"Joseph Green - Forgotten Star" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Joseph)

moved them quickly to the tower, where it formed an escalator. At the bottom it became a
moving belt once more and carried them to the domed spaceport building.
A Spaceport official checked their names and motioned them through the gate into the
main waiting room. The room was filled with noise and the movement of excited people.
Overhead, the domed ceiling glowed with permatile lights.
Jim and Ken stopped just inside the gate and looked about in confusion. Suddenly they
heard a familiar voice cry out.
"There they are!"
Two figures pushed through the crowd.
"Ken! Jim!"
The next instant both boys found themselves fairly smothered in Jane Barry's arms.
"We sure missed you, Mom!"
Dr. Keith Barry stood back and watched his wife greet the boys, a playful smile on his
lips. He was a tall man with a trim, athletic figure. Though youthful in appearance, there was
a tinge of gray in his hair.
"Don't I get a chance to welcome the boys?"
With a laugh, Mrs. Barry released her sons. The scientist put his arms around the boys
and gave them a hard squeeze.
"An exciting trip, eh?" he chuckled.
"You know about the stowaway?" Jim asked.
"Everyone in Luna City is talking about it," Jane Barry told the boys. "After all, a
stowaway! Even a false alarm is news here."
"But it wasn't a false alarm, Mother!" Ken said. "Dig Allen is here on the Moon!"
"We talked to him before he got off the ship," Jim said.
"Oh?" The scientist looked at the boys quickly and frowned. "You'd better tell us about it
on the way home."
From the great dome area, four wide passageways radiated outward like the points of
a giant compass. Dr. Barry guided the group through the crowd until they reached a
glideway.
"This way," he directed.
Nimbly, they stepped on the moving belt and were quickly whisked into the long arcade.
Sidewalks flanked them on both sides. Crowds were moving along leisurely, looking into
store windows.
The boys gaped at the displays. Leather products from the tough hides of Martian
desert lizards vied for attention with colorful giant fruit from Venus. The windows were
crowded with all kinds of equipment for space travel.
Noticing the boys' interest, Mrs. Barry laughed.
"Luna Spaceport is the main shopping center. Not only for us, but for all space travellers
and pioneers."
"We're living in times that are pretty much like the old days of the West in America,"
said Dr. Barry. "Only nowadays the pioneers move spaceward. They go in spaceships
instead of covered wagons-and they settle on Mars or Venus."
"And this is where they buy their outfits?" Ken asked.
"Yes."
Five minutes later, they left the glideway and entered a large concrete chamber. The
place was filled with a wide variety of vehicles, all mounted on tractor treads.
"Is this the Luna City garage, Dad?" Jim questioned.
"Yes," his father replied. "And we're going to get our Cat-short for caterpillar tractor.
Wheels aren't much good here, so we use caterpillar tractors to get around."
The cabins of the vehicles looked bulky and squat. Each was painted a different color or