Well, what are the difficulties faced by the author who wants to put forward his hypothesis?"
  The girl from the first desk raised her hand.
   "Go, Eliza."
  The girl went to the blackboard. This was the great-niece of Elmar, the one he was present here for. But he did not look at her because of the young woman who stood in front of the class and led the lesson.
  "The hypothesis should explain, what made particles of dust and gas stuck together instead of running up in different directions. Why most planets of any system have satellites, and why these satellites have not yet been attracted to the planets. Why orbits of most planets are almost exact circles? Why do large planets consist of hot gases while small planets consist of solid bodies?"
  "Is that all?"
  "No. It is necessary to coordinate the angular momentum of the bodies in the system yet."
  "Thanks, Eliza, sit down. Today we"ll review one of the most famous hypothesis, brought to our planet by I. Gorev, a journalist and astronomer. For the time being, it is the most popular among scientists.
  Elmar languished. From time to time he was sneaking glances at the woman standing in front of the blackboard and sadly admired her. She deliberately avoided his look, and it was not at all surprising. The darkest day of Elmar's life was connected with her. But what was the point of disturbing the past?
  "The formation of planets Gorev explained with the example of the Solar system, the ancestral home of our ancestors. So, once two stars were flying in outer space. One star was bigger, and the other one was smaller."
  The light in the classroom went out. On the ceiling there appeared an image of a starry sky, the figure of which is typical for the Northern hemisphere of the Earth. Against the background of this sky there shone two extra stars, one about seven times larger than the other. Those two stars grew in size, as if approaching the viewer, while the smaller ones from the background run to the edges of the dome and disappeared from the field of vision.
  "That system was unstable. Due to the disturbing action of the larger star the little began to destruct. Perhaps, at first it just split into two..."
  A large piece separated from the smaller star and sped into the space obliquely toward the big star, but didn"t approached it too close. Instead of that, it start running around its big neighbor as a satellite.
  "After that two more balls of plasma erupted from the depths of the little star..."
  Really, two pieces separated from the smaller star one after another and rushed to different points from where they started running around the big star like the first one.
  "And that's how Pluto came..."
  One more lump of plasma material found himself on the ceiling-screen.
  "But even now the system could not remain stable yet. The torn pieces of plasma spewed out their satellites..."
  "And the primary star didn"t calm down not immediately..."
  It was shown like there appeared the satellites of the planets, one after another.
  "But what about the Central star, which we calls "the Sun"? Did it all of that time remained neutral? Certainly no, it was spewing out lumps of matter as well..."
  One by one there appeared 5 planets. The four could be recognized like Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars.
  "Have it never happened that some of the new stars or planets collided with each other in space? There is a large share of confidence that once such an event occurred. Look..."
  A piece of the second star runs into the Fifth Nameless planet. A burst. Now instead of one planet there were the set of points: dark crumbs, formed a ring around the Sun.
  "That's how the asteroid belt formed..."
  Elmar knew that hypothesis very well. Nothing new came to his ears. And yet he greedily absorbed the sounds of an expressive and rich modulated voice. How painful it was to hear it again!
  A head stuck out through the door, tore him from his gloomy thoughts.
  "Ina Davidovna!" said the head; "A phone call for you. Urgent."
  "Thank you, I'm coming," said the teacher.
  As soon as she came out, the light flashed, and the students surrounded Elmar.
  "What hairstyle did Ryabinka wore in school?" asked Eliza with a rather sassy tone.
   "How should I know?" answered Elmar quite surprised.
  And asked in his turn:
  "How long has Ina Davidovna been working at your school?
  "Six months. Isn't she beautiful?"
  "Very beautiful," agreed Elmar.
  When he returned home, he got even more depressed. He fell into a real melancholy grief.
  "So now her name is Inka..."
  And then the doorbell rang. Elmar went to the threshold and... he froze again.
  On the threshold there stood Ryabinka smiling with the same confused and sheepish smile he had remembered from their first acquaintance.
  Elmar leaned against the doorpost and stood still for a while, looking at his guest in silence.
  "It mustn"t be true! It can't be you!" he said at last.
  Ryabinka could not help astonishing.
  "Why?" exclaimed she; "I expected many different sorts of meeting but not like this."
  "You've changed a lot. Now I would never take you for an alien. Is this another disguise?"
  "Nothing of the kind, on the contrary. Now you see me as I really am. The grim was a year before."
   "And the black curls?"
   "And the black curls. Are you disappointed?"
  "Not at all. But you hairstyle reminded me a portrait of two hundred years old. You look like Katrena Selwyna, inspirer of the uprising of the mighties.
  "The uprising of the mighties? This is fantastic!" laughed Ryabinka.
  "That was our history. Your hair looks good. And these hairpins with beads... Are they made of metal or is it plastic?"
  "They"re of metal. Are you going to invite me to your habitation? By the way, I'm so hungry that I would eat even a dead wolf."
  "I have no dead wolves and can treat you only to a good steak with coffee."
  "I"m all for it, if the coffee is natural."
  Ryabinka was surprised at her impudence. Of course, she had conducted a psychological training before rushing to take by storm Elmar"s abode, and still in all circumstances she had managed to watch every her word and to monitor her gestures or facial expressions. From her early childhood she had been learnt to respect the boundaries of decency. She knew, it was sacred - but not now. As soon as she saw Elmar, all her grandma's training flew off from her mind like the husk of a chestnut. She felt unexpected free and easy, without any embarrassment.
  "Now I have only natural things at home. Natural coffee, natural steak and natural Ryabinka her own person," replied Elmar. There was a subtle irony in his voice, but it was so faintly discernible that one might have thought: it seemed.
  And one more unusual trick was there: when the vestiges of mutual awkwardness after the first words disappeared, something completely different began to happen to Ryabinka. She had not expected that she would be so pleased to see the artist again. She sincerely had been sure that she needed him only as a guide. But it turned out that she did not know herself well enough. It turned out that she could feel joy of simple seeing a person and hearing his voice. It was new and it was wonderful!
  Ryabinka talked about her work, about successes and plans. They interrupted each other, and just laughed without knowing why, and almost for the first time in her life our cosmonaut-girl was dizzy and her heart was ready to jump out with happiness.
  They recalled their common acquaintances ("Martin will be awfully happy and come running"), and the exhibition on High-island ("the grass of you is wow and growing little by little").
  "Have you reported of your appearance to the Security Council?" asked Elmar suddenly.
  Ryabinka choked on her drink, which had nothing common with real coffee but name, and said haltingly:
  "I didn't come for a walk. We need water, and I have to find out whether it can be produced in an industrial way. I must make sure that it is impossible or bring the proving of existing the technology. If I succeed to acquire the whole packet of drawings and detailed description of the process, it would be the best."
  Elmar became serious:
  "Indeed? So you came on business, and are not for long again. The method of water production from solid rock exists, no doubt. But how are you going to act if you want to remain incognito?"
   "I don't know. To tell the truth, I'm counting on your help."
  "Then there's an idea. The documentation, since the method was widely used, is stored somewhere. In one of the libraries, I guess. Let us make the order into the collector, and we shall be informed in no later than in an hour,."
  "Only in an hour? Should we wait for such a long time?"
  "Hardly we are alone who need an information. Orders are executed on a first-come, first-served basis."
  "And why wouldn"t it be ordered over the Internet?"
  "Internet? What thing do you call by this name?"
  "Well... the world wide web," said Ryabinka when she thought a little.
  "We don't have your web," shrugged Elmar; "We have to wait, that's all."
  "But you have a computer, haven"t you?"
  "That"s a novelty. Do you remember the group that came to see your spaceship at your last arrival? They climbed your boat - so you see the result. They did not found any Internet, but if you know how it works, the problems disappear. So you may act."
  Ryabinka laughed and said:
  "Not at the moment... I know something of it but not much and this is not enough for getting the documents... Owe!" exclaimed she suddenly; "I have to go somewhere. I'll be back very soon, okay?"
  "Do you want to go alone?"
   "Don't worry. Just look, I have "the mind" on its place. But I beg you, sign your sketches next time, please. I almost broke my brain till I guessed what the intricacy of the lines on your present meant.
  She left. Elmar did not start wasting time, and made the order to library collector. "Wait," was the answer.
  Having connected the phone with the computer, Elmar put it on auto-record and prepared to have a dull time again. But he did not miss too long. The doorbell rang again and on the threshold there stood Ryabinka again, shyly smiling as usual. Only now she was wearing makeup exactly as he remembered her from their first meeting on the lake: thin eyebrows, fair skin, blush on the cheeks, and, of course, black with a bluish tint curls.
  "Great!" admired Elmar: "I must say, you have a good taste. A little more extra and it would look unnatural.
  Elmar's guest shrugged:
   "May I come in? she said.
  Without waiting for an answer, she stepped over the threshold and walked into the living room in front of the owner of the house.
  "The answer from the library collector is ready," Elmar said, glancing at the computer screen; "We can order the documents quite from here."
  "No, I'd like to look through them first," objected Elmar's guest, glancing at the screen as well; "It can be found only on the spot, what is important and what is not. Where are they? In the library of the Technical Museum in Stasigord?"
  "OK," said Elmar; "I agree, let"s fly to Stasigord."
  "No, I don"t want you to appear with me."
  "Very well. Just promise me to bring it from the library right here and not to do anything without my participation."
  "I promise, " said Elmar"s guest.
  And she flew away.
  
  The appearance of an alien spaceship did not remain unnoticed. Astronomers were the first who raised the alarm. In the early morning two of the four observatories of the planet detected the landing of an unidentified object. However, till the beginning of the day those data were known only to computers. And even then it took at least half an hour, while astronomers verified the instrument readings. Finally, they reported about the suspicious object to the Security Council. The liaison officer reassured scientists and told the coordination officer:
  "Have a flight, go and see what has happened."
  The coordinator looked at his watch: lunch break. He had lunch. Then he went to Dolingord and, having found nothing flew to the nearest Observatory. The figures he was demonstrated inexorably testified that some body, indeed, made a landing at the specified location, and it was the body from the Space. It shook the coordinator and made him move a little faster. He returned to the base and, after thinking about it, called the Chairman of the Security Council, Ahmad Tairov.
  The phone call of the coordinator did not delighted Tairov. The appearance of an alien from the Big Cosmos meant a lot of troubles and anxiety of different kinds. Even if it was Ryabinka. And according to the absence of reports from citizens, it could be only her. And the place of landing: the district near Dolingord, - spoke for itself.
   Tairov gave the order to call an emergency meeting of the Security Council and went to the Small Conference Hall. In fact, it was not a hall, but a modest-sized room with the conference screen in a wall and a control panel. Through this panel Tairov could communicate with any of the members of the Council, wherever they were. The screen showed the faces of the speakers and made it possible for everyone to turn on in the process to hear and see not only Tairov but also the other participants of the meeting. Of cause, if a member of the Council was at home. So the Chairman of the Council waited. Fifteen minutes later the screen showed that everyone was ready.
  The deliberation was long. There were a lot of projects. Someone offered to declare a planetary investigation, the other supposed to reproduce a picture of Ryabinka and mobilize the mighties.
  "No," answered Feoktista Mikhailovna; "The mighties have enough troubles without Ryabinka.
  Everyone in the Council knew whom she represented, and her "no" meant the matter closed.
  There was also a dull idea: to announce a competition for the best historical work about The Earth. The author of the idea supposed that Ryabinka surely would take part in such competition and would be easily recognized. The project was rejected because of its sheer stupidity. Finally, they decided to send someone who might know her well to follow her supposed footsteps and gather information in that way.
  "If she landed in the old place, she will fly to Dolinniy or Otkrytiy," said Tairov.
  "Who will we take in the search?"
  " We shall take one of the mighties who lives in one of these cities, shan"t we?"
  "No, it is useless. None of them suits for this task. They both are young and not experienced... No, no, they don't know Ryabinka, neither she knows them. How will they be able to motivate their curiosity?" said Feoktista Mikhailovna after some thought.
  "OK, we'll send someone who knows her well," finished the dispute Ahmad Vaneyewich; "Does anybody object to this proposal? Nobody does. Let"s vote then..."
  But soon the comm officer phoned up again.
  
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    
  Katrena and her precepts
  
  Ryabinka"s reluctance to fly with Elmar was not a vagary, although it looked very similar. She was returning to the valley near Dolingord, to the place where she had left her starship, because she suddenly began to doubt whether she had closed the entrance hatch, and she didn"t want him to see that she could be so forgetful.
  She always had checked if everything was done correctly, but that day she lost all her habits. It was for joy. She jumped out of the ship and having forgotten everything, ran across the young green meadow. She was intoxicated by the fresh wind; and the sky, covered with a thin layer of lilac clouds. Everything seemed so friendly, so safe. How missed she such splendor having been on Liska.
  Bright soft grass, not yet having got rough and dark, seemed to bow to her feet, and a sharp fragrance of the ground, full of strength and life, tickled her nostrils. Spring reigned over the Green Valley... What hatches could compare to this? At that moment Ryabinka forgot about everything in the Universe.
  And now, having settled the main task, Ryabinka remembered about her blunder. It was necessary to correct the things, no matter how annoying it was. But to drag Elmar with her because of the trifle like that? To turn in his eyes into in a kind of a forgetful doll, needing a care. Oh no, not for the world! She preferred to stay experienced and independent business person.
  The hatches, of course, were in perfect order. So Ryabinka could go back to Otkritiy, but suddenly her intentions changed. Ryabinka wanted to see Martin and Mariye. In the morning she could not bring herself to drop in Dolingord, but now, after the meeting with Elmar, her shyness and hesitation suddenly replaced by confidence that she will not be an unwanted guest. That it would be strange, even impolite, not to visit the hospitable house near the alley of blue tulips.
  A waiting for a miracle came to Ryabinka. It made her dizzy, and her feet carried her to a familiar birch grove. Here was a birch tree at the edge, then there was its duplicate with a hole under the roots with pieces of cut turf... Here was a hillock, behind which she met Elmar for the first time...
  Ryabinka flew up the hillock... Alas! There was no lake anymore; her lake didn"t exist any longer! A few puddles were here and there/ and that was all that remains of the former splendor. Nothing strange was in it! Created by the whim of her imagination pond was not fed by any sources, so why should it be eternal?
  Ryabinka turned slowly and walked along the lake by a winding, almost imperceptible path. The miracle did not happen, and the old fears seized her. She thought, that not only the lake could disappear in a year and a half. Perhaps Martin won't be happy to see her when she comes to him without permitting. Elmar could be mistaken. Even worse - he could change too.
  But whatever she had in mind, her feet continued to carry her to the certain direction, to and through the cedar grove, to the little town in the vale. She was seized with impatience. Her steps, at first slow, began to speed up, and as she was approaching Dolingord, her movement became more and more like running. And she almost rolled down the slope of the hollow.
  Having stepped on the outskirts of the town, Ryabinka forced herself to remember the decency. She was in public, and the impatience should have been hidden away. Like her grandmother would say: "My dear, learn to see yourself from the side." So Ryabinka imagined how ridiculous her disheveled figure looked rushing through the maze of streets, and forced herself to stop.
  She took out the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her hairdo, which had struck the artist so much, was slightly disheveled. Ryabinka straightened her hair and pinned the pins with beads in some different way, adding a few more.
  Then she walked with a measured, unhurried step, but a vague alarm was growing stronger and stronger in her heart. The passers-bys passed by her, being in a hurry and a lot of women were dressed in overalls of favorite Ryabinka"s cut with ornaments on the edges of different width and configuration.
  Here was an alley of blue tulips, here is a house with two wavy lines around the perimeter instead of windows... But the doors of the house did not open in front of Ryabinka as soon as she stepped on the terrace and came up to the entrance. So she pressed the bell button.
  It was quiet for two minutes, then something clicked, and finally in the opened doorway there appeared a dark-fair haired girl with a forelock. The forelock and the girl immediately reminded Ryabinka about her previous adventures.
  "The nurse from the hospital!" it flashed in Ryabinka's mind.
   "Who do you want?"
  "She hasn"t recognized me"
  "I"d like to see Martin or Mariye. Are they sick or are you with a visit?"
  "Neither first nor second. I"m living here. And as regards Martin and Mariye... you should look for information about them in another place."
  "Why so?" our traveler was bewildered; "I remember very well, I"m quite sure, the doctor Fot and his sister lived here."
  "He turned out to be the mighty, and they went away," explained the nurse.
  "The mighty?" repeated Ryabinka hesitantly. She had learned firmly in her last visit that the power was a secret kept from the uninitiated behind seven seals.
  "Don't you know anything?" exclaimed the nurse, truly surprised by her ignorance, which proved Ryabinka that she really remained unrecognized; "Everyone was very upset when it happened. He was such a decent man! I did not work with him for long, only during six months, but I also agree with this opinion. Oh, what a surgeon he was! And nobody suspected about his second face. Come in, I"ll tell you even more..."
  "Sorry, but no, I'm just for some minutes. Only to say "hello"... How did they know?"
  "I'm talking about. One guy fell off the housetop - he was fixing the roof - and ran into a twig. He was poked right in his chest. He was immediately carried to our hospital for surgery. Taking off the twig, the doctor cut an artery. And that's how it all came out! When he removed his finger from the cut, the artery didn"t have any defects at all! And the wound where the twig was, tightened by itself in some moments. The doctor just waved his hand and walked away frustrated. And after a month he went off the town."
   "When was this?"
   "Last year. He was a good doctor. Everybody regrets about him!"
  "Where did he leave for?"
  "You"re a weirdo! I'd like to know this myself!"
  Ryabinka turned and walked away. There was nowhere to hurry any more. Really, what sense was in making visit to Dolingord? She didn"t arrived to the planet for fun, did she? The best thing was to stick to a solid line: just business and no more trips to the side... She would get into her rocket and fly to Elmar. Perhaps, the answer from the library collector was ready and waiting for her.
  The rocket she had flown from Otkrytiy was put by her near the spaceship. Of course, there was a possibility to create another one, but from the early childhood Ryabinka was accustomed to keep in order every place she visited. To throw the aircraft in the middle of a meadow was a clear clutter, that would be the conclusion by strict grandma and, of course, she would be right. So Ryabinka dragged herself back to the appropriate direction.
  Here was the edge of a birch grove, here was the green meadow. Here was the rocket. But where was the starship? No starship was on the meadow, but there were many traces of people and machines instead of it.
  For some time Ryabinka rushed among hills in panic, hoping she had taken a wrong direction, and that was not her rocket, so the ship is waiting for her mistress somewhere nearby. But the search was unsuccessful. Then she stopped. It was a nonsense that she could lose the direction. During all her life she had never got into such kind of a trouble.
  She cried a little, and then decided that it was too early to despair. The spaceship couldn"t melt away nor evaporate. That meant that someone must had been here. And if someone had taken the ship away, that could be done only by the order of the Security Council. Only they or, perhaps, Elmar knew the code numbers of the entrance hatch.
  Elmar could not take it - it was impossible, and there was not any doubt. So only the Security Council could do that. Well, it was Ryabinka"s fault that she has not reported about her arrival. Naturally, the members of the Security Council had to do everything to prevent a new panic on the planet. Surely, the ship was hidden in a secluded place now and it would be given her as soon as she declared herself. It was necessary to return to Elmar, he would advise her whom to contact with.
  Ryabinka stopped crying and looked in the mirror again. Yes, it was pretty good idea with those hairpins. They looked nice, and the whole hair-dress suited her face and eyes.
  "When I return to Liska, it will be necessary to build the same hairdo," she thought, aiming the rocket to Otkrytiy.
  Of course, it was a little strange of Ryabinka to think about hair when she lost the spaceship. But our heroine was only twenty-three years old. She supposed to have ahead of her some days of rest. The documentation undoubtedly was kept in some safe place, if even it was not in the library. She would ask for copies of the main title pages and patent specification, find out the price of the license if the owner of the patent doesn"t want to sell it, and return to Liska. All her other actions around the patent would be absurd, because the further was beyond her authority. It was "Almighty" who would have to think of how to convince the firm of the need to pay the required amount.
  And as regards the starship, it would be easily found, of course. Who needed it on this planet but her?
  So thought Ryabinka, while flying to Otkrytiy.
  Here is the square with the Film Studio in the center, here is Elmar"s house. Ryabinka went landing, when suddenly across her aircraft flew one rocket, then another and then the two ones. It was impossible to land onto Elmar's yard!
  Ryabinka directed her aircraft up and to the side intending to make landing from the other point, but to her surprise she found that the rockets interfered with her. Because at first they followed her and then, warning her maneuver, didn"t let her to land again.
  The behavior of the rockets puzzled Ryabinka. But then after several attempts, our space girl realized that they pursue a very definite purpose: to set Ryabinka"s aircraft on the some course. Having decided to portray obedience, she turned to the given direction.
  At first she couldn't understand where she was being led. However, when she looked down, the outlines of the landscape, and then the shore she was flying over, began to seem familiar. The compass and the map said that the opposite shore would not appear too soon, nevertheless, after half an hour of the flight Ryabinka felt that she was about to see the land. Really, fifteen minutes later there appeared a point on the horizon. The point grew in size and soon turned into an island.
  The island was small but densely populated. There were cultivated areas of ground everywhere you would look at: fields, fruit and vegetable gardens. A group of buildings in the center, four tiny ponds and meadows with herds completed the picture.
  "Katrena," recalled Ryabinka and went lowering.
  The rockets allowed her to land near the long building at the square in the centre of the island. The building was so neat, as if it has been built not more then just last week. End-to-end thread covered the walls completely, the window frames were carved as well. That gave the building a frivolous, toy-like appearance. Carved columns supported the porch roof.
  Not far from the building there was a large field. A bustle of activity was seen there. Ryabinka observed planting. One of the machine stopped at the edge of the field. Out of its cabin there jumped a girl of fourteen and ran up to Ryabinka. The girl"s exterior as well as her first words was already familiar to our she-cosmonaut:
   "Show me your pass!... Oh, Sergey Aganesovich, look!"
  "Wow, the same girl with the same security manners,. What a coincidence!"
  "Shouldn't be so curious, Lyolechka," said a kind pleasant voice, which was also well-remembered to Ryabinka; "Go back to work."
  Ryabinka turned her head and saw a tall blue-eyed old man with a bald head. The inscription on the TV screen under his face was S.A.Gusev, it was in Ryabinka"s memory as well.
  "Our students also work on the fields," said she, just to say something.
  "And our students eat only what they grow themselves and wear only the clothes that they sew. These machines," the old man nodded onto a field; "they repair with their own hands. They can do it because they made all this technique during their labour lessons... I mean they collected them from the ready parts."
  "But it's terribly unproductive! Poor children! How much they have to work!"
  "From four to six hours every day, except weekends and holidays. That's not much. There is enough time to relax and have fun."
   "Breakfast, lunch, and so on... They go to school too, I suppose?"
  "Yes, of cause. They have lessons from 4 to 6 hours every day," reaffirmed the old man willingly, accompanying his response with a smile of the Sphinx.
  "Oh yes, they have six hours of school in addition! Don't you think you deprive your children of their childhood?"
  "Childhood, Madam, is given to prepare children for adult life. To be more agile than others, to know as much as it is possible, to acquire useful skills."
  "But it's a cruel system! Children must play!"
  "Are you sure? But don't you think that a forcing of a living creature to play all day long is much more cruel thing?"
  And Ryabinka could not find words for objecting his arguments.
  "If you're so regardful, wouldn"t you spare me those air bullies?" said she, pointing to the rockets that were still circling in the air.
   "They are not the bullies but our guards," smiled the Professor again, but now his smile seemed to be rather sinister for our heroine.
  "And why did they drive me here?" she asked, not trying to hide her alarm.
  "Follow me and soon you will understand everything."
  He opened the front door of the toy building and led Ryabinka along a narrow corridor to the very end of it, until they came into a small room, in which barely a couple dozen people could fit. The old man let her in and left. There were no other amusements than gazing around, and Ryabinka started learning the walls of the room as diligently as it was possible in her situation.
  A small window of perfect transparency illuminated a series of five maps depicting the same area, and a velvety black board in a twisted frame hung aside. On the opposite wall of the room there was a portrait of a woman with smooth hair, stacked in an intricate hairstyle.
  Around the portrait there was a semicircle of nine sentences, embossed with dark blue letters on a light green background.
  Ryabinka read the sentences twice, and they puzzled her. Here is their text:
  1. Don't imagine a human.
  2. Don't imagine anything without considering the consequences.
  3. Help everybody who needs your help.
  4. Don't reveal yourself to outside persons.
  5. You mustn"t be ignorant or wicked.
  6. Honesty, courage and integrity are not a decoration but your obligation.
  7. If you're wrong, don't feel ashamed to admit it.
  8. The winner of a dispute is not the one whose word was the last; your task is to make your opponent think about your arguments.
  9. Stand up for your opinion, no matter the persons you talk to.
  
  Having read the sentences, Ryabinka began to study the portrait. The woman had a small neat nose and large eyes, which on Tyerra are painted on the faces of Gypsy-girls from labels and theatre posters. Only their color was not black but blue. The woman was pretty nice, even beautiful. "Katrena Selvina," was the caption under the portrait.
  "These your recommendation are of no use," laughed Ryabinka shortly, addressing to the portrait; "I don"t want to say that people who try to live in such way don"t exist. But they have a heap of difficulties in their life! Any boss will try to get rid of them!"
  At that moment the door opened and "S.A.Gusev" entered the room. He wasn't alone. A group of people with masks on their faces accompanied him.
   "Good afternoon!" said Ryabinka, as the crowd did not say anything. Everything looked ominous enough, although none of the people who entered didn't do anything threaten. They just took the seats along the perimeter of the room. After that they started gazing at her and nothing more, but they did not answer her greeting.
  In complete silence they sat down on the chairs along the walls and continued watching Ryabinka.
  
