Lev Kolesnikov - The Secret of Temir-Tepe (A Story from the Life of Aviators). Tunnel in the Sky Robert Heinlein

The book is dedicated to the dramatic fate and scientific work of the outstanding Russian historian, ethnologist and geographer Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov. The central part of it is occupied by the work of the President of the Russian Geographical Society S. B. Lavrov, who worked for about 30 years with L. N. Gumilyov at the Faculty of Geography of Leningrad State University and in the Geographical Society. The book is supplemented with the autobiography of L. N. Gumilyov and his memories of his famous parents Nikolai Gumilyov and Anna Akhmatova, as well as the memories of people closest to him - his ...

The Sky on Fire Boris Tikhomolov

Andrey Myatishkin: During the war, Boris Tikhomolov flew in Long-Range Aviation. On account of his raids on Berlin, Danzig, Konigsberg, Bucharest. In 1943 he took part in the delivery of the Soviet delegation to Tehran. Became a Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war he began to write. This book can be attributed to both prose and memoir literature. Everything is written perfectly.

Under the skies of the Arctic Alexander Belyaev

This story about the journey of an American worker, accompanied by a Soviet engineer, across the North, which had been developed and transformed by people after 1938, has not been reprinted for more than 70 years. Belyaev puts forward the idea of \u200b\u200bheating the Arctic and Antarctica, the destruction of permafrost. The heroes find themselves in an underground resort that has become an evergreen paradise ... Don't miss the opportunity to read the most unknown text by the most popular Russian science fiction writer!

Sky. Parachute. Young man Masha Tsareva

Sasha Kashevarova decides to go in for extreme sports, or rather, extreme athletes. But you can win the heart of your beloved man if you agree to conquer Niagara Falls with him or, at worst, the Ostankino TV tower. Sasha Kashevarova agrees to jump without a reserve parachute from any high-rise buildings, just not to miss her happiness.

Pegasus, Lion and Centaur Dmitry Emets

ShNyr is not a name, not a surname, not a nickname. This is the place where the snakes gather and can be found on the map. Outwardly, this is the most ordinary house, every hundred years it is demolished and rebuilt so as not to attract attention. Schnyrs are not magicians, although their abilities far exceed any human understanding - if something significant or inexplicable happens somewhere in the world, it means that the matter was not without schnyrs. It is impossible for an outsider to enter the territory of the ShNyr. And the one who at least once betrayed his laws cannot go back. They are not born a scythe. None ...

Under the canvas sky Alexander Barten

This book is about the circus. About the circus as an art. About the circus as a part, and sometimes the whole life of people working in it. In small short stories, the reader will meet both world-famous circus names and surnames (Emil Kio, Leonid Yengibarov, Anatoly Durov, etc.), and little known to the general public or long forgotten. Some of them will emerge surrounded by the bright lights and thunder of the circus orchestra. Others are in a casual work environment. Illusionists and trainers, acrobats and horse riders, trapeze artists and clowns. But not only. Also arena inspectors, uniformists, ...

The shadows of the night descend from the sky Stephen King

Every thing has its place, every person has its own purpose. We can make mistakes, fall, rise, the main thing is to find and do what we must. Finding yourself is the most important and important journey. And now life seemed to pass, but they met. And life was filled with old magic. Has acquired a new meaning. Life is a wonderful, wonderful thing worth living.

Leviev Lev - Israeli businessman Yulia Petrova

Before you is an article from a special collection, which contains information not only about the richest people of our time, but also those who were the "founders" of this category of the population - historical figures, founders of the largest richest companies, etc. This series of articles is dedicated to the creators of the world famous brands, the richest people in their narrow circles, for example - athletes, actors, politicians. And, of course, Russian oligarchs and businessmen have found their place in this list. Some dream of becoming rich and living in abundance, others blame people ...

It was the end of June 1941. In a small provincial town in the west of Belarus, the rumble of gunfire could be clearly heard, and German armadas marched in the sky with a tedious howl. All the inhabitants of the city, one way or another, have already decided their fate: some were evacuated to the East, others went to the forests, and others prepared themselves for underground work. There were those who were confused and fearfully awaited further events. These included Faina Yankovskaya, a young girl, an employee of a small enterprise. Several years before the war, she was left an orphan, was brought up in an orphanage, but did not grow together with the team. After graduating from school, she began to work, but even then she kept herself apart. She had only one friend - her complete opposite, the cheerful, agile Zina Kovalenko. Why they became friends is hard to say. Zina explained it this way:

I run to Fayka to cool down. As soon as I create something stunning, even the most scary - so to Fayka. Petka last time called cattle, and then cried all night. Now we are reconciled, you can tell everyone, and then - to whom will you tell? Only Faine. Grave. Not like us magpies. That's why I love her ... And that she is so withdrawn and motionless - it will pass with her. If something stunning happens to her, she will wake up ...

But even the war did not wake her.

