"David Grinnell- To Venus! To Venus!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grinnell David)

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To Venus! To Venus! by
David Grinnell

CHAPTER I


"Chet, this is Orbiter. Do you read us?"

"Loud and clear. What's cooking?"

"Nothing. Just wanted you to know that your target is right on the
other side of the next ridge. One more climb and you're there. Just keep
picking them up and laying them down and you'll be there in time for
lunch. Going clear."

"Thanks a lump. Out."

Chet Duncan knew that the boys in the mother ship, orbiting high
above the moon's surface, were being flip in an attempt to encourage him;
he appreciated their efforts but he was tired and did not want to waste
energy talking unnecessarily. He had been trekking across the dry lunar
landscape for several hours, and it was hard work. Theoretically, the
one-sixth Earth gravity pull should have made the trip a series of effortless
leaps and long strides. But, as usual, there was a tremendous gap between
theory and practice, particularly when you were dealing with a branch of
one of the most specialized government services, the Space Agency of the
United States.

Survival in space required an extraordinary amount of gear, and, of
course, you were expected to survive in the manner and method approved.
As a result, the advantage of a weakened gravity was more than
compensated for by the necessity of carrying six times the equipment
required for a similar trip on Earth. The cumbersome suit with its heavy
helmet, bottled oxygen, air-conditioning equipment, the recycling
apparatus; these plus batteries and communications equipment and
sundry emergency supplies added up to a burden which had Chet
perspiring. But he had crossed the empty crater and only its wall stood
between him and his goal.

He clumped along, dragging one heavy foot after the other as he started
the long climb which would take him over the final ridge. His left
earphone was tuned in to the wavelength of Jim Holmes, who was his