Classics fantasy – 11

– Oll-rayt – Zhukov answered.

– Oll-rayt – Jim repeated and smiled. Guests got acquainted with Zhukov.

All went down in the saloon which was on average the floor, the capacious room with a high ceiling. The path from linoleum of cream color divided the room into two half. On both sides there were tables laid by pure cloths. On a ceiling – opaque lamps. In a corner – black диглг a loudspeaker. At a wall – the screen. Between little tables – in oak kegs bushes of the blossoming oleanders. Everything shone and sparkled purity.

– Here it is pleasant to me – Jim told. – Here what miracles hide the impassable Soviet woods!

The woman in a white dressing gown brought the smoking breakfast. Ignat pushed Jim and said in low tones:

– Look and it is the doctor who arrived to us.

Simakov burst out laughing and told, addressing Dubrovina:

– Marianna Ivanovna! Our guests are surprised that you today for the waitress.

– Ourselves serve ourselves – having greeted guests, Dubrovina told. – We have no patients, I have more time, than at others, here I also manage. Eat properly. The lunch will be late.

Jim and Ignat obeyed a good advice and have densely breakfast. Having sated, Ignat addressed the captain:

– Well, tell me in more detail about the ship.

5. The inventor tells

Our country was faced by a grandiose task: up to the end to discover Siberia with its inexhaustible power sources and natural wealth. The North is impassable. The seas are barricaded by ices. The Arctic is cut off by vast spaces of the tundra, a taiga, the woods, as impassable as ices of the polar seas. Ices are already punched by our ice breakers. And the woods remained impassable because we had no forest “ice breaker”. Came it is time to be accepted also to the woods. The grid of squares was imposed on vast “free” spaces – at first only on the card, and each square – each kilometer in this square – had to undergo careful inspection: geological, geochemical, botanical, hydrological. Unless this task can be resolved quickly horse draft and pedestrian circulation? The question of vehicles in a taiga demanded bystreyshy permission. Air traffic is good as means of bystry communication, but for the prospecting parties loaded with any tools, supplies, samples of ores and we designate, something was necessary other. It was necessary to construct the ship all-terrain vehicle which could overcome easily off road terrain, contain in itself all prospecting party, tools, food stocks for long months. The ship which would be both “car”, and “house”, and the marching laboratory which is very decently equipped. And I thought several years of a design of such all-terrain vehicle. Then we began to work as inventive crew at the Chelyabinsk plant.

Tens of projects were rejected by the Chelyabinsk committee of society of inventors, a little – the center. But, eventually, the project was approved and the means are allotted for construction. Two more years left on construction and experiences. Our ship all-terrain vehicle was born. It came to maintaining the Ural branch Academies of Sciences and academic council for studying of productive forces. This council developed the plan and a route of our first, skilled expedition. We are engaged in research of minerals, we study forest riches, in passing we do glades, we conduct meteorecords and many other things. Daily we report on radio official reports about our works.

Whether “Taiga” justifies the appointment? Ours child, alas, very much and very imperfectly. It is necessary to bring improvements a lot, but generally we as though resolved a task. We can make researches throughout all year, despite frosts, a snowstorm, polar night. It means, rates of development of the North at least treble.

Jim clapped the hands.

– Very well. Oll-rayt! – he exclaimed.

Simakov continued:

– We needed to overcome two main difficulties. The first – power. To move such large object as “Taiga”, it is necessary to have engines in many thousands of horsepowers. To arrange such zhyulvernovsky “steam house”? For forest area where fuel can be taken on the place – all right; but what you will order to do in the naked tundra where neither a tree, nor a bush, nor a blade? To take a coal reserve for several months? – It is impossible. Besides that the ship would “be inflated” many times over, it would become even heavier, and it should “float” on swamps, on dirt, on hummocks. It would get stuck. Liquid fuel not much more would improve situation.

– Accumulators? – Ignat asked.

– Thought also of them. But even the newest “electric canned food” nevertheless would not provide with energy for many months this steel monster.