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    
  On the Lilac Island
  
  "Show your pass," said one of the masks with the voice of the President of the Security Council.
   Ryabinka touched the barrette with a stone by her right temple, but said nothing. She didn't know what to say in such cases.
   "She can't know anything about the pass," the other mask answered.
   Undoubtedly, it was Feoktista Mikhailovna. She spoke softly and seemed sympathetic.
   However, Tairov said sternly:
   "Well, tell us everything, then."
  "I'm sorry," confused Ryabinka; "I didn't know that I have to report to the Security Council about every my appearing on your planet."
   "What about the documents?"
   "I don't understand what documents you need from me! Here's my pilot's license, if you want to look through it."
  From the inner pocket of her jacket Ryabinka drew her license in the spacecraft class L7 and handed it Tairov.
  Tairov gave the certificate to Gusev and continued:
  "Where are the documents you have taken from the library, even though you were said that only copies are issued on hand?"
  To hear such stupid accusation was enough for striking anybody, not only if you are alien on a strange distant planet. It sounded like a thunder from a clear sky for Ryabinka. Did Elmar use her name, for any dirty purpose? Was she wrong to trust him instead of going directly to the Council? Well, she was in trouble then!
  And Ryabinka said haltingly:
  "There's been a mistake. I have not been to any of your libraries... this time. And I haven"t seen any documents at all."
   "That wasn"t she, I told you," - said S.A.Gusev.
  "She is too similar," said Feoktista Mikhailovna. But there was a doubt in her voice.
  "What's your name, girl?"
  Those words were addressed to Ryabinka.
  Ryabinka got nervous. Haven't they read her pilot's license yet?
  " Ryabinka," she said helplessly; "Don"t you see this with your own eyes? Have I changed so much?"
  Tairov took out from his pocket a stack of photos and distributed them to all the presents, except Ryabinka.
  "Yes," said Feoktista, after a moment pause; "You really have changed, especially since you took the documents from the library."
  "I haven't taken your documents," repeated Ryabinka nervously.
  The masked people looked at each other.
  "If I understood you correctly, you tell that you are Ryabinka," said S.A.Gusev gently.
  "Yes, I am," said Ryabinka angrily.
  "You came to us in a starship, of course?" continued he even more softly, almost carefully.
  "Certainly, yes. I don't know why you're asking."
  "Then tell us where you landed it."
  "On the old place, near Dolingord."
  The questions were strange, and she had a vague feeling of distrust to her words. Although, according to common sense, what reason for the lie could she have? But the masks looked at each other again and then gazed back at her.
  "You can materialize things, can't you?" asked Tairov.
  Ryabinka nodded.
  "Then imagine something just here on the floor. A carpet, for example.
  "Wait a little," said Ryabinka hurriedly.
  She closed her eyes and tried to imagine any mat but her thoughts muddled and it didn't work. She opened her eyes and asked:
   "Is this really necessary?"
  "Yes, it"s quite necessary," confirmed Tairov sternly.
  "I can't concentrate."
  "There is nothing to worry about," said Feoktista Mikhailovna softly. "If you can't get a rug then imagine the thing like this one," and she took out from her pocket a small pink ball.
  Ryabinka pressed on the stone of the "mind" and for a moment closed her eyes again. That time she had no doubt of success. It was impossible to describe what she felt when the ball did not materialize.
  "It's not working," muttered she in confusion.
  "That is exactly what I was sure about," said Tairov in a meaningful tone of the man who knew everything; "I feel you're over-tired."
  "Something wrong has happened to me," confirmed Ryabinka almost scared, not knowing that her agreement, so to speak, signed her own verdict.
  "Have a rest," said someone of the presents.
  It was strange, but suddenly she felt irresistible drowsiness.
  "To the lilac island," were the last words she heard, and she plunged into darkness...
  Ryabinka didn't know how long she"d slept. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a room lying on a low, soft mat instead of a bed. The room was small, and there was nothing else in it, except a window and a narrow door.
  Ryabinka came up to the door and pushed it. The door opened, and Ryabinka appeared in a magnificent garden, which went down to the sea by terraces.
  Low branchy trees were foaming white, pink and purple flowers that gave off an ineffable fragrance. Narrow stairs carved in the rock gave the whole landscape the most picturesque look.
  At first, Ryabinka thought she was alone in that luxurious garden. However, soon she noticed a silhouette of a man behind the bushes on the left. The man was lying on the grass and writing something. At least, it seemed to Ryabinka.
  The most reasonable thing was to approach a person and question him where they both were. But she did not succeed in carrying out such a good intention. She did not walk a few steps when an unknown force touched her face, chest and hands, and make her stop. The feeling was that Ryabinka bumped into a transparent elastic septum.
  By all the rules of the adventure story Ryabinka should become scared. But nothing of the kind. She felt the invisible wall with her hands, kicked it, tried to get around and jumped several times, trying to reach the top.
  That was all. Having made sure that the invisible wall went along the slope to the sea and even longer, she returned to the place where the person lying on the grass was seen best.
  "Man! Come up, please!" shouted she.
  The man turned his head and got up. Then he walked towards Ryabinka...
  And then Ryabinka got scared.
  A man who moved towards her looked exactly like a ghost coming from her nightmares. He had a thin long face with a stubbly beard and sullen piercing eyes.
  Everyone would be afraid at Ryabinka"s place! Because the person, who was approaching to her, was the crazy subject, who tried to kill her in her last arrival with the poison from an aerosol can. Now he was not running but walked; he walked gently, easily, and Ryabinka stood like hypnotized and could not move.
  "Shut your mouth, silly creature!" said her last year's killer rudely when he approached quite closely; "If a fish got in the aquarium, it is late to flutter."
  And he banged his fist against the invisible wall.
  Ryabinka guessed that the wall, which did not let her to come up to the madman, would not let him to come up to her, and she cheered up a little.
  "What do you mean?" asked she politely but firmly.
  "I mean, I have not had such a charming neighbor for a long time," the lips of the madman portrayed outright shameless mockery.
  "I can"t share your enthusiasm," said Ryabinka coldly; "At least until I know where I am.
  "At the place where I am, my beauty. In a madhouse!" grinned the her enemy.
   "You're lying.! That can't be true!" horrified Ryabinka, having regained the ability to move; "laia!"
  She began to curse, completely losing all her dignity.
  "What did you say?" surprised the madman.
  "Tu skandra e laia!" repeated Ryabinka with satisfaction.
  "Nahe tu Hingr?
  Now Ryabinka"s turn was to surprise.
  "Yi, nae," she said, confused.
  /They spoke Hingr but as this language is not familiar to most of the readers, we retell their conversation in English/.
  "Tell me, girl, was it you two years ago whom I saw in a birch grove with a gun in your hand?" asked the man.
  Because Ryabinka"s companion was just a man and she could no longer see anything ominous in his wrinkled but far from old face.
  "Yes, it was me. But why did you want to kill me?"
  "I didn't want to kill anyone."
   "Then why did you carry that spray can with the poison?
  "It wasn't me with the can. I wanted to save you from the danger. And you see, what's the matter - I was late!"
   "And what were you doing in the grove?"
  "I wanted to fly away with you on your ship."
   "To fly with me? What for?"
  "Dear girl," sighed Ryabinka"s companion; "Where do you think I learned Hingr? I speak it perfectly, don't I?"
  "You... Are you also an astronaut? From Tierra?"
  "Not from Tierra but from Anga."
  "And how did you get here?"
  "I was flying to visit one of my friends. When I was already in subspace I understood that helium circulation system acting up. "Well," I thought, "the engine should be stopped and repaired before it blows up." For my sorrow, I knew that there was a planet ahead. If only I had known that the planet was not all right! But I didn"t pay attention to warning on the route map and did not want to do repairing in weightlessness. Well, I landed, on the trouble. Or perhaps I should say, I splashed. I adjusted the engine and blew the pipes, but it occurred to me to have a walk. The idea was foolish, I must say. Now my ship is having a rest on the bottom of the sea, and I'm sunbathing here."
  "I understood everything except for one thing," said Ryabinka, sitting down on the grass near the barrier; "why am I here?"
  "And why did they take me?" the old man shrugged, sinking onto the grass on the other side of the barrier; "Not last summer but then, 20 years ago? For not being able to prove who I was. I could not find the ship, I didn"t have the ability of "imagining" - in their language it means "to materialize different objects". That is why they decided that I was mad."
  "But it's so easy to establish the truth," said Ryabinka.
  "What makes you think they want to establish this truth? Ha ha! You"re very naive!"
   "You mean..."
  "I want to say that among the people who lives here (they name themselves "zemeltsy") there are lots of persons who would have done everything to prevent information leakage about this unique planet and its people."
  "Why did they let me fly away then?" asked Ryabinka skeptically.
  "Because somebody stood up for you. He didn't let your ship get damaged. Thanks to him, you stayed alive and were able to go home."
  "Nonsense!" protested Ryabinka; "Feoktista Mikhailovna is not "he", neither is the Security Council... The things you tell about can't be at all! A bunch of separatists intercepts all those who approach their planet, imprison them, destroys starships... I understand, when it was one maniac, but a host of maniacs, standing in power! Human don't do that!"
  "Human?! But they're not human!"
  "Do you want to say, on this planet there is a civilization of robots in addition to people?"
  The old cosmonaut laughed a strange, condescending bitter laugh, and his laughter almost made the hair on Ryabinka's head stand on end. It was some ominous, mockingly uterine sounds, and there was a hint at a sinister secret in them.
  Ryabinka"s eyes widened, and her brows froze in alarm. Having understood her astonishment quite correctly, the old man continued:
  "Is it really a news for you? And don't you know anything? Of course yes, they have hidden everything from you..."
  "And what did they hide?" said Ryabinka banishing obsession.
  "That they are robots themselves. They are almost fake, made-up, so to speak."
   "Made-up?!"
  The things Ryabinka heard next, made her recall that she's talking to a madman. It was a bizarre mixture of truth and fiction. Surely, the person whom fate so unfairly treated with, could invent some rational explanation for why that happened to him. He had to understand somehow why normal-looking people were so immeasurably cruel to him. Whether was it hard to go crazy being put in a madhouse?
  According to his legend, several centuries ago one astronaut crashed on this planet. The astronaut"s name was Ol Kensoly. The planet was desolate but it possessed the magical ability: it gave Ol Kensoly the power to create everything from nothing with the help of his imagination. At first the astronaut was happy. The acquired ability gave him the opportunity to replace the defective parts and devices of the starship with new, good ones, but when he tried to leave the planet all those new parts of his starship disappeared, as soon as the ship crossed a certain border. For flying away the necessary details had to be created from real materials, with hands, not with the head.
  Nobody would do that alone and neither could Ol. So he had to materialize assistants and he made them: thousand men and women among which there was his wife. He created them with the wish to settle on this planet; their appearance he made similar to the ones of his friends and fellow workers. "The newcomers" called the planet "Novaya Zemlya", that meant "New Earth", helped Ol to fix his spaceship and began to live here after his leaving away.
  "But how can it be, if Ol flew away lots of centuries ago?" smiled Ryabinka, as the absurdity was clear.
   "You didn't take it well. Now on this planet there live the descendants of those who were made by Ol."
  "The descendants of the robots?!"
  "Well, if you like to call them in this way. Actually, they are almost indistinguishable from ordinary people. By their look, at least. However, space flights are not available for them, because nothing imagined can leave this planet."
  Ryabinka had to admit that the version of the old cosmonaut was quite impenetrable logically: last year she had had the opportunity to stumble upon the border, that dematerializes the works of human imagination.
  "If only Ol knew that the New Zemlya will become a trap for his grandchildren, he would never mention it in his notes," finished the old man his story.
  "So, you are a descendant of this Ol, aren"t you?"
  The story told by Ryabinka"s companion was terrifying but still interesting.
  "And what about you? Didn't you find the coordinates of this planet on the attic of grandma Verba's house?"
   "How do you know that my grandma"s name is Verba?" said Ryabinka, trying to hide a smile,.
  She couldn"t even to think that her words would have such an effect on that man. He got trembling and quite worried.
   "Did you know my grandmother?" Ryabinka was so glad to hear about something familiar, that she almost forget, where they both were.
   "I know all her children. Are you the Veter"s daughter?"
  "No, I"m not".
  "Is your mother Zarnitsa?"
  "I"m her niece. My father's name was Dojd. Dojd Kensoly."
  "Very well..."
  The old astronaut turned around, then got up and walked to the far end of the lawn. Ryabinka also stood up and went to her room.
  "Hey!" she heard behind her back; "Your name is Ryabinka, isn"t it?"
  Ryabinka stopped and turned her head. The old astronaut stood near the invisible border that separated the two sectors and his quick piercing eyes slid across Ryabinka"s face.
  "Your father... He was married to his classmate, I believe? Her name... I suppose, her name was Rainbow?" there sounded the question.
  "Certainly yes, she's my mom! And what about you? You"re my cousin uncle I guess? Sorry, but I don"t remember all my relatives.
  
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  
  The Key to the Puzzle
  
  Elmar did not have much time to suffer from the fact that Ryabinka had not returned. Of cause he had many reasons for worrying, but it was a completely different feeling from a strange anxiety that flared up in his brain in about an hour and a half after Ryabinka had flown towards Dolingord.
  It was like an electric shock - Elmar felt that something bad and unexpected had happened.
  Elmar"s first instinct was to rush to Stasigord. However, he immediately thought that Ryabinka had no key to the front door of his house, and if she appeared and found the door closed... it would have led the situation to an unforeseen finale.
  Elmar came to the videophone, but who was he supposed to call? Any noise around Ryabinka could do harm for her. Besides, Elmar had a conviction that Ryabinka was not in the library. So he had to wait and no matter how agonizing the waiting was, Elmar have been waiting for all day long.
  Even more agonizing was the night: sleepless and very lengthy. In the morning Elmar decided to phone Martin. Although he lived in Solnechniy now and that city was rather far from Dolingord, but Martin was the only person whose arriving to the Green Valley could seem natural without any hidden cause. That is why Elmar made the call even not being sure that he had the right to tell anyone about the appearance of Ryabinka without her permission. Besides, it was necessary to do something.
  That day Martin worked the second shift. The news of the appearance of Ryabinka pleased him, and the fact that she went without Elmar"s permission did not bother him at all.
  "Everyone has the right to be independent," he said.
  "She promised to come back," retorted Elmar.
  "The empty troubles. In fact, you're panicking for nothing. She cannot be in danger, especially if someone don"t trumpet everywhere about her coming.
  "Do you refuse to help me?"
  "What makes you think so? I'm leaving for searching her immediately."
  Elmar's idea was simple to the primitive. He offered Martin to get around all the hotels in Otkrytiy with a photo of Ryabinka and after that if nobody had seen her to fly to Stasigord with the same mission. Of course, Elmar could do it himself, but he did not dare to leave the house, because Ryabinka could appear at any time - it was the first reason. And secondly, he was afraid to look obsessive in her eyes.
  Really, what might think a beautiful young girl, noticing the persistent desire of the guy to drag her into his house? It was clear that Martin, as a neutral person, suited much more for the part of the detective as compared to Elmar. Moreover, Ryabinka mentioned that she wanted to see her friend doctor.
  What was Elmar"s surprise, when instead of Martin or Ryabinka there landed the aircraft of the Security Council on his yard, and he saw Feoktista Mikhailovna together with Tairov himself.
   "What's up?" asked the painter frowning.
  Even faces of the members of the Council were enough to upset him after some events in his life.
  "What more do you want from me?"
  "Nothing," said Feoktista Mikhailovna gently.
  "Nothing from you personally, but you must help us identify someone," said Tairov.
  "I have no debts and must do nothing for you or anybody else," answered Elmar roughly and prepared to shut the door.
  "Your phone is tapped," said Tairov politely but there was insistence in that politeness.
  Elmar went pale and his throat tightened. The most terrible hypotheses about Ryabinka"s fate flashed through his head.
  "I'm listening," he said between gritted teeth.
  "You have broken the law again," continued Tairov with the push in his voice.
  "Ahmadushka, stop it," - interrupted him Feoktista Mikhailovna; "Elmar, the fate of one person depends on you now. Who is it?"
  And she showed Elmar a 3D portrait of Ryabinka, exactly as she was, in her words, "in fact."
  Elmar turned his face away and said nothing.
   "Do you know her?"
  Elmar shook his head.
  "We only waste valuable minutes here," said Tairov impatiently; "This time you was wrong, Feoktistushka."
  "Wait a little,"
  Feoktista Mikhailovna took out from her pocket another portrait of Ryabinka, with make-up and tinted curled hair. She showed it to Elmar and asked softly:
  "Have you ever met this person?"
  "No," said Elmar between gritted teeth, though that time his denial was absolutely meaningless.
  "Do you know that this person stole the protocols of ten closed meetings and some other important documents from the library?"
   "You don"t say!" exclaimed Elmar, really amazed; "What need was for Ryabinka in protocols of closed meetings? Especially if she flew to us with the purpose she told me about?"
  "We'd like to know this "what for" as well. Listen, Elmar. If this girl," Feoktista Mikhailovna pointed to the first portrait; "is Ryabinka, then tell her to return the documents."
   "But if she is not, and I'm pretty sure about that, help us to find the true native, and it will help you make amends to society," said Tairov.
   "I am not going to make amends," said Elmar sharply. "I won"t betray a man into your merciless hands, even if you promise to give me back my..."
   Elmar's voice broke.
   "The girl is already in our hands, Elmar, and you"ll betray nobody," said Feoktista Mikhailovna still calm and softly, ignoring his rudeness; "If it's Ryabinka, we'll let her go with you, we just need the documents."
  "She is Ryabinka," pointed Elmar to the first photo.
  He did so, because he believed Feoktistushka at once. She always told the truth, and that was one of the secrets of her influence on the other mighties. So he thought a little and then continued:
  "And perhaps, the second picture is not of her. There is a movie that is just doing at our Film Studio, "Ryabinka and Akhnaton" by name. I've seen enough of those Ryabinka, makeup just makes miracles. Someone who auditioned for this part took advantage of it and stole the documentation, that's all. I even..."
  "I"m tired of hearing all your tales," interrupted Tairov; "The person in the first photo is not mighty."
  "Not mighty? Are you sure? How it could be?"
  "Alas!" confirmed Feoktista Mikhailovna; "It is so, though she tried to convince us otherwise."
  "Wait a minute."
  Elmar picked up a holographic portrait plate and turned it around so that both the head and the face could be seen from almost every angle.
  "I understood," said he at last; "I assure you, this is hers. She couldn"t materialize anything because of these metal pins with beads."
   "They played the role of the blockage?!" guessed Tairov; "This sounds right. Let"s go to the place where she is now. You"ll look at her up close, and if your guess is correct, we'll let you both out."
   "Is she's on Katrena?"
  "Why? Of cause, no! She"s on the Lilac island."
  "Oh ..."
  "Why did you flinch, Elmar? Got scared immediately? You look like your legs are shaking!" chuckled Tairov.
  "I have nothing to be afraid of," muttered the artist, taking his way to his rocket.
  "Your aircraft will not penetrate there," said Feoktista Mikhailovna; "Take your seat with us."
  When he got in the car, he was blindfolded. Those who did that did not know that Elmar was able to navigate in the air not only without maps and a compass, but also in complete darkness. No wonder! - that skill was a part of the training program on the Katrena, and he was the best student of his class!
  After finding out that it wasn"t Ryabinka who stole the documents, she was given freedom. Elmar and she were delivered on the courtyard of Elmar"s house and left there with the permission to do what they want.
  "Elmar," said Ryabinka; "What about the library collector? Has the answer from there already come?"
  Elmar looked at her in surprise:
  "Are you really crazy? Or haven"t understood yet? They're gone, your papers! They're kidnapped! Stolen simply!"
  "Was all those bustle because of my technology? Tairov and the others spoke about some protocols!"
  "There were a lot of papers missing yesterday."
  "And what should we do now?
  "Let us wait for Martin and ask his advice. He is devoid of romantic imagination..."
  As soon as Elmar said those words, the door of his house opened and there appeared the person he had just recalled.
  "So I'm not imaginative, am I?" exclaimed Martin in a deliberately indignant tone; "Only don't try to make excuses, because I heard everything!"
  "I just wanted to say that you have a cool head and can always find the right solution."
   "The amendment is adopted. But my sober brain can't think when my stomach is empty. So my first sober offer will be to have a hearty lunch."
  Ryabinka had to admit that Martin could raise a spirit. She did not notice the moment when she smiled and all her anxiety seemed to her shallow and unworthy. Indeed, it could not be so, that there was no way out of the situation..
  "Do you know whom I met on that mad island?" said Ryabinka at lunch, pouring by the glass tamarind juice, which she had just materialized in a large, elegantly ornamented jug. (She loved beautiful things); "The second of that crazy man whom I put to sleep last year. By the way, he was a former acquaintance of my grandmother."
  Elmar and Martin looked at each other.
  "Did he try to pretend to be an astronaut?" said Martin after a pause.
  "Try to pretend? I don"t think it was pretending! He is a real ex-astronaut, that is all!"
  Elmar and Martin looked at each other again. It was clear they condescended to Ryabinka"s gullible naivety but didn"t believe in astronauts placed in lunatic asylums. And Ryabinka continued with deliberately casual tone:
   "You don't believe me, do you? But do you know how good he speaks Hingr? It was such a pleasure to find at least one person who I could chat in my native language with!"
  "Listen, Ryabinka," said Elmar sharply; "The language means nothing. He could have learned it from the films that were copied by the Commission in your starship at your first arrival."
  "From the movies? During a year and a half? I wish I could see how you could learn an alien language in one year and from the movies! No wonder the poor man got crazy a little! It is very easy to go off the rails, when nobody believe not a word you say, and everybody are looking for signs of abnormality in you. I feel so sorry for him! Do you know how he explains why he was imprisoned? He said, your government had done that from envy. Because he's a real person, and you all are made-up. Just think: he assured me that his great-great-great-great-grandfather invented your ancestors. Why are you looking at each other again? By the way, he claimed, that his great-grandfather was also my great-grandfather!"
  Martin's reaction to her words surprised Ryabinka.
  "Well, I have to go home," he said, putting an empty glass on the table; "I must say, this tamarind drink has an excellent taste."
  He stood up and left without adding anything else. His departure hinted Ryabinka that she chose a bad topic for conversation. Nevertheless, the events of the previous day made it clear what could have happened to her, if she had not escaped last year from the welcoming house near the alley of blue tulips in time. The fate of the unfortunate astronaut excited her. So just at the moment Martin crossed the threshold and the door closed behind his back, Ryabinka asked Elmar:
  "Do you have a custom of placing all astronauts in a mental hospital?
  Elmar blushed and muttered disaffectedly:
  "Ryabinka, I beg you not to have this conversation with anyone else. That man has proved his abnormality. Because he can't be an astronaut. You'd have seen it if you'd listened to him longer. I heard about him and read his story. He claimed that he was related to the forces of nature, that he himself was either a Downpour or Rain...
  "His name was Dojd, and his mother"s Verba!" finished Ryabinka with a trembling voice, because at that moment she understood who was the unhappy man she had faced with a gun in her hand on the edge of a birch grove.
  "Yes, that's what he had told," confirmed Elmar.
  Oh, how angry Ryabinka became when she heard his words! She didn"t get angry at Elmar but at herself. So that's why the old astronaut was looking at her so strangely! He was her Father! He's alive but she didn't recognize him!
  "Now listen to me, Elmar. Have you ever read my messages to you? With my signature?" said she bitterly.
  "Well..."
  "Look at my middle name."
  And she handed him her flight card, returned her by Tairov after her identity had been established by the authoritative confirmation of Elmar. It is impossible to describe what feelings reflected on the face of the artist, replacing each other when the meaning of three lines on a piece of plastic reached his mind.
   "I'm really stupid!" he said with a groan; "But who would think that? What a mysticism!"
  "Since the merger of languages, we have the fashion for similar names," explained Ryabinka; "I must save my father. Don't mind! Perhaps, he got crazy here a little, but I'll take him away, and at home he'll recover soon!"
  "I don't mind," said Elmar, looking aside in a strange and guilty way; "But lots of things are not so simple as you think about them. For example, I do not recommend you to apply to the Security Council."
  "I'm not going to apply to your government anyway! I'll just kidnap him! And if you refuse to help me, I'll do it myself!
  At that moment Ryabinka did not think by what right she demanded the artist to commit an act bordering with a crime. In her heart there lived conviction that Elmar could do absolutely everything. She even didn't try to ask herself why that guy had to worry about her. And no wonder! Elmar was nowhere close to her boyfriends. He seemed almost magician. Besides, after the visit to the Lilac island there was nothing in the whole Universe more important for her than her father"s fate. And now about Elmar - wasn't he the one who pulled Ryabinka from the madhouse? That cost him nothing, and he was able to solve any problem with a simple moving a finger. Really, Elmar"s answer was of the kind to strengthen Ryabinka"s opinion about the artist as of a person who was able to help in any situation.
  "I must think," he said; "However, I know someone who has the right information. Let"s have a fly."
  
