"Heinlein, Robert A - A Tenderfoot in Space - Original Version v1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

УI thought so. And suppose I gave you a friendly slap on- the back. He could kill a man, huh?Ф
Nixie had listened, tense and watchful. He could feel the fear in HansТ mind; he understood, without understanding why, that his boy was arguing with this other boy. Charlie did not seem in immediate danger, but Nixie stayed at yellow alert.
It showed. The savage carnivores who were NixieТs remote ancestors showed in his stance and his watchful eyes. The Venus-born jungle rat, drilled since babyhoo~ to keep his eyes open for just such unknown dangers could see the carnivoreЧand failed to see the gentle household pet. He watched the dog carefully.
Charlie said, УWhy, thatТs nonsense, Hans. Pat him Rough him up a bit. Shake hands with him. Let hin learn your smell.Ф When Hans still did not move Charlie asked incredulously, УDonТt you like dogs?Ф
УI donТt know. IТve never seen one before, up close.Ф CharlieТs jaw dropped. But Hans had spoken thc
simple truth. Some town boys in the troop, immigrant~ like Charlie, had once owned dogs Earthside. Others had friends among the handful of dogs in Borealis. But Hans alone, born on Venus and living outside town, knew so little of dogs that they were as strange to him as a tiger shark would have been.
When Charlie finally got this incredible fact firmjyin his mind he persisted even more strongly inJiis-~fibrt to get his team buddy acquainted witJi-his~ther partner. Before Hans went home that nght he had touched the dog, patted him, even picked hith up and held him. Nixie could feel the fear go away, to be replaced by a sudden warm feeling. So Nixie snuffled Hans and licked his chin.
Hans showed up the next day at CharlieТs home. He wanted to see Nixie.
In the two weeks that followed before the hike, Nixie adopted Hans as another member of CharlieТs family. Subject always to his first loyalty, he accepted the other boy, took orders from him, even worked to hand signals, which he had never done with anyone but Charlie. At first he did it to please Charlie, but in time he was doing so because it was right and proper in his doggy mind, as long as it was all right with Charlie.

The troop set out on the hike. Before they reacbed~ the jungle at the edge of town Hans said to Charlie, УBetter have him heel.Ф
УWhy? He likes to run around and poke his nose into things. But he always stays in earshot. HeТll come if heТs called.Ф
Hans scowled. УSuppose he canТt? Maybe he goes into bush and doesnТt come out. You want to lose him?Ф
This was a long speech for Hans. Charlie looked surprised, then called, УNixie! Heel!Ф
The dog had been supervising the van; he turned and came at once to CharlieТs left and rear. Hans relaxed, said, УBetter,Ф and placed himself so that the dog trotted between them.
When the jungle loomed up over them, pierced here by a road, Mr. QuТan held up his arm and called out, УHalt! Check watches.Ф He held up his wrist and waited; everybody else did the same.
Jock Quentin, an Explorer Scout equipped with twoway radio, spoke into his microphone, then said, УStand by. . . oh nine eleven.Ф
УAnybody fail to check?Ф continued Mr. QuТan. УAll you with polarizers, establish base line.Ф
Hans took out an odd-looking pair of spectacles with double lenses which rotated and a sighting device which snapped out. УTry it.Ф
УOkay.Ф Charlie accepted them gingerly. He did not yet own a light-polarizing sighter. УWhy are we going to establish base line if weТre going to stay on marked roads?Ф
Hans did not answer and Charlie felt foolish, realizing that the time to lea~rn how not to get lost was before you got lost. He put on the polarizers and tried to establish base line.
УBase lineФ was the prime meridian of Venus, the direction from Borealis of the Sun at noon. To find that direction it was necessary first to find the Sun itself (in a grey, thickly overcast sky), then, using a watch, figure where the Sun would be at noon.
That direction would be southЧbut all directions from Borealis were south; the city lay on the north pole of the planet. The mapmakers used Borealis as a zero point and the direction of the Sun at noon as a base line With the aid of transceivers, radar beacons, and radi compass, they were gradually establishing a grid o reference points for the few hundred square mile around Borealis. A similar project was going on at Souti Pole City. But the millions of square miles between pole were unknown country, more mysterious and incredibl3 vaster than any jungle on Earth. There- was a sayin~ among the Scouts that streams at the equator were Уhol enough to boil eggs,Ф but nobody knew. As yet, no ship had landed near the equator and managed to come back.
The difficulty of telling directions on Venus is very great. The stars are always invisible. Neither magnetic compasses nor gyro compasses were of any use at the poles. Nor is there moss on the north sides of trees, nor any shadows to readЧVenus is not only the land that time forgot; it is also the place of no directions.
So the colonists were forced to establish new directions. From Borealis toward the Sun at noon was prime meridian, called Уbase line,Ф and any direction parallel to that was Уbase.Ф- Back the other way was УreverseФ; the two intermediate directions were УLeft demiФ and Уright demi.Ф By counting clockwise from Уbase,Ф any other direction could be named.
It was not a perfect system since it used square coordinates for a spherical surface. But it was better than nothing in a place where the old directions had turned slipperyЧwhere all directions away from the city were УsouthФ and where east and west, instead of being straight lines, were circular.
At first, Charlie could not see why, if they were going to use four directions, they didnТt call them Уnorth,Ф Уsouth,Ф УeastФ and Уwest,Ф instead of ringing in these silly names, Уbase,Ф Уreverse,Ф Уright demi,Ф and Уleft demi.Ф It was not until he saw in school a map of the colony, with the old familiar directions, north, south, east, west, on it and a Уbase lineФ grid drawn on top of it that he realized that the problem was not that simple. To
go east on that map you went counterclockwise on one of those little circlesЧbut how could you tell what direction УeastФ was unless you knew where you were? And how could you tell how much to curve left in order to keep going east? When compasses were no good and the Sun might be in any direction, north, south, east, or west, depending on which side of the city you were on?
So he buckled down and learned the new system.

