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

Chet listened intently as he plodded carefully upward.

"Information relayed by the landing to the team is being transmitted
and, when it has been analyzed and tested for accuracy, its results will be
made public for the greater betterment of mankind."

Experts in various parts of the world had been contacted and their
comments sought in order to clarify the news item. But in view of the
terseness of the announcement and the lack of accompanying data, there
was little they could venture beyond giving their views on the planet itself
and the feasibility of any sort of landing. Chet himself was not one to deny
that such a feat was possible. After all, while he was climbing up and down
on the surface of the moon, he was not apt to feel that further adventures
to nearby planets were beyond the reach of man.

But the key words, as Chet saw it, were, "тАж information relayed by the
landing to the teamтАж" This would seem to be a clear indication that the
landing unit was unmanned. The "team" to which the information was
being relayed could be anywhere from a close-parked orbit around Venus
to headquarters somewhere "East of the Urals." In view of the fact that the
United States had announced months ago that its own probe, carrying the
most sophisticated instruments, was on its way to penetrate the clouds of
Venus and report on its atmosphere, temperature and ground conditions,
he found it easy to believe that the Soviet announcement was calculated to
steal the thunder from the American effort.

Turning it over in his mind and considering the announcement from
every conceivable angle kept him occupied so that time flew by as he
covered the difficult ground. Almost before he was ready, for it, he reached
the top of the crater and paused as he glanced down its sloping outer rim.
Not only was it downhill, but it was nowhere near as steep as his upward
climb. Two hundred yards away, just where the slope met the level ground,
the moonwalker was perched motionless.

"Hey, Jim," he called on the intercom wavelength, "I've got you in sight
and I'll be with you in a couple of minutes."

"I know," Jim replied casually, "I've been following you on the
bounce-radar. Judging by your speed, I thought at first that I had latched
onto some fat moon caterpillar and I was about to report it as a fantastic
discovery when I recognized your outline. They wouldn't have believed me
anyway," he concluded solemnly; "caterpillars travel much faster than
that. Even fat ones."

Chet smiled but made no reply. Regulations required radio silence
except for necessary conversation. And going by the book, a three word
answer was all that would have been required from Jim. But going by the
book was not Jim's habit. He was a well trained geologist whose natural
aptitude for his profession made him one of the finest in the business. He
was not the military type and had been induced to enter the Space Service