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    
  Disappointment
  
  Only in the rocket Elmar said Ryabinka, where they were flying.
   "To Stasigord," explained he; "To the Museum where your papers were stolen from."
  "What for?"
  "At this Museum Professor Gusev works."
  "I know one Gusev. From the Katrena."
  "Have you already been to the Katrena?"
  Elmar was astonished:
  "Well, you're a fast leg indeed! And how did you like our residence?"
  "Is it your residence? I thought it is a correctional colony, where the young persons, which are not amenable to other measures, are rehabilitated by experienced pedagogues in the right direction. According to the proverb "Work ennobles humans."
  Elmar laughed.
   "You have a pretty nice opinion about our system of education! Penal colony! Ha! None of us still guessed to use the Katrena as a place for sending ordinary people for correction."
  "You mean that on your island there are only the children of the mighties? And all of them are taught and nothing more?"
  "I want to say that all children who shows the ability to imagine things go there, where they teach the most necessary skill: the ability to own their hands."
  "All the same... their life is without choice. Endless work and discipline... Oh, no - nobody would envy them."
  "They always have a choice: to give up their power and go to a regular school."
  "Do other schools teach differently?"
  "Yes, there are usual lessons of handicraft according to the school program."
  "So that drudgery you arranged only for your own children, didn"t you? What a happy lifestyle your heirs live! It's something awful! And for what? To do in a long and difficult way what can be done easily and quickly?"
  "I don't know where you saw the drudgery. Let's take you as an example. You are a forestry specialist, aren"t you? Do you grow your forests with the help of a magic wand? Or do you perceive your work as a drudgery?"
   "But I chose it myself," answered Ryabinka, because she was not going to give up; "Besides, I love it."
  "Do you like everything in it? And there is nothing unpleasant in its process, isn"t there?"
  Elmar laughed. No malice was in this laughter but Ryabinka rushed to the attack.
  "If my forests and meadows had appeared in the blink of an eye, I would have been happy!" she said.
  "And what would you do after that?"
  "I'd plant other woods."
  "Do you think you would be happy again? But it doesn"t work that way. You'd be bored very soon!"
  "So you must feel boredom continually."
  Elmar bit his lip and frowned.
  "I have a separate set for each film," he said, forced cheer.
   "So would I. Every my grove would differ from others."
  "Would you imagine every blade of grass separately?" laughed the artist again; "Excuse me but it is unproductively. And it"s very tiring as well. Planting is faster."
  "And easier?"
  "Yes. Materialization requires a rather big piece of nervous energy..."
   "That is why Katrena Selvina and her supporters erected the island in the ocean and began to work with their hands," finished Ryabinka Elmar"s sentence.
  But Elmar did not notice her sarcasm.
  "Your guess is absolutely correct," confirmed he; "The mighties rule our planet not because of their special abilities. Far back in the past the ease and speed of materialization turned the mighties into a sort of slaves. The genius of Katrena was that she understood how to provide for the mighties a real and not illusory power over New Zemlya.
  Ryabinka did not answer. She did not want to argue but she could not agree that children should be exhausted by work either. In addition, very soon there appeared the panorama of a small town, amazing in its beauty. And she guessed: it was a Stasigord.
  Like Otkrytiy, Stasigord was built according to a clear architectural plan. Only its plan was completely different. Six-beam symmetry appeared in the position of streets, squares and parks. On the central square there stood a two-storey building. It was located on the highest point of the landscape, and six main streets of Stasigord radiated from it under the strictly angles. The beginning of every street was looking in one of the six faces of the building. The second storey was a cylinder in shape. Large, dark red with white bumpers facing tiles looked in perfect harmony with the high golden spire, crowned the pyramidal roof.
  "This is the Museum of Stasiy Abramenko," said Elmar; "It was he who invented the method of producing water from hard rocks, for which you came."
  "Why did that Stasiy invent water if you have power, and any of you could materialize it in one fell swoop in any quantity? Was it also for ideological reasons?"
  Elmar laughed again.
  "No, we are not so obsessed of principles. Stasiy lived in the times before the first mighty of our planet was born.
  Ryabinka entered a magnificent building with a trepidation. She saw a small lobby. Two staircases, made of what looked like marble, led to the upper floor.
  The wall opposite the entrance was occupied by a huge map of New Zemlya, made in the technique of Florentine mosaics. The pieces of stone, and, perhaps, smalt (it was difficult to understand), artfully matched in color, was cut into the shapes which let to see without explanation what it was and where. When approaching the map, you could see not only the general outlines of the mountains and ridges but even almost every big single mountain. At least, it seemed that way to Ryabinka.
  One of the side walls was of black background with scarlet letters on it. The letters sparkled and represented from themselves the writing:
  "Zemelets! Remember! It mustn't happen again!"
  Under the inscription there was a large white rectangular plate. Clear convex font was readable from any angle and point of the lobby.
  
  "Decree
  of the Security Council
  4 Arrivals 264 years.
  In order to settle the relationship between the mighties and other people and to ensure the proper security of the planet, it is prohibited:
  1. To ask a man whether he is the mighty.
  2. If the mighty revealed himself to ask his name, surname, or place of residence.
  3. To inform the others that this man is the mighty.
  4. To hide a child who has shown the ability to imagine."
  
  Ryabinka turned to Elmar and fancied a suffer in the corners of his tightly clenched lips.
  "Here are the mighties again," sighed she.
  "The ours lived in Stasigord before their rebellion," - said the artist sullenly.
  "The rebellion... Hm... Rebellion of the mighties... An absurd combination! The rebellion against the mighties - come on!"
  "Yes, that's all right. There was a time when the mighties were demanded to wear some differences in appearance and to live in a separate place. One day they rebelled against it: they left that place and dispersed in all directions to mix up with other people."
  Now Ryabinka"s turn was to laugh.
  "Do you call that a rebellion?" she was astonished indeed; "Does your whole history consist of such trifles? You have not seen real uprisings! If to believe this inscription, Martin also started a riot when he left Dolinniy!"
  "Who says that Martin has started a riot? He fulfilled the law, nothing more. If he hasn't, his life would turn into a nightmare. After all, we have strictly prohibited to play the role of a living god."
   "I know that. But, in my opinion, this law is terribly stupid! When you can feed and clothe the entire population in one fell swoop, then... What's wrong with living in honor and reverence for your power? Your government usurped the power and doesn"t want to share it with anyone. On Tyerra we call it a totalitarian regime," explained she her position to that naive representative of the rule class, trying to open his eyes to what luxury the laws of Katrena deprive him of.
  "Glad to see Elmar!" came a grumpy, familiar voice from above.
  Ryabinka raised her head and saw the blue-eyed old man with a bald head. The old man was coming down to the lobby.
  "Glad to see Professor," said Elmar; "I guess you know our guest."
   "No doubt, I know her," confirmed Sergey Aganesovich, because it was nobody else but he. Nice to see Ryabinka! Why did you come here?
  "Our guest is very interested in the elastic walls," said Elmar evasively.
   "Is that true?" asked the Professor.
  Ryabinka had to nod in the affirmative, although she had no idea what walls was Elmar speaking about. And his further behavior made her doubt whether he was really so serious man as he tried to seem. He started a completely empty talking, pulling Ryabinka in the role of his accomplice. And she could not decide whether he's fooling her or S.A.Gusev.
  "Aren"t on That Earth similar constructions?" asked the professor.
  "They have," said Elmar, not giving Ryabinka any chance to open her mouth; "But their barriers don't pass anything in both directions."
  The professor's eyebrows crept up.
   "That's interesting... And why is she sure that our elastic walls act differently?"
  "I'm not sure about anything!"
  Ryabinka's annoyance was true.
  "We argued about the principle of the pass system," took the initiative Elmar; "Martin says it's a conditioned frequency signal, I say it's the angle of attack or the speed of flight that matters..."
  "And what does our guest think?" squinted the old Professor.
  "She is convinced that none of these models provides hundred percent protection. The frequency can be selected, and the angle of attack and the speed remembered from one flight."
  "It is intriguing," said the professor, throwing at Ryabinka, as it seemed to her, a sharp penetrating gaze; "It's nice to meet a smart man. Well, let"s suppose that the field is really impenetrable, what then? Come on, young people, let's reason..."
  Ryabinka felt boredom and terrible awkwardness from being portrayed as an expert of systems of which she had no idea. Still, she had an acumen not to show her ignorance in this area.
  "I think the solution should be very simple," said she evasive and angrily.
  She was nervous. Time passed, and she did not move even for a tiny step in the problem for which she came here. Elmar drew from the Professor it all out endlessly, then bade him farewell, took Ryabinka by her sleeve and they left the Museum. And not a word was said on the subject that excited Ryabinka, that was the liberation of her father. He also said nothing on the topic of water production. The oddities in Elmar"s behavior was not over on that. Without any explanation he invited Ryabinka in his aircraft, and they flew to who knows where again.
  Ryabinka sat in the rocket behind Elmar and was very angry. That day she felt in Elmar"s manners some kind of an affectation and false. She saw him from the side that would not be able to decorate anybody, and the aura of an extraordinary man, almost magician, who could solve any of her problems with moving a finger, was replaced by disappointment, how could she trust a dummy and a talker.
  "A jester," was her conclusion.
  It was quite clear that Elmar had no influence in local circles, but on instructions of the Security Council was playing for time and trying to entertain her, the native, while someone else was looking for the missing documents and their stealer. Maybe the method she had come for did not exist? Maybe it was only a fiction of a writer? Or maybe her father was right and the whole civilization of that planet, together with its funny history was only a mirage and someone's materialized fantasy?
  That meant that nobody would free her father.
   "Where are we going?" she asked, trying to suppress her irritation.
   "And where would you like to go?"
  "Well, that is what I thought!"
  The dismissive tone in which Ryabinka said those words, surprised Elmar.
  "I don't understand," he said sullenly.
  "One more tour. The conscious guy Elmar will demonstrate to the unconscious girl Ryabinka the benefits of a healthy lifestyle in the bosom of nature or somewhere else."
  Elmar glanced sideways at her and said gloomily:
  "Do you often come up with such ideas?"
  "And what about you?"
   "I don't. We're flying to Katrena."
  Meanwhile, the rocket where they were in, began to deviate to the left of the intended course. Ryabinka felt that Elmar did not like it at all.
  " Why, what a surprise!" said he perplexedly; "Could you explain such mystic things?"
  "Maybe the compass acting wrong," assumed Ryabinka.
  Although she was not eager to get to the Katrena, the unexpected breakdown of the aircraft in the middle of the blue sea could not please her.
  "Compass? I always know where I'm moving without any device. Don"t you see? It can't be turned to the Katrena! In no way!
  "I think the control is lost..."
  Elmar turned the wheel to the right, and the rocket obediently turned his nose into a semicircle. But no further! An unknown power persistently rejected the rocket from the straight direction to Katrena!
  Suddenly Elmar hit himself on his forehead.
  "Oh, I am a forgetful fool!" exclaimed he; "How could I forget that the Katrena can be accessed only from the East. The passage to the Katrena is in a single place. Do you understand?"
  But Ryabinka was unable to do that. She couldn"t get the excitement that gripped Elmar. Just two moments before he was almost in panic and suddenly his spirit rose to the high degree as if he had won some important prize. Just now, in the middle of the ocean.
  "A jester," thought she scornfully; "He thinks I'm a silly stupid fool."
  Her first wish was to tell Elmar that if he even wasn't going to save his father, nothing make him mess her mind. But then she thought that it would be careless. It would be much wiser to pretend that she still believed her companion and then, dulling his vigilance, to slip out of custody.
   "But why are we going to the Katrena?" she asked coldly.
  "Really, there's no need," answered Elmar, not knowing who he looked like in Ryabinka's eyes; "I suggest to return home and coordinate there the plan of our further actions."
  "No, no, have you forgotten why I came to your planet? Better, bring me back to Stasigord Museum."
  "No use is in going back to the Museum now. It will take at least a year to rebuild the documentation by one brain.
  "If the Museum was built in the honour of the same Staciy who invented water technology, it can not be so that there is nothing left. Some layouts or the schemes, for example. Undoubtedly, it is possible to restore, at least in general terms, the main technological chain."
  And Ryabinka smiled haughtily.
   "Surely, there can be collected something," said Elmar thoughtfully," disproving Ryabinka"s hypothesis that the method was a mirage; "Although I must say that what is stolen is invaluable. There are moments in any technology... they are core. There was everything, absolutely all documentation on the equipment and the conditions of some reactions...You should understand it if you went to school."
  The last remark looked quite insulting, and it was possible to be offended. And Ryabinka said in a tone which did not admit of objection:
   "Even if it's so, I can't go back empty-handed. I have to collect everything that is in my power. At least for the purpose of advertising."
  "And what about your father?"
  Ryabinka turned her face away.
  "We shall free him tomorrow," lied she without flinching.
  "You know better," agreed Elmar, yielding to her perseverance giving; "By the way, I think I know who took the documentation from the Museum."
  "Really?" said Ryabinka, not trying to hide a smile; "Surely she's one of your fans? Wasn't that the green frog from the Movie Studio?"
  "What frog do you mean?" didn't understand Elmar.
  "That painted foolish girl in the green dress," blurted Ryabinka.
  And she got angry with herself for the sudden dislike of the girl she knew nothing about.
  
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    
  The Frog From the FilmStudio
  
  In fact, what could prevent Ryabinka from telling Elmar about the meeting at the FilmStudio? Nothing. She had got a lot of impressions there, and now it was time to chatter, pretending utter naivety. At the Studio she was in the morning of her first day on the planet, when she had been looking for Elmar"s address. At that time she got there not from the outside, but from inside.
  She landed her rocket on the yard and looked around. The building, which formed the courtyard, had no any door, but was cut with four arches of passages. And Ryabinka passed into the next courtyard, the circular one. All the doors went out there.
  Both buildings looked like they were sculpted from the endless string of rooms. There was a number on every door - and nothing more.
  "A rather strange idea of convenience," said Ryabinka to herself. She crossed the yard and opened the door marked "Exit." But she didn"t came out in the street but in a corridor. Nobody was either in the courtyards or in the corridor. The most reliable idea was to go to a watchman.
  "You know, I'm Ryabinka," she began.
  "I see. Straight ahead and then left."
  So she went where she was told. In the large room there turned out to be quite a lot of people, who were arguing about something, but Elmar wasn"t among them. Ryabinka wanted to vanish, when suddenly a tall man with a reddish moustache drew attention to her.
  "Come in, come in," he shouted cheerfully; "There's nothing useful in standing in the threshold. Who will you be?"
  "I'm Ryabinka. I need Elmar..."
  "All right," the man with the mustache clapped his hands; "There is no reason to waste time. Let"s do a little sketch. You get to ancient Egypt. A desert with sand around you. You're attacked by a lion. Is an animal that looks like a pantr, but much bigger. You have time to notice it and dodge. Then you shoot into it. Is that clear? Make-up her."
  Having smiled, Ryabinka waited patiently until her hair was pulled back on her head (that's where the hairpins with beads were stuck), and even more patiently withstood the application of a thick layer of makeup on her face. The situation was pretty funny. To get to the shooting of a film about yourself does not happen every day. To say the truth she loved to fantasize.
  The scene she was offered to play seemed to be ridiculously easy to her. Ryabinka recalled the sands of Liska, brownish-gray, loose and heavy. She almost saw them now, and felt the heat, and her legs are stuck up to her ankles. Suddenly she saw a lion. She notices him in a jump, moved out of its way, falls down and fires.
  "Did you fall down by accident or on purpose?" heard she a disgruntled voice of a man with a mustache.
  "On purpose," replied Ryabinka willingly.
  "That"s no good then. You mustn't fall down. You are a cosmonaut, very trained, accustomed to everything. Not a simple scared girl. And why did you move with that weird gait?"
  Of cause, Ryabinka could explain that gait might be weird, but it was her own. However, she thought:
  "What's the point? If they don't like my walk, it doesn"t matter where I got it from or how long I've been wearing it."
  "Just look whom I brought to you!" heard she an unpleasant voice.
  Ryabinka turned to the door... A skinny guy in a green shirt dragged into the room a black-haired girl in a green shiny dress and sparkling shoes.
  "You must see!... That's what we need! What a character! A real heroine!" exclaimed he with admire.
  "It"s strikingly! A remarkable similarity," talked every one.
  With a critical eye Ryabinka looked at a snub nose, a large mouth with narrow lips and a pale, artificially lightened skin, with bright artificial blush, painted eyelashes and plucked eyebrows. In short, paint "like Ryabinka," similar to her own face last year.
  However, it was necessary to confess that makeup on the skin of the new candidate for the role was applied very skillfully. If Ryabinka did not know that two seasons ago on Tierra almost half of a girl population was with similar lashes, blush and skin color, she wouldn't have noticed the forgery. That painted frog was much more to the liking of the local filmmakers than a simple girl with straight dark blond hair and soft lips.
  Ryabinka wiped the makeup off her face and said grudgingly:
  "Actually, I just need Elmar."
  "Aren't you from him?" surprised the man with the mustache.
  "Of course no."
  "He"s on vacation since yesterday."
  "What a bad luck! I have five days only!"
  "Hurry up to his house then, perhaps he is not yet off anywhere. Although, I doubt if you catch him, he's always on the road. He's got a lot of fans, your Elmar.
  "And girl-friends, too," added the shaggy-haired boy, and a chuckle swept through the pavilion.
  Ryabinka did not pass the last two phrases to Elmar. But she depicted quite truthfully the rest of her adventures in Film Studio. Her story made the right impression, because Elmar cheered. The tension that held him down since his visit to the professor was gone.
  "So you suggest that the person in the green dress could impersonate you well?" asked he with uncertain smile; "Perhaps, you're right, it was she who did that trick with the forgery. Did she say her name?"
  If Ryabinka thought about Elmar's feelings, she would noticed the deep hidden sorrow of his smile, but she had already turned herself against her companion and was looking for confirmation of her suspicions to his words, actions, and even facial features. She did not doubt that if Elmar played fair, he would never be possible to draw far-reaching conclusions from a random meeting of two candidates for one role.
  But that guy pretended to take seriously the crazy idea, that a girl in green with painted face followed Ryabinka to Elmar"s house and after that rushed to steal the information which wasn"t of benefit to her.
  "I know who she was," said Elmar; "I know where she lives now..."
  "I wonder, how could you know that from my words?" thought Ryabinka.
  "We can go to her right now! If you don't mind..."
  "All right," cut him off our girl-astronaut; "I'll work at the Museum, and you'll look for this person."
  Ryabinka had no doubt that her escort would say a "no" and thus show her the true reason for his attention to her.
  "OK," said Elmar sullenly. "Maybe you should not meet her again. However, I beg you, if you want to free your father, be careful. And, most importantly, do not tell anyone about your intentions."
  "You needn't have to remind me of that. I won't tell anything even you," thought our heroine.
  And she said aloud:
   "Oh, sure!"
  The tone in which the last Ryabinka"s words were spoken, could not help Elmar but despair. In that tone there sounded outright desire to get rid of guardianship and act on her own. It was impossible not to see that. And if Ryabinka had not been in plight, Elmar would have never imposed his help. But he knew she would not be able to get to the Lilac Island and, what was even more important, to fly from there safely. In the same way, he was sure that it was Inka who had taken the documentation, but for some reason he could not betray her to the Council, even for the sake of Ryabinka.
  He felt that he looked like a piece of an idiot before the native girl, although he couldn't understand the reason. And it was unbearable for him to depart with her without justifying himself. Elmar was afraid that she would hide again but at the same time, was afeard she would guess the sad secret that he was hiding from her...
  Whatever it was, but the artist had to leave Ryabinka in the Technological Museum, and to fly to the school where his great-niece Eliza studied.
  He appeared at school, when there was a break. He opened the door of the school lobby, and a deafening noise burst into his ears. All over the corridor there were jumping or running kids. Two boys competed, who would climb higher the ropes, someone was stretching himself out on the rings, some played catch-up. And one couldn"t say that girls were different from boys in agility and mobility.
   "Do you like it?" asked Elisa, who was there as well.
  Having winked, she slid to the end of the corridor, where everything was busier. Elmar came up and saw the doors, which in all normal schools isolated the staircase. But that staircase was turned into something unexpected!
  It was divided into two unequal parts by a thin transparent partition. In general, it was not a staircase at all, but just a descent, the narrower part of which was more winding and gentle. Obviously, it was intended for a descent on roller skates.
  On the wider and steeper part of the descent people could slide on the soles. There was the best fun of all. They went down even on a handrail, and backwards! The children were felling, laughing, and got up immediately as if nothing had happened.
  "Eli," said Elmar; "Will you tell me where Ina Davidovna is?
  "No, I won't," answered Eliza.
  "What a mess!" muttered Elmar.
  "Didn't they warn you that the school is with a sport bias?" rang out a cocky voice.
  Elmar looked back and saw that the voice belonged to a brown-haired woman with earrings in her ears made of black engraved wire.
  "And the percentage of injuries that they have is the lowest in the region," continued the brown hair, and shrugged her shoulder.
  "Really?" asked Elmar almost indifferently.
  Little did he care with the problems of ordinary people, especially now, when he needed Inka and nothing more.
  "Yes, I am personally convinced that they are going the right way. It is useful for our children not only to walk, but to stumble as well."
  "The skill of falling?" asked one of the mothers, approaching.
  "Yes, exactly. I am convinced that it is much more interesting than simple fit the tests or standards. There are virtuosos who can jump freely from the third floor - and not a single injury. They say the mighties adopted this system much earlier."
  To hear that was of great surprise for Elmar. He glanced at the brown haired with earrings but he did not feel any wish to argue. If someone liked to think that the mighties have nothing else to do but make acrobats of their children, all the arguments were powerless.
  "Elisa," he said to his niece reproachfully; "Take me to Ina Davidovna at once."
  "She's not working today."
  "Then show me where the teacher's room is."
  There was no problem to find out where Inka lived but at the end of the day Elmar had to admit that his trip was in vain. Inca vanished as if she fell through ground. She was not anywhere: neither at home nor with friends, and she didn't answer the phone calls.
  And when he came back to Stasigord, he did not found Ryabinka there. Of course, she hid from him, leaving neither address, nor any message.
  "It serves you right, dummy," said Elmar to himself, and returned to Otkritiy. For to wait.
  Later, when he recalled those days, he was struck by a regularity: Inka and Ryabinka appeared and disappeared in the range of his vision in turn. So it was that time: he was waiting for Ryabinka but there flew Inka. She came, as if nothing had happened, despite everything she had done.
  "Hello," said Elmar grimly; "Does your "soon" always last a day and a half?"
  "So you recognized me finally, didn"t you? I"m glad to hear this! I have heard you need me. Though it's not obvious that you're too happy to see me."
  "Why did you take the documents?"
  "I should have known what she was interested in. I was curious after all."
  "Why were you at the FilmStudio?"
  "Where else could I get your address? I should have to meet you again at last, shouldn"t I?" Inka"s voice sounded cocky and mocking.
  "Well, you're very inquisitive, I see. And you came to the secret archives out of curiosity, didn't you?"
  "Even so! You can't judge me! By the way, I have found a heap of interesting things! Come on, I'll show you something.
  She dragged Elmar outside, made him lock the front door and invited into her aircraft. After they took off some four rockets followed them from different parts of the town. They were the same rockets, which persecuted Ryabinka. Their intentions were quite clear not only to Elmar but to Inka too.
  "Do you see this?" pointed Inka at them; "I hope you understand now why I didn't want to tell much in your house?"
  "Do you think I was bugged?"
  "I have no doubt. As in the fact that if we were five minutes late, they would not even let us start to fly."
  "They'll catch us anyway," muttered Elmar sullenly; "And I"ll have another heap of troubles because of you."
  "That"s nothing. No more than I have had because of you," said Inka caustically.
  "But you know well, it wasn't my fault! And believe me, I paid the full price for the evil I caused you unwittingly!"
  "I know everything, be sure. But it doesn't make me feel any better."
  "You don't know anything!"
  "I had a chance to learn. Protocol ?2993, you will read it when we arrive. Now, hold on. We're just flying over the sea, it is time to break away from the chase. Get a lesson."
  Suddenly Inka"s rocket jerked and flew down like a stone. Elmar gripped the armrests convulsively. He watched dumbfoundedly how rapidly the shining gray surface was approaching. Near the water the rocket turned for a flatter flight, and then it hit the water surface. For a while there was nothing to see but water. One more touch, and the car smoothly sank to the bottom.
  "They'll be looking for us," said Elmar, coming to his senses.
  "Let them look for," replied Inka calmly; "Now we"ll crawl away for a kilometer or two to the side over there and swim to the continent.
  "They"ll detect us. I'm sure they're already probing the bottom with radars."
  "They should know the relief of the seabed very well for that. And for not being detected during the movement, we shall crawl at a time when there is no anybody over us and on the course of us. This little thing will send us the signal where our rivals are."
  Inca pressed a button, and Elmar saw something looking like a flower bud, that came up from their rocket. He also noticed a thin cable, which did not allow the device to float freely.
  "On the surface this thing will open," explained Inka; "Look and see."
  Right out of nothing, a screen with a black dot in the middle appeared on the control panel. The other four dots circled around the first dot. The four other dots glowed.
  "Let's move a little," said Inka.
  Their aircraft really moved to the right. And on the screen Elmar saw that three bright points-rackets went to the left, and only the fourth made a circle and went to draw with an invisible beam dangerous for Inka and Elmar zone again.
  "A little patience and we'll gone away," said Inka.
  Indeed, as soon as the guard rockets crossed the line of their movement, Inka discreetly removed her aircraft a few meters to the right. Twenty minutes later, the guard rackets shifted to the lower left corner of the screen, and then completely disappeared from sight and appeared no longer.
  Half an hour later, Inka put her aircraft at the bottom of a small Bay off the West coast of the continent.
  "Now we can talk in peace," said she.
  