Zina caught fire immediately. She looked as if she was glad about what had happened. On the very first day of the war, Zina was wearing a tunic with a wide belt and strong boots. Where and how I got it - only God knows. However, it is possible that she dressed up as a brother-officer, who was urgently summoned from vacation to the unit ... On the second day of the war, Zina got herself a Finnish knife, and soon a Browning. From morning to evening, she ran around city organizations, fussing about something, making noise, shouting the names of Shchors, Lazo and even Garibaldi. It was obvious from everything that she was preparing to become a partisan. This morning she rushed to Faina in a whirlwind. There is a smile on his face, his eyes shine.

And ... stopped short. Faina, hunched over, was sitting in her small, semi-dark room and stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

Faya, what are you doing, huh? Such events, and you ... Head up! Don't be shy. Go with us. I will introduce you to these guys, it will take your breath away. We will do this! Do you remember Mishka? Well, the one that teased me with Zinka-rubber band when I was little ... A guy! Not worse than my Petka.

Faina just shook her head and, as always, said in a low voice:

How can I ... I am weak. It's scary ...

And here, under the fascists, isn't it scary? - Zina got even more excited. - Better to die standing than live on your knees!

Faina shook her head again and said nothing more.

Do you even think about evacuating?

I don’t know, Zina. Where, to whom should I go? There is an uncle in Central Asia, but he is some kind of important worker, is he up to me? No, come what may ...

Zina left, and Faina began to get ready for work.

The office was empty. The windows were open, and there was a draft going through the rooms, rustling papers. All were evacuated. Apparently, they were in such a hurry that no one came to Faina. Or maybe it was already known that she decided to stay ...

At home, Faina was in for a surprise. At the gate stood a dusty car, and two young men walked alongside. They looked at each other as she approached.

Are you Faina Yankovskaya? one asked.

Your uncle, Anton Fomich Yankovsky, sent us a telegram with a request to help you go to him. Here you are…

Faina took the telegram and read: "Comrade Galyuk, please ensure the evacuation of my niece Faina Yankovskaya ..." Then Faina's detailed address followed.

The girl did not have time to open her mouth to ask who they are, these young people, why Anton Fomich turned to them with a request, why he did not telegraph her, when the strangers spoke both at once:

Details, comrade Yankovskaya, then ...

Now every minute counts!

Take only documents and the most necessary things. Your uncle is a well-to-do man, you will be like Christ's in his bosom.

Faster, faster!

Faina hurriedly entered the room, glanced around at it with a cursory glance. "What to take?" She lived modestly. A couch, a small table, two chairs. The chiffonier was a construction of three sticks covered with variegated chintz. After thinking a little, she took a photograph of her mother from the table and went out onto the porch.

I'm ready, ”she announced.

Without things? Well done!

They promptly put her in the car and set off at once. On the way, we stopped by some institution, where they did something with Faina's passport, took some certificates for her. In this institution, everyone was in a hurry, cursing - what other information? Evacuation! But Faina's companions were persistent. Faina herself expressed doubt: is it worth bothering with these pieces of paper? Why are they at such a time? The companions explained to her that the documents would be required on the road, and, having shown perseverance, received all the necessary papers at the institution in the name of Faina. Again everyone got into the car and in ten minutes they were already outside the city.

The one sitting next to him explained to Faina: she was being taken to a nearby railway station, where it would be easier to take the train ...

The car was driving along a narrow forest road. There is greenery and silence all around, and Faina found peace of mind. These are the vicissitudes of life! An hour ago she did not know what to do, what to do, and now she is going to the train ... There are still good people! She looked at the shaved back of the driver's head, at the flashing tree trunks, at the grinning neighbor, and thought gratefully of her uncle. In the family, he was known as a callous person, but in a difficult moment he remembered her ... I tried to imagine a meeting with my uncle in distant Central Asia. She hardly remembered him, since she broke up with him when she was still very young. “Apparently, my mother was wrong when she said about my uncle that he was callous and heartless. I remembered here, I took care ... "

CHAPTER ONE

If Lieutenant Ershov had foreseen that his late arrival to the train, with which the young recruits for the pilot school arrived, would serve as the first link in the chain of many sad events, he would not have waited for the car, but would have rushed to the station on foot an hour earlier. Just think, the distance is six kilometers! But where could he have predicted what happened next? Having received the order, he went to the car park and inquired if it was possible to get a car for a trip to the station. They promised a car. Glancing merrily at Ershov, the young driver said:

One moment, Comrade Lieutenant. Let's refuel and off we go.

Will we be late?

What do you! We'll be there in twenty minutes. We'll also have a smoke on the platform until the train arrives.

The reassured lieutenant climbed up the ladder to the storage shed, under which the cars stood, and from this height began to survey the surroundings.

The pilot school was located in one of the regions typical of Central Asia. The snowy peaks of the mountains sparkled in the rays of the sultry July sun. Where the rays fell steeply, the snow was dazzling white, and on the shady side it was bluish-green. The transition from snow to open rocks is almost never seen: it is covered by a belt of swirling clouds. Forests turn blue under the clouds, in places they are cut through by stormy, impetuous streams, gray with foam. Closer to the foot, the mountains are gentle. Around the steppe, turning into a sandy desert with dunes, which Ershov had previously seen only in pictures. The pictures are beautiful, but in life it is sad, and I did not want to look. The air trembled with heat, giving rise to deceptive mirages in its streams. Monitor lizards hid in tenacious thorns - huge lizards; snakes glittered, glittering with scales; feathered predators circled high in the sky.