And we decided to use wind, having created the wind station. It is a kite. It can be started on 500 meters and runs faultlessly. In local latitudes at such height wind blows steadily. But energy of a dragon is not enough. And we put air turbines – vindrotor. They work not so smoothly, but nevertheless give us a lot of energy. At last… you saw an average pipe of huge height? All its device is very simple. Outside of any mobile parts. Only one tower-shaped cylindrical pipe like a chimney from sheet iron is visible. On the top end, at some distance, it is surrounded with the short cylinder. This external ring is supported from below by very narrow edges. The lower end of a high pipe is open. And here, under whatever corner wind blew, the result will be same: in a cylindrical tower the vertical stream of air is created. In other words, the wind which is constantly changing the direction and force turns into almost constant air stream here. Speed changes, but the direction – up a pipe – remains invariable. At the lower basis of a wind tower horizontally lying turbine is installed. Such device provides easy access to the cars protected at the same time from all influences of bad weather.

– And for what these small pipes? – Ignat asked.

– The principle of their work is also simple. The cylinder is cut in half, and halves are put horizontally on a basic disk in such a way that edges of one half come for edge another; between them – an interval. Air also gets to this crack. It twirls a rotor, the rotor sets a dynamo in motion.

– And cumulative energy of all these installations is enough to supply the air ship with energy?

– Yes and no. As I told, one high-rise station has not enough. Below wind nevertheless blows changeably. And when “Taiga” goes the continuous wood, below absolutely quietly. And we had to call to the aid one more invention – system of “accumulators” for wind installations of Ufimtsev. In short words, business is as follows.

Wind – gratuitous energy, which everywhere at hand. But all misfortune is that wind – whimsical elements. It blows, ceases to blow, wind force also changes continuously. Hundreds were offered if not thousands of witty projects of advanced wind-driven generators. But inventors, scientists not “got at the root”, did not set the task to fight against the main lack of wind turbines – inconstancy of their work.

Wind force as I already told, changes often. Even for one minute it is changeable. How to level these minutes of inequality? The accumulator, so-called inertial and kinetic is created. Simply speaking, it is an advanced swing wheel in which inertia force develops. It moves and therefore it is “kinetic”. In it the inertia force and therefore it is “inertial” is used. In order that in him there was less friction and a maximum of useful effect, it was placed in a special case from which air is extorted or which is filled with hydrogen. Wind blows – the flywheel spins. Wind ceased to blow, and the flywheel still spins several minutes, continuing to give the reserved energy. The wind power “jumping” for minutes is a little leveled, and minute breaks in energy supply are eliminated.

But it – only the beginning. In work of wind there are not only minute, but also hour breaks, sometimes throughout many hours. How to fight against it? Accumulator number second. It is the ordinary electric accumulator.

Further there are interruptions in wind energy supply which can last in the days. And on a scene the accumulator number third acts. You are familiar with Schmidt’s electrolyzer? When passing electric current through the acidified or alkaline water water decays on oxygen and hydrogen. Schmidt’s electrolyzer pursuing this aim consists of the pig-iron plates from zakraina which are screwed together with asbestos laying in one whole battery. Intervals between plates are filled with weak solution of potash. The hydrogen and oxygen which are formed when passing current are taken away separately and gather in vessels. This electrolysis is made by the same wind power. The wind-driven generator “in leisure hours” reserves for itself the gas fuel received from water.

Oxygen – “by-product” – goes on various well – frets, hydrogen serves as fuel for the gas engine with its dynamo.

At last, there is one more reserve, ordinary heat engine, say, on oil, with a dynamo. But almost it is never not necessary to resort to it.

The problem of alignment of inconstancy of wind power was so resolved. These accumulators can be used to wind-driven generators of any design. An invention essence – in combined methods of accumulation of wind power.

– And wind pulls “Taiga” smoothly? – Ignat asked.

Simakov frowned.

– There are nevertheless hitches – he told as if unwillingly. – It is necessary to be defended then to reserve energy in accumulators. But such cases was not enough. We on work flow have long stops during which we also can reserve large amounts of energy.

– So, the problem of energy is more or less resolved. And what was the second difficulty at design of the all-terrain vehicle? Movement mechanism? – Bugaev asked.

– Yes, but it would be most interesting to get acquainted with this problem, “having swum for a while” by our ship.

6. Jim examines the ship

Ignat went to a radio cabin to consult about Semenov and Doronin, and Jim was engaged in survey of extraordinary overland “ship”.