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  Doubts
  
  Ryabinka stayed in the Museum for a longer time than she expected. Her original plan was to wait till Elmar's rocket disappear over the horizon and rush off in the opposite direction. However, when she had a walk through the Museum, her intention changed. And how it could be otherwise? The method of water production from solid rocks turned out to be a reality, and the whole department of the museum just shouted about it. Posters, models, mockups, paintings and brochures were nice evidence for collecting materials that could be presented to the firm conducting research on Liska; there were more than enough of them.
  Of course, it was necessary to take pictures of everything in that treasure house and Ryabinka set to work. She was very pleased with her foresight, that she had brought a bag of equipment for taking pictures including three spare battery and five flash cards, despite Elmar's assurance that they would not be useful to her.
  The entire work took about two hours. It was time to fly away until the artist returned. However, having gone down to the lobby, Ryabinka stopped. Having glanced at the mosaic panel opposite the entrance, she wondered. To fly was a splendid thing but you should know where to. And that was what Ryabinka did not know.
  When expedition to the Lilac island was only an intention, there was no problem in it. Now it arose in all its clarity in the form of the question: "Where was that island?"
  "What are you looking for?" heard Ryabinka a familiar voice.
  "Sergey Aganesovich?" exclaimed she with relief, recalling Elmar"s words that professor Gusev had the right information.
  "May I help you with something?" continued the professor.
  "Where is the Lilac island?" wanted Ryabinka to ask but suddenly she said quite different:
  "Me? Nothing."
  The professor chuckled and shook his head:
  "And yet I think you were looking for something on this map," pointed Gusev to the mosaic panel.
  "Me? I mean, yes... I wonder where we are right now," said Ryabinka. Then a good idea came up to her; "Anyway... It is interesting to compare the view of your planet from space with this image."
   "Indeed, this is very interesting," agreed the professor; "And what is the success?"
  "We are here," pointed Ryabinka; This is Otkrytiy, there is Dolingord, and there should be the Katrena. But where is the Lilac island? I can"t get it!"
  Ryabinka felt hot through of her own resourcefulness. The right words seemed to fly out of her in the right moment.
  "It would be strange if you understood," said the professor; "the Lilac island is absent on all the maps, and no one knows where it is."
  "Don't you know this too?" blinked Ryabinka; "but Elmar said..."
  At the name "Elmar" there slid a shadow across the professor"s face.
  "What did Elmar tell you?" he asked sternly.
  Ryabinka bit her tongue. But the word is not a Sparrow, it can not be caught, so she had to get out:
  "Elmar said you know everything."
  "Oh, Elmar gives me too much credit," said the professor smugly; "I know not more than I'm supposed to.
  "Is the Lilac island a secret object?" Ryabinka did not give up deciding to inquire everything.
  "Nothing secret at all. Everybody on our planet heard about the Lilac island but no one knows where it is located, and how to get there.
  "But I've been at that place."
  "Do you mean you were brought there?"
  "Yes, certainly. And after all someone works there."
  "Right you are, no doubt they do. However, they get there and come back home with the help of an autopilot mounted on the rockets of special services."
  "And why do they went to all the trouble?"
  "For humanitarian reasons. Persons who are damaged in the mind must be reliably isolated from society, but at the same time it would be inhumane to deprive them of fresh air and greenery."
  "And if they hijack the aircraft and run away?"
   "That's impossible. The autopilot at landing is turned off automatically and only the pilot can run it with the help of special code."
  "You're very convincing.," said Ryabinka, and thought to herself; "Funny people! Do they really believe that it is impossible to find their Lilac island?"
  After leaving the Museum, she walked along the main street, looking for a place to think. At last she saw a bench under a spreading tree. Its gnarled branches with large three-bladed leaves, pubescent bottom with silvery hairs, gave good shade and covered from the impending heat.
  Ryabinka needed a map and a compass for solving the problem. The compass was of no difficulties at all, and as regards the map, she did it having recalled her last year's encounter on the Katrena with a girl named Lyolechka. That Lyolechka gave her the route Atlas, containing a detailed description of the planet's surface and air routes. And Ryabinka had looked through the Atlas twice. So it was a trifling matter to materialize it.
  Having opened the Atlas at the page of Otkrytiy, Ryabinka calculated what distance the rocket could ride for two hours flight that took to deliver her from the Lilac Island to Elmar"s house. Then she took a compass and drew two large circles: one was less for the minimal distance, and the second, the larger was for the maximum.
  The compass drew a wide donut on the map. After analyzing it Ryabinka came to the conclusion that the island could be located either in the Western or Eastern sectors of the "donut", because its Southern part was occupied by the Continent, and the Northern was in high latitudes, where the climate had to be too unsuitable for the soft nature of the island.
  Having looked at the air routes lines, our cosmonaut-girl laughed, as the location of the Lilac island was no longer a secret for her. Both in the West and in the East, there were two suspected areas. But in one of them, to the West, there was the Katrena, and Ryabinka knew it not only from the atlas, donated by Lyolechka but from own experience. Therefore the Lilac island was located to the East or, to be more precisely, to the East-South-East from Otkrytiy.
   "It's time to get off from here," reasoned Ryabinka finally. She folded the atlas, materialized a rocket and flew away.
  
   "I understood," muttered Elmar replying to Inka; "You've stumbled on some government secret and want to share it with someone. But I care only about a single problem: what will happen now with Ryabinka, with her father and me after all your feats?"
   "Why are you panicking? Her father will be free, I'll copy the documents and return them, and you will say that you knew nothing; and because of the fact that it is true everything will finish in the best way... Now hush! There's someone in your house!"
   "Are you into eavesdropping, too?"
   "Certainly, yes! I had to know what you were up to together with her."
  "When did you manage to install listening devices?"
  "As soon as I crossed the threshold of your house."
   They heard footsteps and creaking. Then something rattled.
   "They didn't come back here," said a voice.
   "Is it true that this person stole the scheme of the Zone?"
  "Never mind. With scheme or without it, it's impossible to get into the Zone."
  Only then Elmar realized what documents fell into the hands of Inka.
  "Did you get the plan for the passage to the Lilac island?" gasped he.
  
  No wonder, Elmar was sure that Ryabinka had no any other choice but coming back to him. Indeed, to get to the Lilac island was much more difficult task than our cosmonaut-girl supposed. Not more than once or twice that evening she recalled the guy who "could do everything" and much in his behavior became clear to her. Every Elmar"s word came back to her memory and made sense, and even his wild idea about an actress who had stole the documents started to seem believable.
  "She could do it out of jealousy," thought Ryabinka; "Because Elmar is a cute guy, and it is impossible that he has no any girl-friend."
  The thought that Elmar was sure to have a female fans, made Ryabinka feel the sinking in her stomach. Now, when she realized that he didn't blow smoke in her face but tried to help, she had to admit the injustice of her suspicions.
  "He is clever, and I'm stupid," was the only logical conclusion which could be done, when she realized that Elmar had brought her to the professor Gusev not for a walk. And that happened very soon.
  The first time it happened three hours after she left Stasigord. Having reached the border that was, according to her calculations, divided the free air space from the water area around the Lilac island, Ryabinka faced with a strange natural phenomenon: her rocket veered off course and began to turn to the East. Any attempts to turn the rocket to the right direction did not lead to anything for a long time, and when Ryabinka managed to do it, she detected that now if she want to get to the island, she had to turn steeper to the South. But Ryabinka failed in it. No matter how hard she tried, but some strange power led her aircraft by a circle, not allowing to draw a meter closer to the cherished goal.
  "The energy barrier," guessed Ryabinka finally. Elmar"s "empty chatter" with professor Gusev had found its true meaning for her. Of course, Elmar wanted to extract from the professor the secret of that invisible wall. He knew about its existence, because exactly the same impenetrable barrier surrounded the Katrena.
  However, Ryabinka had been not only to the Lilac island, but also to the Katrena, and did not even suspected the existence of any obstacles that could bar the way. And Elmar said too: "We can get to the Katrena if we fly from the East..." Therefore, there must be a passage to the Lilac island!
  But where was that passage?
  To the end of the day Ryabinka could make sure that it was almost impossible to find that passage at random. Neither sliding along the barrier, nor logical thinking did not work, and frontal attack didn"t help as well. Even when she saw the special services rocket coming from the continent and having followed it with her eyes noticed the place where it flew through the barrier, she couldn"t solve the problem. It turned out even worse. As soon as she got through the barrier, an invisible power grabbed her rocket, chucked it somewhere to a side and, twisting, threw out.
  Yes, the Lilac island was guarded much more reliable than the Katrena!
  
   "Wow! Yes, there is a lot of things there," said Elmar, after reviewing the papers submitted to him by Inka; "The Monster island", a "Polygon"... A whole archipelago. Indeed, "the Zone."
  "It was worth the trouble, wasn't it?"
   "But what about Ryabinka? She has to come to me."
  "Let her come. They won"t touch her. We shall kidnap her father themselves."
  "Well, I agree. They think their Zone is impregnable. Perhaps, it is so... for somebody... but not for Elmar Kensoly. At least we can get to the Lilac island."
  "And which passage shall we fly through?"
  "No idea. I needn"t know this. All we need now is the darkness and the speed of the action, for they won't see where we're going."
  Elmar's plan was so nonstandard that it did not come to mind immediately even to him. It was to go down to the yard of his house, to blindfold and do the whole route along which he was taken to the Lilac island and back with his eyes closed!
  Even Inka, being a typical adventurer thought that it was impossible.
  "You are crazy," said she.
  "No, I am not," laughed Elmar; "This will work. The hardest thing will be to move from the sector, where there was Ryabinka, to the adjoining one. But I hope that the barrier is not too high there, and we"ll leap easily."
  "You are right, the height is twenty meters only, it is indicated on the diagram.
  
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  Disgust
  Despite all the obstacles, Ryabinka was sure that she would get through the barrier. And she really succeeded. For plotting the course she took advantage of the fact that every aircraft leaved a trace in the air. Using such a trail, laid by one of the rockets, Ryabinka entered the Zone.
  She did it pretty passable. She was spun only in the end, and was not thrown out but inside, so Ryabinka congratulated herself with the good fortune. If only she could guess that she would find herself in such a place, compared to which the most nightmarish dream would seem to be a pleasant one!
  But she knew nothing, and rejoiced at her good fortune, and was not worried at all that the rocket she were following disappeared in the distance. Ryabinka noticed the direction in which that rocket flew and went after it without hurrying. Dusk was falling, but our heroine took it as a good sign. She had no doubt that the Lilac island was about to appear.
  Indeed, soon Ryabinka saw a distant point. The point approached and turned into a picturesque island, covered with a greenery. There were no buildings on the island. But that did not bother her, as it was reasonable to take a break and to think about the situation.
  It was getting dark. The island seemed uninhabited. Ryabinka felt very tired, and she was even glad that the moment her rocket touched the hard surface, the last ray of the sunset went out and left her in the darkness, giving the opportunity to fall asleep.
  At dawn Ryabinka woke up from an unpleasant feeling that slippery and nasty snakes were crawling on her. Ryabinka opened her eyes and screamed in horror. Everyone would have screamed in her place! Ryabinka lay on the grass, and near her swarmed weird green creatures. Their long, flexible limbs wrapped around her, and their eyes, bulging and blind, stood out strangely on their round, smooth heads without ears or mouths.
  Ryabinka jumped up with a cry, and shaking off the last of the clinging tentacles, jumped to the side. The creatures got up from the ground too. Turning around, Ryabinka saw some others, there were lots of them. The creatures stood between trees and shook their heads. The forest was swarming with them.
  The creatures seemed to come at Ryabinka. She materialized the gun and made several shots. The shots did not hurt the creatures because the bullets passed through them as through the dough. Suddenly the gun in her hands became soft and slippery, and Ryabinka saw with horror that she was holding something that took the form of either a snake or a human arm of green color.
  Ryabinka opened her fingers and ran. She had never felt such terror. She ran and looked around. The creatures, followed her but their moving was very slow. Having materialized another rocket to replace the missing one, Ryabinka jumped into the cabin and soared into the air.
  She did not have time for rising too high, otherwise we would have had to finish the story of her adventures. Suddenly, the rocket turned into a soft doughy substance. Tentacles slid across Ryabinka's face and body, and the whole mess fell down together, dragging her with it. Ryabinka was out of breath from loathe and disgust. Light faded in her eyes and she passed out before she collapsed onto the sand with the green bodies that clung to her.
  She woke up from something wet and cool, streaming down her forehead.
  "Came to herself at last," heard she a rough but perfectly human voice and opened her eyes.
  Above her there leaned an unshaven face, framed with a cap of tangled curly hair.
   "Where am I?" - groaned Ryabinka.
  "At the same place where we are," said someone nearby.
  Ryabinka rose her head and saw that she was lying on the sand among the rocks near a tiny lake, looking like a big puddle. Next to her there sat the wildest human figure she had ever seen. Another man stood with his arms crossed over his chest.
  "Who are you?" asked he sharply.
  "And who are you?"
   "We? She still asks who we are!" laughed curly-headed, and his laughter seemed shockingly familiar to Ryabinka; "Should we tell her, Wold?"
  "No, we needn"t. Let her guess. And she"s a real beauty," continued he after a pause; "And from that ones who flies."
  "And from the mighties, damn them," said the curly through his teeth; "Let"s tie her up."
  "You may, if you want to!"
  "Don't rush, babe, I don't know your name - said the curly, tying Ryabinka"s hands, though she didn't "rush", but only being quite scared gazed at both persons and said nothing. "We'll have a good time with her before our moment comes. Just think of what a chick the fate sent us in the end. I want to kiss her just now!"
  Dirty, rough hands touched Ryabinka's shoulders... Ryabinka shuddered...
  If she knew whom those hands belonged to, she'd probably die of a broken heart at the same moment! But lucky for her, the curly"s appearance and voice didn"t remind her any specific. They were only terribly disgusting.
  "Oh, no, no," she said plaintively; "Me... I'm not from here!"
  "We're not from here either," said Wold; "But we stuck here by the mercy of the people like you."
  "I don't understand anything..."
  "So did we."
  "She'll understand when become a raw material for "the green," it was Wold"s voice again.
  "But you'll give her to me at first, won't you?" said the curly with a threat.
  "I like her too. I haven't seen a woman during four years."
  "You were sent to this island for punishment?" guessed Ryabinka at last.
  "Are you stupid or pretending?" spat the curly.
  "May she be one of the fugitives too?" asked Wold.
  "Does it matter? From the fugitives or security is all the same: she won"t get out from hence, just like us, ' said the curly."
   "The difference is. If she is a security, she has a signal device."
  The rough hands slid back over Ryabinka"s body. She almost groaned in disgust. And suddenly when those hands touched the hairpin on her right temple, she recalled the words of Elmar, the man who "could do everything":
  "If you find yourself in danger, start turning the 'head of the mind" counterclockwise."
  "Yes, I have the signal thing," said she quickly.
  "You're lying, I didn't find anything," grinned the curly.
  "No, I"m not," said Ryabinka hastily; "The signal device is the red stone in my hair. It can be twisted off. If you turn it left."
  With a rough movement the curly launched a paw in Ryabinka"s hair and began to spin the stone so deftly, as if he had been doing that all his life. Ryabinka knew perfectly well that the stone was not unscrewed. She waited as long as she thought it was necessary for sending the call for help, and then she forced herself to laugh:
  "I'm not a security. And I don't have any signal device."
  The curly tore the barrette from Ryabinka 's head, and tears came to her eyes from the pain. Having appeared in his hands, the hairpin slowly turned into a shapeless mass and the green snake slid on the sand. Next moment a new "hairpin" appeared in the same place by the right Ryabinka"s temple, and that brought the curly straight away into a frenzy.
  "Give me her, Wold," he croaked furiously; "She will regret treating me like that!"
  "I told you, me first."
  "Why is it you first? It was I who found her!"
  They grappled with each other and rolled on the ground.
  As it expected, Wold won. Ryabinka was preparing for the worst...
  "The guard!" cried Wold, pointing to the black point in the sky that grew in size rapidly.
  "You bitch! Managed to send a signal!" croaked the curly. He seizing Ryabinka by her hair and shook so that her head lifted from the ground and bumped again.
  "Leave her, we need her alive," reached her as through a fog, and she fainted again.
  The fact that Ryabinka indeed had been insensible, was undoubted because having opened her eyes she saw not the curly but Elmar, who was just cutting strings on her hands.
  "Run into the forest," he whispered, helping her up; "And don't eat anything. Remember, don't eat anything!"
  Ryabinka stood unable to move. She was wobbling and felt slightly nauseous. Wold and the curly looked at Elmar with their evil eyes.
  "Flying!" said Elmar glancing over their heads.
  In fact, there appeared another black point in the sky.
   "It's special service. Let"s hide! Quicker!"
  With these words, Elmar grabbed Ryabinka"s hand and dragged her to the forest. She ran after him, stumbling and not knowing how her legs could move, and seeing nothing in front of her.
  "We made it in time," said Wold, looking out of the grass next to Ryabinka and Elmar, when the rocket flew by and disappeared.
   "Where's that one... the curly?" asked Ryabinka with a trembling voice.
  " I am here," said the curly, crawling closer; "What do you think, were we spotted?"
  These words were addressed to Elmar.
   "Probably not. But soon they will go back because the signal was coming from here."
   "What should we do?"
  "To hide better. They won"t fly too low, because this island is an object of increased danger. Nobody will come here for nothing."
  Elmar was right. The rocket turned around somewhere, then it flew over the island again and wasn"t seen any more.
  
  Ryabinka remembered the further events by vague, separate fragments. Somehow she appeared on the beach, because "the greens are afraid of salt water." It was someone's words, but who said them? Was they by Elmar?
  Ryabinka"s mind fluctuated between dream and reality, and she could not distinguish what was happening on fact and what was only her delusion. She heard something about a broken raft, about some Lerka who wanted to drink water from the lake, and "now walks among the greens." And there floated a snatch of conversation without beginning or end:
  "Alas, but no. If I get caught, then... It would be better not to think about it," that was Elmar's words.
  "So, you are here because of her?" that was Wold's voice.
   "I love her."
  "And what about her?
   "I didn't ask her yet. But if she dies, I don't care what happens to me."
  /Curly/:
  "You're in trouble, boy! To fall in love with the mighty! They despise people like us."
   "What makes you think so?"
  "It's written all over her face."
  
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  The Night
  
  Ryabinka opened his eyes and sat down. Three vague figures loomed in front of her in dark silhouettes.
  "It is dark in front of my eyes," complained Ryabinka.
  "So is before ours," said Wold's silhouette.
  "It is evening," explained Elmar; "In the darkness the greens lose the greater part of their power."
   "And what else are they afraid of?"
  "Fire."
  "Why have you been silent so far? Let"s burn these bastards, and be done with it!"
  "At first, it is still unknown where the greens come from: of each other, or the island makes them. And second, if you want to return to the settlement, then please, set the fire. But only after we get out of here," said Wold.
   "Why so?"
  "Because your great fire will attract the guard, and we'll get picked off like rats in a mousetrap."
  "Yes," said Elmar; "I have thought of that. It is better to materialize a boat and try to swim to a nearby piece of land. It's quite close.
  After some hesitation, they decided to take a risk. Ryabinka imagined a motor boat. The four quickly plunged into it and swam.
  Elmar was not afraid that they might drown. As he later confessed, he hoped that if anything happened, Ryabinka would materialize another boat, then another... He also counted on the reef, which was protruding from the seabed at this time of day no further than three kilometers from the Island of the Greens. Having reached it, they could try to materialize the rocket. There was a hope that piece of rock was an independent formation, and materialized objects would retain their structure. there
  Fortunately, the fugitives did not have to jump from one boat to another. The boat began to lose its shape just as the sound of the surf reached their ears.
  "The shore!" shouted Elmar.
  It was not the shore, it was the reef he had noticed on the map of the Zone. But was it really very important? Having climbed on a slippery stone, barely protruding on the surface of the sea, Ryabinka stood as if she was charmed watching how the boat was divided into parts, and how those parts took the form of human bodies or wriggling limbs. Those bodies slowly swelled until suddenly they scattered into countless numbers of tiny stars and began to sink ...
  Having reached the bottom, the points of light flared for the last time and faded slowly. And suddenly - what was it? Ryabinka saw a strangely familiar shape in the halo of the luminous cloud.
   "We're saved!" she shouted excitedly; "Have you seen it, Elmar?"
  "No," said the artist.
  The glowing points went out. Then Ryabinka materialized a lantern and lit the bottom. Now Elmar saw something of the right round form.
  "Is this a ship?"
  "Yes, it is! It"s my spaceship! Do you remember that I told you he had disappeared? And the depth is of three meters, no more.
  Ryabinka dived, swam to the starship and found the entrance hatch. To her surprise the ship was covered with a thick layer of silt and shells. Nevertheless, having fixed the lantern near the hatch, she quickly cleared the board with the input code.
  The disc turned easily. The entrance was free.
  "Swim this way," she exclaimed, emerged to the surface.
  Elmar and Wold immediately jumped into the water. Only the curly stood, shifting from one foot to the other. And an impish desire to revenge him gripped Ryabinka. One touch to her head and the curly"s body was bound by a rope. The second touch - and his head was in a transparent bag and he flopped into the water, pulled by the end of the rope.
  Having swum up to the hatch, Ryabinka pressed the handle. The hatch opened and she was carried into the vestibule by a stream of water. Elmar and Wold swam inside after her and helped her to pull the curly.
  Pressing the lever, Ryabinka pushed the hatch into its place and pulled the bag off the curly"s head.
  The vestibule was almost flooded. The men stood neck-deep in the water, and Ryabinka floated on the surface. She pressed another lever and something snapped; then the wind swept through the vestibule, and the water level began to fall.
  When the water receded and the floor became dry Ryabinka led her comrades in misfortune into the main compartment. One glance at the control cabin was enough to realize that the ship was not hers. Her starship was for a single pilot, with a cargo bay that was separated from the cabin by a partition. Ryabinka was going to put That Two just there, behind the partition. On this spaceship the cargo bay was tiny, but there were four more seats besides the pilot armchair, and all the cabin was quite comfortable.
  Undoubtedly, this was her father"s starship, or something even more ancient. Who knows how many astronauts disappeared without a trace on that treacherous planet before Ryabinka?
  Ryabinka looked back at the three men. She rejoiced in her heart though tried not to show it. Elmar carefully examined the furnishings. The two criminals, getting quiet, clung to the walls. Ryabinka already knew that they were convicted and exiled to settlement for some crimes, and had no doubt that those crimes were terrible. That was especially true of the curly. Ryabinka didn't remember on what facts her confidence was based, but she didn"t felt pity for none of those two. Elmar released the curly from the rope and invited everyone to sit down.
  "What are you going to do now?" he asked Ryabinka.
  "We'll capture father from the Lilac island and fly away. To any of the places: either to Liska, or to Tierra, in the main space-port.
  Dead silence and frightened faces were the answer. Ryabinka never thought that one phrase can produce such a strong effect. Those Two were almost dead with terror. Elmar, also turned slightly pale, and in his eyes everybody would notice a mourning.
  "I don't want to," shouted the curly-haired man, jumping up from his chair.
  "Calm down," said Wold.
  "Ryabinka," said Elmar, having called her by name for the first time: "We can't go with you. We can't live where you live."
  "I never thought you believe in fairy tales," chuckled Ryabinka; "Then tell me, where you want to go. Here on this planet you will be caught and sent back to the settlement very soon."
  "They won't. You'll make them new faces and documents. I'll show you a sample."
  "And what about you? Aren't you in trouble?"
  "Nothing's waiting for me. I mean, nothing awful. It can't be proved that I helped these men to escape. And nobody will search them. Do you think that the settlement was set near the Island of the Greens by accident? There are many such traps nearby, and the sea is teeming with different monsters."
  "I didn't notice anyone," said Ryabinka mockingly.
   "We were lucky. But that doesn't change anything. In short, the authorities know that it is impossible to escape from the Zone, so the main task is to cross the barrier."
  "All right," said Ryabinka unwillingly; "I'll take you wherever you want.
  She became very sad. Probably, Elmar"s words "I love her" were of some other girl.
  "And what about the barrier?" asked the curly.
  "It"s not a problem for my starship. We shall fly through the outer space."
  "No," said Elmar quickly again; "We'll go the other way. Through the Lilac island. And hurry up. We have very little time until dawn."
  "Do you think I would leave my father?" said Ryabinka in a hurt voice, when the spaceship was in the air and headed for the Lilac Isle.
  "Your father isn"t there any longer," said Elmar grimly; "We kidnapped him.
  "Did you do it alone... without me?"
  Nothing could have knocked Ryabinka down till that moment: neither the fact that it had been Elmar who had appeared for the call of the "mind", nor his ability without applying his fists to find a common language with a couple of the most notorious villains which had ever been in Ryabinka"s life.
  But that he would take a chance to get into a shady deal? And that he was really going to save her father? That he had risked his freedom for a half-mad, alien, and utterly useless old man? If he had done all that in order to fly away with Ryabinka into the Big Space, or because of desire to escape - who would be surprised? But that motive fell away.
  Maybe, he really love her?
  "One "Green Frog" helped me," answered Elmar, extinguishing the flame of her sweet dreams.
  "But why are we flying to the Lilac island then?"
  "I know the way through barrier only from there."
  The absurdity of such a route discouraged Ryabinka.
  "Why not through the space?" she said with the tone of the first student enlightening round losers; "What kind of risk is in it? On the Lilac Island we'll run into security."
  Elmar winced as if from a toothache, and said:
  "There's no security at night."
  Ryabinka didn"t ask questions any more. At the Lilac island she put the spaceship on the place which the artist pointed to, where she blindfolded his eyes and in silence followed all his "right", "left", "up", "right", until she saw the lights of some inhabited territory.
   "It is Solnechniy," explained Elmar, when Wold told about the lights; "Let"s go down."
  He was pleased.
  A hot wave of tenderness swept Ryabinka. Oh, men! Isn"t he an eccentric to arrange a blindfold flight? All the time he"s trying to invent something to impress her imagination! Of course, the conversation on the Island of the Greens was not a sleepdream. That amazing guy put himself to terrible danger for her. For the sake of her he broke the laws twice, returned behind the barrier and risked to remain among the "greens" forever.
  How could she think he'd been assigned to spy on her?
  But what does that Green Frog have to do with him? Ryabinka"s mood dropped again.
  