To narrow your search results, you can refine your query by specifying the fields to search for. The list of fields is presented above. For instance:

You can search by several fields at the same time:

Logical operators

The default operator is AND.
Operator AND means that the document must match all elements in the group:

research development

Operator OR means that the document must match one of the values \u200b\u200bin the group:

study OR development

Operator NOT excludes documents containing this element:

study NOT development

Search type

When writing a request, you can specify the way in which the phrase will be searched. Four methods are supported: search with morphology, without morphology, prefix search, phrase search.
By default, the search is based on morphology.
To search without morphology, just put a dollar sign in front of the words in the phrase:

$ study $ development

To search for a prefix, you need to put an asterisk after the request:

study *

To search for a phrase, you need to enclose the query in double quotes:

" research and development "

Search by synonyms

To include a word in the search results for synonyms, put a hash " # "before a word or before an expression in parentheses.
When applied to one word, up to three synonyms will be found for it.
When applied to a parenthesized expression, a synonym will be appended to each word if found.
Cannot be combined with non-morphology search, prefix search, or phrase search.

# study

Grouping

In order to group search phrases, you need to use brackets. This allows you to control the boolean logic of the request.
For example, you need to make a request: find documents whose author is Ivanov or Petrov, and the title contains the words research or development:

Approximate word search

For an approximate search, you need to put a tilde " ~ "at the end of a word from a phrase. For example:

bromine ~

The search will find words such as "bromine", "rum", "prom", etc.
You can additionally specify the maximum number of possible edits: 0, 1 or 2. For example:

bromine ~1

By default, 2 edits are allowed.

Proximity criterion

To search by proximity, you need to put a tilde " ~ "at the end of a phrase. For example, to find documents with the words research and development within 2 words, use the following query:

" research development "~2

Expression Relevance

To change the relevance of individual search terms, use the " ^ "at the end of the expression, and then indicate the level of relevance of this expression in relation to the rest.
The higher the level, the more relevant the expression is.
For example, in this expression, the word "research" is four times more relevant than the word "development":

study ^4 development

By default, the level is 1. Allowed values \u200b\u200bare a positive real number.

Interval search

To indicate the interval in which the value of a field should be located, you should specify the boundary values \u200b\u200bin brackets, separated by the operator TO.
Lexicographic sorting will be performed.

Such a query will return results with an author ranging from Ivanov to Petrov, but Ivanov and Petrov will not be included in the result.
To include a value in an interval, use square brackets. Use curly braces to exclude a value.

Current page: 1 (total book has 20 pages)

Lev Kolesnikov
The secret of Temir-Tepe
A story from the life of aviators

PROLOGUE

It was the end of June 1941. In a small provincial town in the west of Belarus, the rumble of gunfire could be clearly heard, and German armadas marched in the sky with a tedious howl. All the inhabitants of the city, one way or another, have already decided their fate: some were evacuated to the East, others went to the forests, and others prepared themselves for underground work. There were those who were confused and fearfully awaited further events. These included Faina Yankovskaya, a young girl, an employee of a small enterprise. Several years before the war, she was left an orphan, was brought up in an orphanage, but did not grow together with the team. After graduating from school, she began to work, but even then she kept herself apart. She had only one friend - her complete opposite, cheerful, agile Zina Kovalenko. Why they became friends is hard to say. Zina explained it this way:

- I run to Fayka to cool down. As soon as I create something stunning, even the most scary - so to Fayka. Petka last time called cattle, and then cried all night. Now we are reconciled, you can tell everyone, and then - to whom will you tell? Only Faine. Grave. Not like us magpies. That's why I love her ... And that she is so withdrawn and motionless - it will pass with her. If something stunning happens to her, she will wake up ...

But even the war did not wake her.

Zina caught fire immediately. She looked as if she was glad about what had happened. On the very first day of the war, Zina was wearing a tunic with a wide belt and strong boots. Where and how I got it - only God knows. However, it is possible that she dressed up as a brother-officer, who was urgently summoned from vacation to the unit ... On the second day of the war, Zina got herself a Finnish knife, and soon a Browning. From morning to evening, she ran around city organizations, fussing about something, making noise, shouting the names of Shchors, Lazo and even Garibaldi. It was evident from everything that she was preparing to become a partisan. This morning she rushed to Faina in a whirlwind. There is a smile on his face, his eyes shine.

- Fainka!

And ... stopped short. Faina, hunched over, was sitting in her small, semi-dark room and stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

- Faya, what are you doing, huh? Such events, and you ... Head up! Don't be shy. Go with us. I will introduce you to these guys, it will take your breath away. We will do this! Do you remember Mishka? Well, the one that teased me with Zinka-rubber band when I was little ... A guy! Not worse than my Petka.

Faina just shook her head and, as always, said in a low voice:

- How can I ... I am weak. It's scary ...

- And here, under the fascists, isn't it scary? - Zina got even more excited. - Better to die standing than live on your knees!

Faina shook her head again and said nothing more.

- Do you even think about evacuating?

“I don’t know, Zina. Where, to whom should I go? There is an uncle in Central Asia, but he is some kind of important worker, is he up to me? No, come what may ...

