W. Hamilton
A boy in the space
1. The farewell party
I remember that it was a cool day, and the sea had not yet calmed down after yesterday's storm, and the waves were rolling on the sand with a noise and foam. The beach at the jetty was littered with the bones of prehistoric animals, some of them very long, with bony claws at the ends, sharpened by the surf. One of these bones was my spear. They were so hard that even the crabs that crawled ashore at night and covered it like a moving dark blanket did not try to bite these petrified claws. But the crabs of this species, mutants, could bite through the reinforced wire and gnaw it. As boys, we amused ourselves by bringing them these treats, stolen from the hangar with old dismantled starships. But then we got tired of it, and after one mutant bit Ivar's leg as a thank you for the treat, leaving a wound that didn't heal for a long time, and we were all put in the punishment cell for the whole day, we stopped running to the sea at night. In the evenings, after classes, walking was allowed, and you could wander anywhere, because with Pestalozzi it was impossible to escape. It was a planet for re-educating troubled teenagers. Each of us has done something wrong in front of society or family. Personally, I ran away from home several times. And since I didn't have a mother, my father, who was busy with the service, thus decided to correct me, and at the same time to establish his personal life, which I, presumably, hindered. At first, I raged, made escape plans, violated discipline, refused to study, even went on a hunger strike.
But one day something incredible happened that changed me forever. I sat on the Rock of Sunsets and watched the sea. It was evening, the orange disk of the sun had already touched the sea, and the sky was covered with a perspiration of light clouds. I threw the pieces of bread I had saved from breakfast into the water, hoping that some fish would show a sharp fin and a silver-covered back, and then I could make a wish, but in vain. The sea was silent, as if gathering strength before a storm. And suddenly I saw something like a periscope rising out of its calm surface in the distance, growing longer and more powerful, and I realized that I was seeing the head of some monster. So that's what they are, the ones whose bones littered the beach! I jumped up, unable to control my triumph, and shouted, stretching out my hands to him:
– "I see you!" I want to be your friend, dragon!"
Why I knew it was a dragon before it was fully out of the water,I do not know. Then, remembering that moment, I decided that my imagination had created it. It took off like the underwater rocket I'd once seen on a training exercise with my father, but noiselessly, and only the water formed a funnel that quickly disappeared. He circled the rock and disappeared.
I kept the memory of this meeting for many years, I prayed to my dragon before going to sleep, as earthmen pray to their gods, I asked him to come for me and take me from this planet to a place where there are no guards and you can say whatever you think. I naively thought that the last point was the most important achievement of Interplanetary democracy. It didn't come and go, but it seemed to give me answers to the questions that were beginning to pop up in my reckless head as I went from being a small boy to looking like the rest of the colony kids: a strong, healthy teenager. I suddenly realized one thing: if you want to be free, you need to learn. And he went to work on his studies. I made friends. I became especially close to Ivar. He was from Earth, like me, and came here after a series of misdemeanors that he didn't and Krispy often walked with us, and in class we were given a nickname: colored square, since we were all of different races. Martin's dark skin, golden complexion, and the narrow slash of Krispy's eyes were a contrast between day and night. Ivarr had dark red hair that was as bright as a flame. By contrast, my blond hair lost out, but for the time being, I didn't care. Until the girls showed up. Who decided to create a group of girls on Pestalozzi?In our relatively peaceful world, this brought confusion. They were put up in a nearby building, which had been empty until then. Our tutors, most notably Weasel Johnson, a former prison guard, made sure that we didn't offend them. There were twenty of us boys and seven girls. And most notable among them was Karilla, a girl with dark hair and eyes that could shoot lightning.
She immediately became the fifth in our company. We each had our own , the strongest of us, had found an old Terran weapon somewhere-a pistol, but he didn't have any ammunition for it, but he used it to smash baby crabs like nuts. I had a long spear made from a sea-dweller's bone washed up on the beach. Krispy was proud of the flying tablet, and it was a dangerous toy that looked like a Rost liked to shake the hammer he found in the hangar. Our passion for self-defense began during a course on the history of weapons. But Karilla's main weapon was her eyes. When she turned her wet gaze on me, my heart sank, and I wanted to become something fluffy and make a purr. But if she was angry, it was best not to look at her. She also had a way of saying things that would turn you into dust and scatter you in the wind. It was only two times, but after the second one, I decided that I shouldn't have kissed her in the forest, where I was practicing my survival skills. Well, never mind about that.
The last spring was full of expectations of an early departure. We knew who was assigned where by the Commission, and I think everyone in our company had mixed feelings. On the one hand, we grew up here, we were given a good preparation for further training. But we understood that now everyone has their own way, and if we ever have to meet, it is unlikely that for a long time. And then they swore an oath not just to remember each other, but to keep in touch. Later, we developed a whole system of messages to come to the rescue in case of something.