  
    
  The Quarrel
  
  Ryabinka thought that Elmar and she would land Those Two near Solnechniy, and then fly to him. But nothing of the kind! When the spaceship was down on the ground, the artist did not hurry at all. He asked her to materialize some paper and a pencil and sketched two portraits.
  Standing over his shoulder, Ryabinka looked at his work: surely, there were the faces of Wold and the Curly, but each of them had some differences from the originals. On the portrait Wold had expanded cheekbones; the artist also added thickness in the eyebrows and overgrew a bald spot on his head. He corrected the shape of Wold"s nose: it became straighter and a little longer. He also made some adjustments to the portrait of the second subject. Both faces were drawn in two positions: the front and side short.
  "How do you like your future faces?" asked he Wold and the Curly, giving them the pictures; "Do they look good for you?"
  "That"s all right," said Wold.
  "Let"s get to work then. Now you will be shaving and thinking what documents you want to have no problems with employment. Ryabinka will give you everything you need and will take you to the vestibule."
  The procedure of changing the appearance of both subjects and making the documents for them took a lot of time. But on the outskirts of the Solnechniy there stepped not a couple of suspicious tramps but two decent man with traveling bags, supplies of coins and very realistic legends of biographies. They were also with a firm confidence that everything in their lives will depend only on them now. Ryabinka even was slightly jealous of them because as for her, she had no any confidence in her own future at all.
   "Where shall we go now?" she asked Elmar wearily.
  "You will take me to Otkrytiy, and then you will fly to the Valley, to the place near the lake where we once met each other."
  And he gave her detailed instructions how to behave and what to say if she run across some people or will be visited by a person from the Council.
  "Remember," said he glumly; "You cannot know what you have a right not to know. We have not yet learned to read the thoughts, and nothing is written on your forehead."
  "I heard this when you said "farewell" to Those Two your protégé," said Ryabinka; "But what about my father? I can't leave without him."
  "Your father and the information you came here for will be delivered to you. Wait and don't panic."
  "I'm not panicking. But how much should I pay for all this? You didn't name the price!"
  That conversation took place on their way to Otkrytiy. Ryabinka was busy running the aircraft and was unable to follow the change of emotions on the face of her companion. So she was quite surprised by the light chuckle that came from under her ear.
  She turned around, puzzled.
  "I don't see anything funny," said she haughtily.
   "Really? What are you going to pay with?" asked Elmar grimly.
   "Not I but our firm. With credit cards, of course. If the price is within reasonable."
  "Are they? And what will my government do with your pieces of paper?"
  Ryabinka was confused. In the Big Space, everyone needed credit cards, and she just couldn't imagine anyone giving them up.
  "You will be able to get everything for them... Anything you like..." tried she to explain him the state of things.
  Elmar laughed gloomily again:
  "On this planet, my government can do whatever we need without your credit cards or papers. If your firm has any surplus, it may give it away to someone.
  Ryabinka blinked her eyes and could not find an answer. The lights of Otkrytiy appeared. The moment of departure was approaching. She landed the spaceship in the alley near the FilmStudio, having found a place with a deep shadow. She did not want to fly to the Valley immediately, and she did not want to leave Elmar so soon.
  Elmar stood up and went to the door. And it seemed to Ryabinka that he also didn't want to go away and was waiting for some special words...
  And Ryabinka said, not knowing why she was pronouncing those words:
  "Just think, during all my childhood I had been dreaming to have a magic wand!
  Elmar's eyes brightened for a moment, as if a cherished idea had flown through them.
  "Stay here with us. On our planet you will have it."
  Ryabinka shook her head and replied:
  "My friends are waiting for me on Liska."
  "Then there's nothing to say," said her companion sharply and turned away.
  "We are arguing again. What a nightmare!" that thought brought Ryabinka in utter confusion. And she said in a deliberately frivolous tone, trying to hide her sadness behind a joke:
  "Those two scums from the Zone took you for theirs. They would faint if they knew that you were the mighty. You, apparently, are very good at pretending, Elmar. In General you"re a suspicious person!"
  Elmar's face darkened, and a vein swelled in his neck and pulsed. In his eyes there appeared something hard and sharp. He was hurt, and it was obvious.
  "I wouldn't laugh at other people's customs if I were you," he said abruptly. Then he turned and left the spaceship.
  It sounded so rudely, so suddenly that Ryabinka was confused and didn't even try to stop him. Through the observation screen she watched how Elmar crossed the square, and leaves of trees threw on him their illusive shadows. She was looking at his ungainly gradually disappearing silhouette, and a despair were taking possession of her.
  Why, why was she so stupid?
  That night Ryabinka could not sleep for the first time in her life.
  "You have argued!" suffered she; "How could I be so dull?"
  She got that she had offended Elmar, that her behavior was insulting, foolish and inept, that after all her silly words he would never approach her.
  It happens in the world! She understood that... and was waiting for him!
  
  Elmar came home, went into the living room and coming up to the video phone, dialed Martin's number. Of course, he knew that it wasn"t too nice to wake the man at the second half of night, but Elmar had no other choice. How else could he send a message to Inka what she should do? He had no idea where she was hiding, and the communication with her was lost, when he lost his rocket landing on the Island of the Greens.
   In addition, for ensuring Ryabinka"s free departure, it was necessary to divert attention of the Security Service. They were watching Elmar's house to see if anyone would appear there, so it would be better to make them busy playing "a naive boy". Like Inka, they tapped his apartment, and it was necessary for Elmar's words to sound without false.
  So Elmar reasoned, taking his best friend out of bed. Of course, Martin was not delighted of Elmar"s insolence.
   "What's up?" he muttered half asleep.
  After that Elmar start talking the most outrageous nonsense about his broken heart and how he was suffering. He complained that Ryabinka had flown away because she had been given the documents she wanted, and that she had found the spaceship and the flight took place yesterday, that is, today from the bank of the lake near Dolingord.
  "It only remains me to drown myself in that very lake," he said hurriedly, hoping that Inka would hear that conversation and understand it correctly, and that the Security Service would calm down and stop looking for anyone.
  For quite a long time he talked in that manner until Martin disconnected having lost his patience.
  
  By morning Ryabinka finally reached the bottom of despair. A new problem began to drill her overworked brain. She started supposing that even if she would bring the documentation, "that bureaucrat Sahm" could easily refuse to get involved in the inevitable hassle of changing the plan for the development of Liska. What if he say that she does stuff? What if he turn down her proposal or leave them, having refused the planet?
  "No," thought Ryabinka, clenching her teeth; "I won"t give up now. I will lie down dead but prove that I"m right. At any rate there is a possibility to address the firm"s management directly."
  Then she recalled Elmar and started darting again, not finding a place. It was dawn, and her eyes kept sliding across the sky, in a hope to see Elmar"s aircraft.
  "He"s offended," suffered Ryabinka.
  At last, she saw a rocket, and the rocket came down. It landed, opened up...
  The black-haired girl in the bright green dress and the old cosmonaut came out from it. And nobody else.
   "Oh, Elmar," whispered Ryabinka bitterly.
  The girl heard her.
  "Yes, this is all him," she said, coming nearer.
  "I didn't expect all this..." said Ryabinka quickly; "I understand, you've done a lot for me... I didn't want to offend him... But Elmar was always so proud to be the mighty!"
   "Elmar is not the mighty for a long time already," said Inka sarcastically and a vengeful light flashed under her fluffy eyelashes; "He was deprived."
  Ryabinka gasped.
  "Not the mighty?!" said she at last; "But how? What for?"
  "For breaking our laws."
  "But your laws are stupid!"
  "That's you who think so."
  "Because of me, then?"
  "You're taking too much upon yourself," chuckled Inka; "As if there is none on the whole planet except you."
  The hint was clear. Ryabinka tried to ask something else but the words stuck in her tongue.
  "And how does he live now?" she squeezed out of herself with difficulty.
  Inca shrugged and handed to Ryabinka a bundle.
  "There are copies of holograms, microfilm, and a reading machine," said she dryly; "Today I will return the originals to the archives."
  Suddenly her face trembled. She lowered her eyelashes and, when she raised them again, there were tears in her eyes.
  "You don't know how bad I feel," she said; "I feel so stifling, so hard, so bitter. You probably didn't recognize me, did you?"
  Ryabinka portrayed the most polite smile her face was capable to give that moment.
  "I did," she said; "That guy... with red moustache... he looked at you as if... Perhaps, in fact, no one would play that character better than you."
  "That character? Oh, you mean our meeting at the Film Studio? Oh no, that part won"t be mine, I guess! I can't walk, you see!"
   "Me neither."
  If at that moment Ryabinka was able to look at herself from the outside, she would be surprised at the despair with which her last words sounded. But she was not in the mood for self-observation. And Inka did not interested her as well. There were only one person she wanted to see now - it was Elmar. But he never appeared.
  "Tell him... although... let him forgive me."
  Ryabinka wanted to express with those words, that it was awful to leave without saying goodbye to Elmar, and that she regretted about all the stupid things she had told... And at all...
  "Anyway, all is terrible," said Inka sadly.
  Ryabinka's eyes started filling with tears. She turned away for as not to cry.
  "It's time," said the old cosmonaut, putting his foot on the stair of the ladder.
  Throwing the last look at the sky, Ryabinka dived into the hatch. Inka moved away to her aircraft. The engine sang softly speaking of the start. The starship sped up, and together with the fleeing ground something was coming off Ryabinka"s heart until it turned into a bloody wound. Burning tears streamed down our cosmonaut-girl's face.
  "Ah, Elmar, Elmar," she whispered; "yours is a stupid head. One mustn"t be so touchy. But what a cruelty! How could they have done with you so cruel and unfair?"
  It would be in vain to reproach Ryabinka for illogicality now. Although she believed Inka"s words that Elmar had been deprived the power to create miracles not because of the space history, but nobody could convince our heroine, that this guy was capable to do something bad. She was ready to keep the answer to the whole world that he was good. No, the word "good" was not enough - she was ready to shout at the whole Universe, how wonderful he was!
  Ryabinka felt a passionate desire to go back and convince Elmar to fly with her. Meanwhile, her trained hands pressed the programmed buttons while her eyes automatically monitored the readings.
  Then she recalled Inka and the desire to return shrank in size. There was no doubt that something connected that person with Elmar.
  "Soon we shall come out into the Outer Space," said she, and, wiping away a rebellious tear, turned to the old astronaut.
  She couldn"t help screaming with horror. And nothing surprisingly was in it! A terrible change happened to her father. He became very pale and transparent, and instead of an alive man there was a ghost, dressed in the her father's clothes, sitting in his armchair.
  "Damned planet," croaked the old astronaut; "I too long..."
  "Oh, no!" groaned Ryabinka; "It cannot be so!"
  The whole meaning of the things that had happened during her adventures on the Magic Planet started getting clear to Ryabinka. And why Elmar did not want to fly with her to Liska was no longer a mystery to her. The old astronaut was not crazy. Elmar and his people were the children of that planet indeed and could not leave it!
  Ryabinka wept bitterly, sobbing, and now she wasn"t ashamed of her tears. She did not know what she mourned more: her father or her unfulfilled dream of happiness.
  It was so painful that love which she dreamed of, true and fabulously beautiful, only beckoned to her. That it just showed her its shining face and turned into a deceptive dream.
  Maybe everything turned out for the better... Well, just suppose, dear: what if he fell in love with you? What would be then? Now you are crying alone, but then the both would cry. You should be happy that it happened in this way: out of sight - out of mind."
  A saving thought! Oh, if only it had been true! But Ryabinka deluded herself and knew it. She felt with every fiber of her soul that she would never be able to drive out of her heart the prickly eyes of the man who "could do everything".
  "Don't die, Daddy,!" shouted she, rushing to her father; "You mustn't die! I've been looking for you for so long time! That's unfair! Unfair!"
  So she wailed, hugging motionless semi-transparent body, while the ship, having made a semicircle over the planet, was carrying away into the Space.
  
  
   
  
  
  
  Part III.
   ELMAR
  
  
    
   The Crash
  
  Of course, Elmar could explain Ryabinka, why he was deprived of his power. But that story would have made their relationship strained and insincere. No doubt that Ryabinka would feel guilty of everything what had happened, and Elmar was not one of those who put his sorrows on someone else's shoulders.
  He turned around and went away from her not because of any offense. He even didn't get angry with Ryabinka. But his soul became empty, as if there stopped to sound some important strings.
  Having provided Ryabinka"s safe flight off, Elmar awaited till the middle of the day and then flew to Solnechniy. He did not detected any surveillance and thus made sure that his plan was successful. So having reached the Middle mountains Elmar turned to the Dolingord. He circled over the remains of Ryabinka"s lake and put his rocket by the reeds. Then he walked along the bank, trying to guess from the traces where the starship had stood, and what Ryabinka and Inka had told one another.
  And suddenly long buried feelings rushed to Elmar. It was painful, it was scary, it was just unbearable, but that fateful day surfaced in his memory again. And the infinite sorrow squeezed his head, subduing every nerve, every tiny cell of his brain.
  "No," thought Elmar; "I couldn"t bear it for a second time."
  A year ago he dealt with it because he knew he was still needed, they could not do without him. But today... after all, he had lost nothing but the anguish returned.
  Whom could he blame for all his troubles? Nobody but himself. Of course, Elmar didn"t want to blame himself, but an uncomfortable awareness of his nonentity filled his soul. A miserable rhymester, a mediocre picture-maker and a "suspicious person" - that's who he was in the eyes of the only girl that made him look out from the air castle of fantasy into the real world.
  Well, it wasn't her fault if his fortress was crooked and cracked. And that without a great higher purpose the meaning of life was lost for Elmar. That he has no any reason for existing any more, whatever anyone would say.
  Elmar did not cry because there was nothing to cry about. Should he sorrow for himself? No, a loser like him didn"t worth a pity. Should he regret of unfulfilled hopes? But there weren't any hopes at all. So he wanted to die without noise or drama, just fade out of life quietly. He will leave the ground and dissolve. It will be easy and painless. He knows. At any rate he won"t disturb people or get on somebody"s nerves any longer. Indeed, machines are eliminated if their design failed, so it's time to dismantle him.
  Elmar went to his racket. He took his time. His decision was firm, and there was no need for a fever. He walked and thought how to remove the height limiter. Elmar created this model himself two years ago in his best times and materialized it from the first trial. Although there was nothing special in its construction, but it served him smoothly. And now it had to die with its master.
  Elmar gently put his hand over its dark green casing and climbed into the motor. Two hours later he got into the cabin and started the engine.
  "Yes," he said to himself with a sad satisfaction; "I learned something at school."
  "Should I write a note? No, it would be a bad souvenir for Martin. He would begin to suffer and accuse himself for emotional staleness... What for?"
  The aircraft started and ran to the vertical. Elmar lost his sense of time. But as the bank, the grove, and the remains of the Ryabinka"s lake were becoming smaller, his resolve to take his own life began to weaken.
   "Maybe you shouldn't do it," thought he. But the top of the cabin above him was already melting. Elmar felt a strong to nausea fatigue and for a moment, having closed his eyes, instinctively clutched at something.
  A sharp tug made him lift his eyelids.
  Elmar was dragged somewhere. He could not understand what they wanted from him, he was sick and he wished only one thing to be done. He wanted to be left alone.
  Then there was a jolt, and Elmar blacked out again.
  When his eyes opened, he tried to stand up, but something prevented him. He was lying on his side, but his back continued to sway. The crumpled grass around him and the safety belts under his arms told him, that he was on the ground and alive, no matter how strange and inexplicable the fact might be.
  Elmar unfastened and stood up. The armchair to which he was attached, went somewhere for two parachutes. He looked at them vacantly. At least, everything was clear here, because the armchair Elmar had taken from an old machine. He felt awfully hungry. And he walked towards the city.
  The cedar grove was very close to him, but it seemed for Elmar an eternity's journey to get to it. Sweat was streaming down his forehead, and his heart pounded, surrendering to roar in his temples.
  Then he remembered that on the hill, opposite the place where his aircraft stood half an hour ago, there grew an edible grass. When he reached it, he fell to his knees and began to eagerly tear the small sour stems. They did not saturate him but the queasiness stopped. Having eaten the last leaf, Elmar got up. And from the sudden movement, green circles swam before his eyes.
  "Yet, how pretty bad I feel," he thought, stepping out on the path along the "lake". He leaned against the tree and grinned: the height limiter and scraps of wire lay on the trampled grass around the reeds. The organizing of own mysterious disappearance turned out to be his another failure .
  Elmar gathered strength, pushed away from the trunk and went slowly. Now he was walking barely moving his legs, but the dizziness did not prevented any more. On the contrary, Elmar seemed to have lost weight. He didn"t feel his legs, nor body, only tinnitus for some reason. But when he was descending the slope of the ravine, he again felt a shiver in his legs and queasiness. Having reached the nearest house, he had to rest for a few minutes, grasping the trunk of the fence.
  "Surely, there's something wrong with me," he thought; "I have to phone Martin."
  Elmar could not explain either then or after why his feet carried him not to the nearest public telephone, but to the familiar house near the alley of blue tulips. He only noticed, holding out his hand to the door bell that his hand became transparent and thin. And that struck Elmar.
   "Is it you, Elmar?" exclaimed Ninochka fearfully, having opened the door; "What's the matter?"
   "Yes, as I can guess. Is this you who lives here now? I need to make one phone call."
  "Yes. You look unhealthy. Are you all right?"
  "No, I mean yes, a little. I experimented how many days I could live without food. And overdid it," said Elmar in a deliberately playful tone.
   "I'm on duty today... Come in... Wait here a bit for my returning... I'll be back very soon, I'll just warn at the hospital... I'll just find a replacement... I'll come back, you needn't worry..."
  After Ninochka shut the door, Elmar dialed the number of Solnechniy and Martin"s code.
  "My friend, I'm sick. I'm in Dolingord, at your former nurse, Ninochka. She lives in your old house now."
  "Stay with her until night, I'll see you in the evening."
  "That"ll be too late. Just think: have I ever bothered you without any important reason?"
  "I have other patients waiting."
  "Warn your boss and fly here. I'll tell you something stunning."
   "Elmar, explain me what is up, or I'm off."
  Next moment Martin disconnected. Elmar raised his head and looked in the mirror. He shivered. He saw a real ghost there. If anybody meet such a face in the dark, the bravest one would be terrified.
  'Nothing sudden, if one would think intensively. Everything in life has its price, and still you were very lucky really, as you left alive and now have the ability of gazing at your own person..."
  'But wait... What an idea... Maybe this is a minute, your life is beginning from...'
  And a weak faint hope start stirring somewhere in the back of Elmar"s head. Well, yes! After all, if he safely overcame the fatal boundary, then there are no obstacles for him to raise even higher, and he can fly anywhere. Even if it will be to Liska...
  "Stop!" said Elmar to himself; "What if it is only your suggestion that you had reached the border? You need a proof, and it must be something more serious than the missing rocket. Could it be so, that you just got crazy on a space basis?"
  Elmar looked in the mirror once more - oh no, changes like that could not occur because of a simple madness... But who would believe him if he told that to others, for example to Martin? Oh, if he was the mighty! then he would arrange a workshop in a secret sheltered place, and nobody"s blessing would be necessary to him. And when the starship was ready he would appeared on it and...
   "What an idea!... If I really have been behind the border... If to think intensively... the lockout of materialization, mounted under my skull, was as brain-made as my rocket. They are never made by hand: materialized devices are more reliable and durable."
   "It means... Means... the power had to return to me again. And there is no difficulties to check it just now."
  Paradoxically, but having materialized on the old place "the mind" and made sure, that it acted in a proper way, Elmar did not feel any special happiness. When the power seemed to him lost forever, he recalled it like a sweet paradise, even more beautiful due to incapacity to reach it. But when the paradise was with him again, the artist felt uneasy. He became worried.
  Of course, he was delighted at first, but the next moment he remembered that with the paradise he got the liability for everything he did, thought, and even how he behaved.
  He did not get used to the usual unhurried existence, but simplicity gave a number of advantages: Elmar had all the rights to do what he wanted, and no one could forbid him anything. If he wanted to be perfect, he was and if he didn"t, it didn"t attract attention of nobody among his mates and friends.
  Elmar didn"t want to misbehave or act out of spite, but an opportunity to go right or left quite freely without thinking about consequences meant a lot for him, as it turned out. He could quit his job and leave Otkrytiy, and no one would catch up with him. There was nothing to worry about, because the troubles and pains of other people could not concern him at all.
  Again, that didn"t mean that he didn't sympathize, but he had the right not to sympathize, or rather, he mustn"t rush to help. His life had been easy and carefree and it was absolutely unclear why he, blockhead, had decided to kill himself? He could live as all the others... like the most of people lived.
  "Because now you're obliged to be perfect again. You must be human, exemplary, hardworking, persistent, flexible and gentle. You must improve yourself, educate yourself and hide a set of these beautiful qualities all your life, for no one should guess why you have so many of them.
  Oh no, now Elmar has been taught a bitter experience of what it's like to be perfect. Of course, he will still do as he should behave... But he won"t do this on duty, just because another style of life was not to his taste. And he will not tell anyone about his newfound power, except Martin. Martin was his only true friend, and he should know..."
  But by the end of the day our artist made the final decision, it was to confess to none. So when Martin got to Dolingord, Elmar wasn"t at Ninochka"s any more.
  
  
    