Zina left, and Faina began to get ready for work.

The office was empty. The windows were open, and there was a draft going through the rooms, rustling papers. All were evacuated. Apparently, they were in such a hurry that no one came to Faina. Or maybe it was already known that she decided to stay ...

At home, Faina was in for a surprise. At the gate stood a dusty car, and two young men walked alongside. They looked at each other as she approached.

- Are you Faina Yankovskaya? One asked.

- Your uncle, Anton Fomich Yankovsky, sent us a telegram with a request to help you go to him. Here you are…

Faina took the telegram and read: "Comrade Galyuk, please ensure the evacuation of my niece Faina Yankovskaya ..." Then Faina's detailed address followed.

The girl did not have time to open her mouth to ask who they are, these young people, why Anton Fomich turned to them with a request, why he did not telegraph her, when the strangers spoke both at once:

- Details, comrade Yankovskaya, then ...

- Now every minute counts!

- Take only documents and the most necessary things. Your uncle is a well-to-do man, you will be like Christ's in his bosom.

- Faster, faster!

Faina hurriedly entered the room, glanced around at it with a cursory glance. "What to take?" She lived modestly. A couch, a small table, two chairs. The chiffonier was a construction of three sticks covered with variegated chintz. After thinking a little, she took a photograph of her mother from the table and went out onto the porch.

“I'm ready,” she announced.

- Without things? Well done!

They promptly put her in the car and set off at once. On the way, we stopped by some institution, where they did something with Faina's passport, took some certificates for her. In this institution, everyone was in a hurry, cursing - what other information? Evacuation! But Faina's companions were persistent. Faina herself expressed doubt: is it worth bothering with these pieces of paper? Why are they at such a time? The companions explained to her that the documents would be required on the road, and, having shown perseverance, received all the necessary papers at the institution in the name of Faina. Again everyone got into the car and in ten minutes they were already outside the city.

The one sitting next to him explained to Faina: she was being taken to a nearby railway station, where it would be easier to take the train ...

The car was driving along a narrow forest road. There is greenery and silence all around, and Faina found peace of mind. These are the vicissitudes of life! An hour ago she did not know what to do, what to do, and now she is going to the train ... There are still good people! She looked at the shaved back of the driver's head, at the flashing tree trunks, at the grinning neighbor, and thought gratefully of her uncle. In the family, he was known as a callous person, but in a difficult moment he remembered her ... I tried to imagine a meeting with my uncle in distant Central Asia. She hardly remembered him, since she broke up with him when she was still very young. “Apparently, my mother was wrong when she said about my uncle that he was callous and heartless. I remembered here, I took care ... "

CHAPTER ONE

1

If Lieutenant Ershov had foreseen that his late arrival to the train, with which the young recruits for the pilot school arrived, would serve as the first link in the chain of many sad events, he would not have waited for the car, but would have rushed to the station on foot an hour earlier. Just think, the distance is six kilometers! But where could he have predicted what happened next? Having received the order, he went to the car park and inquired if it was possible to get a car for a trip to the station. They promised a car. Glancing merrily at Ershov, the young driver said:

- One moment, Comrade Lieutenant. Let's refuel and off we go.

- Will we be late?

- What do you! We'll be there in twenty minutes. We'll also have a smoke on the platform until the train arrives.

The reassured lieutenant climbed up the ladder to the storage shed, under which the cars stood, and from this height began to survey the surroundings.

The pilot school was located in one of the regions typical of Central Asia. The snowy peaks of the mountains sparkled in the rays of the sultry July sun. Where the rays fell steeply, the snow was dazzling white, and on the shady side it was bluish-green. The transition from snow to open rocks is almost never seen: it is covered by a belt of swirling clouds. Forests turn blue under the clouds, in places they are cut through by stormy, impetuous streams, gray with foam. Closer to the foot, the mountains are gentle. Around the steppe, turning into a sandy desert with dunes, which Ershov had previously seen only in pictures. The pictures are beautiful, but in life it is sad, and I did not want to look. The air trembled with heat, giving rise to deceptive mirages in its streams. Monitor lizards hid in tenacious thorns - huge lizards; snakes glittered, glittering with scales; feathered predators circled high in the sky.

Ershov remained indifferent to the sands, but the view that opened his eyes towards the mountains caused admiration. There was a lot of water here, and water in Central Asia is life. Rough rivers, running down from the mountains, spread along the web of irrigation ditches - numerous small artificial canals. They irrigated fields, lush orchards where fruits ripened.

The pilot school garrison was located next to a wide highway lined with poplars. A shady corridor led to the city. In the dense lush greenery of the gardens, the white walls of the houses seemed especially elegant. The windows gleamed, the water in the ditches and reservoirs gleamed, the snow gleamed on the mountain tops, the poplar leaves, ruffled by the movement of the air, gleamed silver. Together with the scent of the gardens, the changeable wind carried either the coolness of the mountains or the heat of the desert ...

Having looked in, Ershov forgot himself. The car horn brought him back to reality. He hastily glanced at his watch — fifteen minutes were left before the train arrived.

“We’ll make it,” the driver reassured him.