At dinner that night, the four of us attracted a lot of attention. The younger colonists looked at us with respect and envy in the mess hall, and they all remembered the words Commander Polthad said when we were standing on the landing just before the Confederate flag was lowered. There are moments that stick in your memory and stay with you forever. So, that morning's celebration will always be with me, and I took the commander's words about the heroes of Space entirely to my own account. At dinner, I tried not to show my pride, even though it was coming out of me like dough from a sauerkraut. Rost winked at me.
–– "What, Ivar, are you looking forward to working for Daddy?" Put on a spaceship helmet and go ahead with the Natives?
–– "Leave me alone, asshole, you're just jealous of me!"
–– "Hey, guys, don't get into a fight here!"
Martin, as always, silenced our conflict. He was generally a peaceful guy, and this was taken into account when they decided to send him to work in the Zoological Department. There he will be happy, he will breed new breeds of chickens to feed the officials. Krispy was preparing to become a global hacker, and I sometimes thought that this Korean knew too much about us, and I should have put protection on my mini-computer. True, I didn't have one yet, but I knew that initiation into astronauts begins with the presentation of this miracle watch.
–– "We don't think so, Marty."
Ivar and I said that together. It was our habit."
– So we will communicate?" – Krispy asked.
–– "Sure, kid," – Martin boomed, – " but don't send me any anthrax viruses in an envelope."Or viruses to my email address in the Sector."
–-"Agreed."
They clapped their hands together over the table, a familiar gesture from these dissimilar kids.
–-"What can you promise me, Tarrel Bork, future astronaut?"– Ivarr asked. – "Will you promise not to turn up your nose to peaceful interplanetary merchants?"
–– "Of course, as long as the peaceful traders don't start smuggling."
Then Krispy leaned toward us like a conspirator.
–-"You guys know what I found out in the City-no?"
He looked around. The cafeteria was already empty, except for the attendants and two cadets running cleaning robots.
–– What?" – Rost asked.
–– "That dragon skin is for sale!"
Martin chuckled loudly,an ironic smile stretching his Ivarr was interested. He moved closer to the young hacker.
–-"Krispos, you'll leave me your communication channels, won't you?"
–-"Oh, yes, my future source of wealth".
–-"Stop talking and let's think about who to invite to the party to celebrate our severing of ties with this world of discipline and smug warders," – I suggested.
– "What's there to think about? The girls are all set, my ignorant friend."
Krispy amused himself by copying my style of speech. I must admit that I was the only one in the company who did not gamble on the Net, did not save a pittance on books, and spent almost everything that my father occasionally sent me on them.
– "And where will they cook the mystic dragon kebab?" Martin smiled at me as he spoke. I regretted ever hinting, only hinting to my friends about my vision at sea at sunset".
Krispy answered.
–-"On the beach, of course. Shish kebab is not allowed, and there is no dragon, but drinks from local plants were promised. Come on, my young friends, or we'll be caught plotting to stay on this colony forever to avoid the hardships of adulthood."
When, three hours later, we slipped out of the building one by one, wearing cloaks that did not reflect the light, we were seen only by a night bird called Snitch sitting in a tree Knoker, which this time did not make a single sound, although it had a habit of tapping on a brass plate suspended from a branch. It was dark, and the night satellite had not yet risen, and we passed the caretaker's cottage in safety, and then a shady lane hid us, and we followed it to a field beyond which the sea our friends were already on the beach: Carilla, Eva – Martin's girlfriend, as dark-skinned as he was, but a real imp. Ivar didn't have a girlfriend, but there were two candidates for the role: Hanna and Olga. They were immediately glued to the guy, yelling, " Get out of here!"
–-"Oh, our dream has come! Oh, pretty boy, give me a kiss!"
My poor friend was probably regretting that he had recently taken all the girls to the hangar to watch an old Indian movie in which the hero was trying to marry the maharaja's daughter. The girls also dressed up in some exotic outfits, decorated themselves with flowers, and in general it seemed that they smelled something.
But then we threw off our cloaks and the girls gasped. And who wouldn't gasp? Martin was dressed in a tight skeleton suit, Ivar glowed like a night bug,and Krispy was dressed as a samurai with a sword at his side. Mine, by the way. I was supposed to be a dragon, but there was no such costume in the colony theater studio, but there was a crocodile costume. Martin suggested that we paint it, which we did. However, judging by the girls ' reactions, they didn't give the first place to me at all, but to Martin.
I felt Karilla's presence behind me. She said:
– "Turn around, son, and let me see you."
–– "Get off my tail first," I said. Then I turned around and saw her face, first her eyes, so wet they glowed in the firelight. Our lips met, and I smelled her perfume, the tropical scent of mango. The sounds faded, and our kiss erased them.
–-"Hey, stop licking around!"
It was Ivar's voice.
That night was the most memorable on Pestalozzi. Not because we drank the caretaker's drink, which he sold me for his monthly rate, and got so drunk that the two girls threw everything off and danced naked, jumped over the fire, and ate flowers from wreaths. It wasn't because my crocodile suit was so old that it crumbled into rags that I had to throw into the fire, or because I had to show off my torso in all its glory, and then Carilla took me away from everyone.