"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky_Destination Amaltheia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Strugatski Arkady)

"Look here, Misha," he said. "What's happening on board my ship anyway?"
"What do you mean?" the navigator asked.
"Those planetologists," Bykov explained.
From behind the casing Zhilin said:
"Varya's disappeared."
"You don't say so," Bykov said. "Good riddance." He paced the room
again. "The loafers," he said. "Middle-aged kids."
"Don't be too hard on them, old chap," said the navigator.
"You know," Bykov said as he sank back into his chair, "you know the
worst that can happen to you in flight is passengers. And the worst
passengers are your old friends. I guess I'll have some of that sporamin
after all, Misha."
Hastily, Mikhail Antonovich pulled a small box out of his trouser
pocket. Bykov watched him do it with sleepy eyes. .
"Give me two tablets," said he.



2. The planetologists look for Varya while the radio astronomer finds
what a hippo is.

"He told me to get out," Dauge said, returning to Yurkovsky's cabin.
His host was standing on a chair in the middle of the cabin, feeling with
his hands the soft mat ceiling. The remains of a squashed sugar cake were
scattered on the floor. "It means he's got her," said Yurkovsky. He jumped
off the chair, brushed white crumbs off his knees and called out
plaintively:
"Varya, my love, where're you?" "Have you tried sitting on a chair all
of a sudden?" asked Dauge. He went up to the sofa and let himself drop on it
rod-like, his arms pressed to his sides.
 "You'll kill her!" Yurkovsky cried. . "She's not here," Dauge informed
him and settled more comfortably,.. hoisting his feet on to the back of the
sofa. "This is .just what you must do to all the sofas and chairs in the
place. Varya likes them soft."
Yurkovsky dragged his chair nearer to the wall.
"No," he said. "When flying she likes to climb on ceilings and walls. I
ought to make a round of the ship and try all the ceilings."
"Good Lord," Dauge sighed. "What won't enter a browned-off
planetologist's head." He sat up, glanced at Yurkovsky out of the tail of
his eye and whispered ominously: "I'm certain it's Alexei. He's always hated
her."
Yurkovsky looked at Dauge closely.
"Yes," Dauge went on. "He always has. And you know it. What did she do
to him? She was always so nice and quiet...."
"You're a booby, Grigory," said Yurkovsky. "You're being funny, but
I'll be really sorry if she's gone."
He sat down and propped his elbows on his knees and his chin on his
balled fists. His high balding forehead became furrowed and his black
eyebrows tragically arched.
"Come, come," said Dauge. "She can't disappear from aboard a ship, can