But as soon as we drove away from the garage, the engine sneezed, coughed and finally stalled. The driver swore and crawled under the hood to look for the "missing spark", and the enraged lieutenant, jumping out of the car, almost ran along the highway towards the city. With horror, he looked at the inexorable hands of the clock. Hopelessly late ...

What happened to the newcomers, who, having gone to the platform, did not find a representative of the school here?

2

There were about twenty of them. The foreman of the group was a lanky, thin guy, somewhat similar to Mayakovsky. This similarity was reinforced by the guy's obvious imitation of the great poet. His last name was Zubrov, but for some reason the newcomers called him not by his last name and not "comrade foreman", but "comrade student". The nickname was not given to him by chance: Vsevolod Zubrov was drafted into the army and sent to a flight school from the second year of the institute. This "elevated" him above the rest of the cadets both in education and in age and, apparently, was taken into account in the military registration and enlistment office when he was appointed the senior of the group. They probably took into account his serious appearance, too.

Being a senior in a motley group of prospective cadets is not easy. And young, hot, mischievous, unfamiliar with military discipline, barely familiar with the regulations, they reluctantly obeyed the commands of a man without any insignia. On the way, many of them had already quarreled with Zubrov, and when they went to the platform and did not find a representative of the school, complete confusion began in the team. Everyone expressed their proposals, considering them the best. The majority agreed that it was necessary for the time being to "wander around the city" and not to rush to school.

- The last day we go in civilian clothes, - said one, - and only then, as you put on your uniform, you will look like a bald devil from school without a leave of absence. My brother wrote to me from the army ...

Others supported him in unison.

- Comrades, - objected Zubrov, - after all, the war, what are the entertainment now?

He was laughed at.

- We'll be in time!

The Zubrov got angry and was about to shout "stop talking!" When someone warned him:

- Look, get out, probably from school!

Two people walked from the station to a group of future cadets. One was in military uniform. The blue buttonholes of his tunic have one triangle each. He was a slender, broad-shouldered, with a thin waist and bulging chest, a handsome Georgian. The eyes were large, with long, like a girl's, eyelashes, looked good-natured and, perhaps, sleepily; movements are unhurried, even sluggish. His civilian companion was the exact opposite in its mobility. Every now and then he ran ahead, whispering something, waving his arms and casting sidelong glances from under the fused black eyebrows towards the newcomers. A small cap barely covered a short dark forelock, hanging in a bang to the left eye. A striped nautical vest tightly wrapped around his thin, flexible figure. His gait was kind of wobbly, his wide trousers with a fringe at the bottom were grinding dust.

Very picturesque couple!

As they approached, the controversy among the newcomers ceased, everyone stared at them expectantly. Gruzin smiled, greeted and with a strong accent began a conversation:

- Has everyone arrived? .. How to ask? Sanka, you like to chat, ask ... - And slowly began to light a cigarette.

Sanka was delighted and said as much in a minute as another would not say in his whole life.

- Are you guys at the disposal of Colonel Kramarenko? I thought so. You do not pay attention to Valiko that he is so with me. He's a kind guy. For a year he has been in the cavalry, and now he has rolled into a flight school. Well, but I, in fact, have not served anywhere yet, straight from the citizen. I've been here for the second day. Worked unloading today. You can't see us, so they rushed AWOL. Yes, it's sour that there are no washers and there is nowhere to shoot. But we ...

- Wait, - Valiko could not resist, - you were entrusted with the conversation, and you - incomprehensible words ... Speak business.

- It's a well-known thing: we want beer. No wonder we flogged here! Well, as we stayed with our own people, we want to borrow from you. And in general there is nothing to trample the platform, let's go to the teahouse!

“They gave a telegram about our arrival from the military registration and enlistment office,” said Zubrov. - We hurry to school ...

- We know, we know, - Sanka rattled off again. - Valiko was a messenger to the headquarters yesterday and learned about this telegram earlier than others. What an importance! You will have time. We flogged you specially to shoot, but we have one eccentric, a lieutenant from the infantry, he should have been officially. Only he has probably already got drunk, and now he has no time for you.

Sanka's last words excited the newcomers.

- Got it, student? And you mutter to us all the way about military order!

- About what orders? - Sanka made a surprised face. - Young men, I will tell you the formula: "Where order ends, aviation begins!" Clear?

Valiko waved his hand.

- Balamut.

Zubrov is tired of all this. Raising his hand, he said, though not in a regular way, but firmly:

- Idiots! To hell with you, I'm not asking anyone else, do as you want, and I go to school. Valiko, explain how to get there, otherwise you won't understand a damn thing from thug Sanka.

Valiko lazily raised his girlish eyelashes, looked at Zubrov with curiosity, and although his desire was at odds with his own, he took Zubrov's notebook and, with the skill of a military man, reproduced the path from the station to the school in several lines. Vsevolod glanced, nodded his head and thanked Valiko and, lifting his backpack, without looking at anyone else, walked along the platform to the exit.

Future cadets just shook their heads:

- Well, the character!

- They will make a foreman out of such - they will not give life!

With sighs, they began to pick up their things and hurried after Zubrov.

Only one did not go - a tall, strong guy. He did not participate in disputes, not when Zubrov said: “Idiots! Damn you ... ”- the guy got angry, threw a suitcase on the platform with a noise, sat down on it and lit a cigarette.