Charlie put on HansТ polarizing spectacles and looked around. He could see nothing. Light leaked around the guards of the spectacles and the glass in front of his eyes seemed opaque. He knew that he should be able to pick out the Sun, for he knew that the light from the sky, dispersed by the clouds of Venus, was polarized, made to wiggle up-and-down or sideways, instead of in all directions. He knew that these spectacles were supposed to blank out polarized light, let him see the Sun itself. But he could not see anything.
He turned slowly, blind behind the spectacles.
Hey, it was getting brighter! He swung his head back and forth, made sure he was not mistaken. УI got it!Ф
УFalse sun,Ф Hans announced dispassionately.
УHuh?Ф
УYouТre a hundred and eighty degrees out of phase,Ф Mr. QuТanТs voice announced. УYouТre looking at the reflection of the Sun. Never mind, other people have made that mistake. But itТs not a mistake you can afford to make even once out in the bush.. . so keep tryingХФ
Charlie kept on turningЧdarn it, these specs fit so tight that he couldnТt even see his feet! There it was again! Was it false sun? Or the Sun itself? How far had he turned?
He turned until he was dizzy, seeing brightness, then darkness, several timesЧand realized that one brightness was brighter than that which it alternated. Finally he stopped. УIТm looking at the Sun,Ф he announced firmly.

УOkay,Ф Hans admitted. УJigger with it. Fine it down.Ф
Charlie found that he could fiddle with screw settings on the sides of the spectacles and thereby kill the brightness almost completely. He did so, while swinging his head back and forth like a radar, trying to spot the smallest gleam that he could. УThatТs the best I can do.Ф
УHold still,Ф Hans ordered. УUncover your right eye. Mark me.Ф
Charlie did as ordered, found himself staring with one eye down the sighter in front of the spectacles. Hans was thirty feet away, holding his Scout staff upright. УDonТt move!Ф Hans cautioned. УCoach me on.Ф
УUh. . . come right a couple of feet.Ф
УHere?Ф
УI think so. Let me check.Ф He covered his right eye again, but found that his eye, dazzled by brighter light, could no longer pick up- the faint gleam he had marked. УThatТs the best I can do.Ф
Hans stretched a string along the marked direction. УMy turn. Note your time.Ф He took the spectacles, quickly gave Charlie a direction, coached him into place. The twO lines differed by about ten degrees.
УFigure your hour angle,Ф Hans said and looked at his watch.
The time was nine-thirty .. and the Sun moved fifteen degrees each hour. . . two and a half hours to noon; thatТs thirty-seven and a half degrees and each minute on the face of his watch was six degrees, soЧ Charlie was getting confused. He looked up, saw that Hans had placed his watch on the ground and was laying out base line. HansТ watch had a twenty-four hour face; he simply pointed the hour hand at the Sun and the XII spot then pointed along base line.
No mental arithmetic, no monkeying aroundЧ УGosh, I wish I had a watch like that!Ф