"Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena (ГИБЕЛЬ ФАЭНЫ, англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

The sunset on Terr was spreading over the river.
In space, the astronauts had become familiar with Sol and his furious,
raging brilliance. But here, in the evening of their first day on Terr, it
was possible to stare with the naked eye at the reddish, flattened Sol,
shorn of his space corona. Elongated clouds were beginning to gather near
its oval disc. Two of them, coming from different directions, joined up and
divided Sol into two. And then a miracle happened. Instead of one, two
heavenly bodies hung over the horizon one after the other, each of them
purple in colour.
Mada could not take her eyes off this spectacle as she watched the two
bodies change in size: the lower one touched the sea of forest, the upper
one became thinner and thinner, dwindling to a mere segment of a disc and
finally disappearing altogether. The lower part of Sol also vanished behind
a big cloud. Now the whole sky flickered with fire. And, as if in a crimson
ocean spreading above the clouds, there hung lilac waves, and very high up,
illumined by the sinking Sol, there floated a solitary white island, its
red-hot edges blazing.
The sunset glow was gradually dying away, but the little cloud burned
on without going out. Then, as if all of a sudden, darkness came down on
Terr. Night had fallen, just as on Faena. And even the stars were the same.
Except that Terr did not have at that time a magnificent nocturnal
luminary like Faena's satellite, Lua, which gave such beauty to the Faetian
night and which had appeared near Terr a million years later. The planet
Ven, however, was particularly brilliant here. Toni Fae pointed out to Mada
the evening star that had begun shining on the horizon like a spark in the
flames of dawn. It was still the brightest object in the night sky.
The astronauts continued admiring the sky of Terr for quite some time.
Strange nocturnal sounds came from the forest.
Urn Sat suggested spending the night in the rocket.
Mada went back inside reluctantly, although she could take off her
heavy space-suit in there.
She could not shake off the unpleasant impression made by Smel Ven's
remarks.
Next morning, the Faetians went for a stroll through the forest in
pairs. They were to assemble by the rocket at a prearranged time.
Long shadows lay on the ground. According to the instruments, it had
turned cooler. They were about to see Sol set on Terr for the second time.
Ave and Mada were late. Urn Sat was alarmed. Toni Fae painstakingly
kept calling the missing pair. Mada and Ave did not reply, as if
electromagnetic communications had broken down.
Gor Terr sent up two signal rockets in succession. They soared up into
the colourful evening sky, leaving curly trains of smoke behind them. The
red and yellow curves floated across the heavens for a long time.
"From red to yellow," quipped Toni Fae. "From love to wisdom. A
hopeless call."
Gor Terr shook the inflated sleeve of his space-suit at him.
Smel Ven kept apart as if nothing had happened. His helmet concealed
tightened lips and downcast eyes.
His hopes were finally fulfilled. Mada ran out of the forest in her
skin-tight, wet undergarment. She had taken off her space-suit!