- This is our way! - Sanka exclaimed. - Well done! Yes, we are now, you know ...

“Not your way, but our way,” the guy cut him off. - I just don't like being a ram.

- Don't be angry, dear ... Let's, really, let's go to the teahouse, eh? She's so cozy here that you rock!

- Get off. Here's your top ten - and blow. And I will sit here, not leaving the place, for three hours, and there it will be seen.

Sanka made an offended face, but took the money and, backing up to Valiko, spoke menacingly:

“You’re not very good!” I'm like that too ...

Valiko, who was following the conversation, silently took a ten from Sanka's hand and, holding it out to its rightful owner, said, like everything he said, in a sleepy voice:

- Take it. You didn't understand us.

The guy got up. His face turned from evil to good-natured, and he said conciliatingly:

- Okay guys. Let's not quarrel. All young, hot ... Let's live together, make friends.

- In the army, you can't live without it, - agreed Valiko.

- And now we will be familiar: Valentin Vysokov.

- Valiko Berelidze ...

- Sanka Shumov ...

- You know what? - suggested Valentine. - Since it all turned out that way, let's drink a couple of beers in honor of our acquaintance, and then to the place.

On their way out to the city they ran into three companions of Valentin - Sergei Kozlov, Vasily Gorodoshnikov and Boris Kapustin.

“We’re looking for you,” Gorodoshnikov said to Vysokov. - Look, you're not here, we went ...

- I got angry with the student, and now I decided to drink beer with the guys.

We went with six, but did not know where yet. Boris Kapustin suggested a restaurant.

“It's a long story,” Valentine said hesitantly.

In the soul of everyone there was a struggle between temptation and a sense of responsibility. The temptation has won. Calming each other, inventing excuses for themselves, the guys decided to go to a restaurant ...

3

It was a summer restaurant, tables under the shade of lush tree crowns, and around an openwork fence with art panels hung on it. It's cozy, you can't say anything.

Boris made an order of his choice and at his own expense.

- Why are you ... - began Valentine.

But Boris did not let him finish:

- Are you afraid to stay in debt? Someday it will be the other way around, and I will not refuse, but now ... Daddy paid me two thousand. Why drag them in vain?

While waiting for the food to be served, the young people struck up a lively conversation. In conversation, they got to know each other better.

Valentin Vysokov, an athletic nineteen-year-old boy, has just graduated from a ten-year period. He was wearing a light silk short-sleeved T-shirt and everyone could see the powerful muscles of his arms. Valiko was also an athlete and therefore easily determined - by the elongated shape of the biceps, by the convex chest and tucked-up belly - that Valentine was a gymnast.

We started talking about sports. It turns out that each of those present was a bit of an athlete. Sergei Kozlov practiced fencing; Boris Kapustin loved swimming, Vasily Gorodoshnikov loved hunting. Sanka said that he only respected the "little Swedish" - twice a hundred times - but then he confessed that he loved skates and a bicycle.

“It's in your nature,” Sergei remarked. - All in a hurry somewhere.

Musicians appeared on the small stage of the restaurant. Valentine, looking at them, sighed:

- That would be a violin for our Earring! After all, guys, he is a wonderful musician. We are from the same school, I know his talent ...

But Sergei did not hear the compliment. His attention was attracted by a small company, which was seated at that moment at the next table. At the men - a tall brunette with a Mephistophelian profile and a good-natured baldish fat man - Sergei only glanced at him. Their companion attracted attention.

She was nineteen or twenty years old. Auburn hair is styled in beautiful waves, hair to hair, and the whole hair therefore seemed to be sculpted from plastic. The facial features are correct, the lips are slightly tinted, the large gray eyes shone with a cold shine of steel, in the slight squint of the eyes, contempt for others was guessed. A light, lightweight suit deftly sat on her slender figure.

When the woman noticed that they were looking at her, her lips were slightly touched by a smile, she turned to her own and began talking to them about something, no longer looking back at the table where Seryozha was sitting. And he sideways continued to watch her.

Wine, beer, snacks, fruits appeared on the table. Boris forked out. Of those present, he felt the best in a restaurant setting. And in this, oddly enough, his father, the manager of a large store, was to blame. For the sake of "useful" acquaintances, he often arranged lunches and dinners over a bottle - sometimes in restaurants, then at home. From the age of sixteen, Boris began to attend parties and feasts, and then began to take part in restaurant dinners. In general, he was spoiled a lot. He wore expensive suits, he was allowed to smoke early, he was given "pocket" money ...

While the wine was being poured, Boris went to the stage, talked to the musicians, shoved one of them a thirty and returned to the table, satisfied. As soon as they raised their glasses, the music struck the air march. We drank to victory over fascism, started talking, and made a noise.

For all the guys, except for Boris, the restaurant atmosphere was unusual. They studied before the war. Where did they get the money for such things? Sanka's father, however, loved to drink with his son, but it happened either at home or in a seedy tea house near the pier where Sanka's father worked as a loader.