Along all case there was a corridor. Walls and doors of a corridor – from gray opaque metal. On a ceiling – lamps in the cubic glass lamp shades made as if of pieces of ice. On a floor – linoleum. Purely, as in hospital. On a door, against a saloon – the black brilliant plate with an inscription in Russian. Jim carefully slightly opened a door. Anybody. Big, as a saloon, the room in three windows windows. All walls are filled with regiments. On them folders, boxes with numbers. Ranks of the racks filled with the same boxes. Some warehouse…

The next cabin – out-patient clinic. Jim looks and here. Walls and furniture sparkle a whiteness. Surgical table. A glass case with a set of medical tools.

X-ray, quartz and still some devices unknown to Jim. Nearby on a wall – a marble distributive board with knife switches and switches, ampermeters, voltmeters. Under a glass cap – a microscope. In a corner – scales.

“The quite good medical equipment for such small crew” – Jim thought.

The third room – laboratory. Jim already safely opened a door, believing that he will find nobody.

– Ah, forgive … – he confusedly speaks and closes a door. Behind a door laughter and as though words is heard: “Where you? Enter…” But it is not solved and goes along the corridor further, carrying away fleeting impression: gloss of chemical ware and tools, samples of minerals on tables and two female heads inclined over microscopes. One – with smoothly combed dark hair, another – short-haired, zolotovolosy. Black, apparently, is more senior; gold – is younger, white, ruddy. Which of them so loudly burst out laughing? Gold?! And why laughed? Likely, Jim looked very silly… To return? No, no… Also did not knock. Will think: “What ill-bred!” Now it will be more careful.

Jim came over to other side of a corridor and carefully knocked at a door on which there was a plate with an inscription “Club”. “Enter” – deafly was heard to it. It slightly opened a door. The room was empty. Really it is that girl heard its knock and responded? Why he is so excited? It is good that there is nobody here.

All wall is occupied by the TV screen. Big lamp receiver. In room corners two desktop billiards with brilliant spheres – ball-bearings. Glass case. In it Ping-Pong, chess, dominoes… A carpet to all room. Easy chairs. Curtains on windows. Beautiful chandelier. Sitting in this room, it is difficult to present that you are in the “impassable” Siberian woods, for thousands of miles from the cities and the railroads.

On average the floor there was one not examined cabin – library. Jim went there. In library he found the doctor Dubrovina. She took sheets of the Pravda newspaper from a radiobildapparat.

At last Jim went down on a ladder to the first floor. There were an electrified kitchen, the engine room, warehouses of provisions, combustible, spare parts. Here, in the certain storeroom, Foma stored skins of the animals killed on hunting and the whole collection of guns, boxes with cartridges, hunting knives… Survey is over. Jim rises by the second floor. In a corridor meets Bugaev.

– Everything is all right – Ignat says. – Our airplane took off forward. Semenov feels like the good fellow. We go on the deck.

7. Captives of fire

Foma approached Simakov:

– Smells of ashes, the captain.

– I feel nothing – Simakov told, smelling air.

– I have nostrils of an old tayezhnik. Today wind on the South, and will pull on the North, and you will feel – Foma answered.

– Well that disturbs you? – Simakov asked. – Probably, hunters made fire.

Foma vaguely began to nod the head.

– Everything can be – he answered. – But only whether… it is better for us to be chosen from here somewhat quicker?

– You think that in a taiga the fire? – already with some concern Simakov asked.

– Smells and! – Jim was responsible for the bearded navigator, involving air wide nostrils. Felt a smell of burning and Bugaev and Simakov.

– Perhaps, you are right – the captain told. – It is necessary to get away.

On boughs of trees, from a larch on a larch, jumped with the scared peep of a squirrel. They were a set, and all of them rushed on the North, running away from the fire. Below on a glade three hares rushed. Aside, in a thicket, the big bear seemed. He came to a glade, got on hind legs, smelled air and, again hard having fallen on forward, hasty walked in the wood, with extraordinary speed turning the body.

Over the wood with shout flocks of birds flew. Foma clapped the heavy ruchishcha on each side and groaned. In it the hunter woke up. How many game! But now not to it. It was necessary to ring a bell, convoking all for emergency works.

One by one on the deck inhabitants of “Taiga” appeared: the mechanic Alexey Zhukov, geologists – golden-haired Anna Fokina and black, as the Gipsy, Zinaida Kamneva, the doctor Dubrovina, students probationers – Mitya Dudin (Ignat recognizes in him the pilot of “Dragonfly”) and Fedya Gritsay. Even two dogs laikas disturbed by a bell and the risen turmoil ran out. They heatedly barked from a board at birds and animals.

