"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

country!"
"Escape?"
"Yes!"
"You're crazy. They spared your life."
"Who spared my life? It's my life! It belongs to me!"
It was difficult to talk; they had to shout over the engine. Somehow
the conversation deteriorated into a heated exchange. Maxim leaped through
the hatch and slowed down the engine. The tank moved more slowly, but the
roaring and clanging lessened. When Maxim climbed back, Guy was frowning,
and his face was set in a determined expression.
"It's my duty to take you back," he announced.
"And it's my duty to drag you away from here," replied Maxim.
"I don't understand. You're completely out of your mind. It's
impossible to escape. You must return. Massaraksh, I can't take you back.
You'll be shot. And in the South, you'll be eaten by those cannibals. Damn
you and your crazy ideas!"
"Hold on, Guy, don't shout. Give me a chance to explain."
"I don't want to hear anything. Stop the tank!"
"Now, wait a minute," persisted Maxim. "Let me talk!"
Guy was unrelenting. He demanded that the illegally seized tank be
stopped immediately and returned. The engine's roar drowned out a string of
curses. The situation, massaraksh, was horrendous. It was hopeless,
massaraksh! Ahead, massaraksh, waited certain death. To go back, massaraksh,
would lead to the same. Maxim was a blockhead and a lunatic, but this
escapade would be his last.
Maxim deliberately refrained from interrupting Guy's tirade. He
realized that the range of the last tower's radiation field ended somewhere
in this area, had perhaps ended: the last outpost was supposedly located at
the outer limit of the most distant radiation field. Let the poor devil get
it off his chest; talk was cheap on the inhabited island. "Curse all you
want to," he thought to himself, "but I'll drag you out of here anyway. This
country is no place for you. We must begin with someone, and you're the
first. I don't want you to be a puppet, even if you enjoy it."
When Guy had finished cursing out Maxim, he jumped through the hatch
and tinkered with the controls, trying to stop the tank. Unsuccessful, he
climbed out again, wearing his helmet. He was silent and determined.
Obviously he intended to jump off and return to his post. He was furious.
Maxim caught him by his pants, pulled him back, and began to explain the
situation.
He spoke for over an hour, pausing occasionally to turn the tank. At
first Guy tried to interrupt, plugged his ears, and attempted to jump off
the moving vehicle. But Maxim persisted, talking on and on, repeating the
same thing over and over again, explaining, persuading, dissuading. Finally,
Guy began to pay attention. He grew pensive, upset, ran both hands under his
helmet and scratched his head; then he took the offensive and began to quiz
Maxim. Where, he wanted to know, did he get all his facts, and who could
prove that they weren't a pack of lies? Maxim kept hammering away with
facts, and when he had exhausted his supply, he swore that he had been
telling the truth. When Guy still failed to respond, he called him a
blockhead, puppet, and robot. Meanwhile the tank continued to roll