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

Sam searched the cliff face, then drove a piton. УIТll lower you. When youТre halfway, drive two pitons and hang the strap from one. ThatТll give me a changeover.Ф
УIТm against it,Ф protested Bruce.
УIf we lost our lines,Ф Sam argued, УweТll never hear the last of it. Go ahead.Ф
УI still donТt like it.Ф
УWhoТs in charge?Ф
Bruce shrugged, snapped on the line and started down.
Sam stopped him presently. УHalfway. Pick me a nest.Ф
Bruce walked the face to the right, but found only smooth wall. He worked back and located a crack. УHereТs a crack,Ф he reported, Уbut just one. I shouldnТt drive two pitons in one crack.Ф
УSpread Сem apart,Ф Sam directed. УItТs good rock.Ф Reluctantly, Bruce complied. The spikes went in easily but he wished he could hear the firm ring that meant a piton was biting properly. Finished, he hung the strap. УLower away!Ф
In a couple of minutes he was down and unsnapped the line. УOff belay!Ф He hurried down the loose rock at the base. When he reached the edge of it he called, УSam! This plain is soft stuff.Ф
УOkay,Ф Sam acknowledged. УStand clear.Ф Bruce
moved along the cliff about fifty feet and stopped to bind on skis. Then he shuffled out onto the plain, kickturned, and looked back. Sam had reached the pitons. He hung, one foot in the strap, the bight in his elbow, and recovered his line. He passed his line through the second piton ring, settled in rappel, and hooked the strap from piton to piton as an anchor. He started down.
Halfway down the remaining two hundred feet he stopped. УWhatТs the matter?Ф called Bruce.
УItТs reached a shackle,Ф said Sam, Уand the pesky thing wonТt feed through the ring. IТll free it.Ф He raised himself a foot, then suddenly let what he had gained slip through the ring above.
To BruceТs amazement Sam leaned out at an impossible angle. He heard Sam cry УRock!Ф before he understood what had happenedЧthe piton had failed.
Sam fell about four feet, then the other piton, connected by the strap, stopped him. He caught himself, feet spread. But the warning cry had not been pointless; Bruce saw a rock settling straight for SamТs helmet. Bruce repeated the shout.
Sam looked up, then jumped straight out from the cliff. The rock passed between him and the wall; Bruce could not tell if it had struck him. Sam swung in, his feet caught the cliffЧand again he leaned out crazily. The second piton had let go.
Sam again shouted, УRock!Ф even as he kicked himself away from the cliff.
Bruce watched him, turning slowly over and over and gathering momentum. It seemed to take Sam forever to fall.
Then he struck.

Bruce fouled his skis and had to pick himself up. He forced himself to be careful and glided toward the spot.
SamТs frantic shove had saved him from crashing his helmet into rock. He lay buried in the loose debris, one leg sticking up ridiculously. Bruce felt an hysteri
cal desire to laugh.
Sam did not stir when Bruce tugged at him. BruceТs skis got in his way; finally he stood astraddle, hauled Sam out. The boyТs eyes were closed, his features slack, but the suit still had pressure. УSam,Ф shouted Bruce, Уcan you hear me?Ф
SamТs blood-oxygen reading was dangerously in the red; Bruce opened his intake valve widerЧbut the reading failed to improve. He wanted to turn Sam face down, but he had no way of straightening SamТs helmeted head, nor would he then be able to watch the blood-oxygen indicator unless he took time to remove the belt. He decided to try artificial respiration with the patient face up. He kicked off skis and belt.
The pressure in the suit got in his way, nor could he fit his hands satisfactorily to SamТs ribs. But he kept at itЧswing! and one, and two and up! and one, and two and swing!
The needle began to move. When it was well into the white Bruce paused.
It stayed in the white.
SamТs lips moved but no sound came. Bruce touched helmets. УWhat is it, Sam?Ф
Faintly he heard, УLook out! Rock!Ф
Bruce considered what to do next.
There was little he could do until he got Sam into a pressurized room. The idea, he decided, was to get helpЧfast!
Send up a smoke signal? Fire a gun three times? Snap out of it, Bruce! YouТre on the Moon now. He wished that someone would happen along in a desert car.
He would have to try radio. He wasnТt hopeful, as they had heard nothing even from the cliff. Still, he must tryЧ He glanced at SamТs blood-oxygen reading, then climbed the rubble, extended his antenna and tried. УMТaidez!Ф he called. УHelp! Does anybody hear me?Ф He tried again.
And again.
When he saw Sam move he hurried back. Sam was sitting up and feeling his left knee. Bruce touched helmets. УSam, are you all right?Ф
УHuh? This leg wonТt work right.Ф
УIs it broken?Ф
УHow do I know? Turn on your radio.Ф
УIt is on. Yours is busted.Ф
УHuh? HowТd that happen?Ф
УWhen you fell.Ф
УFell?Ф
Bruce pointed. УDonТt you remember?Ф
Sam stared at the cliff. УUh, I donТt know. Say, this thing hurts like mischief. WhereТs the rest of the troop?Ф
Bruce said slowly, УWeТre out by ourselves, Sam. Remember?Ф
Sam frowned. УI guess so. Bruce, weТve got to get out of here! Help me get my skis on.Ф
УDo you think you can ski with that knee?Ф
УIТve got to.Ф Bruce lifted him to his feet, then bound a ski to the injured leg while Sam balanced on the other. But when Sam tried shifting his weight he collapsedЧand fainted.