  The New Acquaintance
  
  It was easy to make a decision not to say anything to anyone, but to make a spacecraft without having a concept of how and from what such things are made was much more difficult. The only thing that Elmar knew was how to set a course on the navigate pane. If he had been not him but anyone else, he would have given up the idea after the first sober thinking.
  First of all, before the making a space craft, Elmar had to produce every its detail, whether it was great or tiny. They had to be poured, carved, grinded or compressed. Lots of professions was in want for reaching such an aim, and many diverse skills were quite necessary to implement it! And it was far from the complete list of problems!
  In the archives of Stasigord there was kept documentation for a starship from the time of Ol. To get it was a trifling deal, but Elmar wasn"t inspired by the idea to build an old jalopy instead of full-scale modern machine. After all, whatever they say, but their ancestor had got on New Zemlya because of an accident. So Elmar preferred to bother a bit and to make some inquires, but to have a more perfect craft.
  So, in a week, having slept off and fed through with a special wholesome diet, he flew to Pervigord to the Studio of documentary films. Having arrived there, Elmar asked to see the man who had done surveying of the native starship last year.
  The man was a short brown-haired woman, in the age of a little older than Elmar, fashionable, but rather casually dressed. Her only jewelry was earrings from black engraved wire. But they were so eye-catching that nothing else was needed for identification of the person. Earrings depicted the mythical creatures, vampires, and were made with so terrific art, that an unaccustomed to theatrical effects man might get a kind of shock. It seemed to the inexperienced viewer that the beings were about to fly up from the earrings and jump into his direction. Having looked at these earrings, the impressionable man would not notice nothing on the face of their owner but them.
  Elmar was impressionable moderately, but even he could not guess immediately that he saw the brown-haired not for the first time.
  The brown-haired woman was in the courtyard of the Studio and was preparing a camera, that laid on a folding table. Something was not well in the device but the woman stubbornly tried to delve into it and seemed to be nervous, swearing through clenched teeth.
  Elmar stood quietly and watched, although by the laws of politeness he was supposed to speak first. He kept quiet, knowing from experience that it is better not to bother other people at such a moment if one wants them to do something.
  "What are you staring at?" turned to him the brown-haired woman.
  "Are you Navrotskaya? Natal Ivenovna?"
  "Yes, that"s me. Damn box! One day it'll drive me crazy. You could help me, if you know anything about it!"
  "Alas, this is not my level of skills!"
  "Then what are you doing at this place here?"
  "I need a cassette from the 16th of the last year."
  The brown-haired woman moved her head, tilting it to a shoulder, and straightened it again, flashing with the earrings:
  "In a warehouse."
  The movement seemed to spread the layers of Elmar's memory, and from there came: "This gesture has already been."
  "By the way, we have met one another!" exclaimed he happily; "Some days ago! Experimental school! This school year!"
  "Really? Maybe it is so. Suppose, you are right... What then?"
  "Well, help me as a colleague. I really need to look through the record once again. I mean not on TV but the full version."
   "A colleague! Who can't fix the camera!"
   "I'm a decorator. From FilmStudio in Otkrytiy."
  "Really?" the brown hair finally showed a kind of interest. "And who have painted "Lady of the Snow Fields"?"
   "Do you like it?"
  "One can draw everything. But how it was filmed? I did shooting in winter, but I've never had such sparkling snow."
   "No wonder that you failed. This is impossible in nature," said Elmar smiling.
  Elmar did not want to continue further explaining. He did not suffer from false pride and believed that the best decoration was the one which the audience wouldn"t notice.
  "Did I try to do the impossible? Well, let"s load it into memory. But in general I expected something like that. Oh, if I could drop these damned reportages! What a job is to run back and forth for the sake of two minutes on the screen. And after that, when you fly headlong for a fresh batch of news, your work is sent to the storage, where it lies as dead weight."
  "Until it is in need for an eccentric like me."
  The brown-haired woman laughed and, leaving the camera alone, waved her hand in agreement:
  "All right, I"m ready to help gratuitous."
  Having carried a flat box, she led Elmar into the viewing room and left him alone.
  In the box there were two cassettes. Elmar took the one with the mark "A" and put it into the device for reading. He watched it through and then saw that there was absent a great deal of information had been shown on television. It contained not a starship but members of the Security Council. And Elmar put in another cassette. The text on both was identical.
  Looking through the second cassette "B", Elmar thought that a part "A" could also contain a lot of valuable information. And he paired them, running in sync.
  Now that was what he needed, and Elmar watched the meeting from the very beginning once more. And it was not a wasted time. Although the cassettes didn"t contain any designs but Elmar noticed professor Gusev among the members of the Commission. There were no any device or engine on the planet which he didn't knew. In short, the professor was a really storehouse of various technical information.
   In the evening Elmar flew to Stasigord. He found the professor at the college, on his faculty.
  "Hello, Hello," said Gusev frowning; "It's you again! Wait a little, I'll be at your disposal in two moments. I"m sorry, I'm a little late today."
   "Distribution?"
   "Distribution, be it not okay! Feoktistushka did me a favor this time. During whole five years I have been preparing a replacement for me, I hoped to retire but everything was in vain. She said no, and I have to send the guy to hell knows where by my own hand. The order! You see, they urgently need a replacement. I was begging: "Why this must be a chemist, what if I also am going to die, and you cannot waste such a talent," but who can prove her anything? She refused to listen to any my argument; she says when I die, then she will find someone to replace me."
  "Perhaps, the only vacant position is in this specialty there."
  "The vacant position! What if the guy has the talent? After all, he will ruin it and lose skills... Oh, the awful woman she is!"
  "Never mind, Sergey Aganesovich! If a talent is real, it will prove itself," said the artist gently.
  "Will it? The routine will suck him, and all the proving," the professor was puffing like a kettle, ready to blow up; "What else did you come for? Are you planning to find out some secrets again?"
  "Right you are. I know that you were among the Commission members who examined the starship of our native-girl."
   "I was there. Was attended as a live video camera. I've got all the maintenance right here," the professor touched his forehead.
  "And the schematics of the main engine components?"
  "Everything at all," said Gusev smugly; "But if you expect to get anything from me, you came for nothing. It's dangerous to give you an information."
  "I swear I used a completely different source."
  Both of them, Elmar and the professor, understood the hints from each of them, and Gusev immediately made it clear that he knew, from whom Elmar could obtain the information, when he had flown ten days ago.
  "Did you? You are forgiven this time, Feoktistushka stood up for you. Everybody agreed just because there were no noise, and your friend returned the stolen documents. But if you tell anyone what's inside the Zone or even about it existence!... And tell your friend to keep her tongue behind her teeth if she wants to live in peace. Anyway, be careful please. Nobody can break the rules so defiantly."
  "I acted according to the laws of the mighty."
  "Elmar, Elmar, you are too direct, and life is a tricky thing. When you were deprived of the power, Feoktista just cried after that."
  The Professor looked at Elmar and shook his head:
  "You dug your own pit yourself. I mean you could be silent about your blunder, for example. You was able to do even more: you had enough time to think a little and obliterate the consequences of your mistake!"
  "I was afraid of panic and new victims."
  "So you sacrificed yourself. Oh, Elmar, you were our hope, our pride!"
   "Stop it! It's all in the past!"
  "I don"t speak about the past but about the future. The truth can't always be told openly."
  "And you speak this, my teacher? The one who instilled courage and honesty into me?"
  The professor grunted angrily:
  "Why do you need the engine schematics?"
  "We're going to make a new film. In short, for decorations."
  /It was true: a FilmStudio really planned to shoot he next movie. Nothing prevented Elmar to use the information he requested for creating proper decorations/.
  Having got the drawings of Ryabinka"s ship, because at the end the professor gave them to him, Elmar went home. But the next day he saw Martin, who flew to him among the week without any advance call.
  "Hello," he said; "How are you?"
  "I"m working on a new film."
   "And how"s the progress?"
  "It"s one more masterpiece of Waltmin. The scenario is not bad, but I "m not sure if we can work with this guy. He is fond of exotic, and I'm a supporter of realism."
  "Listen, Elmar," Martin smiled, but his eyes looked tired and serious; "There"s something that I"ve been trying to tell you for a long time... Why are you arguing with those, who you depend on from?"
  "I depend on Waltmin? Really? If even he was the director of the Studio and could dismiss me, but housing, clothing, personal life depend only on me."
  "And what about more interesting or promising work?"
  "Didn't they teach you that the mighty should be brave? After all, it is still more easier for us to get our place in life, and we can always find a way for expressing ourselves."
   "But if your truth will turn out bad for someone? If it will deprive the person of the illusion supporting him in a difficult moments of life?"
  "If we leave the man at his illusions, then believing them, he will try to convince in his rightness and correctness the people who are around him."
   "But what if he is not mistaken but you? And your stubbornness together with your dull words will shorten his life?"
  "Let him prove me that I"m wrong!"
  "Can you easily change your mind?"
  "I"ll change it."
   "What a chameleon you're then."
  "I am a man who seeks the truth!"
  "Even if it is unpleasant to you? To you personally, not to someone else? Do you remember the critique articles on your "To the Girl from the Stars"?"
  Elmar shrugged in surprise:
  "I write as I like," he said; "I'm looking for beautiful words and try to express my ideas in as few words as it is possible. Some people think my work is nonsense, but my poems are in fashion. What else am I supposed to wish?"
   "So you see, you prefer not to believe in your lack of talent. Yes, I can prove in five minutes that you aren"t eager to hear only truth about yourself! For example that accident with Inka - don't you think that the punishment you've been inflicted was unjust?"
  "You're cruel, however," thought Elmar; "For what purpose do you remind me that I'm deprived? Or did you come here from the Council now to find out if I'm in depression too deep? Aren't I going to beg the pardon? It"s your right of course, but that is not the thing I"m going to penitent for!"
  And he said conciliatory aloud:
  "Of course, I'm not always right. Do you remember our school? How naive were we when we dreamed of growing up and doing great things?"
  Martin looked at him angrily and could not find an answer. And when he went away, Elmar was very glad that he had kept silent about his newfound power. And a sudden suspicion flashed through his mind:
  "Was it Martin who betrayed me when I had told him about Inka?"
  
  
    
  The Marriage
  
  Having acquired the schemes, Elmar investigated them for a few days. At last it became clear to him where everything on the starship was, and he began to make the reduced exact copy of Ryabinka"s starship in one-tenth of its real size.
  He spent the rest of his vacation and three days over on it, but when he started to check it with drawings, he realized that everything was done wrong. And he started from the beginning.
  Now he did it in quite another way. Having studied the scheme of the main nodes of the craft: its engine, fuel bay, control panel and etc, he made a generalized layout, and only having made sure in its compliance, he started for making each part separately.
  Of course, this was a very tedious and slow method, but only it gave assurance that Elmar would not have to break and throw away parts and components of the real ready-made starship just because of some insignificant error.
  Elmar was torn between his new "hobby" and the Studio. He compared himself to the characters of the picture he was working on: their life was undoubtedly easier than his. They were doing one thing but not two, and a lab and funds were in their possession. But his vanity was pleasantly tickled by the funny coincidence. The screenplay was dedicated to the same problem, that tortured our artist: decoding the mystery of the materialization and the overcoming the borders.
  In the proposed script it was solving as follows.
  The mineral, responsible for the dematerialization of objects fell into the hands of a scientist. The person who delivered it, tragically died, and didn't manage to report where he got it, only an approximate area was known. The young scientist convinced the scientific world to send an expedition to that place. But if there was any mineral for dematerializing /code name "demon"/, then there must be some materializing rock /"mat"/ as well. And both minerals had to lay close to one another. Of course both minerals were found, and the film ended with a triumphal start of the spaceship, the crew of which took with them in the flight pieces of "mat".
   Certainly, that rubbish was very far from reality. To find the "mat" even if it existed was not such a trifling matter as it seemed to the authors of the script. Every mineral would have to be risen up over the border with some materialized thing for testing its stability. Most likely such a mineral did not exist at all. Most probably it was a total property of all the atoms and molecules that made up the planet. Because nobody and never had noticed lowering or hightening of the border surrounding the planet.
  "There is nothing bad in it," thought Elmar, agreeing on the design; "Though the movie is primitive, but it promotes flights into the Space. And when I lay out my arguments, they no longer will seem an unprecedented heresy to our respected conservatives."
  Whatever it was, but the theoretical part of his work Elmar could make in the open, because there were some episodes with a spaceship in the script. By the time the model was finished, his appearance already didn"t remind a living corpse, and soon he risked to rise beyond the forbidden border again. Due to the fact that all that time, in obedience to the notorious common sense, he had been eating only natural food, he didn"t faint and a weakness and sickness made itself felt only during a week after the flight.
  Having recovered, Elmar flew again, deciding to accustom his organism to a constant loss of some atoms. Later, however, he guessed to a simpler way to make his body insoluble: he raised up over the border all the products that came to him, and ate only food, sterilized in such a way.
  But that was many days after, and at first Elmar had a more urgent problem: he was searching a place for the workshop. At first he wanted to arrange it on an island of the Cold Archipelago. Then he decided to mount it in a natural harbor among the rocks of the west coast. Elmar hesitated, and then one case helped him.
  On that day Mariye came to him and announced:
   "Martin's going to marry. On the next Saturday," and she handed him an invitation card; "Of course, you could do without a ceremony, but we decided that the official invitation can do no harm at any rate. You quite forgot us, and you haven't visited us since we moved out of the Dolingord. I hope it's not because Martin have given himself away, is it?"
  "How could you suggest such a stupidity?"
  "I didn't think to suggest anything, but you're cold to us now, it's true. In general, we don"t accept any excuses any longer. But why don't you ask who the bride is?"
  "Do I know her?"
  "Certainly, yes! She used to drop by our place when we lived in Dolingord. She's skinny and quiet. And she always kept her bangs twirled."
  "Ninochka? But she's not attractive at all! She is not the one I saw as Martin's fiancée!"
  "She's very pretty, and she loves Martin immensely. Not like you, our dear bear who locked himself in his lair and... I hate her, I hate!" she added with a sudden enmity.
  "What for?" Elmar was surprised.
  Ninochka was a harmless creature, and the beginning of the conversation did not foretell such a turn.
  "If only this nasty green-eyed witch didn"t appear at ours... For the whole days you"re sitting here like a statue, gazing in her accursed eyes, and seeing nothing or noticing nothing more at all!" Mariye blurted it out in one breath and pursed her lips.
  Behind the artist there hung a large holographic portrait of Ryabinka and, having remembered that, Elmar shook his head:
  "You don't know what you're saying. I have no time for paying visits now. I am terribly busy."
   "Perhaps it is so. But I hope, this Saturday you will be able to set aside all your pressing business and illuminate our humble hut with the light of your incomprehensible persona."
  On the appointed day, having taken a gift for the occasion, Elmar went to his friends. The gift was a box made of amber in the form of a medieval native castle.
  The company was picked up cheerful; there were six pairs, and all of them were young people. And the hosts outdid themselves. The table was bursting with food, and Martin poured simple jokes, skillfully maintaining a good mood.
  The young wife in a dark pink dress, draped in a small folds, with gold lace, seemed very pretty. A gentle happy blush played on her usually concerned face, and a set of very thin gold bracelets assembled together, emphasized the whiteness and flexibility of her long thin arms.
  She would have been even more charming if Mariye hadn't been there. The pale purple dress of the groom's sister echoed the lines of the bride's attire. Only lace was silver and instead of bracelets the outfit was complemented with hammered necklace with pendants. Mariye was irresistible, and it was certain.
  The guests were all of old Martin's friends. Although they lived in different towns, they knew each other. They enthusiastically searched for people in common and recalled noisy parties in the Department of Chemistry, plunging into the atmosphere of the carefree reckless years. They danced, made charades, were fooling around and laughing.
  Elmar was watching their fun with some melancholy. He felt sad: a little bit, just a little. He was able to enjoy the joy of others and had a rest watching others laugh.
  And an enticing, exciting music was flowing from "optola", scattering with exciting thrilling notes. Reaching some secret strings of the tired soul of the artist, the sounds made them to echo with a light sad feeling. And a velvet, enveloping voice sang:
  
  Where are you, oh, my sweetheart, my tender,
  Where"re you, my only love?
  Where are you, oh, my clever, my handsome,
  Where"re you, my only love?
  
  You was for me like the rain for a field in dry spell,
  Oh. my darling!
  Like an oasis of green in a desert for a pilgrim.
  
  What made you forget me forever?
  My heart "s suffering bitterly.
  Groaning it like a bird with lost wings,
  Moaning and crying!
  Where"re you, my darling?
  
  "Let's dance," said Mariye, touching him on the shoulder.
  "Let"s," said Elmar, and they spun around the room.
  
  When light wind blows it swings supple branches,
  Lotus pulls its flower to the sun.
  And as for me, it was just you,
  You were my cool wind and the sun, they were only you,
  
  Whether my true love was too poor?
  Why my fondness have failed.
  You went away and I lost fair days,
  They are grey and gloomy.
  Where"re you, my darling?
  
  You were like air, like bread, and like water for me,
  Oh, my darling.
  My guiding star for a stranger at my far way.
  
  "Hey, Elmar, whose broken heart is this song about?" shouted one of the guests, blocking the laughter at the table with a booming bass.
   "How could I know?" responded Elmar, not turning his head.
  The jollity at the table became high.
  Martin looked out of the next room:
  "What"s up?"
  "Elmar doesn't know his own creation," explained the Bass jovially.
  "But that's not my style!" defended the artist himself; "I just couldn't write it!"
  "How can he remember it? In his student years he scribbled poems to the right and left!"
  "Wow!" smiled Elmar utterly confused, "They found someone to attach a melody..."
  And he drew Mariye to a far end of the room.
  "Have you really forgotten your debate with Martin?" asked him Mariye, slyly smiling.
  "The debate? ... Oh yes, I wrote that poem for a bet... You're amazing today!"
  "Just today?"
  "But today especially! You know, you're only 25 years old as a native."
  "And you?"
  "I"m 27. A heap of time passed since we've been young as she is now," he nodded at Ninochka, who was busy at the table.
   "The funniest thing is, that she thinks she's terribly old because she's been out of high school three years ago. I wonder what she thinks about me? ... I bore you to death, didn"t I?"
  "No, no, I feel so good today!"
  And Elmar gave himself up to the power of rhythmic sounds again, dreaming about only one thing: for that evening to be endless.
  
  
    
  They Met in the Mountains
  
  Next day was the weekend, and Elmar could spend it at Martin"s but he was hungry. The food on the table was very tasty but he barely touched luxurious dishes. He strongly suspected that most of them were not cooked by the hands of housewives but with the help of the power of the bridegroom. The jug with the black tamarind juice convinced Elmar of that finally, because the same juice was served by Ryabinka when Martin saw her for the last time. So Elmar had to say "good-Bye" to the hosts.
   "Do as you like," pouted Mariye; "By the way, I"ve got a new admirer already. He is a builder, just as I am."
  The news didn"t upset Elmar.
  "Really?" said he; "And how long are you working together?"
   "Not very long. He"s not an engineer but everybody says he"s very handsome. A real man."
  "I"ll be glad to meet him."
  Elmar's indifference hurt Mariye.
  "I wish you showed jealousy," she said.
  Elmar shrugged and got on his aircraft. His path lay over the Middle mountains.
  The Middle mountains were not called by that name by accident. There were no eternal snow there, because they were low and served as a watershed for the rivers of the northern and southern basins. Their beginning was to the East of Solnechniy, then they made a detour and, passing just in the middle of the straight line connecting Solnechniy and Otkrytiy, reached the coast.
  That day, flying over the Middle mountains, Elmar recalled something, and it was enough to give his thoughts a new direction: in the Middle mountains there were many caves.
  Elmar turned his rocket and flew between the ridges, examining the slopes along his route. That day he didn"t find anything suitable, but he decided to visit that place again. After a week of searching, Elmar was lucky: on the northern slope of one ridge, he found a crack going deep into the mountain.
  Elmar landed his rocket and came to the crack. It was narrow and twisting at the beginning but soon turned into a cave. The cave seemed rather small and it was not suitable for the workshop. But every supposition should be checked. To make sure of that, Elmar decided to explore the dark behind a ledge. Elmar turned behind the ledge... A bird fluttered from under his feet and made him move back.
  "Watch your step!" heard he.
  No sooner than Elmar could understand what was happening, as his left leg went down and he toppled backwards. He hit his head painfully on a stone and hovered over a void, guessing the chasm with his back and being afraid to move.
  He tried to grope a support for his hand and found it. This let him tear off one leg from the rock and he did it carefully. Having bent it he examined the cleft with his foot. The cleft went down at an angle of about thirty degrees horizontal. Elmar raised up his second hand and, touching the edge of the cleft, began to move his feet carefully, every moment fearing to fall down into the abyss. His ears heard a distant noise, as if somewhere nearby there flowed water.
  Fortunately, the place where Elmar fell, was narrow enough, to straighten up and raise his head. The first thing he saw was the silhouette of a man squatting in front of him.
  "Give me your hand," said the man in a voice that reminded Elmar of someone.
  A familiar stranger helped Elmar get out of the cleft.
  "You"re lucky, man," said he; "Look!"
  Turning on the flashlight, he ran the beam across the floor of the cave, and Elmar had the opportunity to be frightened once more. The cleft went along the whole wall and after two meters from the place where they stood it turned into a real abyss, in which six guys like our artist could fall down without delay.
   "Listen, man, I think I know you," said the cave dweller suddenly, directing a beam of light straight in Elmar"s face; "Haven"t you recognized me?"
  "Take the lantern aside," grumbled the artist instead of answer.
  "Look carefully," the strange man lit his face, and thick wide eyebrows with a classically correct nose made Elmar to guess at last who he stumbled upon. The face belonged to the one of the persons with whom he once flew from the Zone. Elmar himself asked Ryabinka to make it.
  "How small our world is!" exclaimed Elmar in surprise; "What are you doing here in the mountains?"
  "I"m waiting for Tod. Do you remember him?"
  "Of course, yes! How is he?"
  "He's waiting for to be forgotten and looking for a suitable job."
  "Did he do something wrong once more?" Elmar was surprised again.
  "Well, he's not a very pleasant guy but smart enough for behaving still and quiet."
  "Hi!" said Tod as he entered the cave; "Glad to see Elmar!"
   "Glad to see Tod!" replied Elmar; "I have heard you are looking for a job."
  "Yes. I"m not a builder and don"t like simple work. I'm a lab technician, a chemist, just so you know. Of course, you gave me very good documents, but once I had a diploma, and I"d like to work in my specialty."
   "And what about you, Wold?"
  "Well, he won"t be lost anywhere! He's already dug in and even got a girl."
   "Really?" asked Elmar with a great interest.
  "Why should I lose time?" grinned Wold; "There is nothing for you to get worried. I'm not the kind of guys who puts his friends in a dangerous position. Tod's also not so stupid as to hang around here forever. He's already started to inquire about work somewhere at a factory."
  "Let's sit down," said Elmar.
  "Don't be angry, man," said Wold after a while; "You did everything what you were able to do for us.
  "Don"t be so sure," answered our artist softly; "I can do one more thing."
  "To falsify a diploma?" laughed Tod.
  " If you give me a sample."
  "The sample will be."
   "And as regards a factoty... there is a chance for you to get the job you want. /Elmar recalled the party at Martin"s - there was mentioned by one of the guests, that they need an operator or a laboratory technician/."
   "If I haven't known you before," said Wold thoughtfully, "I'd think..."
  "I just don't want you to get into any trouble," explained Elmar; "Yes, I have some ties to the government. And I was asked to keep quiet about the Zone. I will have lots of problems if anything leak out and different rumors crawl around."
  "I"ve got," grinned Tod.
  And Wold laughed:
  "Don't worry, Elmar, we're not headless. We don"t rush to appear at the settlement again".
  To arrange Tod as a laboratory assistant was a trifling matter indeed. Such a specialist was required in a township near Solnechniy. Recommending him, Elmar did not palter, as he remembered that once Tairov called Tod "a good specialist". And when the cave was free, Elmar decided to explore the cleft.
  No sooner said than done. Having descended a lantern on the string, he saw something interesting there. Below, at a depth of twelve meters, there was a second cave. Having materialized a rope ladder, Elmar risked to climb down. He found himself in a sloping tunnel. With every his step the noise was getting louder, and the farther Elmar moved forward, the more audible it became. Now it became quite clear that it was really a water.
  Suddenly the tunnel turned, and before Elmar"s admiring eyes there opened a huge space, similar to the hall of the fairy palace. Its shimmering white, pink and orange walls were decorated with strange stone flowers. Long icicles hung from the ceiling, and everywhere rose turrets and columns. Elmar illuminated the cave and understood: that was the work of water, because every surface in the cave was slightly wet. Water covered the walls with a thin shiny film and dropped from icicles. But it would be in vain to strain the ears, trying to hear how it reaches the floor, breaking into many small splashes. All sounds were losing in the deafening roar coming from the depths of the cave.
  A majestic stream flowed there, originating from somewhere in the bowels of the earth. Before reaching the end of the cave, it fell down as a waterfall and having run a few meters, lost itself under the arch of a high tunnel.
  Elmar did not appreciate this gift of fortune at once. The cave was wet, cold and too huge for the planned event. But in a week he understood that he wouldn"t find more suitable place for his workshop. And he decided to locate it there.
  The string of days ran, hurrying to change each other. Elmar had forgotten what boredom or melancholy was. He arranged his workshop in the opposite side from the waterfall, on the end which was closer to the exit from the cave.
  Having knocked down all the most protruding stalactites, stalagmites and columns, he gave the ceiling of his shop the shape of a polished bowl and leveled the floor and erected on it a platform with a damping base. The idea was that the moisture, condensing at the bottom of the concave ceiling, would drain to its edges and fall outside the platform.
  In order to avoid unfortunate surprises Elmar inspected every square meter of the cave, checking if there was a hole. But the tunnel leading to the upper cave was the only way to connect the underground palace with the surrounded world.
  After finding the place it was necessary to get a source of energy. And that"s when Elmar saw, what a munificent gift was brought him by Mr. Occasion. It was the waterfall! Nothing prevented him of arranging electric power station! It could provide the amount of energy that would be enough for several factories, not just for a small workshop.
  Elmar measured the bottom of the stream, ascertained its relief and raised the water level of its upper part. Now the water ran level with the floor of the cave. For not falling there in a dark moment Elmar built a fencing, disguising it as a natural rocky relief. Just in case, he imbed sensors into the fencing for automatically opening the dam, if, for some reason, the water would overflow the channel and run along the narrow "quay". He enclosed all the cables in waterproof plastic pipes, illuminated the smallest corners of the cave, and after that folded the preparatory maneuvers.
  Only then Elmar could proceed to the main task: equipment. Alas! In the collection of diagrams and drawings from Ryabinka"s starship there was absent instructions about materials what it was made of. Elmar himself had to guess about the stuff, and how to replace it. The task might seem a deadlock.
  Our amateur designer sat down to books again, but they little helped him now, because nobody on New Zemlya dared to write about space flight in earnest. In the end, Elmar decided to pick up the materials himself, using two basic principles: minimum weight and maximum stability. The possible expensive did not bother Elmar, he remembered that the price of any product consists not only of the cost of raw materials and labor, but also of energy and labor expenditures that went for the manufacture of machines and equipment. As Elmar was the mighty, the last two components were relatively cheap for him.
  So Elmar went to the nearest factory for the cultivation of artificial crystals and gave himself a tour. There was no any difficulty to organize it because of his work at the FilmStudio, and he carefully studied the shape and size of the crucibles. He meticulously delved into every trifle, methods of cleaning raw materials from impurities, and got acquainted with the technical passport of the equipment and materials from which the molds were made. And on the fresh memory he brought all he had seen to his cave, doing that on that very evening. The next day he went for the raw material...
  
