"Heinlein, Robert A - Nothing Ever Happens On The Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

УWhat was that back where the Skipper yelled at me?Ф
УThat? That was a morning glory. TheyТre poison!Ф
УA Сmorning gloryТ?Ф
УSort of a sink hole. If you get on the slope, you never get out. Crumbles out from under you and you wind up buried in the bottom. There you stayЧuntil your air gives out. Lot of prospectors die that way. They go out alone and are likely to come back in the dark.Ф
УHow do you know what happens if they go out alone?Ф
УSuppose you saw tracks leading up to one and no tracks going away?Ф
УOh!Ф Bruce felt silly.
The troop swung into a lope; slowly the hills drew closer and loomed high into the sky. Mr. Andrews called a halt. УCamp,Ф he said. УSam, spot the shelter west of that outcropping. Bruce, watch what Sam does.
The shelter was an airtight tent, framed by a half cylinder of woven heavy wire. The frame came in sections. The ScoutmasterТs huge pack was the air bag.
The skeleton was erected over a ground frame, anchored at corners and over which was spread an asbestos pad. The curved roof and wall sections followed. Sam tested joints with a wrench, then ordered the air bag unrolled. The air lock, a steel drum, was locked into the frame and gasketed to the bag. Meanwhile, two Scouts were rigging a Sun shade.
Five boys crawled inside and stood up, arms stretched high. The others passed in all the duffel except skis and poles. Mr. Andrews was last in and closed the air lock. The metal frame blocked radio communication; Sam plugged a phone connection from the lock to his helmet. УTesting,Ф he said.
Bruce could hear the answer, relayed through SamТs radio. УReady to inflate.Ф
УOkay.Ф The bag surged up, filling the frame. Sam said, УYou go on, Bruce. ThereТs nbthing left but to adjust the shade.Ф
УIТd better watch.Ф
УOkay.Ф The shade was a flimsy venetian blind, stretched over the shelter. Sam half-opened the slats. УItТs cold inside,Ф he commented, Уfrom expanding gas. But it warms up fast.Ф Presently, coached by phone, he closed them a bit. УGo inside,Ф he urged Bruce. УIt may be half an hour before I get the temperature steady.Ф
УMaybe I should,Ф admitted Bruce. УI feel dizzy.Ф
Sam studied him. УToo hot?Ф
УYeah, I guess so.Ф
УYouТve held still in the Sun too long. DoesnТt give the air a chance to circulate. Here.Ф Sam opened BruceТs supply valve wider; УGo inside.Ф
Gratefully, Bruce complied.
As he backed in, and straightened up, two boys grabbed him. They closed his valves, unlocked his helmet, and peeled off his suit. The suit traveled from hand to hand and was racked. Bruce looked around.
Daylamps were strung from air lock to a curtain at the far end that shut off the sanitary unit. Near this curtain suits and helmets were racked. Scouts were lounging on both sides of the long room. Near the entrance a Scout was on watch at the air conditioner, a blood-oxygen indicator clipped to his ear. Nearby, Mr. Andrews phoned temperature changes to Sam. In the middle of the room Chubby had set up his commissary. He waved. УHi, Bruce! SiddownЧchow in two shakes.Ф
Two Scouts made room for Bruce and he sat. One of them said, УYТever been at Yale?Ф Bruce had not. УThatТs where IТm going,Ф the Scout confided. УMy brotherТs there now.Ф Bruce began to feel at home.
When Sam came in Chubby served chow, beef stew, steaming and fragrant, packaged rolls, and bricks of peach ice cream. Bruce decided that Moon Scouts had
it soft. After supper, the Bugler got out his harmonica and played. Bruce leaned back, feeling pleasantly drowsy.

УHollifield!Ф Bruce snapped awake. УLetТs try you on first aid.Ф
For thirty minutes Bruce demonstrated air tourniquets and emergency suit patches, artificial respiration for a man in a space suit, what to do for Sun stroke, for anoxia, for fractures. УThatТll do,Ф the Scoutmaster concluded. УOne thing: What do you do if a man cracks his helmet?Ф
Bruce was puzzled. УWhy,Ф he blurted, Уyou bury him.Ф
УCheck,Ф the Scoutmaster agreed. УSo be careful. Okay, sportsЧsix hours of sleep. Sam, set the watch.Ф
Sam assigned six boys, including himself. Bruce asked, УShouldnТt I take a watch?Ф
Mr. Andrews intervened. УNo. And take yourself off, Sam. YouТll take Bruce on his two-man hike tomorrow; youТll need your sleep.Ф
УOkay, Skipper.Ф He added to Bruce, УThereТs nothing to it. IТll show you.Ф The Scout on duty watched several instruments, but, as with suits, the important one was the blood-oxygen reading. Stale air was passed through a calcium oxide bath, which precipitated carbon dioxide as calcium carbonate. The purified air continued through dry sodium hydroxide, removing water vapor.
УThe kid on watch makes sure the oxygen replacement is okay,Ф Sam went on. УIf anything went wrong, heТd wake us and weТd scramble into suits.Ф
Mr. Andrews shooed them to bed. By the time Bruce had taken his turn at the sanitary unit and found a place to lie down, the harmonica was sobbing: УDay is done Gone the Sun. . .У
It seemed odd to hear Taps when the Sun was still overhead. They couldnТt wait a week for sundown, of
course. These colonials kept funny~ hours. . . bed at what amounted to early evening, up at one in the morning. HeТd ask Sam. Sam wasnТt a bad guyЧa little bit know-it-all. Odd to sleep on a bare floor, tooЧ not that it mattered with low gravity. He was still pondering it when his ears were assaulted by Reveille, played on the harmonica.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, cooked on the spot. Camp was struck, and the troop was moving in less than an hour. They headed for Base Camp at a lope.
The way wound through passes, skirted craters. They had covered thirty miles and Bruce was getting hungry when the pathfinder called, УHeel and toe!Ф They converged on an air lock, set in a hillside.
Base Camp had not the slick finish of Luna City, being rough caverns sealed to airtightness, but each troop had its own well-equipped troop room. Air was renewed by hydroponic garden, like Luna City; there was a Sun power plant and accumulators to last through the long, cold nights.
Bruce hurried through lunch; he was eager to start his two-man hike. They outfitted as before, except that reserve air and water replaced packaged grub. Sam fitted a spring-fed clip of hiking rations into the collar of BruceТs suit.
The Scoutmaster inspected them at the lock. УWhere to, Sam?Ф
УWeТll head southeast. IТll blaze it.Ф
УHmmЧrough country. Well, back by midnight, and stay out of caves.Ф
УYes, sir.Ф
Outside Sam sighed, УWhew! I thought he was going to say not to climb.Ф
УWeТre going to?Ф
УSure. You can, canТt you?Ф
УGot my Alpine badge.Ф
УIТll do the hard part, anyhow. LetТs go.Ф