Wine, delicious snacks and music lifted the spirits. Yesterday's schoolchildren were pleased to feel their independence. In conversation, they jumped from subject to subject, but most of all, of course, they spoke about the just begun war and about their future participation in it as pilots. They were worried about whether they would manage to finish school before the defeat of Nazi Germany. (For some reason, everyone was sure that the war would not last long, despite the first setbacks.)

Carried away by the conversation, they forgot about the service. Only Valentine glanced at his watch with concern. He already considered himself guilty, but he was embarrassed to rush his comrades. “Now, if they don’t rise in an hour, then I’ll tell you…” - he thought and quickly dismissed this thought.

Meanwhile, the conversation went on and became more and more noisy. Someone talked about retreat, someone shouted "nonsense", someone recalled the past. Women's names were woven into the memories, photographs went from hand to hand. Only Valiko and Valentin smiled silently.

Valentin asked Valiko:

- Are you always so lethargic?

Valiko shrugged.

- I have no reason to be different. - He paused and explained: - You have to be hot with a girl, you have to be hot in battle, but here ...

- Well you say, Valiko, - agreed Valentine.

Seryozha talked with Vasily Gorodoshnikov, whom everyone began to call Kuzmich for his solid appearance. He was a Siberian and, unlike his comrades, dressed in light suits, he wore a heavy woolen tunic and woolen trousers tucked into wide boots. He and Seryozhka, it seems, had nothing in common, and maybe that's why their conversation was so lively. They showed each other photographs of the girls who remained in their native places, recalled them in the most tender words, and Kuzmich even read poems in an undertone:

Everything breathes in her with truth,
Then everything in her is false and false!
It is impossible to understand her,
But it is impossible not to love.

- Look, our breathers hit the poetry! - Sanka exclaimed. - Now they will let a tear. Oh you, that's who you learn from! - and pointed at Boris.

Boris held several photographs fanned out, as cards are usually held.

- If I begin to recite over each of them, - Boris laughed smugly, - then you will get tired of listening. - And he did not hesitate to put the photos in his hands.

Sanka shamelessly snapped one finger and said:

- That would be in our company!

Kuzmich looked at Boris and Sanka with obvious disapproval. Throwing his eyes at the next table, he quietly said to Boris:

- You would add this to the collection. She, in my opinion, is in the same style.

Seryozhka objected to Kuzmich:

- I think you are wrong. True, she looks eccentric, but in her face there is courage, will and something else ...

Kuzmich grimaced.

- About “something like that” you are right, but I don’t see courage and will. Contempt is in her eyes! An artist, if not on stage, then in life.

“Eh, you physiognomists,” intervened Boris. - Now I will get to know her better, so that you do not argue a lot.

He got up and walked straight to the orchestra. There he paused for a minute, said something to the musicians, and on the way back approached the girl they were interested in. A waltz was played, and Boris invited a spicy woman (or a girl?) To the circle. Everything came out naturally and beautifully, and they smiled at the table.

"Damn it!" - thought each of the guys.

During the dance, Boris talked about something with the beauty. At first, she only nodded her head, and then began to laugh. The waltz was followed by a tango, then a foxtrot. A couple more appeared between the tables ...

Valentine more and more often glanced at his watch. The time that he had appointed for leaving had long passed, but the determination to tell his comrades about it was not enough. While Valentin was struggling with himself, Boris dragged everyone to the next table to get acquainted with the girl and her companions.

- Faina Yankovskaya, - Boris introduced her to his comrades. - Evacuated from the west, now lives in this city with her uncle Anton Fomich Yankovsky. This is her uncle. And this is their old friend, Ivan Sergeevich Zudin.

Everyone shook hands. New acquaintances turned out to be very welcoming people. They offered to move the tables and mark their acquaintance. Valentine plucked up courage and announced that it was time and honor to know: friendship is friendship, and service is service. All almost in unison began to reassure each other: "Yes, yes, a little more", "Yes, five minutes", "Nothing, if a little longer ..."

Anton Fomich laughed, rubbing his plump hands.

- It is simply wonderful, my friends, that you will serve and study in our city! I and all of us, Faina, Ivan Sergeevich, have always been partial to the conquerors of the sky. Dream! As soon as you have a dismissal or a business trip to the city, please do not forget my modest home. Ivan Sergeevich is also our frequent guest. Therefore, I am sure we will have many pleasant meetings ...

We drank cognac for the acquaintance. Boris and Sanka wrote down Anton Fomich's address. Ivan Sergeevich, who turned out to be the most sane of the whole company, offered to drink a couple more bottles of champagne and disperse.

“Forgive me, Anton Fomich,” he said with a good-natured smile, “as I understand it, young people need to hurry. “Friendship is friendship, but service is service” - Valentine is right about that. I don't want them to get scolded by their superiors because of our acquaintance. Then they will receive leave, so they will not want to look at us ...

“We were two and a half hours late,” Valentin said gloomily to his comrades. - I suggest you get up immediately.

Saying goodbye to new good acquaintances, they tumbled out of the restaurant onto the pavement and then, like guilty schoolchildren, silently and without looking at each other, hurried.