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  The Helpmate
  
  In general, if someone started describing in detail what Elmar did during that time, this book would become too boring. So let's say shortly: he was seeking. He searched raw materials, data, deposits or other sources of useful minerals. He had tested a variety of materials that fell into his hands, from household plastics to rare composites, which heard or read about. He tested their hardness, flexibility, ductility, electrical conductivity, heat resistance. During all his previous life he did not revise so much technical literature as it was at that time.
  Soon he felt a quiet horror of the astronomical number of data which surrounded him. He was drowning in them, unable to deal with because he couldn"t choose anything. Time raced past Elmar by feverish vortex; if he didn"t stuck at the FilmStudio, then he was busy in his workshop; and if Elmar was neither here nor there, he sat over books or scoured factories and plants.
  Elmar became withdrawn and always was in a hurry. He ceased to love "talking for talking" and one day when Martin came to him with a visit, he caught himself thinking that he counted hours spent on communicating with his friend. Even lunches, breakfasts and dinners seemed to him annoying gaps in the time budget.
  And when he began to run out of breath, being unable to cope with the super-excessive workload, an unexpected help came to him. Maybe he got into a lucky streak. It was about three months after Martin's wedding. Elmar arranged the furniture in pavilion for the filming of the scene "In the office of the young scientist." Suddenly his work was interrupted by the chirping of the phone. So he had to come up and press the receive button.
  On the screen there was a fashionably tinted oval face with a mop of brown hair and vampire earrings.
   "Hello, colleague!" said Natal Ivenovna, because that was definitely her; "Quid pro quo!"
  "Alas, the queens of the reportages always remembers about the ordinary mortals only when they need them."
  "And ordinary mortals do the same as well! Don't look at me with so tragic eyes, I won't force you to disperse clouds in a rainy day or to do other magic things. The mystery of sparkling snow attracts and beckons me."
  "Only such a trifle?"
  "And some others. May I arrive?"
   "I'm waiting."
  She appeared two hours later and said, after examining of two long shelves, filled with souvenirs and layouts for the scenery:
  "I'm working on a big documentary film about water. The history of our water - how do you like the idea?"
  "And what about the chronicle? Did you abandon it?"
  "Certainly no. Reportage is my profession. But I have some free time. Can you guess what I'm here for?"
  "Must I introduce you to our operators?"
   "What for? I want only models. I need simulations of earth-quakes and volcanic eruptions. Nothing more."
  "Your requests are very modest!"
  "Are you joking? I can't do without them!"
  "As far as I remember, in your funds there are footages with similar subjects."
  "Of course they are and I"ll use them. But where can I take the view of a volcano from inside or an evaporating lake? Have you forgotten that our cinema is only a hundred years old, so it couldn"t capture primal landscapes, at least for this reason?"
  "You have own artists at your Studio."
   "We have, but what can they do? They are not able even to make snow sparkling! Besides, this is my first job, and I don't want to tell of it. Well, do you agree to help me?"
  "I don't know," said Elmar regretfully. He would be glad to take part in such an interesting project, but he was short of time.
  "And now I'm doing a series of reports on rocket science. Here, look!" she unzipped her purse and pulled out a little cylinder; "This thing is made of a new alloy. They line the inner surface of the fuel tanks with it. They will be doing it, I mean."
   "Let me see!" Elmar took a little cylinder and weighed it in his hands; "Have you stored its characteristics?"
  "Yes, I always put down everything that might be useful in future; it is more reliable than to keep them in memory."
  "Then a little interchange. I"m making something in my free time as well. And if you are ready to bring me samples of materials from your business trips, you will get all the toys you want now and ever after."
  That new acquaintance turned out to be extremely fruitful for Elmar. Natal Ivenovna was interested in rockets not by accident. She had a lot in common with Elmar, and they both were enthusiasts who stubbornly believed that some time in future the zemeltsy would break away from the embrace of the Mother-planet and unite with the rest of humanity.
  "Would you help the guy who also attempt to reach this aim, and do it not only in words but in deeds as well?" asked her Elmar one day, as he was tormented by the doubt whether he is right, using the mind and energy of the person who trusted him.
  "Yes, I would," replied Natal Ivenovna without any hesitation.
  "Contrary to public opinion?"
  "The opinion can be changed."
  The conversation turned to another topic, but the doubt in Elmar"s heart did not disappear completely. So he did not venture to tell Natal the truth.
  "It is better not to involve anyone in such affairs. Nobody knows what can come out from this. Now she is quite happy with her social status and work but can lose both positions."
  Meanwhile, the services which Natal Ivenovna and Elmar provided for each other, turned into a real cooperation. Now the artist often told to the reporter what he was interested and where she is desirable to go.
  He sent her into the research institutes, mines, plants suppliers. If the information was valuable, Elmar penetrated into that place, scouted everything thoroughly, and then made the exact copies of the equipment in his workshop.
  "Soon I will become an expert on missile technique," laughed Natal Ivenovna, going to the next trip.
  "Did they start rejecting your reports?"
  "Oh no! But don't you think that instead of the film "The history of water" I will release the movie "The history of a rocket?"
  She was joking. Elmar was not the one who was able to remain in debt. He also made all Natal"s .orders and desires. And if her project didn"t progress too quickly, it was because of the models that were needed for her film were too difficult. Of course, Elmar could effortlessly make any of her most intricate things, but he vividly remembered the fourth law, so according to it he estimated how much time one or other of her toys could take and materialized them just in time.
  At his work in the FilmStudio he did the same things: giving up an etiquette, he disconnected from the common surveillance and, locking the doors, minded his business. At the end of the day he materialized what he had to do and everything was OK.
  Using the fact that Natal Ivenovna unloaded his head and time, Elmar could finally set to work in practice, that is making spaceship and its parts in full size. In general he liked his new activity and soon his underground workshop became for Elmar the best place in the world.
  From the very beginning he walled it. It was cozy, dry and warm inside. He divided the climb up into two parts: in the narrow one he cut narrow but convenient stairs. In the wider part he built an elevator, bringing a conveyor belt to it.
  Is it worth mentioning that the elevator with the conveyor was closed by a wall as well. Elmar camouflaged everything with the imitation of rocks that formed the floor and walls of the upper and lower caves. Now, if anyone had appeared there, he wouldn't have found any cleft or even small crevices in the solid rock.
  That was absolutely necessary not only because the cave was known to Wold and Tod. In the upper part Elmar spoke to Natal Ivenovna. The Middle mountains were much nearer to Pervigord, where Natal lived, than Otkrytiy, and there was no need to complicate each other's lives with an excessive mystery. Especially when both of them were very busy people.
  However, soon Elmar showed Natal the waterfall with the stalactite palace too. He just took some measures previously to disguise everything that could spoil the impression from the beauty of the subterranean depth. The size of the hall was somewhat reduced, but it became possible to take pictures without any hindrance. Although Natal Ivenovna gave a word never to disclose the location of his residence, but the less she knew, the better it was. For her in Elmar"s opinion.
  Of course not everything went well with Elmar"s new field of activity. Thanks to the excellent education he had had on the Katrena he could do much and was able to make very many things he needed, but there were lots of materials which he had never had experienced with during all his previous life. That's when he could speak a kind word to his teachers. When he recalled Ryabinka and her ridiculous attacks on the education system of young the mighties, he was ready to laugh aloud. She should have a look at him now: what would he had been worth if he had been a soft-handed man. It was even strange that some years ago he had been almost as naive.
  For example, that Rebellion... Elmar laughed, having recalled his arguments in his debate with professor Gusev.
  "In my opinion, Katrena and her companions acted inhumane, leaving the helpless people to the mercy of fate," those were the words he had said on that lesson of history.
  "The ordinary people had to recognize the need to work. It was quite necessary," replied the professor.
  "But you could make everybody work without hiding or masking yourselves."
  "We could. But then we would not receive a blooming planet, as we have now but the arena of quarrels, envy and nobody knows what else. If people are forced to produce something without understanding why they need to do it, then they wouldn"t respect the persons who make themselves useful to society but the one who takes most from it."
  "I can't agree with that. Chaos and famine are not the best teachers, I think."
  The professor laughed:
  "Young boy! Hunger is a relative concept. Nothing awful had happened, when food became simple and rough. Clothing, and things began to deteriorate, the stores got empty... Actually, nothing serious was there, and nobody died, you can be sure. Naturally, we took care about the subsistence to be replenished regularly. But the human nature is to strive for a better and not for the worse. And the "better" ordinary people could acquire only by working."
  "But how could they know what to do?" objected Elmar.
  "I understand your doubts. They had completely forgotten how to labour and had weaned of it. But when there appeared the first trained... The people followed those who brought light at the end of tunnel."
  Just think! It took Elmar almost twenty years to see that his schoolmaster had been right. What would he be worth now without the skills acquired by him at the labor lessons on the Katrena?
  For example the casting of insulators was able to exhaust nervous of the most patient person on the planet. It was a real torture: to reach the desired temperature, adjust the exposure, cooling, the amount of injected material. And if yet all those conditions would at least dovetailed with the technological scribble! But no, every day Elmar had to start with a heating which lasted for three hours.
  By the end of the week, having made a quantity of insulators that was enough even for a good dozen of starships /four-fifths of them turned out to be with defects/, Elmar reached a certain understanding. The secret was in the casting speed: the faster the finished parts were dropped, the better the next batch came out. Now Elmar could put the casting on automatic, but he already had to master the production of the another item, and again he felt like a student.
  In general, although it took too much time, but it was an extremely interesting process. Yes, Elmar was almost happy, but the lucky streak as we know, come to end sooner or later. :Like everything else in the world.
  
  
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  The Incident
  
  Elmar"s period of bad luck began with the crash in an objects where Mariye worked. It happened in the third month, on the fifteenth day by New Zemlya calendar. On that day the paths of Elmar, Martin, Inka and some others crossed again.
  That day brought a lot of trouble to many people. But as for Martin, it brought him only a portion of rather unpleasant impressions. Martin was sitting in his cabinet at the table in the hospital where ha worked. He had just made his bypass, all the cards were filled. Having put the papers, he prepared to write.
  He needed to summarize some of his observations in the pancreatic surgery, but had postponed it from day to day. At home he had no free time because of his wife, and at the hospital there was too much work. He wrote in fits and starts. But today he hoped to put in order at least a part of his notes.
  Suddenly a sharp itchy sound made Martin raise his head. That sound he had heard only once in his life but nevertheless he remembered its meaning.
  Just in case, he asked the nurse:
  "Don't you hear anything?"
  "No," she said warily and anxiously.
  There was no doubt: the sound really came from the "mind". Somewhere somebody was in trouble, and Martin's duty was to hurry for help.
  "I have to go somewhere," said he to his assistant, and pretending not to notice the question in his eyes, added strictly:
  "If today something unexpected happens, perhaps you will have to operate without me."
  He did not feel quite at ease, because always tried to be a model of accuracy, and hated to puzzle the staff of the clinic with illogical behavior. Only Ninochka was not surprised at all. She accepted her husband as he was.
  Having turned his head first to one side and then to another, Martin noticed the direction in which the sound changed by a faint beeping and hurried out.
  Having gone to the garage, he took the aircraft and flew to the East. He was worried and hurried not only because of a sense of duty. In that direction there was the object where Mariye worked with her team.
  "Is it really there?" thought the surgeon; "It"s quite possible... They are so careless... and they don"t use any safety precaution...
  The beeping intensified gradually. Under the rocket there flashed fields and groves. At last the forest ended, and Martin saw a pitted ground, surrounded by a fence, inside which there were some trailers, walls without a roof and a bulldozer. A group of people stood in a semicircle near an armature, sticking out of the ground. It didn't look like an accident, but as Martin flew over the object, the beeping suddenly stopped, and then he heard the known sharp itchy sound again.
  Martin felt uncomfortable.
  "It's here, after all," he thought; "If only it wasn"t with Mariye."
  He made a circle above the construction ground and once more looked it through, but he also noticed nothing suspicious, except a brunette in a shiny orange dress. Violently gesticulating, the brunette tried to prove something to Mariye. And Martin sent his aircraft to land.
  Having landed the rocket and changed his exterior, Martin hastened to the place where all the people stood. When he was close enough to see the faces, he couldn"t help whistling: the brunette appeared to be Inka! To see her there was as ridiculous as to find out that the fat old man in the oil-stained overalls was none other than Elmar!
   "What has happened?" asked Martin.
  "A crane," said Mariye. She looked terrified; "We were just about to have a break for lunch!"
  "It collapsed," explained Inka; "I say, take the helicopter and pull."
  "What a foolish idea! It's not a carrot! There're people inside!" said one of the workers.
  "Do you hope they're alive?"
  "Yes, they sends signals," said another.
  Martin knew that man, his name was Wold, and since recent time he came to his house as Mariye"s admirer.
   "Do you hear these sounds? They"re ringing again!"
  There was a faint but distinct sound coming out of the armature, as if someone was tapping metal on metal.
  "What do you suggest?" asked Inka, frowning.
  "Digging."
  "But where can we put an excavator?" asked Mariye; "What if it goes down too? The best way would be to do it from the air. Such a pity if it is impossible!"
  "The excavator won't take the ground," said the first worker again; "There's a stone in two meters."
   "The only way to get there is to drill," intervened an elderly man in overalls with oil stains.
  By some very subtle signs Martin guessed that he was not a builder.
  "Perhaps you"re right. But who will operate this machine? Has anyone dealt with drilling rigs?" that question Mariye asked workers.
  "I can try," said the one who rejected an excavator; "Give me some paper."
  A moment later, in his hands there appeared a planchette with a piece of paper. The two man and a woman bent over the tablet and began to argue, using terms and drawing something on the paper.
  "So, this is the thing we need," said the worker at last.
  "Hurry up," said Mariye nervously.
  Five minutes later, a hybrid between a helicopter and a drill rig started working.
  Martin languished and regretted of an unfinished article. He already guessed how Inka got there. The barrette with the red stone at her temple explained him everything. No matter was Inka the mighty or not, and whether she knew how to use "the mind", but her brain heard the sound of the alarm. And a man in overalls with oil stains could easily be of the same age as Martin, judging by his hands, of course. He was watching the progress of the work and added ring after ring on the drill rig as it delved into the earth, spitting out the pulp from the soil with a wetting liquid.
  At last the machine stopped and then gave a start back.
  "Will he get it out?" asked Mariye anxiously.
  "He must manage with it. I think I have calculated the load well.
  The drill trembled and slowly went up. Then the machine crawled aside, leaving a narrow circular hole in the ground.
  The workers rushed there.
  "Stop and back!" cried Mariye.
  Everybody instinctively drew back. Then a rope ladder ran from the drill to the pit.
  "I'll go," said Martin.
  "Not for the world!" exclaimed Mariye, and spread her arms, blocking his way.
  "There is no danger for me," said the surgeon confusedly.
  In fact, it was impossible for him to fight with his sister.
  "I won't let you go there, I won't," repeated Mariye.
  While Martin hesitated not knowing what to do, Wold rounded him and, holding on to the crane boom, got to the well. Martin only could notice how he disappeared under the ground. Now he was standing and freaking out and cursed everything. When someone's head appeared on the surface, he was the first who rushed to the pit.
  " Is anybody injuries?" he asked, hoping to be of some use.
  "No," answered Wold.
  "And now," said Mariye in a trembling voice when the last man rose to the surface, "thank you. We can do without you now."
  The older man in the oil-stained overalls and Martin turned around and went to their aircrafts without expressing any emotion. Inka overtook them and went in front.
  "Ina, wait a little," said Martin's companion suddenly, when they were so far from the workers that no one could overhear them.
  And it was incredible, but Martin could almost swear that he heard Elmar"s voice.
  "I just wanted to ask... Don't run... What if it turned out that you could fly to your Liska?"
  Inka stopped. She slowly turned her head and the colour faded from her cheeks.
   "What for?" she answered softly; "I'm used to living here. Here are also enough things to do... for the space forester."
  
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  Three Elmar"s Mistake
  
  It"s time to tell, who was Inka, and what Elmar was punished for. We must explain why Elmar stubbornly avoided to speak on this subject to Ryabinka.
  That ridiculous incident happened soon after the first voyage of the native-girl to New Zemlya. Elmar was not that quite crazy for Ryabinka, no, but after her departure he got depressed. And although his melancholy was light, as they said in the old days, "sublime", but it did not elevate and on the contrary even oppressed.
  Who supposed that poems are written because of an unfortunate love? Elmar"s poetic wings got so weak, as if somebody had hung heavy weights on them, and rhymes had left him, leaving the exhausted heart at the mercy of the endless dark thoughts.
  He hardly forced himself to do something and envied people with a normalized working day who are obliged to go for a work, whether they like it or not. He would be glad to plunge headlong into some project, but as an evil, there was no any urgency in the task he had been given. There was nobody who would hurry Elmar, and no one was looking for him.
  So in one of these hopelessly gloomy days Elmar"s hands sent his rocket to the birch grove near Dolingord. He did not look for anything there, and he wanted nothing, but he was drawn to see the place that was associated with his green-eyed fairy.
  Landing his aircraft on the grass, still keeping the memory of her starship, the artist went to the grove, she had walked to. He would have followed her footsteps exactly, but all the area within a half-kilometer radius was trampled, and he walked at random, hoping, that it was the same way she had walked that day.
  He found the place where their first meeting had taken place and stood for a long time gazing at her lake. Then he went into the water and looked back. The day was windy again, and the birches were white, and even the clouds were of the same tint.
  Elmar remembered the native very clearly. She ran from behind the steep and stopped here at the top of the slope. She widened her eyes, looking exactly like a naughty schoolgirl. And no consciousness of guilt: only astonishment and fright. Yes, she looked dumbfounded!
  Elmar recalled every gesture of Ryabinka, every turn of her head. And her embarrassment when he had taken from his pocket "the hairpin".
  "What is it?" rang out the melodious voice.
  In Elmar"s hand there lay "the mind" and near the two birches on the bank there stood... She!
  Elmar turned cold. What he had done! Why had he touched his temple!
   "Am I disturbing you?" asked Pseudo-Ryabinka; "Sorry, I didn't want."
  She shook her curls and smiled the smile of a girl didn"t expecting any blows from fate. Quite alive and real she was. How could he explain her that she came from nowhere, and that the Earth, Liska, and the job she dreamed of are not for her now. That the past she knew was not her own, but someone else's. None could have done it in Elmar"s place, because she felt herself as the true human being.
  Elmar stifled a scream, which was ready to burst out, and said:
   "This is a present for you."
  "How lovely! Do you have a lot of the things like this one in your pocket?
  As "Ryabinka" was not going to take the "hairpin", Elmar approached her and attached the "mind" at her right temple.
  "What are you doing in the water?"
  "Nothing," answered Elmar, ready to cry. The only idea in his head was "She can't be taken to the city."
  "Your name is Ryabinka, isn"t it?" he asked trying to buy time.
  "Yes. How do you know?"
   "I know all about you. And that you came from the Earth... I mean Tyerra."
  "Did you see how I landed?"
  Elmar lowered his head to avoid looking into the eyes of his own creation.
   "I didn't see anything. You've been here before."
  The girl laughed:
   "You're confusing me with someone!"
  "To my regret, I'm not. Look!
  Elmar materialized in his hand a pink ball, then let it fall on the ground and said apologetically:
  "That's how I imagined you."
  He saw a clear wariness on the face of the girl.
   "Is it a compliment, or a kind of joke?"
  "It's the truth," said the artist sadly; "How do I know your name? Because I can tell you everything you know about yourself, for example the names of some your relatives or friends. But you don't remember anything about yourself extra. You know not more than I can tell you. Alas!"
  "It means nothing. You may be a telepath and can read my thoughts."
   "And the starship? Where is it, your starship?"
  "Let me show it to you!"
  She turned and ducked into the bushes, and her blue overalls flashed between the leaves. Having got out of the birch grove, the girl with a light sliding steps rushed to the place of her landing. She stopped at the edge of the hollow, and Elmar finally caught up with her.
  A single glance at the trampled grass with crumpled flowers and tangled stems was enough for him to feel a great pity. Of course there wasn"t any starship on the meadow, because it had nowhere to appear from. On its place there stood Elmar"s rocket, and suddenly the artist thought it was a terrible sacrilege.
  "It was here," he said.
  The girl turned to him.
   "Where's my ship?" hissed she with hatred; "What have you done with my ship?"
  Her large eyes narrowed, and her face paled. It seemed that she was ready to cling to Elmar and tear him to shreds.
  "I said it wasn't there. I can show you thousands of people who can confirm my words!"
   "You lie! And all your people will be lying too!" screamed his creation, clenching her fists; "You're the meanest liar in the world! If you materialized me, then materialize my ship!"
  Elmar sighed and took a newspaper from his pocket. "Ryabinka"s" eyes quickly ran through the headlines, and then her face became calm and mocking.
  "And yet I don't believe you," she said; "And I will not believe until there appear my starship."
  "I do not know how it works."
  "Ryabinka" glanced at him with a look of icy contempt.
   "You may try to do it yourself. If you're real, then you know how it looks like inside."
  "What am I supposed to do?"
  "Just imagine it on this place and click on the stone of the hairpin I gave you."
  "Ryabinka" pressed a stone and a starship really appeared.
  "Do you see it?" said she triumphantly before opening the hatch and ducking inside.
  She had a look of utter perplexity on her face as she climbed back out.
  "I told, you can't know the things which are unknown to me. I've never been interested in how starships work."
  "Hm... And what about this machine?" sarcastically asked "Ryabinka", pointing to his aircraft; "Do you know how to operate it?"
  And then Elmar made his third mistake. Instead of materializing to Pseudo-Ryabinka a rocket without height limiter and sending her up for vanishing, he just nodded without saying a word.
  But how could he guess beforehand what would follow?
  A sudden jolt threw him aside. While he was standing up, Pseudo-Ryabinka jumped into his own rocket, and turned on something there... The rocket rushed up, and the air wave nearly knocked Elmar down again.
  "Stop! Come back!" shouted Elmar.
  It happened so humdrum and casually. She came from nowhere and disappeared in two moments like she didn"t exist at all. As if both the girl and Elmar"s rocket were only his dream. But alas!
  The punishment was inevitable. Elmar could not keep silence about the incident. In the meadow there stood a "spaceship", and an angry girl which could do who knows what darted along the planet again. The law Number One was broken, and Elmar lost his power.
  The worst thing was that Elmar secured his punishment himself. He could pretend innocent, and let them look for the culprit of the commotion. But Elmar went to Martin and told him everything. Oh, if only he knew that the strange creation, who called herself Inka, wouldn"t do anything wrong! He would have eliminated the starship and everything would have stayed covered. And if he knew that Martin, instead of advising something, would report about their conversation to Tairov, then...
  Because Inka really did nothing. It had to be understood in a literal meaning: no-thing. Elmar"s rocket was found forsaken near Solnechniy, but that was the only proof of the existence of Pseudo-Ryabinka. After that her trail disappeared for a long time.
  Yes, the ideal creation of Elmar"s imagination matched his book and cinematic vision of astronauts much more than alive and slightly eccentric Ryabinka. He involuntarily gave her all the talents that possessed himself, a passion for technology, persistence, the ability to understand people and rare gift to navigate in difficult and unexpected circumstances.
  For example, Inka without any difficulties settled in Pervigord, made friends with astronomers and stuffed her apartment with all sorts of equipment to be aware of all planet events. Naturally, having heard about the appearance of Ryabinka, Inka wanted to see her prototype and find out what she had flown for. She remained firmly convinced that Ryabinka indeed had recognized her. And Elmar also shared that her misconception.
  Of course, Inka was not a spaceman. She understood no more than her creator in cosmic flora, soils and atmospheres. She had the vaguest idea about lots of things which were alive and real for Ryabinka. Inka was a person without a past, like a seriously ill patient, suddenly bereft of memory.
  In her heart there was a terrible emptiness that could filled by nothing. Did she love her creator? - No, she almost hated him, but unknown force was pulling her to hear about him, and to monitor all his deeds. She longed for activity and was equally capable of either very bad or very good actions. Oh, Inka was really dangerous! If Elmar had known it, he would have probably accepted that he had been punished correctly.
  By the way, it was not Martin who informed the Security Council of her existence.
  
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  The Arrest
  
  There was no longer the same calm for Elmar after the accident at the building ground near Solnechniy. He"d got a morbid fear that one day his workshop would also collapse like that crane. The fear made Elmar feel a constant tension, even nervousness. And now the work did not give him such pleasure as he had had before.
  The assembly was carried out by Elmar in the upper cave, because it was easier to break five meters horizontally than plus nine vertically. That was the final key stage of his work. He had to raise up and mount in a single unit pre-cooked and triple checked with drawings and layouts parts and assemblies of future construction. He couldn"t let it all go to waste.
  Elmar already knew that the accident happened because the crane stood on the place where underground soil consisted of soft stone, that wasn"t sturdy enough to be water-proof, so underground streams diluted it. And as the scientists of the planet yet never faced with such phenomenon, so the place was not only fenced but enclosed and there was even organized a little scientific station in three change houses. Although they were stood nearby the sinkhole, but not too close, and there was a chance to get to it undetected.
  So, when the hype around the sinkhole subsided, Elmar decided to fly there as soon as possible. He supposed that the flow can somehow be connected with "his" river.
  It was almost impossible to do it without an assistant, and Elmar decided to turn to Wold. Of course, Wold agreed readily. He liked the idea of traveling by underground waters for to know what flows where. Although the object was mothballed, but the place were lit well enough and the crane boom had to help them to do everything relatively safe. The night was chosen, and the expedition started.
  Having reached the bottom of the well, drilled to the base of the crane, Elmar checked the durable of the rebar to which he tied the rope. They both dressed in a diver suits, and gave themselves to the cold jets. The flow was narrow, but it really flew into the river that ran through Elmar"s cave. Having reached it, Elmar persuaded Wold to turn back and on their way back he noted on the special plate that he carried with him all the twists of the channel from his power plant to the crane. He didn't know why he did this, but subsequently these schemes came in handy.
  Further researches he conducted from the cave, and did it alone. Those studies encouraged Elmar. By all indications, there was no reason to assume the water origin of both caves. According to all signs, they appeared as a result of volcanic activity in prehistoric time.
  The traces left by the river on the walls of its bed told our two researchers that for a long time the water level there was constant. Now it gradually lowered, as hydraulic works cut the channel and opened the river access to the sea.
  The travellings through the underground channels convinced Elmar, that the collapse in his workshop was of low probability, but they pointed him to another danger. Not only he, but someone else could guess to swim in the mountain currents and then Elmar"s power station would be detected. It wasn"t just about it. Having come ashore, the expedition could pass to the upper cave and see a starship there. Realizing this, Elmar masked the tunnel from the inside too, leaving a narrow secret door. No one knew about this door except him and Wold. After that he masked the power station as well, covering it with the sheath, the outer part of which imitated the bottom of the underground river.
  In general, it seemed that Elmar provided all that could happen in detail, but it is impossible to foresee everything.
  For example, there were Martin and Mariye, whom Elmar nearly forgot of. Just recently he met them once a week, at weekends. Sometimes he flew to them, but more often they came to him. In order not to lose each other, it had been arranged that they waited for him until ten a.m., and if he didn"t appear till that moment, they knew that from half past ten to 12 Elmar would be waiting for them in his house. The system was very convenient, and it was set since Martin and Mariye lived in Dolingord. If no one came at the appointed time, everybody went where he wanted.
  Elmar always faithfully adhered to this tradition, but to anticipate all that can happen is not in the power of man even if he was "the mighty". There came the day when he had to leave the house before the hours were up. On that unhappy Sunday Natal Ivenovna phoned him. She always first warned, and only then appeared. She valued her and other people's time.
  Elmar said:
  "Okay," and hung up, and ten minutes later remembered that Natal Ivenovna has no idea about the spaceship, that was standing in the cave now.
  Quickly rising to the garage, Elmar flew to intercept. It was at half past eleven, and ten minutes later a rocket landed in his yard. It was Mariye's. She came out into the yard and entered the house. Soon she ran out of there, slamming the door, and rushed back to Solnechniy.
  Flying over the mountains, she noticed Elmar. It would be all right if he was alone. But there was someone else besides him. It was difficult for Mariye to see her rival, because she stood back, and two rockets prevented a good look. All she could notice were a mane of dark chestnut hair and a big artsy earring.
  A burning jealousy flared up in Mariye's heart. Having slowed down, she looked around, and before the couple disappeared between mountain ranges, she noticed how the artist ran a hand over the ledge of the rock, and the rock slowly opened, letting him in. The next day, Elmar was arrested.
  
