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

of Ratso's gang, single handed. He's open in his dealings with others,
good-natured, and absolutely unselfish. And extraordinarily gifted. Points
against: We've absolutely no idea who he is and where he came from; either
he remembers nothing of his past or he refuses to tell us. And he doesn't
have any documents. But why should that bother us? After all, the government
now controls only the borders and the central region. Two-thirds of our
country is still torn by anarchy and plagued by starvation and epidemics.
People are fleeing those areas and none of them have documents - the
younger ones don't even know what documents are. And how many of them have
lost their memory! And how many degens! But we know one thing for sure, the
most important - Maxim is not a degen."
"Well, corporal?" asked the captain.
"Yes, sir!" said Guy rather recklessly. "May I?"
He picked up the note containing his suggestion that Maxim be checked
and tore it up slowly.
"Cor-rect decision! Well done, legionnaire! Notes, reports, checks -
rubbish! Combat will be the proving ground! When we get into our tanks and
head for the atomic trap zone, we'll find out damn quick who is with us and
who isn't."
"Yes, sir," said Guy without particular conviction. He understood the
old soldier, but he felt that the hero of the coastal actions was mistaken.
Combat, of course, was important, but one's integrity was something else.
Anyway, the question had nothing to do with Maxim's case. Maxim was honest
to the core.
"Massaraksh!" barked the captain. "The Health Department certified him
and the rest is our business." He looked at Guy angrily and added: "A
legionnaire has complete trust in his friend. If he doesn't, he's certainly
no friend and he ought to kick him out. I'm surprised at you, corporal. OK,
back to your platoon. There's very little time left. I'll watch the
candidate myself during the operation."
Guy clicked his heels and left. Safely outside, he smiled. The old
soldier had taken the responsibility on himself after all. Now, with a clear
conscience, he could consider Maxim his friend. Mac Sim. His real surname
was a mouthful. Either he had imagined it in a delirious state or he
actually was related to those mountain people. H'm, what was the name of
their ancient king. Zaremichakbeshmucaray. Guy walked over to the parade
ground and scanned it for his platoon. Tireless Pandi was driving the men
through the top-floor window of a dummy three-story building. They were
soaked from the effort, and with only an hour left before the operation,
that wasn't so good.
"As you were!" shouted Guy from afar.
"As you were!" yelled Pandi. "Fall in!"
The platoon fell into formation quickly.
"Attention!" Pandi shouted. He marched up to Guy smartly and reported:
"Corporal, the platoon is learning to take a town by assault."
"Stand at attention," ordered Guy, trying to express disapproval by his
tone of voice, as Corporal Serembesh was so skilled at doing. He strode back
and forth in front of the formation, hands clasped behind his back, looking
into the familiar faces of his men.
Bulging eyes - gray, brown, blue - followed his every movement, ready