– The character of an expedition would change. Otto Yulyevich Schmidt could direct perfectly ice campaigns from the apartment. Or take our research geological expeditions. The youth will walk on sands Cara-Kumov, in a taiga jungle, will ascend to Pamir, and our outstanding geologists, without being prevented from working, will see each step of travelers, each mineral and will give advice.
Remember at least history of Khibiny Mountains. In the first years it was necessary to make extremely heavy trips and to climb mountains to the academician Fersman. How many, in fact speaking, it spent time unproductively! A trip in the car, pedestrian transitions on the tundra, often ineffectual wanderings… Sometimes only to bypass the mountain gorge, the person whose each hour has huge value for science lost several days; it is a lot of days, weeks for several minutes, even seconds to define breed, mineral.
– I know, read! – Mischa quickened. – Now initial investigation is conducted by planes, then on “interesting” places the plane abandons geologists, delivers them tents and food. And when works will end, arrive and take away them back. Instead of two-three months the expedition lasts two-three weeks now and costs ten times cheaper.
– They can cost still cheaper – Ginzburg continued. – Present: expeditions have easy compact radio stations and televizorny installations. The academician Fersman of our days quietly sits in the office and works on the manuscript. Before it – the TV screen. Here geologists found something interesting, and he hears their voice on a radio telephone. Turns off the light, looks at the screen, instructs and again goes deep into the work. And only when everything is reconnoitered, it is planned, the academician gets into the plane to draw the last conclusions on the place, to make the last orders. And it will be not always necessary.
Quite so, my friend, we will organize also an expedition on search of “Leviathan”. The administrative and scientific headquarters of an expedition will be here, in Moscow, in this house, in an office of your father. It was so solved at the last meeting of council.
The face of the Bear lit up.
– We with Nikolay Petrovich will transfer your bed to an office now and we will put against the screen. You will see everything or almost everything that will occur in an expedition. We will talk to you as the whole days talked. In an office headquarters meetings will be held. The chief of an expedition Barkovsky, epronovets Kirillov and your father will daily discuss the course of searches.
Mischa’s father came back. He listened to the last words of Ginzburg and told:
– It still is not enough. Duties will be assigned to you. Near the screen and radio station we will establish watch. You also will take part in watch. You “will lie on watch”.
As you see, you will be a direct participant of an expedition. Lying here, for thousands of kilometers from Sergo, you will see many times more, than would see on the trawler if you lay there on a ship bed, but without “a wonderful eye” – the TV. Well … – the Engineer made a helpless gesture. – You will lack no only an ocean smell. But you will add with imagination.
TRAVEL TO THE WORLD OF ATOM
Mishka Borin “laid down on watch”. Now he already wished that the expedition went to a way rather and the screen would recover. However departure dragged on. There were last tests of “iron spiders”. Ginzburg carried out to laboratories all the time and only in the evenings visited Mischa.
– What you do? You long? – he asked Mischa once.
No, Mischa did not get used to waste time in vain. Now he felt new interest in radio and television. Mischa should go to interesting “travel” soon. And he began to study radio engineering, the device of radioelements, offices of television. And this evening he somehow perplexed answered Ginzburg’s question:
– And I, you know, wrote such… the imagination to understand to itself some principles of television. You want, I will read?
Ginzburg looked for hours.
– Read if it is not really long.
And Mischa began to read:
– “Professor Filinov is so old that long ago forgot year of the birth. And such scientist that he has not enough one pair of glasses: it carries two couples, and in the evenings even three. It has in the head a lot of brain that the biggest caps do not fit to it the head – it is necessary to do to order. The head his absolutely bald, green-golden beard goes down to a belt.
Filinov two young people has a pupil: professors Harichkin and Larichkin; one fifty, second sixty years. Eagle owls calls them “young people” because on their heads only small bald heads, beards hardly cover a breast, and on a nose on only one pair of glasses.
Eagle owls – the great inventor.
Once Harichkin and Larichkin come to Filinov to an office and see on a table the big black polished box with a lens.
– Here – Filinov says – I invented the device which can reduce people and do the person smaller, than a molecule. You want, I will try on you?
Larichkin and Harichkin stroked the beards and exchanged glances, and Filinov already aimed a lens, clicked and laughed.
Also Larichkin and Harichkin began to decrease.
No, it did not seem to them at all that they decrease. It seemed to them that they remain same, and Filinov began to grow, and all objects began to grow, and the room was moved apart in the parties, and the ceiling rose in some stratospheric height. Huge doors opened, and the room was entered by a huge tiger. Harichkin and Larichkin were scaredly killed under a chair. The tiger size from a bull jumped on a huge sofa, and this tiger a favourite cat of Filinov was. The awful thunder shatnut the room – it Filinov laughed. It found Harichkin and Larichkin who hid under a chair, and carefully put them on a desk.
And they were size already about a pin. Also professor Filinov on a caesium plate put them. Harichkin and Larichkin remembered that there was this plate gladenky, polished. But now it seemed hilly as the plowed field. It was difficult to go – any minute you will fall. Over their heads golden ears – hair of a beard of Filinov rocked – and the thunder rattled, each time is more silent: Harichkin and Larichkin’s ears already refused to perceive such sound vibrations. The fright and fear captured young scientists: from one exhalation of Filinov they could fall in an inkwell and drown in it, as in the Black Sea. Harichkin and Larichkin took seat on a plate and caught hillocks. And objects everything increased. The ceiling and a floor departed somewhere in infinity. The inkwell was also removed and grew as Elbrus. Usual light dropped out of sight unexpected travelers soon, and they saw before themselves only mountainous edges of a caesium plate. Mountains grew on their eyes. Rose above and above. In the atmosphere there were flying celestial bodies.
One of them rushed, others smoothly fell by a surface.
– These are motes. Yes, it is, probably, motes which filled room air – Harichkin guessed.
One of motes fell to Larichkin, and he hardly got out from under it, as from under an avalanche. In “sky” huge spheres – water molecules flew.
Fortunately, soon all “celestial bodies” suddenly departed in one direction – probably, someone opened a door and about the room there passed the air wave.
Rocks grew. And, to surprise of scientists, they became all nozdrevaty, poristy. Everywhere huge caves, tunnels, gorges, abysses, canyons were found. They were moved apart, became more and more huge by the sizes.
And Harichkin and Larichkin could already pass on all tunnels in any direction soon, pass through caesium substance.
The dense plate of caesium as if broke up to the components, leaving between them easy accesses.
But on it transformation of the world did not come