  He had been languishing in a solitary for three days, and then the trial took place. The session was held in Otkrytiy. The Security Council had met at full strength, and from that one could easily guess how serious the situation was. There was also a newsreel representative, as although the message about that session was not supposed to be released on the TV screen, it was fixed.
  It was done not for history, because nobody waited anything historical from this event but for business purpose. Because very often when a question had seemed insoluble during the meeting, it had gained full clarity after the members of the Council from the participants of the event had turned into the audience.
  Knowing about the presence of the operator in the room, Elmar searched it with his eyes. He hoped that the session would be entrusted to the same person who had made the video of Ryabinka"s ship. He was right. Natal was there. Today she seemed to be to our artist the only being in the whole world who could help him.
  He was not even offended when she turned away, noticing his gaze. On the contrary, that day Elmar was ready for everything and prepared to withstand all the soap which could fall on his neck. Moreover, Natal had every right to feel insulted.
  Yes, Elmar was prepared for anything, but not for what it turned out to be. Tairov"s accusatory speech began not with the starship, but with the general character of the defendant as a person. Having described briefly that Elmar even in his childhood showed such qualities as a complete lack of respect for elders, a disinclination to subordinate his interests to the ones of the majority, and a desire to stand out of his classmates, the president of the Security Council moved on to Elmar's future life.
   Elmar listened and could not believe his ears.
   From Tairov"s speech it followed quite inevitably that the character in question was a selfish and thoughtless type, dreaming by any means to break through to fame and more over he was a coward and a liar. Nothing was forgotten, neither the subject of Elmar"s poetry, nor his behavior at the time of arrival of the alien girl.
  "Yes," thought Elmar with a shudder; "It was much easier for the film heroes. They worked on the problem in the open, they were subsidized and supported by the government. They had an opportunity to speak, and their opponents didn't consider them villains. Will it always be in the same way, as long as humanity exists, that you need to ball his head on the wall, to defend your opinions if it goes against the majority opinion?"
  "Now we know," finished Tairov his speech, "why the accused went after the girl- native and indulged all sorts of the careless acts she did because of the ignorance of our customs and laws. He cherished his crazy ideas even then."
   "That's not true!" jumped up Elmar.
  "No one gave you a word," cut him off Tairov; "I could tell a lot about to what badness you sank in your criminal levity. Such a person has no place in our ranks!"
   "Ahmadushka, stop it! You told more than enough," intervened Feoktista Mikhailovna; "In whose ranks does he have no place? It is necessary to speak in essence. But you Elmar, too, must explain your behavior. You have deceived us, you have betrayed our trust, and I do not know how you can justify yourself."
  "I haven't broken our laws."
   "Haven"t broken?!" protested Tairov; "Even when you haven"t reported about the appearance of the new starship?"
   "The starship is mine. I made it."
  "Where did you get the parts?"
   "Everything in it was made by me."
  "And what about the materials?
  "I got them."
  "Oh, yes, it was so easy to do all these things! To make, to work and to get. Wouldn"t you like to tell us where did you get them?"
  "At different factories and quarries."
   "Who gave them to you?"
  "Nobody. I took them myself, without asking."
  "How could you do it?"
  "I changed under the plant workers and got the passes. Then I knew where raw materials were, and at the night came and took. Sometimes I took it with me in my pocket. If at night the material would be locked but it couldn"t be taken away immediately, I removed it, hided and took later."
  "Did no one never notice any of your manipulations?"
  "I wrapped the material in a shell that imitated something else."
  "For what purpose did you do these machinations?"
  "I wanted to build a ship that could fly into space."
  "Do you think the walls of your aircraft would protect you from the destructive action of the Great Space?"
  "No, I don't think so. I hope for something else. I can ask anyone"s help to prove my point, can"t I?
  "Yes, you can."
  "As the main argument, I would like to show you one fresh documentary film. It's called "The History of Water." Natal Ivenovna, could you bring it here?"
  "We don"t object," said Tairov defiantly politely.
  While Natal Ivenovna went for the film, there was a recess. The members of the Council discussed the problem among themselves without filtering. The majority had their opinion before the meeting. And the fact that the accused belonged to the "mighties" only gave reason to treat the incident with extreme severity.
  Although Elmar"s abilities didn"t state openly, but they were implied by itself. It was no accident that Martin had reproached his friend for giving himself away at every turn. Some of the Council members from those who themselves once had graduated from a school on the Katrena, felt sorry for Elmar, but what could they do against the majority? They kept quiet. As for Tairov, he did not hide his hostile attitude to the "hero of the day". There was little hope even on Feoktista Mikhailovna, as she was angry with Elmar because of Inka.
  It was clear to everybody except Elmar, that the mighties not accidentally brought the case to the General Assembly, instead of hiding it as their own domestic incident. They wanted to emphasize that they refused to protect that guy. And he stood alone in front of people, some of which would be happy to annoy him only for the fact that he was able to do the things beyond their capabilities.
  In addition, all the members of the Council including the chairman were waiting from Elmar where he would give himself up. How it would happen? Would he beg for mercy? Would he curse? Or would just let slip?
  That is why, although no one thought that Elmar"s "argument" could shake the established opinion, everybody prepared to see that argument with a great interest.
  
  
  The first frames of the film showed ordinary terrestrial landscapes: water in different types, children splashing in water, snow-covered plains, a snowfall, and a downpour.
  "Can you imagine," said the voiceover, " that once our Zemlya was quite different?"
  The downpour turns into a rare rain, it disappears. And there appeared a yellow-red rocky-sandy plain, with a tiny lonely speck of green on it.
  "This is what how the cradle of our civilization, Green Valley looked like 367 years ago, in the tenth year of the New Zemlya era."
  The spot is approaching, growing, and a small village of 500 houses, a pond, fields, woods and meadows with herds of antelopes is opened in front of the audience.
  "This was the colony when Ol flew away. But it looked quite different a year after. Because he left no successors behind."
  The water level in the reservoir decreases, grass in the meadows turn brown and significantly reduced in growth.
  "The water evaporated and there was no rain. The mighties of our own had not yet appeared on the planet, and there was no one to correct the situation."
  The town, the lake, the agricultural lands are covered with a transparent cap. Wild animals are kept in the zoo, and outside the hood there are a forest of dead trees and bones of dead animals. And only winds walk along the dry land.
  "The settlers have moved on a circular use of water. But the population is growing, and it is not enough."
  The number of houses under the hood has doubled.
  " The underground water is found."
  Not far from the first settlement grows another little town.
  "But people could not accept the eternal threat of death. They knew that water could be obtained artificially by very many chemical reactions. And although such water was very expensive, they did their best to expand their living space."
  There are shown laboratory experiments.
  From the depths from somewhere there floats a portrait of a young man with full lips and curly hair.
  "That was Staciy Abramenko, when he managed to open a cheap way to produce water from rocks."
  A brief description of the method.
  Posters: "the problem of water is solved forever!", "Many thanks Staciy Abramenko!", "Rejoice, rejoice!", "Long live science!"
  There appear towns under open air without any covers.
  A session of the government. Agenda is how to settle the water problem forever.
  The planet quickly changes its appearance. There are explosions everywhere, and the stone shredders work. Huge masses of ground are processed for life-giving moisture, and it pours, pours with endless streams into the formed basins. The waste turns into fertile soil, and the planet begins to acquire familiar features. Stasiy Abramenko now is a solid man. He's the head of one of the leading enterprises.
  "Two generations grew while it lasted. One day..."
  An ordinary working day at one of the objects. The workers set fire to the det cord running to the rock and move to a safe distance. A bang. A dull rumble. The ground under their feet suddenly wobbles and breaks. An elderly worker tries to re-jump through the crack, but another push sends him into the abyss.
  A general panic. Workers are popping out of cars, fussing, running. Someone phones somewhere, someone is trying to save someone. The helicopter arrives and takes everyone who survived to a base.
  The night on the base. One more earthquake. Cataclysms happen all over the planet. Volcanic eruptions are added to earthquakes.
  A portrait of Stasiy Abramenko in a black frame. The notice in the newspaper: "tragically perished in observation of volcanic processes."
   The decree: "Stop all hydraulic work."
   "Only the Green Valley was not affected by the disaster, because the earthworks were not carried out there either. People returned there in droves."
  The screen shows the Green Valley again, and three towns on it. The towns are growing rapidly and acquire a familiar look. They are Otkrytiy, Solnechniy and Kluchy. Many other settlements appear.
   Earthquakes on the planet stop, volcanic activity also go down. It rains regularly. Times of the year appear, rivers start to flow constantly. Deer released from zoos are jumping in forests and meadows, and wolves are coming out to hunt them. Fish is splashing in ponds. But it is neither in the rivers nor in the seas yet. No water plants can be found in the planet reservoirs. In the ponds the fish is fed by people.
   The screen shows the modern look of the planet again. Water, water of all kinds. And the last phrase:
  "Let us be grateful to those who created for us this life-giving miracle!"
  
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  Natal Ivenovna
  
  "What did you mean by that?" asked Tairov when the screen went out; "Sorry, we didn't understand."
  "Twice a year, the cells of the human body are completely renewed. The same renewal of substances is constantly happening everywhere in nature. Plants take the nutrient substances from the ground, we eat plants, and thus there is a cycle. But the water of our planet was created from real matter. Soils were created, with rare exception, too, from it, and for 250 years the human persons did not remain indifferent to it. Now our body can also consist of natural cells rather than of imaginary ones."
  An indignant murmur was heard in the room.
  "Silence," raised his tone Tairov; "We continue interrogation!"
  "So you think you can get into your ship and fly even now?"
  "Yes, I can, because I..."
  "Enough, we've already heard you. Who wants to speak?"
   "Our accused," said one of the members of the Council, "probably forgot, how many attempt was to rise above the boundaries at the early time. What a clever screens have been invented! And nothing worked. No one of the brave inventors survived. And you want to rise without any protective means and think that you can outwit nature. Shame on you, young man!"
  "They died because they ate grain grown on artificial soil," said Elmar.
  The room rustled again.
  "He's crazy!" shouted a voice.
   "I can prove that I"m right," answered Elmar so calmly as it was possible; "Give me my own aircraft, I'll go up and you'll see yourself that the border is not so invincible."
  "No doubt we would do so if we had the death penalty," said Tairov; "Feoktista Mikhailovna, I think, everything is clear, and it is better to take him away."
  He put the question to a vote. It was accepted to remove the culprit from the room, so as he would not interfere with further investigation. Elmar was picked up by two unknown people and taken to the cell.
  And in the evening Natal Ivenovna visited him.
  "Did you come to scold me?" asked Elmar, closing the door behind her.
   "What for? Why must I be angry with you? I think you've had enough."
  "Do you also think I'm crazy?"
  "I came to tell you what happened at the Council in your absence."
  "You see, I've already flown there! I flew every day and I"m alive!"
  "What does it matter now? They decided to destroy your spaceship. That is all!"
  "My spaceship?"
  "They say that none person is able to pull off such a volume of work. Only Gusev spoke in your defense, but most of the people do not believe that the ship is real, and think that you just... well, as if you imagined in dreaming that you were building it. Anyway, they want to check."
   "Why should they check? Let them ask Feoktistushka, whether I am the mighty or not."
  "That's the problem. She doesn't say Yes or No. She looks like she's having doubts, and it's confusing. Tairov is also in doubt. The rest mighties hesitate as well."
  "What makes you think that Tairov is the mighty?"
  "It's not the first time when I film the Council sessions. All the mighties have very special facial expressions and manners. And only the mighties can name F.M.Kensoly "Feoktistushka".
  Elmar blushed and got confused.
  "But you didn't listen to what will be going to happen," continued Natal.
   "And what exactly?"
  "They decided that if the ship is real and breaks instead of fading in the air, they will be looking for your accomplices."
  "What accomplices could be there? How could I get them? Where from? No partners can be in the affair like this! If someone helped me sometimes, it was only through ignorance. None of them knew what he took part in. But if they are so much to want to figure out all these unfortunate persons, let them begin the searching. I won"t say anything personally!
  Elmar's indignation was intended not for Natal, but for the ears of eavesdroppers. Elmar did not know whether they are or not and was careful just in case.
  But his words did not calm down Natal Ivenovna.
  "Ah, Elmar, wouldn't it be better to tell them everything? After all they are human, and they can understand you!"
   "Oh yes, they're human! They can! To erect a monument after death! But I do not need their monument! The only thing I want is to get off from here. And if they confiscate my workshop, I'll probably die! Hear that? I won't live if it get in their hands!"
  "It's your irritation talking. You're unfair."
  Elmar's eyes shone feverishly:
  "Even if they are convinced that I told the truth, I"ll remain a thief and an ambitious man in their opinion!"
  "Well, you think, and in the morning I'll come to you again."
  Elmar tossed from corner to corner for a long time and could not rest. His spaceship! The longer he thought about it, the more terrible the decision of the Security Council seemed to him. He remembered how much agony it was for him the assembly of the starship. It"s hard even to think of what it was to rewind five times the hull of it. And how many times different trifles stopped the whole work because they didn"t suit well, and he couldn't even understand what was wrong. Once he had to cut and remove piece by piece a whole block.
  And from the radio-set there rang a young fresh voice:
  
  If you want to do deed, it's your time!
  Choose your path and then act, that"s your right!
  May it be very tortuous and steep,
  Never fear when you try and seek.
  Don't be chasing the glory, my friend.
  Don't confuse to get lost on your way
  And to walk barefoot on hot sand,
  Or to stumble and to fall into chasm.
  If your fate is to perish, then die
  Warning others of dangers in flight.
  If your life was a hard real feat ,
  Man! You haven't spent life for a trifle!
  
  Elmar grabbed the radio-set and slammed it to the floor. And sardonic laughter rumbled in his throat. He really felt crazy, and a wild desire to destroy everything indiscriminately went to his head. He put all the receiver parts together and start broking them. And he did it until he was tired.
  Two hours later he asked for paper and a pen.
  In the morning, he barely waited for the arrival of Natal Ivenovna and asked bluntly:
  "Natal, would you like to save my spaceship?"
  "Don't bury it beforehand. The final decision will be made only today."
  "I won't have to bury it neither today nor tomorrow if you agree to snuck there and program the ship brain to automatic descent. Here are all calculations, you have only to enter them. Are you good with computers?"
  "I think I do, but..."
  "Do you refuse to help me?"
  "No, never! But what if I stay in the spaceship?"
  "No, no! It's too dangerous. It"s deadly."
  "You don't believe your theory, do you?"
  "I do, but for being unbreakable you need to move to another city and to eat the food having been there..." Elmar distinctly showed hand upward; "during not less than six months. In the Pervigord the soil is soaked through with imaginary atoms. You'll die for certain. It was a miracle that I came through alive, and miracles don't happen twice."
  With these words, Elmar leaned his palm against Natal Ivenovna"s, and when he removed it, the face of a man and his data lost printed on her skin: name, surname, address.
  " Did you get it?" asked our painter.
  "I changed my mind, though," he said after Natal had nodded; "You don't have to go into the spaceship. If those bunch of cretins want to go into the air, why must I interfere? There are tanks with liquid helium in the ship. If they burst, the picture would be funny."
  While Elmar"s tongue was speaking, his hand touched Natal"s palm again, and she read the following:
  "There is another way into the cave. Let Wold take care of the starship. Let him do everything alone. He shouldn"t stay in the starship."
  He made one more touch and Natal"s palm became clear again.
  Showing Natal Ivenovna the portrait of Wold, Elmar gave himself away to her. First, now she knew for sure that he was the mighty, and secondly, that she was not the only who had helped him without any idea about his real intentions. But Elmar's plan to get into the spaceship and to program it for a smooth descent did not please her.
  First of all, she knew that the starship was very well guarded, and then, she hated secret actions. Moreover, Natal had a plan of her own that she liked much better. Nevertheless, she found Wold and gave him Elmar's request. Wold said okay, and she flew to Pervigord to TV Studio.
  The preparation of the plan took her just as long as getting up to the narration"s room, to tell the dispatcher that he was waiting downstairs and to lock up the room. And the Rubicon was crossed.
  Having set equipment to the direct transmission, Natal Ivenovna blocked the receiver, which let any viewer to get into gear for interrupting her speech and preventing her message. On the first channel there was a third series of the popular historical movie which was watched by the majority of the people free from work, and there was a possibility and it could easily happen that someone's evil will or a whim would impose an undesirable discussion about the dubious right of speakers to spoil public rest.
  Natal sat down at the table, turned on the microphone and, as soon as her image appeared on the screen, said with a smile:
  "Dear zemeltsy! We are transmitting an important message from the government. One young man found a way to overcome the boundary of the biosphere. This method is available to all, and gives not-limited opportunities for our aviation. In addition, this person, not relying on government support, built a spaceship, doing it at his own risk. It took him a Herculean labour on the brink of possible to make it happen. Unfortunately, doing this he had to use not exactly legal means. We ask you,"
  Natal Ivenovna tried to smile as charming as she could,
  "to help in solving the problem: what should be done with such a person? Should we encourage him, forgive him or punish him? It is not just the fate of a single person that is being decided. Do we, zemeltsy, need other worlds? Everyone who considers himself a citizen, may send a telegram to the address: "Otkrytiy, Glavnaya street, the House of Soviets."
  "We repeat...".
  She spoke calmly and kindly. And the faith in human justice sounded in her heart, reflected in her voice and smile.
  Ah, Elmar! He was so sure that everybody was against him, he rowed against the current with such persistence! But he was wrong. Nobody can do it through alone. This is what our funny man did not understand.
  
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  The Finale
  
  After Natal Ivenovna"s appeal on national TV there could be no question of keeping in secret the fate of the spaceship and its creator. The messages to the Security Council began to arrive fifteen minutes after the end of the transmission.
  Tairov was angry /or pretended to be so/. Now it didn't make sense to destroy the spaceship and put Elmar somewhere to a settlement. The only thing left to do was to program the spaceship for a smooth descent after the disappearance of the platform on which it was going to be raised, then put it under guard and to obey the need to conduct all-planet discussion on the problem.
  Many reporters of all stripes swirled around the cavern with the starship and the members of the Security Council. Tairov tasked Gusev to develop a program and announced that the tests would be held on the following day.
  Wold did not know about all those events. Much time had passed while he was getting off work and carrying a diving gear from home to the failed crane, and even more while he was making his way by underground streams to the waterfall with the stalactite palace. So when Wold finally got to the upper cave, the noise around the starship was in full swing.
  To approach the door of the starship, and especially to get inside it was impossible. Wold realized it immediately as soon as he saw the reporters and the guards. In addition, he caught from the conversation of the guards that the starship is not in danger, so he did not try to run into a senseless risk.
  And yet it was as if something scratched his heart when he thought that he saw a dark figure slipping from behind the ship's hull to the exit. Wold could swear that it was the person whom Ryabinka had called "the Curly."
  Wold barely restrained himself not to jump out of his hiding place and ran behind the figure, but suddenly he noticed Mariye among the reporters. There was also something strange about her behavior, and Wold didn"t like it at all. Then he decided that Elmar had sent a messenger not only to him. The relationship between the two was no secret to him, and he thought that Mariye was there on the same occasion as he was.
  If Wold had not been jealous of Mariye to the artist, he would have guessed that Mariye would be the last person to whom Elmar would ask for the saving of the starship. However, jealousy is blinding, and Wold, having known when the test of the vehicle would take place, got out of the cave by the same water way.
  The next day crowds of people gathered near the cave. There flew a lot of onlookers in addition to the government commission and reporters, among which Natal Ivenovna could be lost if she wasn"t standing on the well observed place. Wold was in the crowd too. Putting his rocket on some more or less horizontal plane, he joined the spectators, among whom he saw "the Curly", that is, Tod.
  Tod noticed him, too. Having pushed to each other, the former comrades in misfortune shook hands and began to watch as a cave-passage was formed in the rock, and the starship was put on a pallet with wheels and taken out and loaded onto the prepared platform. How the platform hummed softly and began to rise. Up, up, higher, higher - and suddenly disappeared. The starship hovered for some moments continuing its way up to the sky and then started falling down. The crowd gasped in fright. But one more moment passed and the falling of the spaceship slowed, and it began to descend smoothly and safely.
  Like all the others, Wold and Tod stared at the sky. It could seem strange, but Tod smiled while Wold continued to wait. He was almost sure that it wasn"t the end of the show, that something else is about to happen. And he almost wasn"t greatly surprised when... What was it? Wold could swear that something flashed near the spaceship. A moment after that everybody saw explosion. The starship broke into two parts and crashed to the slope of the mountain, just where Wold"s rocket stood.
   "It was you!" turned Wold to his recent friend, grabbing him by the shoulder; "It seemed to me I saw you in the cave at the starship. Why did you do that?"
  "Me?" replied Tod rather rudely; "What makes you think that I"m a complete fool? I"d never... Look at her!"
  The amazement, which was in Tod"s voice, made Wold have a look aside. A few steps from them he saw a black-haired green-eyed person in a red dress with sequins. She alone seemed to remain calm in the midst of the general excitement. It was Inka. On the face of her there was written a revenge triumph.
  Of course, Wold and Todd could not help mistaking her for Ryabinka.
  "Has she come again? Or hasn"t she flown away at all?" that's what Wold thought. And he rushed forward, dragging Tod with him.
  Inka turned and slowly walked to her aircraft. The usual despair gradually took possession of her.
  "Where are you going?" heard she a voice behind her back; "Listen, Elmar has got into such a mess!"
  "I know," said Inka automatically and turned to break free, because one of the followers grabbed her hand. She detected that either the man who spoke or the other one, with blond curly hair, were quite unknown to her.
   "If you know, then why aren't you doing something to free him?" the Wold's anger broke out; "You could lift a finger and he'd be released.
  Inka didn't move an eyebrow.
  "Who are you?" asked she coldly.
  "Hello," said Todd; "She's already forgotten us after we were out of the Zone, and how Elmar saved her."
  "That's it! Now I understand ..."
  "Leave her, Wold," continued Tod; "Don't you see that the thing is of little use? How could Elmar go crazy about this walking mannequin!
  "I am not who you think I am," said Inka defiantly; "I hate your Elmar."
   "Ugh!" spat Wold; "And he has risked his life because of you!"
  "He has never risked his life for me!" whisper-shouted Inka; "I'm not Ryabinka! I'm Ina! And steer clear before I turn you both into a roast!"
  Wold and Todd looked at each other and didn't bother to follow her anymore. They both had the same thought: was this girl the person who attached a magnetic mine to the starship? But what reason did she have to do that?
  
  Having escaped from uninvited moralists, Inka thought again how desperate would be Elmar, when he hear about the crush of his spaceship. But now that idea did not give her any pleasure. On the contrary, she felt very bad, and a sharp discontent with herself made her frown. Trying to ward off this feeling, Inka said to herself:
  "You wanted to destroy Elmar"s plans! And you weren't alone in that intention. Was it you who pointed at his refuge or subjected him to judgment ... No, not you. So there is nothing awful in your actions..."
  All of these was true, but it wasn"t entirely true.
  The truth was, that Inka not only blew up Elmar"s starship, but none other than she held in her hands a means to help our hero. Because only a burning desire to make Elmar get comfort from her hands ruled all Inka"s affairs around her creator.
  Inka sighed and turned her rocket to the big meadow on the Green Valley near Dolingord, to a hollow near the birch grove. There, under a low hill, that looked just like other nearest hills, peacefully waited in the wings Ryabinka"s spaceship. Only Inka knew about it: after all, who but she covered it with a protective cap, imagining over all another layer of turf and grass to mask it.
  She put her rocket on the top of one of the hills and thought,:
  "When Elmar is released, and he will be released by all means, it will be necessary to give him the ship. Let him fly if he wants to."
  She came out of the rocket. A light breeze immediately confused her black with a bluish tint hair. She stretched and smiled, pleased with her decision.
  
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  EPILOGUE
  
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  On the thirty-first of December, 2678, according to the chronology of Tierra, an event occurred in a remote corner of the Universe that was not noticed by none of the historians due to its insignificance. A single starship of standard design landed on the main cosmodrome of Liska.
  Two hours later, a young, slim, slightly awkward guy broke into the greenhouse of a new, just built, plant for the production of solar panels. A short dark-blond haired girl rose and stepped toward him, clutching in her hands a clod of ground.
  "Hello, Ryabinka," said the guy.
  Life full of enormous, engrossing labour expected those two persons.
  But strangely enough, they felt happy.
  The blue sun of the Liska's dawn was blazing over them.
  
  
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  ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ
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  RYABINKA
  The Mysterious Route Map ..................................... .............3
  Martin and his house ......................................... ...........11
  The News ............................................... ...........17
  Discovery .................................................... ...........24
  Running Away ................................................. ...........29
  The Strange Face ............................................. ...........38
  The Competition .............................................. ...........46
  The Practice ................................................ ...........54
  Was it really super-romance?................................. ...........64
  Farewell, the Planet of Paradoxes!......................................71
  
  FATHER
  On Liska ................................................... .............81
  Unexpected Encounter........................................... ............87
  Katrena and her precepts...................................... ............96
  On the Lilac Island........................................... ............105
  The Key to the Puzzle......................................................114
  Disappointment................................................. ............121
  The Frog From the FilmStudio................................... ............130
  Doubts......................................................... ............139
  Disgust....................................................... ............145
  The Night ............................................................................. ............151
  The Quarrel................................................... ............156
  
  ELMAR
  The Crash..................................................... ............165
  The New Acquaintance ........................................ ............171
  The Marriage.................................................. ............177
  They Met in the Mountains.................................... ............183
  The Helpmate.................................................. ............189
  The Incident................................................... ............195
  Three Elmar"s Mistake......................................... ............200
  The Arrest..................................................... ............205
  Natal Ivenovna...................................................................... ...........214
  The Finale................................................................................. .220
  
  EPILOGUE......................................................................225
  
  
  
  
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Новые книги авторов СИ, вышедшие из печати:
О.Болдырева "Крадуш. Чужие души" М.Николаев "Вторжение на Землю"

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