At last there was a fat man radio operator Grebenshchikov. He reported that from “Dragon”, the high-rise electropower plant, report about the begun fire.

– We know. Our Foma got wind of this fire earlier, than they from the sky noticed.

Jim looked on “Snake”.

– To them it is good there – he told. – To them not only fire, but, perhaps, and smoke will not reach.

– And if the wire by which “Dragon” is tied to “Taiga” fuses what then? – Ignat objected.

– Not so terribly – Anna Fokina responded.

“She laughed” – Jim, услыхав the girl’s voice thought.

The moment was such that not before official representations. Guests got acquainted with crew a mute nod of the head.

– All hollow parts of “Dragon” are filled with hydrogen – Fokina continued. – “Dragon” will not fall; will carry it for the line of the fire.

– However wind can fall to the South, and “Snakes” in a flame – is disturbing Kamneva told.

– Attention! – the captain shouted. – All in places. Operation of machines at full capacity!

Zhukov ran to the motors. Foma became for a steering wheel. The captain Simakov with Ignat and Jim went to the captain’s cabin, under it the others were grouped.

Motors hooted. “Taiga”, having trembled all over, slowly moved forward. The overland ship approached closely a wall of larches soon. There was no place to go further. Without restraint propellers on a nose hooted.

– Really one screw draft can be moved this monster? – Ignat asked.

– On snow it is possible – Simakov answered. – Here propellers only help: “Taiga” moves on wheels which rotate by means of motors. There will be time, will tell in detail. And also you will see something.

– Frame! – he shouted.

Ahead of the all-terrain vehicle the metal frame strengthened on low wheels moved forward. The forward ends of a frame were connected by a thin metal plate. Behind a plate, at some distance from it, there passed the metal pipe. It went parallel to a plate and also connected the ends side metal cores. In total together also made the “frame” reminding the shafts connected ahead, but very widely placed.

– Current! – Simakov continued to order, bending to an acoustical pipe.

Jim and Ignat saw how the thin metal strip ahead of “shafts” reddened and was made white-hot. The strip crashed into a larch and passed through its trunk with ease of the knife cutting oil. Juice of a tree addressed in the steam which escaped from a section. The smoke seemed. But at the same moment from the pipe which was behind a plate through holes streams of the foamy liquid which was sticking around the place of a cut began to escape. The flashing flame immediately was extinguished. Hissing amplified. Steam and smoke covered an electric knife.

– Claws!

Two pairs of levers terminating in iron claws came up from where from below. Dudin and Gritsay dexterously operated iron hands. Claws grabbed a tree above a cut and left aside. “Taiga” moved forward. Kamneva, Fokina, Dubrovina helped Dudin and Gritsayu to direct falling of trees when “hands” did not manage to make it in time. “Taiga” bristled up the mechanized hooks, claws, levers.

Work was intense, unsafe, demanding big dexterity and skill. The captain coped from time to time on radio with what speed the fire moves. From a tower of “Dragon” reported to him about it.

– In what direction the closest border of the wood lies? – the captain of coils asked.

– Before us to the horizon the continuous wood – answered from “Dragon”. Simakov frowned.

– It is necessary to send Anna to investigation – he told.

– On an aviette “Dragonfly”? – Ignat asked.

The captain nodded.

– Geologist-pilot. I see, you are versatile persons here – Ignat told.

– It is necessary – Simakov answered. – Anechka likes to fly.

He made the order.

In a few minutes “Dragonfly” already rose almost steeply over all-terrain vehicle, having headed for the North, and was behind the wood. Soon it returned.

Simakov began to count that moves quicker – “Taiga” or the fire. How it wound the head, results turned out unfavourable.

– Well that? – Ignat asked.

– The fire makes up – Simakov answered. – And by the evening wind has to amplify.

The fire amplified. Fire covering the increasing forest space itself created wind. It already hooted on tops of trees, carrying caustic smoke, but sparks it was not visible yet.

Over “Taiga” cracked and abruptly “Dragonfly” fell by the deck. The excited, reddened Anna Fokina specified the shortest way from the wood.

Day died away. In the sky the first stars were lit. Animals already ran everything, birds flew by.