The heat was unbearable, everyone was drenched in sweat. Kicking up the dust, we trudged along the side of the highway for more than an hour. Finally, through the foliage of the roadside plantings, the walls of the aviation school were blushing with bricks. The garrison gates were no more than half a kilometer away. The road descended into a hollow to a reservoir inviting coolness. Valentine looked at the dust-white faces of his comrades and suggested:

- Let's bathe. We will lose another fifteen minutes, but we will refresh ourselves and be like people.

All silently agreed and quickly, without jokes, without laughing, began to undress and dive into the water. The water was cold. The reservoir was filled from an irrigation ditch originating in a mountain river, and the river was fed by snow and ice of mountain peaks.

- This is sobering! - Sanka admired. - Immediately all the hops popped out of my head.

- It's good that the hops jumped out, - Valentin grinned, - but in what source would I bathe you so that the stuff would jump out of your head?

“There is no such source,” Valiko said confidently.

And Sanka laughed without malice.

Dressed and sat down on the footpath to smoke. Sanka pulled out a pack of cards from his back pocket. Deftly shuffling them, he handed Valiko with the words:

- Shall we roll? Twenty-one.

Valiko lazily raised his long girlish eyelashes, winced, but took the cards. The game began.

A casual passer-by, seeing on his way a group of young motley-dressed guys with maps in their hands and cigarettes in their teeth, cautiously turned off the path onto the road. Sanka found it funny.

- Look, lads, that fool took us for thieves. I jumped so that I almost fell into the ditch. And there is another girl running. Now she will turn aside.

They all looked around. A girl was walking along the path to the company of young people. She has a beautiful swarthy face with a high open forehead, over which a light cloud of blond wavy hair gleams. The white dress beautifully set off the swarthy, almost brown skin of the face, neck and arms with non-feminine, twisted muscles. In one hand she had a suitcase, in the other a book with which the girl protected her eyes from the bright sun.

Unceremoniously looking at the approaching stranger, Sanka said:

- You, mademoiselle, must have poor eyesight, if you go to a company of men, as if to nothing. Take the trouble to get around.

Pausing, the girl gave Sanka a mocking look (while everyone noticed her surprisingly blue eyes).

“My eyesight, young man, is excellent,” she said in a sonorous voice, “and I noticed your strange company from afar, but I only hoped that men were sitting here with pride and would get up from the path along which the girl was walking.

Sanka blinked his eyes and could not find an answer, but Boris was not taken aback and ordered:

- Well, jump over the ditch! Look, swear! Lively, or we'll throw it over!

The girl looked at the rude man in amazement and, with trembling lips, moved straight to Sanka, who was sitting right in the middle of the path. He jumped up. The girl with a strong movement of her shoulder pushed him away, he backed away and hit the ditch with one foot, dropping his cap there. Seeing this, Boris was taken aback and stepped aside. The girl, passing by, threw him with a mockery:

- Going to the army? I am also a "defender of the Motherland" ... - and went without looking back.

“Here’s a dog,” Sanka lamented, shaking off his wet cap. - Yes, I, yes we ... I ... - and rushed to catch up with the offender.

Valentine gripped his arm tightly.

- Enough fooling around! The devil pulled me to contact the hooligans.

- Oh, that's what you are! - Sanka squealed, pulling his hand. - Wow, I got into the company ... - He turned hopefully to Valiko, but he turned away angrily.

“Well, let's go to school,” Kuzmich said loudly, getting up, “otherwise we'll do something stupid.

All followed him in silence.

The girl in white managed to walk half a hundred steps away from them. After a pause, Valentin, addressing Sanka and Boris, said:

- Here's what, aniki-warriors: you catch up with her and apologize. After all, if she lives near the school, she probably guesses who we are ... It's a shame. She will tell all her friends about this meeting.

- I don’t have the habit, dear, to ask sorry, - Sanka snapped.

Boris said nothing.

“Perseverance worthy of a donkey,” Valentine said. - Okay, to hell with you, if you don't want to, I will apologize for you. - And he added a step.

- I would say that you liked the blonde! - Sanka shouted after him.

- Shut up, you fool! - Sergey cut him off. - Get nasty, and now apologize for you ... - And he rushed after Valentine.

Hearing rapid steps behind her, the girl stopped and turned around. "What else can these hooligans throw out?" - said her look. But against her expectations, the guys with a guilty look began to ask forgiveness for the rudeness of their comrades, then they took the suitcase from the girl's hands and walked in step with her.

They walked in silence for a while, then Sergei spoke timidly:

- And yet you yourself are a little to blame for this little trouble. You see: an unfamiliar male company of gamblers and you go to it without fear ...

- Without fear? I'm not used to being afraid. And you are not that scary ... - Slowing down her pace, she looked at Sergei mockingly.

He was not offended by this look, but thought to himself: "Here is the character!" Taking a closer look at her face, I noticed a small scar above the upper lip and just below it - a golden crown. “Desperate. No wonder she is not afraid ... "

Oddly enough, Valentine thought about her in much the same way.

- And yet, - the girl continued in the meantime, - I understood by some signs that you are candidates for this aviation school. Could I expect resentment from future pilots? And, finally, I am at home, in the Soviet Union, and not in Nazi Germany ...

- All this is true, - agreed Valentine, - only all sorts of unpleasant phenomena we still have a lot. Take your offender ... this one in a little cap ...