"David Gerrold - Starsiders 1 - Jumping of the Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

The problem was that the slope was too steep for me. If I tried to go down it, I'd just go skidding all
the way down to the bottom. And it was a long way down. There was that queasy sensation again.
Heights. Open spaces. Holes. Everything. I couldn't explain it. And there was no way to get down
underneath Stinky either, to catch him. I said a word, the one that Mom always tells me not to say.
"Charles! Go get him.'" That was Dad, always full of good advice ... from a distance.
I couldn't see howтАФthe only thing I could think of was to lie down flat on the ground and try to inch
my way downward, and even that seemed like a really stupid idea, because if I slipped, we'd both go
rolling a hundred meters to the floor of the crater. Only it looked farther. I began edging myself down the
slope, all the time muttering through gritted teeth, "Just hang on, Bobby! Just hang onтАФ" I went from
handhold to handhold. There weren't any rocks or weeds strong enough to hang onto.
I couldn't get close enough. I anchored myself as best as I could and unbuckled my belt, pulling it out
of my pants as safely as I could. I let the end hang down toward Stinky. He could almost reach it, but it
would have meant letting go. "No, waitтАФI'll try to get lower."
And that's when I froze. I realized I couldn't move either. Not up, not down. My mouth was dry and I
couldn't swallowтАФand the great empty hole yawned beneath us. We were stuck on the wall, just waiting
to slide down. I knew it thenтАФwe were both going to die here. And it really pissed me off. This was not
how I'd planned my lifeтАФ
"Chigger, wait!" That was Douglas, above me. I turned my head. He was just taking off his belt. He
wrapped one end around his hand, then stretched out flat on the ground. He lowered his belt to me and I
grabbed hold. There was just enough to loop it around my wrist and grab the buckle. I wanted to beg him
to pull me up, but Stinky was starting to lose his grip below me. He was whining and crying the way that
he did when all hell was threatening to break loose around himтАФall that somebody had to do now was tell
him to shut up and he'd start flailing and screaming. It was very tempting.
"Okay, Stinky!" I said. "Look at me."
It worked; I got his attention. "Don't call me that!" he cried angrily.
"All right, but you have to look at me. I'm going to lower my belt. Don't reach for it until I tell you,
okay? Because you're only going to get one chance. I'm coming down nowтАФ"
Still holding onto the end of Douglas's belt, I edged downward, just a little bit at firstтАФI felt myself
start to slideтАФand Douglas caught the slack instantly. Some rocks and pebbles rolled away around me.
But I didn't follow them. I might live through this after all. "A little bit more, Doug. I'm almost there." I
looped my belt around my other wrist, like Douglas had done, and lowered it to Stinky. It almost reached.
I stretched as far as I could.
"Okay, kiddo," I said. "On threeтАФ"
 "I can't do it!" he whined. "I can't!"
"Yes, you can," said Douglas. "Just listen to meтАФ"
That wasn't going to work, Stinky never listened to anyone, "No, Doug, Stinky's right. He can't reach
it. Stinky's just a little baby. He can't do anythingтАФ"
It worked. Before I'd finished the sentence, Stinky had swung and grabbed the end of my belt and
nearly yanked me off the wall of the crater, he grabbed so hard. Without thinking, I pulled back in
response, and Doug pulled on me, and Dad was there pulling on Doug, and somehow we all ended up
back on the path, Doug against Dad with Dad holding him tight, and me against Doug with Doug holding
me, and Stinky in my arms, hanging onto me like a human death-grip. The four of us just stayed like that
for the longest time, all of us trying to catch our breaths at once.
I kept my eyes closed. Because when I opened them, all there was to see was how deep the crater was
and how high we wereтАФand all that empty space made me want to throw up more than ever now.
Eventually we untangled ourselvesтАФvery carefully. It would have been real stupid to fall down the
hole now. Dad looked gray and shaken, but he waved me off when I asked if he was all right. He looked
like he wanted to say something, but then he looked like he didn't know whatтАФfinally he just waved his
hand as if to erase everything and pointed back up the path.
Douglas took Stinky by the hand to follow himтАФand of course, Stinky tried to pull away. "Let me