– Now clouds, a rain, and the sky, as ill luck would have it, pure – Simakov grumbled.

From “Dragon” reported that the fire does jumps: the risen wind transfers the burning boughs, branches, causing the new centers. Business took a serious turn.

From where again mad animals appeared. Different inhabitants of the wood ran alternately, without paying attention at each other. It became difficult to breathe.

– To lay a pipe and rotors! – Simakov ordered.

The high pipe of vetrosilovy installation turned out folding. It settled as if failed. Rotors were put on one side as steamship pipes when passing the steamship under the bridge.

– To stop motors of air draft!

Part of motors calmed down. Propellers, having turned round and round idling, stopped. Dudin and Gritsay quickly removed them and laid in the case.

– Arch!

– Is an arch! – Pomor was answered by Gritsay.

In a nasal part of the overland ship, over the deck, three metal arches, one above another rose.

– To batten down windows!

– Is to batten down windows!

Jim and Ignat expected, what will be farther. “Taiga” reminded the ship before cyclone approach. She was going to enter fight against a fiery storm and elements of the wood. The wood it is tenacious held in the paws, fire persistently made up for the ship.

Simakov deeply sighed. “Taiga” was ready for storm.

– To give lesoreza. Full speed! – the new team was distributed.

“Taiga” quickly moved forward as the tank in the attack. The cutting torch made white-hot podkashivat thick trunks, and they fell diversely. Trees, rustling as sea waves, fell directly by “Taiga”, fell on arches and on them slid off down. Others fell across the road. “Taiga” crept, rising a nose, a stern as the ship at kilevy rolling. Sometimes on the way so many trunks leaned that it was necessary to recede and again to move to scatter them.

– It already reminds fight of the ice breaker against ice – Ignat noticed.

– Yes, but, at least, the fiery tornado does not pursue the ice breaker – Jim noticed.

Absolutely darkened. Despite noise of motors, a crash of the falling trees and hissing of fire extinguishers, the rumble of the overtaking fire was already heard. The darkened night sky in the south became crimson. Small sparks flew by over “Taiga” as meteors.

– Here the spark can get, all this garbage needs to be put away – Ignat told.

– You are right – the captain answered. – Here to you and Jim there was a suitable work.

Jim and Ignat began to dump from the deck of a heap of boughs, needles, cones.

– Teplenko becomes to work – Ignat told after a while, wiping sweat from a face and glancing at Jim.

The black figure of the Black was already brightly lit with glow of the fire and seemed bronze.

– Yes, grows warm – Jim noticed, also stopping to take rest.

To the aid of Jim and Ignat Fokina and Kamneva came.

By ran Gritsay and told on the run:

– Nasty business. There is not enough fire extinguishing foam. Stocks are exhausted. Dubrovina does not manage to produce. Somebody help it.

Anna threw a garbage armful overboard and left.

In the wood already was light-and it is hot, as at July noon.

– Gloomy affairs, Jim – said Ignat in low tones. – Perhaps, it would be quieter us to continue a way on the airplane. At the worst from this hell one-two persons on “Dragonfly” can escape.

– Yes, perhaps, these there above will escape. – Jim showed a hand: highly over the wood “Dragon” brightly shone.

– No, and there to them it is not sweet – it continued, looking after the clouds of crimson smoke rising to “Dragon”.

At this time Ignat and Jim worked aft, near the winch to which “Dragon” was tied.

Gritsay came running and began to give a cable.

– Coils of Tests and Grinev ask to lift them higher, are roasted and choke. They hang over the fire now – explained Gritsay.

“Dragon” began to rise slowly.

The deck was cleared in time. On it sparks and golovn even more often flew. But work could not be given up for one minute: continuously new fragments, boughs, cones from the trees falling on arches and which are rolling down down collected.

Ignat approached the captain’s cabin.

– How are you doing? – he asked Simakov. – Until the end of the wood far?

– Not less than ten kilometers – the captain answered.

From a heat it was already difficult to stand on a nose. Behind “Taiga” on trunks and stubs of mowed trees sparks zmeitsya. One dry tree flared. The fire ran high absolutely close from the all-terrain vehicle. Its case more and more heated up. Was to pant. Heat amplified every minute. But any person from all crew, not excepting girls, did not show panic. Ignat joked: